End Time Prophecy Passport

By Chuck Swindoll

THE SECOND COMING OF CHRIST

Destruction, senseless violence, and hardship will characterize life on earth during the great tribulation. Though the second coming may seem a distant reality to us today or later even to those living through the great tribulation, Jesus Christ will indeed return to earth and put an end to the horrific judgments. As Christ makes His return from heaven, He will appear in the sky with His armies (Revelation 19:11-14), throw the Antichrist and the False Prophet into the lake of fire (16:19-20), slay the assembled evil armies at Armageddon (19:21), and place Satan in chains, locking him in the Abyss for a thousand years (20:1-3).

In that day, Jesus will set foot again on the earth, returning from the clouds to the same place—the Mount of Olives—where He ascended to heaven forty days after His resurrection (Zechariah 14:4; Acts 1:11-12). Jesus will then resurrect both Old Testament believers and believers who will have died in the tribulation. (Daniel 12:1-2; Revelation 20:4). Those still living will be separated out, whether Jew or Gentile, according to their faith (Ezekiel 20:33-38; Matthew 25:31-46). All believers will experience a judgment for rewards, like the one that raptured believers will experience at the judgment seat of Christ. But those Jews and Gentiles who live through the tribulation yet never believe in Christ for salvation will be purged—put to death—and not allowed to enter the millennial kingdom (Revelation 19:21; 20:9-15)

Ultimately at His second coming, Jesus will fulfill His role as the Son of David. Having gathered Israel back to Himself (Deuteronomy 30:5), Jesus will rule over Israel and the whole world from His throne in Jerusalem. The second coming of Jesus will inaugurate a time unmatched or unknown in all of human history—the millennial kingdom.

YEAH, BUT…

While we know the great tribulation will last three and a half years (or 1,260 days), Gabriel’s word to Daniel adds an extra thirty days (Daniel 12:11). What accounts for these thirty additional days? We know that at the end of the great tribulation when Christ returns to earth, He will judge Israel (Ezekiel 20:33-38) and the Gentile nations (Matthew 25:31-46).  This judgment will include all those who will have survived the tribulation, winnowing out those who will have worshiped the Antichrist from those who will have placed their faith in Christ. It is possible that this process will take place during these thirty days.

With the judgment complete, the followers of Christ who survive the tribulation period and the thirty days of judgment will enter into Christ’s glorious millennial kingdom (Daniel 12:12), rejoicing with the raptured, resurrected, and tribulation saints. But Gabriel did not end here; he noted that those who endure “to the 1,335 days” are blessed. What will take place during these additional forty-five days beyond the 1,290 mentioned in Daniel 12:11? This is a mystery, but it seems plausible that this time may include setting up the administrative structure for Christ’s millennial kingdom.

So what?

What will happen when Jesus returns to earth?

The Bible often uses the truth of the second coming of Jesus as a means of exhortation to better living for both believers and nonbelievers. The New Testament urges believers, in light of Christ’s second coming to repent from sinful living (Revelation 3:3), to separate ourselves from worldly lusts (Titus 2:11-13), and to pursue brotherly love (1 Thessalonians 3:12-13). For nonbelievers, the bible associates the second coming with tribulation and judgment (2 Thessalonians 1:7-9). The second coming stands as a beacon for all people, calling God’s people to embrace more fully their glorious future and warning everyone else about the terrible dangers ahead.