The Second Coming of Christ

I was asked a question by a fellow Hubber this morning. Here is the question:

“I'd like to ask you about this, based on Mat 24:27, many Indonesian Christian believe that Jesus will come from the East gate (Papua-Indonesia), what do you think ?
God Bless You.”

Here is the Scripture reference:

“For as lightning that comes from the east is visible even in the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man.” (NIV)

At first glance, this question seems easily answered. In my experience, however, I have seen that Christians in different cultures place emphasis on various parts of scripture for various reasons. So, I dug a little deeper to understand the importance of this question.

The word “lightning” in Matthew 24:27 is translated to English from ancient Greek. The Greek word is “Astrape”. It is defined in Strong’s Concordance as: “of the gleam of a lamp.” (Strong’s G796) The gleam of a lamp in darkness is an unmistakable thing. I believe that is what Jesus is saying here. Let’s look at what He says prior to this statement:

“21. For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be. 22. And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened. 23. Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there; believe it not. 24. For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect. 25. Behold, I have told you before. 26. 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. 27. 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.” (Matt.: 24:21-27 KJV)

The thrust of this passage is how His return is heralded and surrounded by many false christs. To distinguish His appearance from theirs, Jesus makes it clear that His return will be unmistakable to all who dwell on the earth. The reason this is important is that many world religions as well as some Christian religions believe that Christ will appear as a man born of woman. The Muslims are looking for Jesus the great prophet to walk side by side with the 12^th Imam, the Buddhists are looking for Maitreya and the Jews are looking for the first appearance of Messiah, having rejected Jesus as such, just to name a few. With so many religions and peoples looking for a savior to appear in the form of a man, Jesus wanted it to be clear that when He returns it would be unique.

To this point we have seen that his appearing will be:

A.) To save the elect from utter destruction

B.) In the sky

C.) Simultaneously visible to all who dwell on the Earth

Let’s see what else the Bible says about His appearing. This is also from Matthew:

“30. And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.
31. And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other. (Matthew 24:29-31)

We can now add to this list:

D.) A sign will precede His appearance

E.) All the Earth will mourn

F.) He will come in clouds with power and glory

G.) There will be the sound of a trumpet

H.) The angels will at that time gather the Elect

Christ does not appear in the sky alone or only with angels. Look at this passage from Jude:

"And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints, To execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against him." (Jude 14-15 KJV)

Jude and Enoch agree that Christ will appear with ten thousands of the saints as well. He is coming back not just to save the Elect however. Look at this passage from the Book of Revelation:

"And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war. His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crown; and he had a name written, that no man knew, but he himself. And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God. And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horse, clothed in fine linen, white and clean. And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule then with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS. And I saw an angel standing in the sun; and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all the fowls that fly in the midst of heaven, Come and gather yourselves together unto the supper of the great God; That ye may eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of captains, and the flesh of mighty men, and the flesh of horses, and of them that sit on them, and the flesh of all men, both free and bond, both small and great. And I saw the beast, and the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against him that sat on the horse, and against his army. And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone. And the remnant were slain with the sword of him that sat upon the horse, which sword proceeded out of his mouth: and all the fowls were filled with their flesh." (Rev. 19:11-21 KJV)

So, we see that Christ is also coming back to make war. There will be multitudes of people gathered by the beast to oppose Him when He comes. We also have a more specific description of His appearance in the previous passage. All of these things we have talked about to this point should accompany the second coming of Christ. The Bible goes on to tell us where He will touch down on the Earth when He comes:

“Then the LORD will go forth and fight against those nations, as He fights in the day of battle. And in that day His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, which faces Jerusalem on the east. And the Mount of Olives shall split in two, from east to west, making a very large valley; half of the mountain shall move toward the north and half of it toward the south.” (Zechariah 14:3-4)

Notice that the Mount of Olives is east of Jerusalem. This is where Jesus ascended into heaven after His resurrection and where He will come again in the Last Days. This is also confirmed in Acts:

"When they therefore were come together, they asked of him, saying Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel? And he said unto them, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power. But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth. And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight. And while they looked stedfastly toward heaven as he went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel; Which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven. (Acts 1:6-11 KJV)

In this passage the angels make it clear to us that He will come in the same manner He left, that is, the sky. The following passage from Ezekiel is frequently quoted by those that believe Jesus will come from an Eastern nation:

“Afterward he brought me to the gate, the gate facing east. And behold, the glory of the God of Israel came from the east; and the sound of his coming was like the sound of many waters; and the earth shone with his glory. As the glory of the LORD entered the temple by the gate facing east, the Spirit lifted me up, and brought me into the inner court; and behold, the glory of the LORD filled the temple.

“While the man was standing beside me, I heard one speaking to me out of the temple; and he said to me, "Son of man, this is the place of my throne and the place of the soles of my feet, where I will dwell in the midst of the people of Israel for ever. And the house of Israel shall no more defile my holy name, neither they, nor their kings, by their harlotry, and by the dead bodies of their kings at their high places.” “(Ezekiel 43: 1-2 & 4-7)

Many religions believe that the glory of the Lord entering the temple by the east gate signifies that Messiah will come from an eastern nation. The last part of this passage makes it clear that it is speaking of the last days. And it is most likely true that Jesus, after descending on the Mount of Olives which is east of Jerusalem, will enter the currently sealed east gate to fulfill prophecy. But this does not mean that He will come from an eastern nation. This simply means He will enter by the east gate in the wall around Jerusalem on His way to the temple. This was the reference made by Ezekiel. This could be duplicated by a false Christ, however, and so we need to be on guard concerning all the events surrounding the return of Jesus. And here is a summary of what we’ve just seen. Christ’s coming will be accompanied by these signs and events:

A.) To save the elect from utter destruction

B.) In the sky

C.) Simultaneously visible to all who dwell on the Earth

D.) A sign will precede His appearance

E.) All the Earth will mourn

F.) He will come in clouds with power and glory

G.) There will be the sound of a trumpet

H.) The angels will at that time gather the Elect

I.) He will make war on the armies gathered against Him

J.) Tens of thousands of saints will be with Him

K.) He will stand on the Mount of Olives and it will split in two east to west

So, I do not believe the Messiah will be born of woman or come from an eastern, or any other, nation. I believe He will appear in the sky with all of the preceding signs listed. We must hold fast to a love of the truth so we are not deceived. As it says in the following passage from the Bible:

“For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into apostles of Christ. And no wonder! For Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also transform themselves into ministers of righteousness, whose end will be according to their works.” (2Cor. 11:13-15)

We are counseled by Christ that the false signs and wonders in the end times will be so incredible that even the elect could be deceived if that were possible. So, this fellow Hubber asked a great question and I hope my Hub was able to shed some light on it.