The Return of Jesus Christ
Zechariah 14:14 - "And His feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east, and the mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof toward the east and toward the west, and there shall be a very great valley; and half of the mountain shall remove toward the north, and half of it toward the south." Matthew 24:30 -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."
More is written in the Bible concerning the Day of the Lord than any other prophetic theme. It is the most frequently used term in the context of prophecy or endtime events. The prominent theme of the Day of the Lord prophecies is God's judgement for sin. It is present in every Day of the Lord passage. The "Day" is not a 24-hour period but rather stands in contrast to man's "day", which has been going on now for several thousand years. God will declare that "there shall be delay no longer." (Rev. 10:6); man's day will be ended and God's Day will begin. Man's iniquity will have been deemed by God to have reached its fullness, and His judgement will begin. This will be after the Man of Sin - the Anti-Christ - appears and defiles Israel's rebuilt temple (as Antiochus Epiphanes IV foreshadowed in 169 B.C.): "the abomination that causes desolation" cited by the Lord Jesus Christ in quoting the prophet Daniel.
"Or do you show contempt for the riches of His kindness, tolerance and patience, not realizing that God's kindness leads you toward repentence? But because of your stubborness and unrepentent heart, you are you are storing up wrath against yourself for the day of God's wrath, when His righteous judgement will be revealed. God will give to each person according to what he has done. To those who by persistence in doing good seek glory, honor and immortality, He will give eternal life. But for those who are self-seeking and who reject the truth and follow evil, there will be wrath and anger. There will be trouble and distress for every human being who does evil: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile; but glory, honor and peace for everyone who does good; first for the Jew, then for the Gentile. For God does not show favoritism." (Romans 2:4-11)
God will judge all that has been contaminated by sin by His direct, sovereign intervention in the affairs of mankind. He will do two things:
(1) He will deliver those clothed in the righteousness of Jesus Christ out of the earth.
(1 Cor. 1:30; 1 Thess. 1:10).
(2) He will purge the earth from the consequences of sin in an out-pouring of His wrath not experienced on earth since the flood at the time of Noah.
( Note what the Lord Jesus said as recorded in Matt. 24:37-41.)
"For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell and committed them to pits of darkness, to be held for judgement ; and did not spare the ancient world when He brought the flood on its ungodly people, but preserved Noah, a preacher of righteousness, and seven others; and if He condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to destruction by reducing them to ashes, and made them an example of what is going to happen to the ungodly; and if he rescued Lot, a righteous man, who was distressed by the filthy lives of lawless men (for that righteous man, living among them day after day, was tormented in his righteous soul by the lawless deeds he saw and heard), then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from temptation, and to keep the unrighteous under punishment for the day of judgement. This is especially true for those who indulge themselves in their corrupt desires and despise authority. Daring, self-willed, they do not fear to revile angelic majesties." (2 Peter 2:4-10)"Son of man, prophesy and say, Thus says the Lord God, Wail, Alas for that day! For the day is near, even the day of the Lord is near; it will be a day of clouds, a time of doom for the nations." (Eze. 30:2-3)
"Blow a trumpet in Zion. And sound an alarm on My holy mountain! Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble, for the day of the Lord is coming; surely it is near, A day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and thick darkness... For behold, in those days and at that time, when I restore the fortunes of Judah and Jerusalem, I will gather the nations, and bring them down to the valley of Jehoshaphat. Then I will enter into judgement against them there on behalf of My people and My inheritance, Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations; and they have divided up My land." (Joel 2:1-2a & 3:1-2)
Israel - and especially Jerusalem - will become more and more the center of events taking place on the earth.
Note Luke 21:20-24 "...and Jerusalem will be trampled underfoot by the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled.
"For the Lord of Hosts will have a day of reckoning
against everyone who is proud and lofty, and against everyone who is exalted
that he may be abased...and the pride of man will be humbled,
and the loftiness of man will be abased
and the Lord alone will be exalted in that day.
But the idols will completely vanish. Men will flee to caves in the rocks and to holes in the ground from dread of the Lord and the splendor of His majesty, when He rises to shake the earth....
Stop trusting in man, who has but a breath in his nostrils. Of what account is he?...
Wail, for for the day of the Lord is near! It will come as destruction from the Almighty.
Because of this, all hands will go limp, every man's heart will melt. Terror will seize them, pain and anguish will grip them; they will writhe like a woman in labor. They will look at each other, their faces aflame.
Behold, the day of the Lord is coming, a cruel day, with wrath and fierce anger, to make the land desolate and
destroy the sinners within it.
