6. There Is Only One Second Coming

6

There Is Only One Second Coming

Confused, you say to me, “I thought you said Uncle Fred was arriving at 7:00 p.m. How can he also be arriving at 11:00 p.m.?”

I answer, “Yes, you have it right. Uncle Fred will be arriving at 7:00 p.m. and 11:00 p.m.”

You ask, “Do you have two Uncle Freds?”

“No,” I answer quickly, “but it’s complicated.”

You are even more confused now, but since you have your assignment, you say to me, “Well, since I don’t know your Uncle Fred, how will I recognize him?”

I reply, “Well, he’s about five feet nine, weighs about 175 pounds and has short dark hair and a beard. And he’s about six feet four, weighs about 225 pounds and has long, wavy gray locks but no facial hair.”

Uncle Fred and the Vocabulary of Jesus’ Return

Let me explain it like this. I am teaching a Sunday school class on the end times, and I say, “We are looking forward to the Second Coming of Jesus, when we will be caught up to meet Him in the air and will return to heaven with Him. This will happen immediately before the Tribulation, which will last for seven years. At the end of the Tribulation, the Second Coming will take place, and we will return with Jesus to the earth.”

Would that not be confusing? First the Second Coming, followed by the Tribulation and then the Second Coming.

You reply, “But you’re the one making things complicated. We refer to the first event as the Rapture and the second event as the Second Coming. In other words, the return of Jesus has two phases to it: the Rapture and the Second Coming.”

Unfortunately, the New Testament authors did not make that distinction, using the identical vocabulary for both of the alleged phases of the Lord’s return. That is why I used the Uncle Fred analogy. This is confusion, not clarity. And simply stated, the idea that the Rapture and Second Coming are two distinct events is contrary to the teaching of the Scriptures. So when numerous websites and studies address the question, “Does this verse refer to the Rapture or the Second Coming?,” they are asking a question the Bible does not ask.

But this is only part of the problem. Another problem is that the primary Greek words which supposedly speak of the Rapture, in distinction from the second phase of the Second Coming, cannot possibly describe the Rapture. That is because the pre-Trib Rapture is said to be a secret, invisible event in which Jesus comes as a thief in the night. And then suddenly, without warning and without a sound, we are taken away to be with the Lord. As for Jesus Himself, He never arrives on the earth. He hovers in the sky (invisibly, I emphasize again) and catches us up to meet Him in the air.

But the primary Greek words that speak of the Lord’s return—in some of the very verses that allegedly speak of a pre-Trib Rapture—describe a visible , audible event. Not only so, they speak of an actual arrival , just like a plane arriving at a particular gate of an airport, not a plane that flies by in the air.

So the first problem is that the same Greek words are used to describe two supposedly separate and quite different events. This is as confusing as my Uncle Fred analogy. The second problem is that the Greek words used by the New Testament authors to speak of the Lord’s return describe His literal, physical return to the earth, but they do not describe a secret, near-return of Jesus to a point in the sky.

Are you with me so far? Then let’s take a look at the first problem (that is, the two arrivals of Uncle Fred) in a little more depth.

Coming and Coming

For this we declare to you by a word from the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord. Therefore encourage one another with these words.

1 Thessalonians 4:15–18 ESV , emphasis added

So the “dead in Christ will rise first,” then we who are still alive at that time will be caught up (the Greek is quite forceful and could easily be translated “snatched up”) to meet the Lord in the air. This is what is commonly referred to as the Rapture, the time when we are raptured away to be with the Lord. And when will this take place? Paul says it will be at the “coming” (Greek, parousia ) of the Lord.

When does Paul next use the word parousia in his letters to the Thessalonians? It is 1 Thessalonians 5:23, where he prays that we will be preserved blameless “at the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ” (emphasis added). Does that sound like the Rapture to you as well? It would seem logical.

Next is 2 Thessalonians 2:1, where Paul writes to these same believers “concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered together to him” (2 Thessalonians 2:1 ESV , emphasis added). That is certainly the Rapture, correct? Absolutely. This is exactly what Paul wrote about in 1 Thessalonians 4:15–18. And in both cases, he speaks of the Lord’s coming ( parousia ).

