Lesson #03

REVELATION AND THE SECOND COMING
LESSON #03
PROPHECY, DOCTRINE, AND DEFINITIONS: PREPARATION

• THE SECOND COMING OF CHRIST AND PROPHECY
• THE BIBLE CLEARLY REVEALS THAT JESUS CHRIST WILL RETURN TO THIS EARTH ONE DAY. IN FACT, THE BIBLE TALKS AS MUCH OR MORE ABOUT THE SECOND COMING OF CHRIST AS IT DOES ABOUT THE FIRST COMING.
• THE BIBLE GIVES APPROXIMATELY 333 DETAILS OF CHRIST’S COMING TO THE EARTH.
• 196 OF THESE DETAILS IN PROPHECY HAVE BEEN FULFILLED IN CHRIST’S FIRST COMING. I HAVE GIVEN YOU A LIST OF ONLY 53 OF THEM AT THE END OF YOUR NOTES.
• THIS LEAVES 137 PROPHETIC DETAILS TO BE FULFILLED AT THE SECOND COMING OF CHRIST.
• BEFORE HIS CRUCIFIXION, JESUS SAID HE WOULD COME AGAIN (MAT 24:3, 27-28)
• SOMETIMES THE PHRASE, “THE SECOND COMING” IS USED GENERALLY TO REFER TO ALL THE EVENTS AT THE END OF TIME INCLUDING THE RAPTURE, THE TRIBULATION, THE BATTLE OF ARMAGEDDON, THE EVENT OF THE SECOND COMING, THE MILLENNIUM, AND THE FINAL JUDGMENT, ETC.
• SOMETIMES THE PHRASE IS USED MORE SPECIFICALLY TO REFER TO THE EXACT MOMENT WHEN JESUS CHRIST DESCENDS FROM HEAVEN AND PUTS HIS FOOT ON THE MOUNT OF OLIVES ACCORDING TO ACT 1:11.
• IN ORDER TO DISTINGUISH THE GENERAL USAGE FROM THE SPECIFIC USAGE OF THE PHRASE “THE SECOND COMING”, I WILL USE THE PHRASE, “THE EVENT OF THE SECOND COMING” TO REFER TO THE SPECIFIC MOMENT OF CHRIST’S DESCENDING TO THE EARTH.
• THE INTEROPERATION OF REVELATION:
• THERE ARE MANY WAYS THAT THEOLOGIANS HAVE INTERPRETED THE BOOK OF REVELATION DOWN THROUGH HISTORY.
• THE INTERPRETIVE VIEWPOINT:
• SPIRITUAL
• REVELATION IS NOT TO BE TAKEN LITERALLY BUT TEACHES SPIRITUAL PRINCIPLES ONLY.
• THIS VIEW MAKES THE BIBLE NOTHING MORE THAN A MYTH AND LEAVES THE BELIEVER WITH NOTHING REAL OR TANGIBLE ON WHICH TO BASE HIS FAITH.
• PRETERIST
• REVELATION DESCRIBES EVENTS IN THE ROMAN EMPIRE ONLY DURING THE TIME OF JOHN’S WRITING OF THE BOOK.
• THIS VIEWPOINT IS GROWING IN POPULARITY TODAY AND IS BASED ON THE BELIEF THAT THE CHURCH HAS REPLACED ISRAEL.
• THIS VIEW HAS MANY PROBLEMS BECAUSE MUCH OF WHAT IS PREDICTED IN REVELATION NEVER CAME TRUE IN THE TIME OF THE OLD ROMAN EMPIRE. HOW COULD JESUS HAVE RETURNED TO EARTH IN 70 AD AND BELIEVERS MISSED IT? HOW COULD WE NOW BE IN THE MILLENNIUM?
• HISTORICIST
• REVELATION SETS FORTH EVENTS IN HISTORY FROM THE FIRST CENTURY TO THE PRESENT.
• THIS VIEW IS GROWING IN POPULARITY TODAY. IT DOES AWAY WITH ALL PROPHECY AND CLAIMS THAT EVERYTHING IS HISTORY, WRITTEN AFTER THE FACT. LIKE THE PRETERIST VIEW, THERE IS MUCH IN REVELATION THAT YOU CANNOT FIND FULFILLED ANYWHERE IN HISTORY.
• *FUTURIST
• REVELATION SETS FORTH EVENTS YET TO BE FULFILLED AT THE END OF THIS PRESENT AGE
• THIS IS THE PROPHETIC VIEW THAT WE WILL USE IN OUR STUDY OF REVELATION AND THE SECOND COMING OF CHRIST.

• THEOLOGICAL GLOSSARY: A DEFINITION OF TERMS

• BEFORE WE BEGIN OUR STUDY OF REVELATION, WE MUST MAKE SURE WE ALL HAVE A BASIC UNDERSTANDING OF TERMS. THE FIRST SET OF TERMS CONCERNS THE POSITION IN TIME REGARDING THE RELATIONSHIP OF THE MILLENNIUM WITH CHRIST’S SECOND COMING.

