THE LORD'S RETURN:
TWO STAGE TERMINOLOGY
The influential Christian writer C
I Scofield alludes to a "two stage" terminology writing
that...
The return of Christ will be personal and corporeal, in two stages:
TO THE AIR - before the
Tribulation -usually called the Rapture
(1 Th 4:14 - 17; Phil 3:20 - 21; Rev 3:10)
THEN He will return...
TO THE EARTH - after the Tribulation
(Acts 1:11; Mt 23:39; 24:30; 25:31; Rev 19:11 - 16).
Herb Vander Lugt and Dave
Branon rightly that...
Why would Christ return again...and
again? (Ed: As one must postulate if the rapture is for example
Posttribulation). The main evidence for a two-part return of Christ revolves
around (1) God's distinct plans for Israel and the church and (2) prophecies
that describe the time of Christ return as both knowable and unknowable....A
two phase return would explain why Israel but not the church is mentioned in
the endtime events of Revelation.
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J Vernon McGee gives an
illustration of the two aspects of Christ's return...
Now let’s make a
comparison. At Christmas time we celebrate the birth of Christ. At Easter we
commemorate the death and resurrection of Christ. At the incarnation the
emphasis is put upon a baby. The Israelites hadn’t been looking for Him to
come that way.
As George
MacDonald put it,
“They were
looking for a king to lift them high. He came a little baby thing that made
a woman cry.”
Christ came into
the world as a baby.
After Jesus’ birth, Scripture is silent. We have no other report until about
thirty years later. There is one isolated reference that Dr. Luke gives us,
but for thirty years there is a period called the silent years in the life
of Christ. That is a very important period, yet we are told almost nothing
about it.
Then thirty years later Jesus steps out into public view. He had lived a
life of obscurity in that little town of Nazareth. Now He moves out and
teaches publicly for three years, then goes to the cross at the end of that
three-year period. He is buried and resurrected. This coming of Christ is
for redemption. The first aspect or appearance was incarnation; the second
aspect or appearance was redemption. Now there is a wide difference between
the two—a little Baby (incarnation) and a Man on a cross (redemption).
Anyone, I am sure, would recognize the difference. But we do not call that
the first and second coming of Christ. We package it up in one coming, which
is proper.
We do the same thing for His coming for the church, then later His coming to
establish His Kingdom on the earth. We put both in one package—and I can see
nothing wrong with that. There is a wide difference, though, between the
Rapture and the Revelation. The difference is not only in time. At the
Rapture, He comes as the Bridegroom to take His Bride, His church, out of
the world. Remember that He does not come to the earth at that time at all.
At the Revelation He comes as a King to the earth to establish His Kingdom.
(McGee, J. V. On Prophecy: Man's Fascination with the Future. Nashville:
Thomas Nelson Publishers)
Arthur Whiting also
mentions a "two stage" return of the Lord, writing that...
The following is a brief summary of the
three words in the various New Testament uses so far as we have been able to
discover from personal investigation:
1. Parousia meaning “presence,” occurs 24
times, 16 of which refer to our Lord’s return.
In 8 of the 16 it is used in connection
with the coming of the Lord in judgment (Mt 24:3, 27, 37, 39; 1Thes
5:23; 2Thes 2:8; 2 Peter 1:16; 3:4 ), while the remaining 8 describe that
aspect of His return connected with rewards, commonly called the Rapture (1
Cor 15:23; 1Thess 2:19; 4:15; 5:23; 2Thess 2:1; James 5:7, 8; 1 John
2:28).
2. Apokalupsis meaning “revelation,” or “manifestation,” occurs 18 times, 4
of which describe the second advent.
3 times it is used apparently of the
Rapture (1Cor 1:7; 1 Peter 1:7, 13), and once in connection with the
judgment aspect (2Thess 1:7, cf. Ro 2:5; 8:19).
3. Epiphaneia meaning “appearing,” occurs 6 times, 1 referring to the Lord’s
first coming (2 Ti 1:10), and 5 to His second advent. Of these 5, 3
references are to the first aspect (1 Ti 6:14; 2 Ti 4:8; Titus 2:13), and
the remaining 2 to the second, or judgment, aspect (2 Thess 2:8; 2 Tim 4:1).