Then, just a few verses later, he speaks of Jesus destroying the Antichrist: “And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will kill with the breath of his mouth and bring to nothing by the appearance of his coming ” (2 Thessalonians 2:8 ESV , emphasis added). What is this referring to, according to those who hold to a pre-Trib Rapture? This is the Second Coming, not the Rapture, since this takes place at the end of the Tribulation period when the Antichrist is destroyed. Yet Paul uses the identical word to describe both events: the coming of the Lord. Shades of Uncle Fred and Uncle Fred! (And note also that Paul speaks of the coming of the Antichrist in 2 Thessalonians 2:9. This is undone by the coming of Jesus.)

But it is not just Paul who used parousia in this way (meaning, to speak of both the Rapture and the Second Coming). James (whose original name is Jacob) urges us to remain patient until the Lord’s coming (see James 5:7), which dispensationalists take to mean the Rapture. Yet Peter tells us that, at the Lord’s coming , the universe will be melted with blazing heat (see 2 Peter 3:12). This cannot refer to the Rapture but must refer to the Second Coming. But then 1 John 2:28 speaks of the coming of Jesus in terms of our hope and expectation, which would seem to refer to the Rapture. So which is it?

To go back to my Sunday school class, if I were to teach the dispensational view using New Testament vocabulary, I would say, “First, we have the coming of Jesus, when we will be caught up to meet Him, followed by the coming of Jesus seven years later, when He destroys the Antichrist. So first the coming of Jesus, then the coming of Jesus.”

To make matters worse, Jesus Himself would have added to the confusion by referring to both the Rapture and the Second Coming with the same word, coming ( parousia ). (Jesus did not teach His disciples in Greek, but there are different Hebrew or Aramaic words that He could have used, which are rightly translated as “coming” in Greek.) So in Matthew 24:3, when His disciples asked Him when the destruction of the Temple would take place and what would be the sign of His coming and of the end of the age, He answered at length, referring to His coming several times. (Craig will revisit this chapter in Matthew later in the book, but I want to point out especially the use of vocabulary here.)

First, He said, “For as the lightning comes from the east and shines as far as the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man” (Matthew 24:27 ESV , emphasis added). Then, a few verses later, He explained,

For as were the days of Noah, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark, and they were unaware until the flood came and swept them all away, so will be the coming of the Son of Man.

Matthew 24:37–39 ESV , emphasis added

Based on pre-Trib thinking, Matthew 24:37–39 definitely refers to the Rapture, when Jesus takes us away (just as He rescued Noah), after which judgment falls on the earth. So the “coming” of Jesus there refers to the Rapture. But what about Matthew 24:27, spoken by the Lord just a few moments earlier? According to John Walvoord, one of the most respected dispensationalist scholars of the previous generation, Matthew 24:27 refers to the Second Coming, not the Rapture:

Christ warns them, “I have told you before. Wherefore if they shall say unto you, Behold he is in the desert; go not forth: behold, he is in the secret chambers; believe it not” (Matthew 24:25–26). Why not? Because His second coming will be a very public event. Everybody will see Him. The rapture of the church may be an event that is quite unseen by the world. Although the Bible never calls it a secret rapture because it is not a secret at least to Christians, it will take place very quickly. First Corinthians 15:52 speaks of the rapture as taking place “in the twinkling of an eye.” The world possibly will only be dimly aware that something has happened until it is all over.

The second coming of Christ to the earth is quite a different event. According to Matthew 24:27, it will be a glorious event: “For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.” Lightning is something that everybody can see, and the glory of the Lord will illuminate the heavens with brilliant light just as lightning illuminates the heavens in a storm. According to Revelation 1:7, “Every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him.”

So, according to this esteemed Christian author, while the Rapture will be an event invisible to (or, largely unseen by) the world, the Second Coming will be seen by all, a glorious public event. But how does Jesus describe both of these events in the space of just a few verses? He refers to them both as His coming . Can I say shades of Uncle Fred again?

To complicate matters even more, Jesus says something very important in Matthew 24:29–31, this time with the Greek verb erchomai , to come, which often refers to His return in the New Testament:

Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. Then will appear in heaven the sign of the Son of Man, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming [erchomai ] on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And he will send out his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.

Matthew 24:29–31 ESV , emphasis added

So, when He comes, the whole world will see Him, and that is when He will gather His elect together. But this sounds just like 1 Thessalonians 4:15–18 and 2 Thessalonians 2:1, which told us that He will come with His angels to snatch us away to be with Him (see also 1 Corinthians 15:23, also with parousia [coming]). And that event, we have been told, is basically secret, unseen by the world, while this event is totally public. How can this be?

