NOTE: All comments in brackets [ ] or in parentheses ( ) as well as highlighted text (bolded and/or in blue) are from the author of this study.
Bible quotations are in maroon.
There are several Scriptures which talk about how Christ’s 2nd Coming will be seen by the whole world. We read about the battle of Armageddon, the destruction of the armies marching toward Jerusalem to confront what they consider to be an invader from outer space whom they have seen landing there; the heavenly signs where the faces of God and Christ appear for all to see and men fleeing in absolute terror asking for the rocks and the mountains to fall on them and hide them from the faces that they see in the sky.
These events will be highly visible wherever they will occur but the question that is to be asked is: Will they be understood as Christ’s 2nd Coming and how will Christ’s 2nd Coming change world conditions?
Will Christ be eager to manifest Himself to mankind in all His regal splendor and authority and usher in a new world order where God’s government will replace the governments of men which will be administered from thereon by glorified spirit beings taking over national, regional and municipal governments and applying God’s law to the whole world?
Haven’t men proven that they do not have the wisdom required to rule themselves and despite their best efforts at securing peace and prosperity, the history of mankind has been one of escalating wars and massive losses of life and material destruction with the nations of the world being unable to prevent war and ensure peace for all.
Will the Millennium not be that wonderful time of universal peace on the earth with all the nations of the world living in peace, harmony and cooperation with each other?
If not, why not?
Supernatural Occurrences do not Convert People
In the Bible, supernatural events are called “signs and wonders” and they are extraordinary events that amaze people and often causes them to follow whomever is doing them. They follow after them out of curiosity eager to see what other “miracle” this person can do.
Christ did many signs and wonders and the crowds followed Him wanting to see more miracles. Christ’s reputation grew as He went about healing the sick and resurrecting the dead in some instances but were any of His miracles instrumental in bringing about the conversion of anyone or did those that followed him simply stand around waiting to witness Jesus doing more miracles.
Christ said to the many that believed on him that if they believed what He said and continued in His word then they would indeed be His disciples but they did not believe what He said; the miracles that He did in no way led any of them to believe what He said. They didn’t believe Christ because they heard the words He spoke but they could not understand them because they were not being called out neither were they converted (begotten of God’s Spirit) and as such they did not have God as their father like Christ did but rather Satan was their father, spiritually speaking of course. They were letting Satan influence them and not God whom they would obey if God were their father as Christ obeyed Him. They would not be able to do so perfectly like Christ did but their desire would be to obey God to the best of their abilities but this was not their attitude toward Christ.
Joh 8:30 As he spake these words, many believed on him.
Joh 8:31 Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed;
Joh 8:32 And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.
Joh 8:33 They answered him, We be Abraham’s seed, and were never in bondage to any man: how sayest thou, Ye shall be made free?
Joh 8:34 Jesus answered them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin.
Joh 8:35 And the servant abideth not in the house for ever: but the Son abideth ever.
Joh 8:36 If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.
Joh 8:37 I know that ye are Abraham’s seed; but ye seek to kill me, because my word hath no place in you.
Joh 8:38 I speak that which I have seen with my Father: and ye do that which ye have seen with your father.
Joh 8:39 They answered and said unto him, Abraham is our father. Jesus saith unto them, If ye were Abraham’s children, ye would do the works of Abraham.
Joh 8:40 But now ye seek to kill me, a man that hath told you the truth, which I have heard of God: this did not Abraham.
Joh 8:41 Ye do the deeds of your father. Then said they to him, We be not born of fornication; we have one Father, even God.
Joh 8:42 Jesus said unto them, If God were your Father, ye would love me: for I proceeded forth and came from God; neither came I of myself, but he sent me.
Joh 8:43 Why do ye not understand my speech? even because ye cannot hear my word.
Joh 8:44 Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.
Joh 8:45 And because I tell you the truth, ye believe me not.
Joh 8:46 Which of you convinceth me of sin? And if I say the truth, why do ye not believe me?
Joh 8:47 He that is of God heareth God’s words: ye therefore hear them not, because ye are not of God.
For a while the people thought Jesus was going to liberate Israel from Roman domination and they eagerly followed after Him. However, they did not believe what He said nor were they all that interested in doing so despite the many miracles or “mighty works” that Christ did.