The stars of heaven and their constellations will not show their light. The rising sun will be darkened and the moon will not give its light.
Thus I will punish the world for its evil, and the wicked for their iniquity; I will also put an end to the arrogance of the proud, and abase the haughtiness of the ruthless.
I will make man scarcer than pure gold, more rare than gold of Ophir.
Therefore I shall make the heavens tremble, and the earth will be shaken from its place at the fury of the Lord of Hosts
in the day of His burning anger. (Isaiah 2:12,17-19,22 & 13:6-13) Note Rev. 6:12-17.
"Near is the great day of the Lord, near and coming very quickly; listen, the day of the Lord!
In it the warrior cries out bitterly.
a day of trouble and distress,
a day of destruction and desolation,
a day of darkness and gloom
a day of clouds and thick darkness
a day of trumpet and battle cry, against the fortified cities, and the high corner towers.
I will bring distress on the people and they will walk like blind men, because they have sinned against the Lord.
Their blood will be poured out like dust and their entrails like filth. Neither their silver nor their gold will be able to save them on the day of the Lord's wrath.
And all the earth will be devoured in the fire of His jealousy.
For He will make a complete end, indeed a terrifying one,
of all the inhabitants of the earth.
Gather together, gather together, o shameful nation, before the appointed time arrives and that day sweeps on like chaff, before the burning anger of the Lord comes upon you.
SEEK THE LORD, ALL YOU HUMBLE OF THE EARTH WHO DO WHAT HE COMMANDS. SEEK RIGHTEOUSNESS, SEEK HUMILITY, PERHAPS YOU WILL BE HIDDEN IN THE DAY OF THE LORD'S ANGER." (Zeph. 1:14-2:3)
"When God acts decisively in history in judgement upon the sin of individuals and nations, it is the day of the Lord, a day of divine intervention. A past event such as the destruction of Jerusalem could be described as the day of the Lord in His anger (Isa.22:1-13; Lam.1:12; 2:1,22). More often the reference is to a coming day against Israel's and God's enemies (Isa. 34:8; Jer.46:10; Eze.13:5; 30:3 Oba. 15). The inspired prophets could speak of the day as God's time of vengeance against sinful Israel (Isa.22:5; Joel 1:15; 2:1,11; Amos 5:18-20; Zeph.1:7-8,14-18; Zech. 14:1). The prophets could also speak of the day of the Lord as the day of universal judgement (Isa.2:12; 13:6; Joel 2:31; 3:14). The idea of judgement is prominent in the prophetic warnings about such a day. The darkness and gloom associated with destruction and overthrow characterizes the language about that day. It is a time of God's wrath upon human sin. The glimmer of hope for those who would seek righteousness breaks forth brightly in the other side of the day of the Lord, that which brings deliverance and newness in history (Amos 9:11-15) and in the consummation (2 Peter 3:10-13)." (Above quote taken from the NIV Disciple's Study Bible, copyright 1988 - Holman Bible Publishers, p.1133.)
"Know this first of all, that in the last days mockers will come with their mocking, following after their own lusts, and saying, 'Where is the promise of His coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all continues as it was from the beginning of creation.' But they deliberately forget that long ago by God's word the heavens existed and the earth was formed out of water and by water. By these waters also the world of that time was deluged and destroyed. But the present heavens and earth by His word are being reserved for fire, being kept for the day of judgement and destruction of ungodly men.
But do not forget this one thing, beloved: with the Lord a day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slow in keeping His promise, as some understand slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentence . But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, in which the heavens will pass away with a roar and the elements will be destroyed with intense heat, and the earth and its works will be burned up." (2 Peter 3:3-10)
"For behold, the Lord will come in fire and His chariots like the whirlwind, to render His anger with fury, and His rebuke with flames of fire. For the Lord will execute judgement by fire and by His sword on all flesh,and those slain by the Lord will be many." (Isaiah 66:15-16)
"...the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with His mighty angels in flaming fire dealing out retribution to those who do not know God and to those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. And these will pay the penalty of eternal destruction away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power, when He comes to be glorified in His saints on that day, and to be marveled at among all who have believed...." (2 Thess. 1:6-10)
[NOTE: Click on the Cross for a "Free Gift."]
KNOWING GOD'S WILL
THE RETURN OF JESUS CHRIST
ARE YOU LONGING FOR HIS APPEARING?
SINNERS IN THE HANDS OF AN ANGRY GOD
THE NATURE OF CHRIST'S SECOND COMING
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