To return to my Sunday school class, it would go like this: “So, friends, we are looking forward to the coming of Jesus with His angels when He will gather His people together to be with Him, after which there will be terrible tribulation, and then Jesus will come with His angels and gather His people together to be with Him.”

What is the pre-Trib explanation? (I do not say this in mockery. To repeat again, some of the finest Christians on the planet are pre-Trib, along with some top Christian scholars.) The pre-Trib version goes like this: First, Jesus comes with His angels secretly, to gather up His elect, meaning the Church. Then, seven years later, He returns with His angels (and His Church) in a very public event, destroying the wicked and gathering up His elect, meaning the people of Israel.

Unfortunately, Matthew and Paul used the same words to describe these supposedly different events, first, coming , then, gathering (Matthew uses the Greek verb for gather in Matthew 24:31 while Paul uses the related Greek noun in 2 Thessalonians 2:1). Based on a pre-Trib reading of the texts, could the New Testament writers have made this any more confusing if they tried? “We’re looking forward to the coming of Jesus and the gathering of the elect to Him, and then seven years later, we’re looking forward to the coming of Jesus and the gathering of the elect to Him.” Really?

May I present you with a much simpler (and more accurate) solution? There is one Second Coming, and it has different aspects to it. First, Jesus appears in the clouds for the entire world to see, accompanied by His angelic hosts and with great fanfare. Next, we are caught up to meet Him in the air. Then, we descend to earth together with Him as He defeats His enemies and establishes His Kingdom on the earth. This all happens at the one and only coming of the Lord—the Second Coming, which includes both the Rapture and the Lord’s arrival on the earth at the end of the Tribulation period.

In fact, Paul makes this explicit in 2 Thessalonians 1, where he urges the persecuted believers to await their deliverance when Jesus returns, explaining that this will happen

. . . when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with his mighty angels in flaming fire, inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. They will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might, when he comes [erchomai ] on that day to be glorified in his saints, and to be marveled at among all who have believed, because our testimony to you was believed.

2 Thessalonians 1:7–10 ESV , emphasis added

This is really clear! Persecuted Christians will receive relief when Jesus comes publicly in flaming fire , inflicting vengeance on His enemies. And that is the time when He will be “glorified in his saints” and “marveled at among all who have believed.” Dare I say, “Boom!”?

All this happens at one and the same time, which is why it is described with the same Greek words: the Rapture is part of the Second Coming. Or, put another way, there is only one future coming of the Lord, not two . That is why Revelation 1:7, which pre-Tribbers say is a reference to the Second Coming, not the Rapture, says, “Behold, he is coming [ erchomai ] with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him, and all tribes of the earth will wail on account of him. Even so. Amen” ( ESV , emphasis added). But Revelation 3:11, which according to pre-Tribbers refers to the Rapture, says, “ I am coming [ erchomai ] soon. Hold fast what you have, so that no one may seize your crown” ( ESV , emphasis added).

Yes, indeed, He is coming again , but once, not twice. There is only one Second Coming! And at that time, all these wonderful things will take place: His glorious appearing, His catching us up to be with Him, His descent to earth (with us!), His destruction of the wicked. What an event it will be!

The Last Trumpet

Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed.

When does this take place? When the last trumpet sounds. And what do we learn in Revelation 11, which speaks of the events taking place during the Tribulation period on the earth? “Then the seventh angel blew his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven, saying, ‘The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he shall reign forever and ever’” (Revelation 11:15 ESV ). So when the seventh of seven trumpets sounds—that would be called “the last trumpet”—the kingdom of this world becomes the Kingdom of our Lord and His Messiah, and He will then reign forever and ever.

Do you see it? Paul tells us that we will be changed—instantly glorified and resurrected—when the last trumpet sounds. In fact, he speaks of the sound of this trumpet in 1 Thessalonians 4:16 (remember, this is also a favorite Rapture verse). And Revelation tells us that when the last trumpet sounds—the seventh of seven—the Lord will establish His Kingdom on the earth.

Is the light going on now? It is one and the same event, one and the same trumpet blast. In other words, the last trumpet is the last trumpet. And would it not be odd for Paul to call it the “last trumpet,” when, in reality, seven major trumpets were to follow? How, then, would it be last?