(Arthur Whiting: Bibliotheca Sacra
102:407 July 1945 p. 367)
Note that Whiting refers to the
Rapture as the "first aspect" of our Lord's second advent and
and the Second Coming as the
"second or judgment aspect". Note also that Whiting
identifies the verses he feels speak of
these two events but some of these designations are far from definitive. For
example, he designates
1Thessalonians 5:23 (note) as
a reference to the Second Coming
while Dr Walvoord says this same verse refers to the
Rapture! This example is not to given as a criticism but simply to
emphasize that if the experts in eschatology cannot agree which aspect of
Christ's return a given verse refers, it is little wonder that the
average layman might become confused. Below is 1 Thessalonians 5:23...
Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify
you entirely; and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved complete,
without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Comment: Both of these
eschatological experts agree that Christ is returning and that in itself
should be cause of believers to greatly rejoice. I tend to agree with Dr
Walvoord's interpretation (especially in light of the context in which Paul
has just given specific details concerning the Rapture) that this passage
refers to the Rapture. However to those believers who come to faith in the
Great Tribulation
(of which there will be many - compare notes on
Revelation 7:9 and
Revelation 7:14 where the same group
of believers are described), surely this passage in 1 Thessalonians 5:23
will be a precious promise that many cling to considering the persecution
they will be forced to endure.)
Dr
John Walvoord
writing on Christ's Olivet Discourse in Matthew 24-25 comments that...
The interpretation will be followed here
that Matthew 24:4-14 deals with general signs, that Matthew 24:15-26 are
specific signs, and that Matthew 24:27-31 deals with the future second
coming of Christ as described in greater detail in Revelation 19:11-21. (Ref)
Speaking to the disciples as
representatives of especially the Jewish nation in the time of the end,
Jesus begins in Matt 24:15 to give them the specific sign of the end of the
age which is the great tribulation (Matt 24:21). He said to His disciples,
“When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by
Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him
understand:) Then let them which be in Judaea flee into the mountains” (Matt
24:15-16). Here He is predicting a specific event so clear and so obvious
that it will serve as a signal to Israel to flee to the mountains. The event
will not be something vague, but it is identified as a prophetic event
predicted by Daniel the prophet who called it “the abomination of
desolation.” (Reference)
Dr Walvoord also writes that...
Most premillennialists also distinguish the coming of Christ for His
church, which is
imminent, and the coming of Christ to establish His
millennial reign upon the earth, which follows well-defined events of
unfulfilled prophecy and is not
imminent...
It is the viewpoint of the writer that
all three terms (parousia, apokalupsis and
epiphaneia) are used in a general and not a technical sense and
that they are descriptive of both the rapture and the glorious
return of Christ to the earth. (New
Testament Words for the Lord’s Coming)
Greek Nouns and Verbs
Associated With
The Lord's Return
The following Greek nouns are
used to describe both the Rapture and the Second Coming.
(1)
Parousia =
coming
(2)
Apokalupsis
= revelation
(3)
Epiphaneia
= appearing
The following Greek verbs are
frequently associated with the references to the return of the Lord. A
survey of the definition of each verb gives a clue as to why they are used
to refer to the return of the Lord. And note that virtually every use is in
the
present tense
indicating that they represent the believer's habitual practice or
lifestyle! A firm belief in the Biblical doctrine of
imminency,
will stimulate an eager expectancy for the Bridegroom's return. Let us heed
John's warning in his first epistle...
And now, little children, abide in
Him
(Ed: with an attitude of expectancy),
so that when He appears (the doctrine of
imminency),
we may have confidence and not shrink away from Him in shame at His coming.
(1 John 2:28)
(1)
Anemeno
=
conveys the sense
of expectant waiting—sustained, patient, trusting waiting. It pictures an
eager looking forward to the coming of one (the One!) whose arrival was anticipated at
any time. (see related hymn
by Charles Wesley
Come, Thou Long Expected Jesus
- next time you sing it, sing it as a prayer.)
1Thessalonians 1:10 (note)
and to wait (anemeno
in
present tense
= as one's lifestyle which
would certainly affect one's lifestyle!) for His Son from heaven, Whom He
raised from the dead, that is Jesus, Who rescues (rhuomai)
us from the wrath (orge)
to come.
(2)
Apekdechomai =
waiting assiduously and in great anticipation and patience fully expecting
something to transpire, in this case the return of the Lord!
1 Corinthians 1:7 so that you
are not lacking in any gift,
awaiting eagerly (apekdechomai
in
present tense
= as one's habitual
practice or lifestyle!) the
revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ,
Philippians 3:20 (note)
For our citizenship is in heaven,
from which also we eagerly wait
(apekdechomai
in
present tense
= as our habitual practice,
yea, even our lifestyle!)
for a
Savior the Lord Jesus
Christ (21)
21 who will transform the body of our humble state into conformity with the
body of His glory, by the exertion of the power that He has even to subject
all things to Himself.