Mat 12:39 But he answered and said unto them, An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given to it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas:
Mat 12:40 For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale’s belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.
Mat 12:41 The men of Nineveh shall rise in judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: because they repented at the preaching of Jonas; and, behold, a greater than Jonas is here.
Mat 12:42 The queen of the south shall rise up in the judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: for she came from the uttermost parts of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and, behold, a greater than Solomon is here.
And, did they believe the only sure sign Christ gave them that He was the promised Messiah that they had been waiting for all these years?
Mat 27:62 Now the next day, that followed the day of the preparation, the chief priests and Pharisees came together unto Pilate,
Mat 27:63 Saying, Sir, we remember that that deceiver said, while he was yet alive, After three days I will rise again.
Mat 27:64 Command therefore that the sepulchre be made sure until the third day, lest his disciples come by night, and steal him away, and say unto the people, He is risen from the dead: so the last error shall be worse than the first.
Mat 27:65 Pilate said unto them, Ye have a watch: go your way, make it as sure as ye can.
Mat 27:66 So they went, and made the sepulchre sure, sealing the stone, and setting a watch.
Jesus’ resurrection occurs.
Mat 28:1 In the end of the sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, came Mary Magdalene and the other Mary to see the sepulchre.
Mat 28:2 And, behold, there was a great earthquake: for the angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the door, and sat upon it.
Mat 28:3 His countenance was like lightning, and his raiment white as snow:
Mat 28:4 And for fear of him the keepers did shake, and became as dead men.
Some of the men guarding the sepulcher referred to as the “keepers” in Matt 28:4 went to the chief priests to tell them what they had seen.
Mat 28:11 Now when they were going, behold, some of the watch came into the city, and shewed unto the chief priests all the things that were done.
Mat 28:12 And when they were assembled with the elders, and had taken counsel, they gave large money unto the soldiers,
Mat 28:13 Saying, Say ye, His disciples came by night, and stole him away while we slept.
Mat 28:14 And if this come to the governor’s ears, we will persuade him, and secure you.
Mat 28:15 So they took the money, and did as they were taught: and this saying is commonly reported among the Jews until this day.
The religious professionals of the day refused to believe in the resurrection of Jesus and paid off the guards to say that Jesus’ disciple had stolen His body to make it appear He had resurrected from the dead.
Why the Unbelief?
Christ’s words were not believed by the crowds that followed Him because Jesus did not come to reveal to them the truth of the kingdom of God rather He came to train those individuals chosen by God the Father which were to be trained to become the foundation of God’s New Testament Church.
Mat 13:10 And the disciples came, and said unto him, Why speakest thou unto them in parables?
Mat 13:11 He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given.
Jesus taught His disciples truth which constitutes the foundation of God’s Church.
1Co 3:10 According to the grace of God which is given unto me, as a wise masterbuilder, I have laid the foundation, and another buildeth thereon. But let every man take heed how he buildeth thereupon.
1Co 3:11 For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.
Paul was not one of the original apostles; his calling was after Christ’s ascension back to His Father. He too however was personally taught by Christ.
Gal 1:15 But when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother’s womb, and called me by his grace,
Gal 1:16 To reveal his Son in me, that I might preach him among the heathen; immediately I conferred not with flesh and blood:
Gal 1:17 Neither went I up to Jerusalem to them which were apostles before me; but I went into Arabia, and returned again unto Damascus.
Gal 1:18 Then after three years I went up to Jerusalem to see Peter, and abode with him fifteen days.
Paul was not taught the truth by any man nor did he seek to have what had been taught him by Christ confirmed by those who were already apostles. Upon meeting Paul and Barnabas, the original apostles James, Cephas (Peter) and John understood that Paul had been given the same truth that they had received from Christ and they recognized his apostleship.
Gal 2:9 And when James, Cephas, and John, who seemed to be pillars, perceived the grace that was given unto me, they gave to me and Barnabas the right hands of fellowship; that we should go unto the heathen, and they unto the circumcision.
Gal 2:10 Only they would that we should remember the poor; the same which I also was forward to do.
What does it take to Know and Understand God’s truth?
If the most impressive miracles which the Bible calls signs and wonders are not enough, what does it take for someone to become able to not only know but also really understand the truth of God?
1Co 2:7 But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory:
1Co 2:8 Which none of the princes of this world knew: for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.