Let’s put these verses together, this time adding in Matthew 24:31 (which speaks of the Lord gathering together His elect when He returns):

. . . in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet . For the trumpet will sound , and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. . . . And he will send out his angels with a loud trumpet call , and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other. . . . For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel , and with the sound of the trumpet of God . And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord.

1 Corinthians 15:52; Matthew 24:31; 1 Thessalonians 4:16–17 ESV , emphasis added

And what is the perspective from heaven while this is taking place? “Then the seventh angel blew his trumpet , and there were loud voices in heaven, saying, ‘The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he shall reign forever and ever’ (Revelation 11:15 ESV , emphasis added).

This makes me want to shout! All this takes place as the seventh (and last) trumpet is being sounded. What a glorious day that will be!

So Uncle Fred will be arriving at the airport once, not twice, but he will do several things when he arrives. It is really not complicated at all, and that is why the same words are used to describe both the Rapture and the Second Coming.

Parousia and Parousia

Question: “What is the difference between the Rapture and the Second Coming?”

Answer: The rapture and the second coming of Christ are often confused. Sometimes it is difficult to determine whether a scripture verse is referring to the rapture or the second coming. However, in studying end-times Bible prophecy, it is very important to differentiate between the two.

The rapture is when Jesus Christ returns to remove the church (all believers in Christ) from the earth. The rapture is described in 1 Thessalonians 4:13–18 and 1 Corinthians 15:50–54. Believers who have died will have their bodies resurrected and, along with believers who are still living, will meet the Lord in the air. This will all occur in a moment, in a twinkling of an eye. The second coming is when Jesus returns to defeat the Antichrist, destroy evil, and establish His millennial kingdom. The second coming is described in Revelation 19:11–16.

. . . The rapture will be secret and instant (1 Corinthians 15:50–54). The second coming will be visible to all (Revelation 1:7; Matthew 24:29–30).

. . . The rapture and second coming are similar but separate events. Both involve Jesus returning. Both are end-times events. However, it is crucially important to recognize the differences. In summary, the rapture is the return of Christ in the clouds to remove all believers from the earth before the time of God’s wrath. The second coming is the return of Christ to the earth to bring the tribulation to an end and to defeat the Antichrist and his evil world empire.

As we have seen, though, this perspective is not in harmony with the testimony of Scripture, which describes these two events as part of the one and only Second Coming, making clear that the catching away of the Church takes place as Jesus descends to earth—in other words, when He comes back .

This event is described by two angelic messengers in Acts 1, who said to the disciples, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven” (Acts 1:11 ESV ). And note that He left from the Mount of Olives (see Acts 1:12), and it is to the Mount of Olives that He will return. He will come back to earth the same way He left: literally and visibly! As described in Zechariah 14:

On that day his feet shall stand on the Mount of Olives that lies before Jerusalem on the east, and the Mount of Olives shall be split in two from east to west by a very wide valley, so that one half of the Mount shall move northward, and the other half southward.

Zechariah 14:4 ESV

This speaks of a literal coming, of an arrival, of a physical return. In stark contrast, dispensationalists tell us that the Rapture describes an event where Jesus almost returns to earth—He comes secretly in the sky—and snatches us away like a thief in the night, taking us back to heaven where we feast at the marriage supper during the time of the Tribulation. Unfortunately for the pre-Trib position, the vocabulary used by the New Testament authors describes something very different, starting with that important word parousia (coming). And for some reason, the Bible nowhere specifies a secret pre-Tribulational coming in the sky alone.

As recognized by all Greek dictionaries and lexicons, parousia can refer to someone’s actual presence, or it can refer to their arrival. So, for example, in the context of everyday events, Paul wrote, “I rejoice at the coming of Stephanas and Fortunatus and Achaicus, because they have made up for your absence” (1 Corinthians 16:17 ESV , emphasis added). Or, “But God, who comforts the downcast, comforted us by the coming of Titus, and not only by his coming but also by the comfort with which he was comforted by you” (2 Corinthians 7:6–7 ESV , emphasis added). Or, “so that in me you may have ample cause to glory in Christ Jesus, because of my coming to you again” (Philippians 1:26 ESV , emphasis added). Then, in the sense of “presence” Paul uses parousia , just a few verses later in this same letter: “Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling” (Philippians 2:12 ESV , emphasis added).