(2)
Prosdechomai =
means to accept favorably, to
receive one into intercourse/companionship, to give access to oneself or
receive to oneself. To wait for
with a sense of expectancy (see notes
Titus 2:13)
(1) Scriptures that Specifically
Refer to the Rapture
Below are representative Scriptures
(not intended to be an exhaustive list) that specifically refer to the Rapture.
OLD TESTAMENT
There are no Old Testament passages
which specifically prophesy of the Rapture of the Church. Some propose that
the translations of Enoch and Elijah were predictive of or pointed to the NT
Rapture but they still do not specifically prophesy the NT Rapture.
Furthermore, since the church is a mystery not revealed in the OT, it is not
surprising that an event that effects primarily the NT Church would not be
specifically predicted.
NEW TESTAMENT
1 Thessalonians 4:13-18
1Thessalonians 4:13 (note)
But we do not want you to be uninformed, brethren, about those who are
asleep, that you may not grieve, as do the rest who have no hope.
14
For if we believe that Jesus
died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who have fallen
asleep in Jesus.
15
For this we say to you by the
word of the Lord, that we who are alive, and remain until the coming of the
Lord, shall not precede those who have fallen asleep.
16
For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice
of the archangel, and with the trumpet of God; and the dead in Christ shall
rise first.
17
Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in
the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and thus we shall always be with the
Lord.
18
Therefore comfort one another with these words.
1 Corinthians 15:51-58 - This explains what transpires as
they are caught up in the clouds and meet the Lord in the air...
Behold, I tell
you a mystery; we shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed,
52 in a moment (Greek = atomos = indivisible), in the twinkling of an eye,
at the last trumpet (not the 7th trumpet in Revelation - see notes
1Thes 4:16;
Rev 11:15); for the trumpet will
sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. 53
For this perishable must put on the imperishable, and this mortal must put
on immortality. 54 But when this perishable will have put on the
imperishable, and this mortal will have put on immortality, then will come
about the saying that is written, "DEATH IS SWALLOWED UP in victory. 55 "O
DEATH, WHERE IS YOUR VICTORY? O DEATH, WHERE IS YOUR STING?" 56 The sting of
death is sin, and the power of sin is the law; 57 but thanks be to God, who
gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. 58 Therefore, my beloved
brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord,
knowing that your toil is not in vain in the Lord.
2 Thessalonians 2:1
Now we request you,
brethren, with regard to the coming of our Lord Jesus
Christ, and our gathering
together (episunagoge) to Him.
Comment: This passage is a clear
reference to the Rapture which Paul had taught about in his first letter.
John 14:1-3
(Jesus to His
disciples) Let not your heart be troubled; believe in God, believe also in
Me. 2 In My Father's house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I
would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you. 3 And if I go and
prepare a place for you, I will come (Literally "I am coming" =
present tense)
again, and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also.
Comment:
In the very shadow of His teaching on the Cross, the Lord Jesus Christ
reveals the truth that God had another purpose He would fulfill before
bringing in the
Millennial Kingdom
also known as the Messianic Age, that glorious age His Jewish disciples
longed to see consummated. Here in John 14, Christ told the disciples that
He was going to leave, go to heaven, prepare a place for them in heaven, and
come back to receive them to Himself. In other words, Jesus was teaching
that before He fulfilled His purpose to bring in the Messianic Kingdom, He
would first take them to dwell with Him in the Father’s house in heaven
before His return to the earth. This truth was not fully comprehended by
early Christians, even as it is not understood by many today, but for those
who did grasp it, this truth inspired an attitude of eager anticipation and
longing for His return.
Dr. Thomas Ice feels that the following passages speak
primarily of the Rapture writing that...
the New Testament teaches that
Christ’s coming in the clouds to rapture His church is
imminent
(1 Cor.
1:7; Phil. 3:20; 1 Thess. 1:10; Titus 2:13; Heb. 9:28; 1 Pet. 1:13; Jude 21;
cf. Matt. 24:45-47; Mk. 13:33-37; Lk. 12:35-40), an event that could
have taken place at any time during the last 2,000 years. (Conservative
Theological Journal 4:12, August, 2000, page 172)
Comment: I respect Dr Ice's
considerable knowledge and writing in the field of eschatology but I do not
think that all of the passages he mentions can unequivocably be identified
as referring to the Rapture. For that reason I have chosen to include many
of these passages in the third category (click
here)
in which the distinction between the Rapture and the Second Coming is not
absolutely clear cut.