1Co 2:9 But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.
1Co 2:10 But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God.
1Co 2:11 For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God.
Basically, what these verses are saying is that the things of God no man can know but by the Spirit of God. Miracles, signs and wonders as occurred in the days of Christ’s sojourn on the earth and those that will precede and follow Christ’s Second Coming will not result in men all of a sudden coming to conversion. For conversion to occur a period of time is needed where the prospective convert is exposed to God’s truth with God’s Spirit being with the individual to make it possible for him to understand God’s truth. Conversion requires that the individual turn to a different way of thinking and acting which is based on having knowledge and understanding of some of God’s truth. In order to repent, it is necessary to know what to repent of and what new way of thinking and behaving one has to try to apply in his life to the best of his abilities. Conversion and repentance follow a period of learning of some of God’s truth and this learning and understanding of God’s truth is only possible by God’s Spirit. It is not and cannot be the result of men who do not have God’s Spirit having seen marvels and, signs and wonder no matter how impressive.
The events of the Great Tribulation and of the Day of the Lord when they occur will not be understood in their spiritual dimension. They will certainly be interpreted in religious terms by the many false religions in the world as being occurrences that will usher in different events and happenings which they have been preaching about. Overall, the true nature and meaning of end-time events will not be understood by the world including Christ’s Second Coming.
The world will be completely bewildered and given the massive amount of war, famine, pestilence, destruction of life and property and the fall of some of the great nations of the world that will then occur, people will be fearing for their lives and that of their loved ones and will be desperately seeking to escape death and being taken prisoner by the invading armies.
The time before and after Christ’s Second Coming will be a time of great destruction, death, suffering and misery such as never has been to that time nor will ever be again.
Mat 24:21 For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.
Mat 24:22 And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect’s sake those days shall be shortened.
Men will be seeking to save their physical lives and escape natural disasters such as 1/3 of the animals in the sea dying; 1/3 part of the forests and all the grass being burnt up; 1/3 of the ships on the sea being destroyed, etc. (see Rev 8:6, the 7 trumpet plagues). The Great Tribulation and the Day of the Lord which follows immediately after the Great Tribulation will be a time where men will be filled with such terror that they will be seeking death to escape the great horror that they are living through and which seems to have no end.
Rev 9:1 And the fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star fall from heaven unto the earth: and to him was given the key of the bottomless pit.
Rev 9:2 And he opened the bottomless pit; and there arose a smoke out of the pit, as the smoke of a great furnace; and the sun and the air were darkened by reason of the smoke of the pit.
Rev 9:3 And there came out of the smoke locusts upon the earth: and unto them was given power, as the scorpions of the earth have power.
Rev 9:4 And it was commanded them that they should not hurt the grass of the earth, neither any green thing, neither any tree; but only those men which have not the seal of God in their foreheads.
Rev 9:5 And to them it was given that they should not kill them, but that they should be tormented five months: and their torment was as the torment of a scorpion, when he striketh a man.
Rev 9:6 And in those days shall men seek death, and shall not find it; and shall desire to die, and death shall flee from them.
They will not understand what is going on and even if they could, the events of those days will be so terrifying that all they will think about is saving their lives. They will not be thinking about end-time prophecy and analyzing events to determine which prophecy is being fulfilled by what event. They will be scared out of their minds and be trying desperately to survive until the end of these terrible events.
After the destruction of the beast armies in the battle of Armageddon, and the pouring out of the last 7 vial plagues, peace will return to the earth along with some major changes occurring to the nature of animals (they will lose their ferocity, will no longer be poisonous, carnivores like tigers and lions will eat grass like the ox, etc. (see Isa 11).
However, there is one thing that God will not change and which cannot be changed in order for His Great Master Plan of Salvation to be carried out as planned and for God to be able to reproduce Himself through mankind.
Man’s Nature
Man was created after the image of God (has the same kind of mind but with much less knowledge and ability to think) and according to His likeness (in their physical appearance men look like God)
Joh 14:8 Philip saith unto him, Lord, shew us the Father, and it sufficeth us.
Joh 14:9 Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Shew us the Father?
Man’s nature or human nature has been the object of much analysis and discussion and some have concluded that man’s nature is basically Satan’s nature in men’s minds which explains the great evils in the world which otherwise are incomprehensible.