So the word parousia refers to someone’s actual presence in a place or, more commonly, to their arrival to a place. Yet, according to pre-Trib teaching, when Jesus comes to rapture us, He never arrives here on earth. He is never present on earth. Instead, He comes close to earth , but He does not arrive on earth. This is not a parousia . Yet, as we have seen, this is the word used in famous Rapture passages such as 1 Thessalonians 4:15–18.

But there is more. Greek scholars tell us that the imagery of the parousia is often found in the extravagant events marking the arrival of a major dignitary and, most conspicuously, the Roman emperor. From an earthly perspective, this was the ultimate parousia . According to Ceslas Spicq, a foremost Greek scholar:

In line with these usages, the NT uses Parousia for the glorious coming of the Lord Jesus at the end of time, his Second Coming. This return of Christ must somehow be filled out with the pomp and magnificence that characterized royal and imperial “visits.” There were great feasts, pannēgyreis , including speeches of praise, gifts, games, sacrifices, dedications; statues and buildings were erected, coins and medallions were struck, sentences were commuted, gold crowns were given, . . . honors were multiplied. Glory and joy on the part of the people were in response to the prince’s active and beneficent presence. All of this pales in comparison to the coming of the Pantokrator [Almighty], but it explains why the NT uses the term parousia .

This is anything but a secret event, the Lord’s alleged near-coming to earth to snatch us away. Far from it. This is a glorious, public event, the Lord’s glorious arrival in the sight of the whole world. That is what we are looking forward to by faith! Can you imagine how glorious it will be?

An Appearing Must be Visible

It is used together with parousia (coming) in 2 Thessalonians 2:8, where we read that Jesus will destroy the Antichrist by “the appearance of His coming ,” which clearly cannot speak about the Rapture. Yet in 1 Timothy 6:14, Paul urges rich believers “to keep the commandment unstained and free from reproach until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ” ( ESV , emphasis added). Do you see it? We are not looking forward to a secret Rapture; we are looking forward to the Lord’s public appearance, at which time He will destroy the Antichrist along with all those who oppose the Gospel, just as we read in 2 Thessalonians 1. It is one and the same event! We are looking forward to Jesus coming back for the whole world to see, “taking vengeance with flaming fire on those who don’t know God and on those who don’t obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus” (2 Thessalonians 1:8 HCSB ).

Note also that in 2 Timothy 1:10, Paul speaks of the first appearing of Jesus, when He came into this world to die for our sins—that was hardly a secret appearance—while in 2 Timothy 4:1, Paul writes that Jesus will judge the living and the dead by His appearing and His Kingdom. Once again, this refers to the final event of this age, when Jesus will come to earth, save His people and judge the wicked. Yet in Titus 2:13, Paul says that we are “waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ” ( ESV , emphasis added), and, as we just saw in 2 Timothy 4:8, Paul spoke of “all who eagerly look forward to his appearing ” (2 Timothy 4:8 NLT , emphasis added).

So not only would it be completely confusing to speak of both a secret Rapture and a public event with this same word epiphaneia (appearing), but it would be completely inappropriate to describe the Rapture, which the world will not see, as “the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ.” Not a chance! The New Revised Standard Version actually renders this “the manifestation of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ.” This is in harmony with Hebrews 9:27–28, which states,

And just as it is appointed for people to die once—and after this, judgment—so also the Messiah, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for Him.

Hebrews 9:27–28 HCSB , emphasis added (The Greek for “appear” is “to be seen.”)

A Revealing Must be Visible

In 1 Corinthians 1:7, Paul writes to the believers “so that you are not lacking in any gift, awaiting eagerly the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ” ( NASB , emphasis added). What, then, are we eagerly awaiting? It is the revelation of Jesus—a revealing, not a hiding; a public manifestation, not a secret event. And it is this word that Paul uses in 2 Thessalonians 1:7, part of a section we have quoted several times already: The believers will receive rest “at the revelation of the Lord Jesus from heaven with His mighty angels.”

Speaking of this same, very public event, Peter encourages his readers “so that the genuineness of your faith—more valuable than gold, which perishes though refined by fire—may result in praise, glory, and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ” (1 Peter 1:7, HCSB , emphasis added). And he speaks of it again twice more in this letter:

Therefore, with your minds ready for action, be serious and set your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. . . . Rejoice as you share in the sufferings of the Messiah, so that you may also rejoice with great joy at the revelation of His glory.