(2) Scriptures that Specifically
Refer to the Second Coming
Below are representative Scriptures
(not an exhaustive list) that specifically refer to the Second Coming.
OLD TESTAMENT
This Second Coming is predicted in
Daniel 2:44 in Daniel's interpretation of King Nebuchadnezzar's dream...
And in the days of those kings (the 10
kings and their kingdoms that exist at the end of this present age) the God
of heaven will set up a kingdom which will never be destroyed, and that
kingdom will not be left for another people; it will crush and put an end to
all these kingdoms, but it will itself endure forever. (See Dr Walvoord's
exposition of
Daniel 2)
Daniel 7:13-14 is also a
prophecy which alludes to the Second Coming, Daniel recording that...
I kept looking in the night visions, and
behold, with the clouds of heaven One like a Son of Man was coming, and He
came up to the Ancient of Days And was presented before Him. And to Him was
given dominion, glory and a kingdom (the Millennial Kingdom), that all the
peoples, nations, and men of every language might serve Him. His dominion is
an everlasting dominion which will not pass away; and His kingdom is one
which will not be destroyed. (See Dr Walvoord's exposition of
Daniel 7)
Psalm 96:13
Before the LORD, for He is coming;
For He is coming to judge the earth. He will judge the world in
righteousness, and the peoples in His faithfulness.
Zechariah 2:10
Sing for joy and be glad, O daughter of
Zion (speaking of Israel); for behold I am coming and I will dwell (Hebrew =
shakan the root word of "Shekinah", in the form of which God dwelt in the
midst of Israel in days of old) in your midst," declares the LORD.
Zechariah 12:10
And I will pour out on the house of David
and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the Spirit of grace and of
supplication, so that they will look on Me whom they have pierced; and they
will mourn for Him, as one mourns for an only son, and they will weep
bitterly over Him, like the bitter weeping over a first-born.
Comment: This is when "all Israel
will be saved" (the 1/3 remnant) - for more detailed discussion see notes
on
Romans 11:26.
Zechariah 14:1-9
Behold, a day is coming for the LORD when
the spoil taken from you will be divided among you (speaking of Israel). 2
(How will this transpire?) For I (Jehovah) will gather all the nations
against Jerusalem to battle, and the city will be captured, the houses
plundered, the women ravished, and half of the city exiled, but the rest of
the people will not be cut off from the city. 3 Then (be alert to
this "expression
of time"
especially in prophetic literature as it always discloses the sequence of
events) the LORD (Jehovah
- remember that Jehovah is
Jesus, eg, compare Jesus' own testimony in John 12:41 with Isaiah 6) will go forth and fight against those nations (the Gentiles), as when
He fights on a day of battle. 4 And in that day (What day? The one just
described in v3) His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives (this fact
substantiates that Christ's Second Coming is a personal, visible and bodily
return to this earth), which is in front of Jerusalem on the east; and the
Mount of Olives
(the very place of His
Ascension
- cp Acts 1:9-11) will be split in its
middle from east to west by a very large valley, so that half of the
mountain will move toward the north and the other half toward the south. 5
And you (the Jews who remain alive) will flee by the valley of My mountains,
for the valley of the mountains will reach to Azel; yes, you will flee just
as you fled before the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah. Then
the LORD, my God, will come, and all the holy ones with Him! (see notes
Revelation 19:11;
19:14) 6 And it will come about in
that day that there will be no light; the luminaries will dwindle. 7 For it
will be a unique day which is known to the LORD, neither day nor night, but
it will come about that at evening time there will be light. 8 And it will
come about in that day that living waters will flow out of Jerusalem, half
of them toward the eastern sea and the other half toward the western sea
(see description of the
Millennium);
it will be in summer as well as in winter. 9 And the LORD (Jehovah - Jesus)
will be king over all the earth (see note
Revelation 19:16); in that day the
LORD will be the only one, and His name the only one.
Comment: This Second Coming of
Christ, Jehovah/Jesus, described in this passage gives additional detail of
the same event described in
Revelation 19:11ff - see notes).
NEW TESTAMENT
Matthew 16:27
For the Son of Man is going to come in
the glory of His Father with His angels; and WILL THEN RECOMPENSE EVERY MAN
ACCORDING TO HIS DEEDS.
Matthew 23:39
For I say to you, from now on you shall
not see Me until you say, 'BLESSED IS HE WHO COMES IN THE NAME OF THE LORD!'
Comment: At the second
coming of Christ, Israel will recognize and welcome their rejected Messiah
as described above in Zechariah 12:10.