Is human nature really Satan’s nature in men who are unknowingly the slaves of Satan? As always, we have to go back to the Bible to prove whether this understanding of human nature can be supported with Scriptures.
God commanded Israel to choose. Israel represents the unconverted nations of the world collectively speaking and also the individual person. The world is made up of nations and nations are made up of individual human beings. Whether we are talking about persons or nations we are basically talking about the same thing. Israel is both a man and a nation through his children who became the nation of Israel.
And so it is we read in Deu 30:19.
Deu 30:19 I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live:
God commands men to choose life. In order for men to be able to choose it is necessary that they not be dominated by a stronger power which prevents them from choosing in accordance with their will. In other words, there cannot be any other power that would be able to prevent man from choosing life if he decides to do so. If there were such a power in the universe, then man would not be free to choose “life or death; the only possible choice that could be made is that of the power that dominates him. God would not then have been able to command man to choose as if he were dominated by a stronger power he would not be able to make his own choice.
God gave man absolute free moral agency, the absolute freedom and power to choose so that he would be free to choose life when it is offered to him. This freedom to choose means that it is impossible to make men believe anything unless they choose to believe it. This is why God’s Church is non-proselytizing; it does not send missionaries out to convert people.
The freedom given by God to mankind to choose means that man cannot be under the irresistible influence of a superior being that can force him to do evil against his will.
Was man created with an evil nature?
We read in the book of Genesis that everything that God creates is very good.
Gen 1:31 And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day.
Would the creation of man be any different than what He had created in the first six days of the week of creation? Would God have created man with an inherently evil mind not subject to him and only wanting to do evil as the means for Him to reproduce Himself?
Man was created with the absolute power to choose which means that he was not predisposed to do evil or good nor could they be any power in the universe that could force him to do good or evil. The good or evil that a man does has to be by his own freely and knowingly made choice.
How can we know for sure?
If man is not free to choose then he cannot be held responsible for his choices as they are not his own but that of the superior power which controls him. If he cannot be held responsible then God cannot judge him as having been obedient or not to Him as man if dominated by a superior power has no power to choose.
Knowing and hopefully understanding this, it should be clear that man as created by God to be able to choose cannot be under the irresistible influence of some higher power that dominates him. Satan cannot dominate men or compel them to do evil against their will though he can influence the minds of men. Men are not the slaves of Satan neither can they be according to God’s plan of salvation for mankind.
Where does the temptation to do evil come from?
Jas 1:13 Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man:
Jas 1:14 But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed.
Jas 1:15 Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.
Mind power, the ability to think and the freedom to choose given man makes it possible for man to make an excessive or abusive use of things such as food and drink that in themselves are not sinful to use. Mankind was created with minds and physical bodies which have needs that have to be fulfilled. However, we need to restrain ourselves in how we fulfill these needs so as not to become abusive in doing so and in the process, sin. Eating and drinking are necessary and pleasurable and in accordance with God’s will and law but eating excessively or drinking excessively are sinful. Whether we eat and drink in a way that is in accordance with God’s law or do so in a way that is sinful depends on us. We have the freedom to do one or the other. One requires self-discipline and self-restraint while the other does not and is the easy path followed by many.
Our sinfulness cannot be blamed on others and our good works are not the result of what others do for us but of what we do ourselves. We are saved or damned based on the choices we make using the absolute freedom to choose God gave us all. Satan does and can influence our minds but he cannot force us to do evil nor are we, or can we be, the slaves of Satan or of any other higher power given the absolute freedom to choose given mankind by God.
Why Must Man be Free to Choose?
We read in the Bible that God will not force man to obey Him.
Rom 8:14 For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.
God’s Spirit will only lead, man has to make the decision to follow its lead.
Why will God not force men to obey Him even though He has the power to do so as the Creator of all things?
If God were to force obedience to Him then men would no longer be free to choose, they would not have their own minds and essentially be like all the other animals God created which have no mind power and no ability to choose. All their actions are controlled by instinct; they react in certain preordained ways to the different situations they encounter with no ability to deviate significantly from a given range of reactions. Also, without freedom to choose and independence of thought men could have no individuality and no personality; they would not have the ability to think independently; their existence would only be an extension of the mind of the being that is controlling them; they would be like robots whose reactions cannot be any different than those programmed in them by their builder. God would still be alone in the universe.
