ANNOUNCER: What is the difference between the Rapture and the Second Coming of Christ? What will happen at the Second Coming? In the eschatological sequence, when does it take place? Hello, friend. Thank you for joining us here today on Grace in Focus. This is a ministry of the Grace Evangelical Society. We’re delighted that you’re with us. Our website is faithalone.org, and there’s lots to learn about us there. We also have some short videos for you on our YouTube channel. It is YouTube, Grace Evangelical Society. We are always releasing new videos, so go there often. Subscribe, learn, and enjoy those videos. That’s YouTube, Grace Evangelical Society. 

Now with today’s discussion in our series about eschatology, here are Bob Wilkin and Philippe Sterling. 

BOB: Okay, so now we’ve come in our little journey on eschatology or the study of the last days to what will happen at the Second Coming of Christ. And maybe we could distinguish, Philippe, between the Rapture and the Second Coming, or are those part of the same thing?

PHILIPPE: I would say that they are part of the same thing, but there’s two phases. The first phase is coming of Christ for the Church. And then beginning the judgment set. We’ve talked about this seals and the trumpets and the bowls. And the second phase is coming with the Church to the earth, to deal with all of His enemies that are gathered together against the Jewish people and against Him at the valley of Jehoshaphat, the valley of decision. 

BOB: Right. And so we could say that the Second Coming in terms of actually setting foot on earth occurs after the Tribulation, but the Second Coming in terms of Him coming for believers precedes the Tribulation. And in a sense, all of that is the Second Coming, but typically when people talk about the Second Coming, we mean him setting foot on the Mount of Olives, typically. 

PHILIPPE: Right. In fulfillment of the Prophet Zechariah saying that He will step down at the Mount of Olives and there would deal with the beast, the false prophet, all of the armies that are gathered together in that judgment, that temporal judgment will take place. 

BOB: Okay. And temporal judgment refers to judgment in time, rather than judgment in eternity.

PHILIPPE: Rlight, in contrast to the Great White Throne Judgment and the consignment of those who are not in the Lamb’s book of life to the nick of fire, the second death.

BOB: Okay. So we have the Rapture, when the Church is caught up, there’s probably some sort of a gap, 30, 45, 75 days, we don’t know, some sort of a gap between the Rapture and the signing of the covenant. When the covenant is signed, Daniel 9:27, that is when the seven year Tribulation period starts, also called the time of Jacob’s trouble, right? 

PHILIPPE: Yes. That institutes the beginning of those judgments, the seven year period.

BOB: And those seven years when we broke into two, three and a half year periods, it’s called a time, times and half a time, where does that occur, that expression? 

PHILIPPE: That would be in the book of Daniel. 

BOB: Time would refer to one year. And then times, two years. So that’s three and then half a time would be three and a half years. And we also have the number of days in Daniel, right? 1260 days is actually three and a half years of 360 days because they won’t be on the 365 day calendar. 

PHILIPPE: Yes, there’ll be more on the lunar calendar and not, but we have the Gregorian calendar. 

BOB: So at the end of the 1260 days, the first 1260 will be—

PHILIPPE: Tribulation and the abomination of desolation, which then begins that second three and a half years.

BOB: Which is called what?

PHILIPPE: The Great Tribulation. 

BOB: The Great Tribulation. So it’s going to be really bad because over a third of the population will die in the Tribulation. And then in the second half, the Great Tribulation, probably more than another third will die. I mean, it’s going to be a large number of, PHILIPPE: Yes. And Jesus in the Olivet Discourse said except for His intervention at the Second Coming, then everyone would have perished. 

BOB: Yeah, Matthew 24:22, unless those days were cut short, no flesh would be saved. And there it shows that saved means survive. But for the elect’s sake, and they’re the elect clearly refers to Israel, those days were shortened so that there would be people in natural bodies for Israel to go into the Millennium and have Israel become that astronomically large nation that God had promised Abraham. 

PHILIPPE: And that nation who would be a blessing to all of the peoples of the earth who are in the millennial period. 

BOB: Which relates to Genesis 12:1-3 when God tells Abraham that he was going to be a worldwide blessing, and he would bless those who bless you and curse those who curse you. And the cursing of those who curse you is certainly seen in the Second Coming. So what happens at the Second Coming? What are we going to see happen?

PHILIPPE: Well, Revelation 19 is the fulfillment of all the prophecies concerning the Second Coming. So he comes with all of his saints, He’s riding a white horse, some kind of a celestial horse, wearing a crown, multiple crowns, and a sword coming out of His mouth, but symbolizing the powerful word by which He will deal with his enemies that all gathered there and He steps down to the Mount of Olives, and basically takes the lives of all of those armies of the world that had gathered together to come to exterminate all of the Jews. 

