JESUS IS COMING BACK:
TO ISRAEL, NOT THE CHURCH!
JESUS IS COMING BACK:
TO ISRAEL, NOT THE CHURCH!
JAN LILLEBY
In several of my articles as well as books I have mentioned this Biblical truth.
However, here we shall have yet a closer look at it. Shure, Jesus Christ will return to earth, to Israel so He can establish the long promised millennial kingdom to them.
The prophet Zechariah was so specific that he foretold that Jesus should ‘land’ on top of Mt. Olives, Zec. 14:4-7 NASB net version,
“4 In that day His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, which is in front of Jerusalem on the east; and the Mount of Olives 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 You 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!
6 In that day 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.”
So, we know that Jesus shall return in a specific day. To whom? To ISRAEL…since we find a very specific geographic point on the GPS-navigator: On top of Mt. Olives. Same place where His apostles were eyewitnesses to His ascension, ten days before Pentecost in 28 CE, Acts 1:9-11, NASB net version,
9 And after He had said these things, He was lifted up while they were looking on, and a cloud received Him out of their sight.
10 And as they were gazing intently into the sky while He was going, behold, two men in white clothing stood beside them.
11 They also said, "Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into the sky? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in just the same way as you have watched Him go into heaven."
The angels appearing to the apostles after Jesus was taken up, said that He would return in the same way as they had just seen He was taken up. I think this also includes WHERE, namely Mt. Olives. Jesus told them not to leave Jerusalem…which in this narrative proves that they all were actually in the city. He did not ascend from any of the streets in town, but from Mt. Olives. However, the two angels did not explain to them by quoting Zechariah 14:4 on how the mount would be split in two, from east to west creating a deep valley.
This will not contradict Rev. 19:11-16 where we find Him descending from the sky in a great glorious parade sitting on a white horse, accompanied by His army of angels, for He is seen on the sky, not on the ground below, NASB net version,
11 And I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse, and He who sat on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and wages war.
12 His eyes are a flame of fire, and on His head are many diadems; and He has a name written on Him which no one knows except Himself.
13 He is clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God.
14 And the armies which are in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, were following Him on white horses.
15 From His mouth comes a sharp sword, so that with it He may strike down the nations, and He will rule them with a rod of iron; and He treads the wine * press of the fierce wrath of God, the Almighty.
16 And on His robe and on His thigh He has a name written, "KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS."
Reading the rest of the chapter, we find Jesus and His angelic warrior angels go into battle against Anti-Christ and the False Prophet, verses 17-21,
«17 Then I saw an angel standing in the sun, and he cried out with a loud voice, saying to all the birds which fly in midheaven, "Come, assemble for the great supper of God,
18 so that you may eat the flesh of kings and the flesh of commanders and the flesh of mighty men and the flesh of horses and of those who sit on them and the flesh of all men, both free men and slaves, and small and great."
19 And I saw the beast and the kings of the earth and their armies assembled to make war against Him who sat on the horse and against His army.”
20 And the beast was seized, and with him the false prophet who performed the signs in his presence, by which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image; these two were thrown alive into the lake of fire which burns with brimstone.
21 And the rest were killed with the sword which came from the mouth of Him who sat on the horse, and all the birds were filled with their flesh.” (Editor’s emphasize).
Paul deals with this scenario in 2 Thes. 1:6-10, NASB net version,
«6 For after all it is only just for God to repay with affliction those who afflict you,
7 and to give relief to you who are afflicted and to us as well when the Lord Jesus will be revealed from heaven with His mighty angels in flaming fire,
8 dealing out retribution to those who do not know God and to those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus.
9 These will pay the penalty of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power,
10 when He comes to be glorified in His saints on that day, and to be marveled at among all who have believed -for our testimony to you was believed.”(Editor’s emphasize).
Jesus Himself told of His Second Advent, Mat. 24:29-31, NASB net version,
«29 "But immediately after the tribulation of those days THE SUN WILL BE DARKENED, AND THE MOON WILL NOT GIVE ITS LIGHT, AND THE STARS WILL FALL from the sky, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken.
30 "And then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the SON OF MAN COMING ON THE CLOUDS OF THE SKY with power and great glory.”
31 "And He will send forth His angels with A GREAT TRUMPET and THEY WILL GATHER TOGETHER His elect from the four winds, from one end of the sky to the other.”
Notice that the genuine real Israel of God (not the present Zionist Israel!) is going to be gathered in the new nation AFTER the Great Tribulation. In other words, Israel cannot become the nation of God again before Jesus arrives from heaven! The present Zionist Israel is an illicit enterprise what God is concerned. He certainly has not made that ungodly Zionist nation steal back the land from the Palestinians. Just a side remark.
But as we now easily comprehend, Jesus is not coming from heaven to be with His Church. He is coming to His own place, the land of Israel – and shall establish His millennial Kingdom (Rev. 20:4).
THE ASCENSION OF THE CHURCH IN COL. 3
The Church which is His body, the ‘One new Man’ in Eph. 2:14, 15, shall be taken supernaturally into the epiouranos-heaven (the heaven above the heavens) as seen in Col. 3:1-4, NASB net version,
«1 Therefore if you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.
2 Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth.
3 For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God.
4 When Christ, who is our life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory.”
Can you find anything at all in this quote, speaking of the Second Advent? I can’t and I know why: Paul’s revelation of the Mystery (Eph. 3:1-9) and thus the free Grace Gospel of Christ to us Gentiles/Jews alike, has nothing to do with the millennial kingdom promised. We are called by Christ to come up to heaven!
Set your mind on heaven up above, not on the earth…says Paul.
It seems obvious to me that our day of ascension will come some time before God turns to Israel to deal with them. He starts up this operation (the Great Tribulation) by sending down Elijah and Moses, the two witnesses in Rev. 11. The Church, the Body of Christ, will be already in heaven before God sends His two witnesses to chastise Israel.
So, it is not going to be Jesus coming down to His Church, but the Church coming up to Him!
The Post-Acts Body of Christian believers do not belong to the Acts-body which was for the Kingdom, expecting the Second Advent in the days of the apostles.
The Church is an entirely different body of believers, having the heaven up above as hope, and not the earth down here. We are making up an international body of believers in Christ, and are not just Jews with their proselytes as found throughout Acts.
Eph. 4:30 is very clarifying, NASB net version,
“30 Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption”.
The day of redemption: This is the future day in which God shall transfer His believers into heaven. This is not a day of death, but of eternal unending salvation in glory in Christ.
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