Another reason which is probably the greatest in importance as to why man must be free to choose is that in order for God to be able to reproduce Himself through man, man has to be a being of character. Character can be simply summarized as having self-control.
God leaves us completely free to choose; He gives us the ability to choose and He urges us to choose life but He will not force us to do so. We must choose life when there is no other power forcing us to do so which means that we must self-willingly and voluntarily exert our will power to control ourselves (the lust of which we are capable because of the mind power and freedom to choose that we have) to live our lives in accordance with God’s law to the best of our abilities until the end of our natural lives.
We have but a little power now as human beings and if God is to share with us His very nature and power with which He created the heavens and the earth we have to demonstrate in this life our willingness to control ourselves when nothing is forcing us to do so except ourselves because we have freely chosen to do so after God revealed His truth to us at the time of our calling. This is what is called CHARACTER.
It is this character that will be recorded in the spirit essence within us that returns to God at the time of our death and which God will use to resurrect us. At the time of our resurrection as glorified spirit beings, this character will be an unchangeable part of our nature as spirit once fully created no longer can change. This is what will ensure that every member of God’s Kingdom will work in full harmony with all other parts with none being dissatisfied with their role in God’s Kingdom in the same way all the cells of our bodies work in perfect harmony with each other for the good of the body.
End-Time Events
Knowing that God’s master plan of salvation for mankind requires that men be free to choose so as to be able to demonstrate to Him their willingness to control themselves when no one is forcing them to do so in order to conduct their lives in accordance with His law, it should be clear that miracles, signs and wonders can never be the means whereby men are or can be brought to conversion.
Miracles, signs and wonders are not knowledge or understanding.
Conversion requires knowledge and understanding of what needs to be done to change our lives from what they currently are to what God wants them to be. Miracles do not give us any such knowledge. Additionally, God’s truth is only knowable by revelation; not by signs and wonders, which means God’s Spirit is required for us to come to know it and finally, as we have often heard, conversion is an individual process of studying and reflecting on God’s truth when it is given for us to know it so that we can come to a decision whether to live our lives in submission to God or to keep on ourselves being the highest authority in our lives and living it according to our own standards.
The events accompanying Christ’s Second Coming will constitute a time of great destruction and upheaval around the world. Men will be surrounded by death and material destruction on an incomparable scale; they will not understand the meaning of the times they will be living through and their greatest desire will be to save their physical lives. While all the destruction and carnage is ongoing they will want for the rocks and the mountains to fall on them and hide them.
Rev 6:12 And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood;
Rev 6:13 And the stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind.
Rev 6:14 And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places.
Rev 6:15 And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains;
Rev 6:16 And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb:
Rev 6:17 For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?
The Day after the End of the Great Tribulation
Now we are back to the beginning of this study and the question asked as to whether following Christ’s 2nd Coming and the end of the Great Tribulation the current world order will be changed. Will men be coming to conversion in large numbers and will God’s law begin to be implemented in the world starting with Jerusalem and eventually extending to all nations? Will there be a gradual coming into being of God’s government over mankind as spirit beings run massive reeducation campaigns and take over the governments of this world and apply God’s law to the administration of the affairs of men.
As we have just been exploring together, the minds of men are not converted by seeing miraculous occurrences nor by great calamities befalling the earth. The events of the Great Tribulation and of the Day of the Lord will cause havoc with the nations of the world; the environment will be dramatically changed, there will be a great destruction of forests and sea life and the death of vast numbers of men as wars involving the use of nuclear weaponry will be waged between the world’s mighty nations competing to become the superpower that will dominate the earth.
What will be the result on those men who live through this great period of destruction, suffering, death and misery?
Will they be earnestly seeking God and be filled with a great desire to repent?
What does the Bible have to say about this matter?
Rev 9:20 And the rest of the men which were not killed by these plagues yet repented not of the works of their hands, that they should not worship devils, and idols of gold, and silver, and brass, and stone, and of wood: which neither can see, nor hear, nor walk:
Rev 9:21 Neither repented they of their murders, nor of their sorceries, nor of their fornication, nor of their thefts.
Rev 16:9 And men were scorched with great heat, and blasphemed the name of God, which hath power over these plagues: and they repented not to give him glory.
Rev 16:11 And blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores, and repented not of their deeds.