1 Peter 1:13, 4:13 HCSB , emphasis added

Can it get any clearer? We are looking forward to His revelation , at which time we will receive grace, at which time our suffering will end, at which time we will share in His glory, at which time He will appear in blazing fire to destroy His (and our!) enemies.

Now, look again at Luke 17:28–30 ( HCSB , emphasis added), verses always used to refer to the Rapture, but verses which speak of Jesus being revealed (this time, using the verbal form, apokaluptō ):

It will be the same as it was in the days of Lot: People went on eating, drinking, buying, selling, planting, building. But on the day Lot left Sodom, fire and sulfur rained from heaven and destroyed them all. It will be like that on the day the Son of Man is revealed .

And if you have any doubt that this is used as a Rapture verse, doubt no longer. Just look down a few more verses: “I tell you, on that night two will be in one bed: One will be taken and the other will be left. Two women will be grinding grain together: One will be taken and the other left” (Luke 17:34–35 HCSB ).

The better understanding is that those who are taken are taken in judgment, not taken in a secret Rapture. This is what happens when Jesus is revealed for the whole world to see. As described also in Matthew 13 at the end of the Parable of the Wheat and the Weeds,

Therefore, just as the weeds are gathered and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of the age. The Son of Man will send out His angels, and they will gather from His kingdom everything that causes sin and those guilty of lawlessness. They will throw them into the blazing furnace where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Then the righteous will shine like the sun in their Father’s kingdom. Anyone who has ears should listen!

Matthew 13:40–43 HCSB

So this is the sequence: The Lord appears for the whole world to see—gloriously, publicly, wondrously—and catches us up to meet Him in the air (this is almost surreal!), as we descend to Jerusalem with Him and His holy angels. He then separates the wicked who will be taken in judgment and establishes His Kingdom on the earth. As for those who are left—those who were not taken in judgment—“Then everyone who survives of all the nations that have come against Jerusalem shall go up year after year to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, and to keep the Feast of Booths” (Zechariah 14:16 ESV ).

Even if you differ with me on some of these details, what is undeniable is that the event we are looking forward to, the moment we are longing for, is public and visible for the world to see. It is an appearing ; it is a revealing ; it is an arrival .

Look at how this same event—when we will be changed!—is described elsewhere in the New Testament, here using the verb phaneroō (to manifest, to cause to become visible, reveal): “Dear friends, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet been revealed . We know that whenever it is revealed we will be like him, because we will see him just as he is” (1 John 3:2 NET , emphasis added). Or, as rendered in the English Standard Version, “Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared ; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is.”

This same verb is used for the Lord’s postresurrection appearances in Mark 16:12, 14, and John 21:1, as well as for His being revealed or made known to Israel through John the Immerser (the Baptist) in John 1:31. So the verb clearly speaks of someone or something being revealed or manifested for everyone to see. John said he came baptizing so that Jesus would be revealed to Israel (John 1:31; see also 1 Timothy 3:16, with reference to the Lord’s first coming). John 21:1 describes this postresurrection appearance of the Lord with these words, as He sat on the shore cooking fish: “After this Jesus revealed himself again to the disciples by the Sea of Tiberias, and he revealed himself in this way” ( ESV , emphasis added). In the same way, in the future, He will be revealed again, and the whole world will see Him. To repeat: That is when we will be changed.

In this same context, look at 1 John 2:28, which uses both parousia (coming) and phaneroō (to reveal, appear): “And now, little children, abide in him, so that when he appears we may have confidence and not shrink from him in shame at his coming ” ( ESV , emphasis added). That is what we long for and await! Yes, “When the Messiah, who is your life, is revealed , then you also will be revealed with Him in glory” (Colossians 3:4, HCSB , em phasis added). When He is revealed, we will be transformed and become like Him, and everyone will see it. This is truly amazing.

And here is something to consider. In Romans 8, Paul tells us that “the creation eagerly waits for the revelation of the sons of God” (Romans 8:19 NET , emphasis added), and he uses that same Greek word apokalupsis (revelation) . So at the revelation of Jesus we too will be revealed—changed, glorified, transformed, like Him—and this will bring the redemption the creation so longs for.