• THE MILLENNIUM:
• THE WORD MILLENNIUM MEANS = 1,000. IN REVELATION 20:2-7, THIS IS A PERIOD OF 1,000 YEARS WHEN SATAN IS BOUND AND THE LORD JESUS CHRIST REIGNS ON THE EARTH.
• *PRE-MILLENNIALISM:
• A THEOLOGICAL POSITION THAT BELIEVES THE SECOND COMING OF CHRIST WILL OCCUR BEFORE THE MILLENNIUM.
• THIS IS THE POSITION FROM WHICH WE WILL STUDY THE BOOK OF REVELATION AND ALL THE SCRIPTURES THAT PERTAIN TO THE SECOND COMING OF CHRIST.
• IN THE EARLY CHURCH, THIS VIEW WAS KNOWN AS “CHILIASM”, A WORD DERIVED FROM THE GREEK AND MEANING 1000. THIS GREEK WORD IS USED 7 TIMES IN REVELATION.
• THIS WAS THE MOST WIDELY HELD VIEW OF THE 1000 YEAR PERIOD IN THE EARLY CHURCH AND IS STILL SO TODAY.
• POST-MILLENNIALISM:
• A THEOLOGICAL POSITION THAT BELIEVES THE SECOND COMING OF CHRIST WILL OCCUR AFTER THE MILLENNIUM.
• IN DAN 2, THE STONE CRUSHING THE IMAGE INDICATES THE VICTORY OF THE CHURCH OVER THE ROMAN EMPIRE. THIS INFLUENCE FOR GOOD WOULD EXTEND UNTIL THE CHURCH FILLS THE EARTH. THE CHURCH DOES THE RULING DURING THE MILLENNIUM AS CHRIST IS NOT YET BODILY PRESENT ON EARTH UNTIL THE END OF THE MILLENNIUM.
• THE IDEA IS THAT WITH THE CHURCH RULING ON EARTH, THE WORLD WILL GET BETTER AND BETTER MAKING THE WAY FOR THE COMING MESSIAH.
• THIS VIEW FIRST APPEARED BETWEEN 1105 AND 1202 AD. WORLD WAR I AND WORLD WAR II PROMPTED THE DEMISE OF THIS VIEWPOINT. HOWEVER, IT WAS RESURRECTED IN THE 1980’S BUT WITH DIFFERENT NAMES, SUCH AS, “DOMINIONISM”, “RECONSTRUCTIONISM”, “KINGDOM NOW”, ETC.
• A-MILLENNIALISM:
• A THEOLOGICAL POSITION THAT BELIEVES THE SECOND COMING OF CHRIST OCCURS AFTER A SPIRITUAL MILLENNIUM. THERE IS NO MILLENNIUM ON THE EARTH.
• ALL THE EVENTS ARE SPIRITUALIZED AND HAPPEN IN THE HEAVENLY REALM WITH NONE HAPPENING ON EARTH. THERE IS ONE RESURRECTION OF ALL DEAD NOT TWO.
• THIS VIEWPOINT CAN BE TRACED BACK TO THE WRITINGS OF AUGUSTINE (354-430 AD) AND BECAME PROMINENT WITH THE CONVERSION OF EMPEROR CONSTANTINE. A MAN BY THE NAME OF ORIGIN IN CONSTANTINE’S EMPIRE, ALLEGORIZED AND DE-EMPHASIZED THE LITERAL SIGNIFICANCE OF THE MILLENNIUM. IT WAS ADOPTED AND POPULARIZED BY AUGUSTINE.

• THE SECOND SET OF TERMS HAS TO DO WITH THE POSITION IN TIME OF THE TRIBULATION PERIOD IN RELATIONSHIP TO THE RAPTURE OF THE CHURCH.