Once the dust settles and the smoke of battle clears up men’s interest will be to bury and mourn their loved ones who have died; to begin rebuilding their cities and towns and to attempt to restore to the best of their abilities the world to the conditions in which it was before the time of the great destruction which has just struck it. They will be unconcerned with notions of God, spiritual truth or living their lives in accordance with God’s 10 commandments. They will want to get back to their former standards of physical and material well-being as soon as possible and they will be eager to restore the world to the way it was before hostilities began between the nations.
The First World War came and left without any great religious revival occurring across the world; the Second World War came and went and again, there was no religious conversion of the masses. The focus of mankind’s effort immediately after the end of hostilities was to rebuild their destroyed cities and their economies and get back as soon as possible to the life they knew before the beginning of the wars.
You will recall that when God freed ancient Israel from its captivity under the Egyptians that despite all the great miracles which God did to obtain the release of Israel, the Egyptians remained unconverted. They didn’t all of a sudden abandon their idols and false gods and begin seeking and worshiping the one true God. They also remained unconvinced that God was mightier than they were and after all the destruction God brought upon their country they still attempted to again make slaves of the Israelites pursuing them to bring them back to Egypt.
The plagues coming upon Egypt was a great manifestation of God’s power but to the Egyptians the God of Israel was simply one more of many gods worshiped by men and there was no reason why their god could not vanquish the God of the Israelites.
In the end-time we have a repetition on a much greater scale of God intervening in the affairs of men to bring Israel back from it captivity among the Gentile nations. This time, God’s intervention will include the whole world and not be bound to the territory of a single nation. End-time Israel will be dispersed across the world in captivity and God will punish the nations who took Israel captive when He sets His hand to free Israel. During that same time period of Great Tribulation (Satan’s wrath), the world will also experience God’s wrath (the Day of the Lord) which will affect the whole world and all its nations. One simply has to read through the book of Revelation to realize the great loss of lives, the massive destruction of property and the great disruptions to the environment that is to come upon the earth as a result of the 4 horsemen, the 7 trumpet plagues and the 7 vial plagues of Revelation. The whole world will be significantly and grievously affected by the events of the Great Tribulation and of the Day of the Lord.
During all this time of the greatest trouble to ever come upon the earth and which will never be repeated (Matt 24:21) there will be indescribable chaos and confusion. People are not going to understand what is going on and will be scared out of their minds desperately trying to avoid death and devoting all their attention to finding a place where they can be safe and have food to keep themselves alive. It will be a time of great panic, terror and chaos with people hoping they will still be alive when the storm passes over.
Men will understand the destruction that has occurred as simply the result of nations going to war against each other as has been the case since the beginning of mankind and of unexpected extraordinary weather catastrophes. They will not understand all these happenings as God’s intervention. They do not have God’s Spirit and for the greatest part do not know what the Bible says about end-time events. Even formerly converted individuals and some converted individuals don’t have a full and correct understanding of how end-time events will affect the world; the former from having lost God’s Spirit and the latter from lack of regular study and prayer.
Christ will have returned but to whom and why? Will He be actively and visibly seeking to make His presence known to mankind so as to shock them into becoming converted? Will the world say “Hey, the Christ of the Old Testament was truly resurrected and has indeed come back a second time to the earth to save mankind. Let’s go see Him and learn of Him that we may be saved.”
To whom is Christ coming back to; the world or Israel? To what nation did Christ come to the first time? To which nation do the Scriptures say He is coming back the second time and why?
In the book of Acts we read the following about Christ’s 2nd Coming.
Act 3:20 And he shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you:
Act 3:21 Whom the heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began.
Christ is coming a second time for a very specific purpose, the “…..restitution of all things…..”
And to whom are all things to be restored?
Dan 9:26 And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined.
Dan 9:27 And he [the Messiah] shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he [the Messiah] shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.
Christ is the Messiah and at His First Coming He came only for the children of Israel.
Mat 15:22 And, behold, a woman of Canaan came out of the same coasts, and cried unto him, saying, Have mercy on me, O Lord, thou Son of David; my daughter is grievously vexed with a devil.
Mat 15:23 But he answered her not a word. And his disciples came and besought him, saying, Send her away; for she crieth after us.
Mat 15:24 But he answered and said, I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel.