Not a word of this makes sense with a secret, nonarriving Rapture. Every word of it makes sense with one glorious, public Second Coming. To repeat the Lord’s words once more:

But immediately after the trouble of those days, “the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light and the stars will fall from heaven and the powers of the heavens will be shaken.” Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the land will mourn, and they will see “the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven” with power and great glory. He will send out His angels with a great shofar, and they will gather together His chosen from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.

Matthew 24:29–31 TLV

I know that some of you automatically reread many of these verses in your mind, not looking at what they say but rather at what you were taught they say. I encourage you to look again, and let the simple meaning of the texts speak to you plainly. When the light goes on, it is more than exciting.

He Is with Us Always, until the Very End of the Age

Interestingly, the Greek word for “end” is sunteleia , and in the New Testament, it is only found in this same phrase “the end of the age” (Matthew 13:39–40, 49; 24:3; 28:20; Hebrews 9:26). In Hebrews, it refers to the time when Jesus came into the world to die for us, which ushered in the period called “the last days,” the time of His death and resurrection until the time of His return. But the other times the phrase is found, all in Matthew, it clearly means the end of this current age—in other words, the time when He returns to establish His Kingdom on the earth.

Let’s take a look at the verses, beginning in Matthew 13, where Jesus explains the Parable of the Wheat and the Weeds:

The harvest is the end of the age , and the reapers are angels. Just as the weeds are gathered and burned with fire, so will it be at the end of the age . The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will gather out of his kingdom all causes of sin and all law-breakers, and throw them into the fiery furnace. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears, let him hear.

. . . So it will be at the end of the age . The angels will come out and separate the evil from the righteous and throw them into the fiery furnace. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Matthew 13:39–50 ESV , emphasis added

There can be no doubt as to what Jesus was describing, and it was certainly not a pre-Trib Rapture. Rather, “the end of the age” here speaks of the time when Jesus sends His angels to root out and destroy the wicked, and by all counts, that is associated with His visible return to earth, not a secret Rapture to remove the righteous.

Then, in Matthew 24, as Jesus is telling His disciples that the Temple will be destroyed, they ask Him a question, assuming that this will happen when He returns: “As he sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately, saying, ‘Tell us, when will these things be, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age ?’” (Matthew 24:3 ESV , emphasis added). Clearly, in their understanding, His “coming” and “the end of the age” were the culminating events of the era, the final things to take place. What they did not know was that the Second Temple would be destroyed in forty years while two thousand years would pass before the time of His coming and the end of the age.

Finally, in Matthew 28:20, which we quoted above, Jesus tells His disciples that He will be with them until “the end of the age,” which can only mean until everything is completed, until the culmination of all things, until He returns to destroy the wicked and establish His righteous Kingdom in Jerusalem.

And if we look back into the Septuagint, which is the ancient Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible done by Jewish scholars in the few centuries before Jesus, we see that this word sunteleia (the end) occurs frequently in the prophetic passages in Daniel, with several of them referring to this same time of the end, the time of the Antichrist. See especially Daniel 11:35–36, and then note Daniel 12, where sunteleia occurs repeatedly:

But you, Daniel, shut up the words and seal the book, until the time of the end . Many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall increase.

Daniel 12:4 ESV , emphasis added

And someone said to the man clothed in linen, who was above the waters of the stream, “How long shall it be till the end of these wonders?”

Daniel 12:6 ESV , emphasis added

And I heard the man clothed in linen, who was above the waters of the stream; he raised his right hand and his left hand toward heaven and swore by him who lives forever that it would be for a time, times, and half a time, and that when the shattering of the power of the holy people comes to an end all these things would be finished.

Daniel 12:7 ESV , emphasis added

But go your way till the end. And you shall rest and shall stand in your allotted place at the end of the days.

Daniel 12:13 ESV , emphasis added

Once again, as in Matthew 13 and 24, the “end” that is spoken of takes us right until the last moments of this age, through times of tribulation, through times of severe testing for God’s people, through the rise of wicked powers and through the defeat of those wicked powers, right until Jesus returns in flaming fire to crush all rebellion and to deliver His people. Until then, He is with us always, even until the end of the age.

In another chapter, we will explain how we endure these times of hell on earth, not in hopelessness and despair, but as overcomers. And all the while, as we labor and serve and reach out to a dying and lost world, there is a prayer of hope and expectation on our lips: “Even so, come, Lord Jesus!” (Revelation 22:20 NKJV ).