• THE TRIBULATION:
• THIS IS A PERIOD OF SEVEN YEARS WHEN GOD WILL DEAL SPECIFICALLY WITH THE JEWS AS A NATION (JER 30:7). IT IS A TIME WHEN GOD WILL POUR HIS WRATH ON THE EARTH AND WILL PERMIT THE ANTI-CHRIST TO GOVERN ON THE EARTH.
• THE GREAT TRIBULATION:
• A TERM THAT IS SOMETIMES USED FOR THE ENTIRE 7-YEAR PERIOD. HOWEVER, MORE SPECIFICALLY, IT REFERS TO THE LAST 3 ½ YEARS OF THAT SEVEN YEAR PERIOD. (MAT 24:21 REV 7:14)
• THE RAPTURE:
• A THEOLOGICAL WORD THAT LITERALLY MEANS, “CATCHING UP”. IT DESCRIBES 1THESALONIANS 4:13-18 WHEN JESUS WILL COME IN THE CLOUDS AND WILL REMOVE THE BELIEVERS FROM THE EARTH. YOU WILL NOT FIND THE WORD “RAPTURE” IN THE BIBLE BUT YOU WILL FIND THE WORDS, “CAUGHT UP” IN 1THE 4.
• AT SOME POINT IN TIME, JESUS WILL COME IN THE CLOUDS AND REMOVE BELIEVERS FROM THIS EARTH. THIS IS NOT THE SPECIFIC EVENT OF THE SECOND COMING OF CHRIST.
• *PRE-TRIBULATION RAPTURE (PRE-TRIB):
• A THEORY THAT THE RAPTURE WILL OCCUR BEFORE THE BEGINNING OF THE TRIBULATION.
• THERE IS EVIDENCE THAT THE EARLY CHURCH BELIEVED IN THIS VIEWPOINT, FOR THERE IS A DEFINITE PRE-TRIBULATION STATEMENT BY EPHRAM IN 373 AD.
• “FOR ALL THE SAINTS AND THE ELECT OF GOD ARE GATHERED PRIOR TO THE TRIBULATION THAT IS TO COME, AND ARE TAKEN TO THE Lord lest they see the confusion that is to overwhelm the world because of our sins.”
• DR. JOHN GILL TAUGHT THIS POSITION IN 1748 AND USED THE WORD “RAPTURE”. THE PRE-TRIBULATION RAPTURE VIEW BECAME VERY POPULAR IN THE UNITED STATES IN THE 1900’S WITH THE WORK OF DARBY IN DUBLIN, IRELAND.
• THIS IS THE POSITION THAT WE WILL USE IN OUR APPROACH TO OUR STUDY OF THE BOOK OF REVELATION AND THE SECOND COMING OF CHRIST.
• MID-TRIBULATION RAPTURE (MID-TRIB):
• A THEORY THAT THE RAPTURE WILL OCCURS IN THE MIDDLE OF THE TRIBULATION AFTER THREE AND A HALF YEARS OF TRIBULATION SO AS TO AVOID THE POSSIBILITY OF GOD’S WRATH OVER CHURCH BELIEVERS.
• THE PRE-WRATH RAPTURE POSITION
• THIS POSITION IS SOMEWHAT SIMILAR TO THE MID-TRIBULATION POSITION BUT THEY SEE THE RAPTURE AS OCCURRING ABOUT ¾ OF THE WAY THROUGH THE TRIBULATION PERIOD.
• THIS THEORY HAS NEW POPULARITY TODAY.

• POST-TRIBULATION RAPTURE (POST-TRIB):
• A THEORY THAT THE RAPTURE WILL OCCUR AFTER THE TRIBULATION AND BEFORE THE EVENT OF THE SECOND COMING OF JESUS CHRIST.
• WE WILL DISCUSS THESE VARIOUS RAPTURE VIEWPOINTS LATER WHEN WE STUDY THE RAPTURE IN DETAIL.

• CYCLES IN PROPHECY:
• GOD MOVES AND WORKS IN CYCLES OF TIME.
• WHILE THERE ARE SEVERAL NUMERICAL CYCLES IN THE BIBLE, THE MOST IMPORTANT CYCLES ARE CYCLES OF 7 EXEMPLIFIED IN A JEWISH SABBATIC SYSTEM.
• 7 DAYS, 7 WEEKS, 7TH MONTH, 7 YEARS
• THE 7 DAY CREATION PERIOD ESTABLISHED THE SABBATH SYSTEM.
• THE JEWISH SABBATH WAS ON THE 7TH DAY.
• AT THE END OF THE 7TH WEEK (49 DAYS) WAS THE DAY OF PENTECOST.
• THE 7TH MONTH OF THE JEWISH CALENDAR CONTAINED 3 IMPORTANT JEWISH FEASTS. (LEV 23)
• EVERY 7TH YEAR WAS A SABBATIC YEAR.
• THE TRIBULATION PERIOD WILL LAST FOR 7 YEARS.
• AT THE END OF THE 7TH SABBATIC YEAR (49 YEARS) WAS THE YEAR OF JUBILEE (50TH YEAR).
• 70 YEAR CYCLES
• THE SERVITUDE OF ISRAEL UNDER BABYLON 606-536 BC
• THE CAPTIVITY OF ISRAEL UNDER BABYLON 597-527 BC
• THE DESOLATIONS ON JERUSALEM 586-516 BC

• NUMBERS IN PROPHECY:
• IN PROPHECY AND SPECIFICALLY IN THE BOOK OF REVELATION, THERE ARE MANY NUMBERS. WHILE PLACES AND WORDS CHANGE MEANING OVER TIME, LIKE GOD, THE MEANING OF NUMBERS DOES NOT CHANGE. THERE ARE NUMBERS THAT REPRESENT ALL THE GREAT DOCTRINES IN THE BIBLE.

SOME OF THE 196 PROPHECIES OF THE FIRST COMING