At the time of His 2nd Coming Christ is not coming back to the world, He is coming back to end-time Israel.
How can we know?
Exo 19:6 And ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation. These are the words which thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel.
Israel was to fulfill a special commission for God; it was to become a kingdom of priests and an holy nation. God says that when He says something will occur, it will. He has the power to make it happen and there is no power that can prevent it. Not only will it occur but it will be a great success.
Isa 55:11 So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.
Ancient Israel never became a kingdom of priests or an holy nation as God’s Spirit had not yet been made generally available to the world as it will be during the Millennium and the Last Great Day. The holiness that was to be in Israel was to be God’s holiness in the individual converted Israelites; the time had not yet come when this would be possible.
Israel is to fulfill the commission given it as God’s Word is sure and cannot be broken. What will be the time when Israel will become a kingdom of priests and God’s holy nation?
We know that Israel in the end-time has lost its national identity, its language and its religion and is living as a Gentile nation among the other Gentile nations of the world. If God’s Word is true, and it is, Israel will have to be taught the original truth given the apostles if they are ever to have the knowledge required for them to become a kingdom of priests as intended by God.
The main responsibility of a priest is to teach God’s law and administer it. Christ came the first time to teach those men who would become the beginning of God’s Church. This truth which they were to teach to newcomers to the faith as God the Father would call them is the foundational truth of God’s Spirit begotten Church. Paul who was an apostle and which Peter recognized as having received the same truth they had been taught by Christ refers to the truth that he (Paul) and the other apostles taught as “the foundation.”
1 Co 3:10 According to the grace of God which is given unto me, as a wise masterbuilder, I have laid the foundation, and another buildeth thereon. But let every man take heed how he buildeth thereupon.
1Co 3:11 For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.
Christ laid the foundation which is the truth He taught the apostles which they taught to those coming into God’s Church after the Day of Pentecost and which the end-time Elijah restored to God’s Philadelphia Era Church.
In the end-time Israel which is presently living as a Gentile nation has lost the truth taught by Christ to His disciples and there will be a need to first restore the original spiritual foundational truth of God’s Church to those who are to become God’s kingdom of priests.
The apostles were taught by Christ personally as was Paul. The doctrines that they taught did not come from any man but from God Himself through Christ. Those that are to constitute God’s kingdom of priests must also be personally trained by Christ. Their doctrines cannot be from the teachings of men.
Christ is coming a second time to Israel as He did the first time for the purpose of teaching those who are to become God’s kingdom of priests and holy nation. At His First Coming Christ taught the disciples but on His Second Coming He will be teaching a much greater group of individuals who are the physical descendants of the ancient nation of Israel which are to become God’s holy nation.
Christ is coming back to restore all things to end-time Israel which is to become God’s kingdom of priests and God’s holy nations. That will be the time when the New Covenant is to be made.
Jer 31:31 Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah:
Heb 8:8 For finding fault with them, he saith, Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah:
Christ is coming back to the end-time physical descendants of the nation of Israel; NOT to the world. He is coming back to teach them as He taught the apostles. The truth He will give them is the truth He had given to the apostles and it will be for the same purpose; they are to teach those who at the pouring out of God’s Spirit will be called and chosen. God’s kingdom of priests and holy nation is not to teach the world in general; only those who are called by God the Father and who follow their calling. There is a study on this site dealing with the subject of being called, chosen and faithful which I would encourage you to read which will allow you to understand the role of Israel returned from its end-time captivity Mass Conversion of the Nations during the Millennium?
Another study dealing with different aspects of the administration of God’s plan of salvation for mankind during the Millennium and the Last Great Day is also available by clicking on the following hyperlink: Administration of God’s Plan of Salvation During the Millennium
Christ’s 2nd Coming in many respects will be like in the days of His First Coming in that the world in general will not know of His presence on the earth. He will not do anything special to come to their attention AND Christ on His Second Coming will look just like any other man as when He first came and but for those to whom it will be given to specifically know Him (Israel) He will be unnoticed by the nations of the world.
Christ’s physical presence on the earth on the territory of the nation of Israel will not make a worldwide celebrity out of Him with all the world seeking to come to Jerusalem to see Him. Christ’s purpose in His Second Coming will be to to restore the truth once given to the apostles to those who during the Millennium are to become God’s kingdom of priest and His holy nation. In other words, they will be God’s Church, them and those that will become converted during the Millennium.