ANNOUNCER: We will rejoin in just a moment. But years ago, Zane Hodges wrote the Gospel Under Siege. Sadly, this is still true. And GES president Bob Wilkin has recently written its sequel. Bob’s new book, The Gospel is Still Under Siege, is a book about theological clarity on the Biblical teaching about eternal salvation. It is available now. Secure yours today at the Grace Evangelical Society’s bookstore. Find it at faithalone.org/store. That’s faithalone.org/store. Now back to today’s content.

PHILIPPE: So he comes to to save Israel and this will be in fulfillment of what the prophet Zechariah talks about in Zechariah 14 that all Israel will look upon Him whom they as the nation had pierced in His rejection at the first coming and they will grieve and presumably many of them will have believed the promise for everlasting life, but as a nation now they all look upon Christ as He manifests himself in glory and all grieve and as a nation are ready to receive Him, to acknowledge Him, to repent, making possible the establishment of the kingdom. 

BOB: So wouldn’t this be similar to Romans 11:26? 

PHILIPPE: Yes, that will be a passage that does talk about Israel. Then all Israel will be saved. 

BOB: And that salvation is more than just they’re going to be born again. It’s they’re going to be delivered from Gentile nations, from Gentile oppression. They’re going to have the rest that was long promised to the people of Israel. 

PHILIPPE: Yes, and that rest will be with a Davidic king on the throne, Christ Himself and with the land then all given to them and apportioned among the tribes, from Ezekiel.

BOB: From the river to the sea? You know, there’ve been all these chants by the people who are anti-Israel that they want the quote unquote Palestinians to have the entire Promised Land. And in fact, Israel has never had all of the land that God promised to Israel. 

PHILIPPE: Right, so from the Euphrates River to the Mediterranean Sea, that entire area will be given to Israel and apportioned among the tribes and with David the prince, ruling under Christ. 

BOB: That’s from Ezekiel, right, that’s called the prince. Okay, now you’re suggesting that 100% of the Gentile armies will be killed. There won’t be any survivors among the soldiers. Is that your view? 

PHILIPPE: Yes. 

BOB: Okay, and I think that’s my view as well. But we do know from the judgment of the sheep and the goats in Matthew 25:31-46, that there will be Gentile unbelievers who survive the Tribulation. They’re called the goats and they’ll be judged after the Tribulation. 

PHILIPPE: Yes, there will be two group of Gentiles, Gentile believers from throughout the world that are brought forward and they’re the sheep and then the Gentile unbelievers who survived the Tribulation judgments and then are brought before Christ.

BOB: Okay, but that wouldn’t include soldiers. If they’re soldiers, they would have died.

PHILIPPE: Yes, all those armies will be judged and will perish. 

BOB: Would this see maybe the death of the Egyptian soldiers in the Red Sea as a type of what’s to come? 

PHILIPPE: Yes, that would be a foreshadowing.

BOB: Because they all died, right? 

PHILIPPE: Yes, all those chariots and all the Egyptians who went to pursue Israel as the Red Sea had split and they all perished and their corpses washed up on the shore.

BOB: Okay, so quick point, there won’t be any unbelieving Jews that survived the Tribulation because we’re told in Matthew 25:13, he who endures to the end shall be saved and we know from verse 22 of Matthew 24 that saved refers to surviving. So the unfaithful believers, both Jewish and Gentile, will die during the Tribulation. So that by the time you get to the judgment of the sheep and the goats, all the sheep are faithful and that will be true with among the Jewish people. 

PHILIPPE: Right. And of course Jesus calls them “My brethren” there in Matthew 25. So My brethren, all of the believing Jews who survived, there faithful too. 

BOB: And just one final point, there will be unbelieving Jews and unbelieving Gentiles who go into the Millennium, but those are called children. In other words, when we say all Israel will be believing and in fellowship with God or repentant, what we mean is all adult Jews, all those over either the age of 12 or 20, whatever the age is, all those above the age of accountability are going to be believers and there will be Gentile children and they will go into the Millennium as well. That’s why both Israel and the nations will grow astronomically during the Millennium, but not the Church because we won’t procreate. 

PHILIPPE: Yes, the Church as a whole is taken up at the Rapture before the signing of the treaty that we’ve talked about. So all glorified, all with the Lord and returning with the Lord. 

BOB: And a fixed number. And by the way, one other thing, along with the white horse rider in Revelation 19, the Lord Jesus Christ and all believers, not just Church age, but probably of all time, there’s also going to be this angelic army which is going to have hundreds of millions of angels probably on horseback too. 

PHILIPPE: Yes. Oh, now I have question for you: who’s the first prophet to talk about the Second Coming of Christ with myriads and myriads of his saints? 

BOB: Enoch and that’s Jude around verse 11 or 12 or so. 

PHILIPPE: So, Jude tells us about Enoch, the seventh from Adam, the one who walked with the Lord for 300 years and who was told of the Second Coming. 

BOB: All right. Well, we better close for today. We’ll continue on next time considering eschatology. In the meantime, Philippe, let’s keep grace in focus. 

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