This is why following Christ’s 2nd Coming, by and large, the world will remain much as it was before. The remnant of end-time Israel will be first to be called and with those of Israel who follow their calling and are chosen, Christ will make the New Covenant. They will become God’s human level instrument which He will use to teach those individuals from the nations that are called and chosen when He pours out of His Spirit upon all flesh. All of mankind will be called but not all will follow their calling and of those who follow their calling not all will remain converted. For a lot of more and detailed information on this aspect of the Millennium I refer you to the two studies already mentioned a few paragraphs back.
In Conclusion
Christ’s Second Coming will not result in the nations becoming converted and living in accordance with God’s law except a for a few stubborn individuals who will refuse to submit to God. Christ is not coming back to the Gentile nations of the world but to end-time Israel who at the time of His Second Coming will be in captivity among the Gentile nations. He is coming to free them from their captivity as He did in Old Testament times.
Egypt’s territory and its people were hit with the plagues which God sent upon them. These plagues left Egypt a devastated land, its people in turmoil and its army destroyed when it pursued the Israelites through the Red Sea which God had opened up for Israel. What happened to Egypt is a small-scale example of what will happen to the world during the Great Tribulation which includes the Day of the Lord. The Egyptians did not all of a sudden acknowledge the true God or seek to know Him. They simply hurried to the task of burying their dead and began in earnest working to restore their country to its former prosperity.
The same situation will prevail the day after the end of the Day of the Lord which ends with the pouring out of the 7 vial plagues.
The purpose for God freeing Israel from its end-time captivity and for its resettlement in the Promised Land is to allow them to fulfill the commission given ancient Israel and that is, they were to become a kingdom of priests and His holy nation.
Why will God use Israel to be His holy nation and kingdom of priests?
Because they are to be used to teach those individuals from among the nations that will be called and chosen during the Millennium and the Last Great Day when God pours out of His Holy Spirit upon all flesh. In God’s administration of His great master plan of salvation for mankind, He has always used specially trained men to teach other men coming to conversion; that is the very reason for God having His Church. And so it is that:
Eph 4:11 And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers;
Eph 4:12 For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:
Eph 4:13 Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ:
God has purposed to use truly converted and specially trained men for the perfecting of His saints and for the edifying of the body of Christ; NOT glorified spirit beings acting as teachers.
All of mankind will be called but not all will follow their calling for many are called but few are chosen (Matt 22:14) and of those who are chosen and are entering God’s Church it is the few that will enter by the strait gate; the many will take the wide gate which is the way that leads to destruction. (Matt 7:13-14)
The great majority of individuals living during the Millennium and the Last Great Day will not be converted Christians. They will be unconverted and living their lives according to their own standards as they have always done.
The world that will exist during the Millennium and the Last Great Day but for the changes made to the environment and in the nature of animals, will largely be the same as it is today.
God’s truth is only knowable by revelation which requires the in-dwelling presence of God’s Spirit. Though made available to everyone, it is the many that will not follow their calling or after having become converted will go back into the world.And as has always been the case, the converted will be thought of as fools by the unconverted and there will be no transfer of knowledge from the converted to the unconverted.
To a very large extent the Millennium and the Last Great Day will not change the current world order where men govern themselves, have their own governments and live their lives according to their own standards. For the most part, mankind will remain unconverted, carnal-minded, not subject to God’s law (Rom 8:7) and unteachable. There will be no need nor possibility to conduct large scale reeducation programs in the true values of life as a preliminary step to leading the masses to conversion; the unconverted are unteachable (Rom 8:7). All will have been given the opportunity to know the truth but after having refused to follow their calling and having returned into the world, they become as completely unteachable as they were before they were called.
I know this will be greatly shocking to most of you but this is what the Bible reveals. If you have been reading through the several studies on this site with an open mind and have taken the time to go prove them for yourself with your Bible then you understand that Christ’s Second Coming will not introduce a 1,000 years of peace brought about by the mass conversion of the nations. There will be peace but it will not be because of the world but for a few individuals becoming converted and eager to live their lives in accordance with God’s law. This has been covered in detail in a study available on this site which I would greatly encourage you to read if you have not already done so.
Administration of God’s Plan of Salvation During the Millennium
God's Spiritual Nation 