Return of Christ

Biblical Keys to Interpretation,

A Pre-Wrath View

24 Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for

iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy.

25 Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven

weeks, and threescore and two weeks (7+62 =69): the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times.

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.27 And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week (70th week): and in

the midst of the week he 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.

Daniel 9:24-27

Daniel’s 70 WeeksDaniel 9:24-27, 70 sevens are prophesied to bring about God’s judgment and the consummation of Messiah’s Kingdom, each 7 is seven years.

Daniel’s 70 Weeks Daniel 9:26 after the 69th week (first seven plus

62) the Messiah will be cut off

Daniel’s 70 WeeksDaniel 9:27 A final seven will pass which includes the Abomination of Desolation. Jesus said In Matthew 24 that this Abomination of Desolation will occur at the

end of the age.

Daniel’s 70 WeeksDaniel 9:27 The Abomination of Desolation occurs at

the midpoint of the 70th week.

Timing of the Rapture

Timing of the Rapture Pre-tribulation Rapture doctrine teaches a rapture BEFORE the 70th week of Daniel.

Timing of the RapturePost-tribulation doctrine teaches a rapture AFTER

Daniel’s 70 weeks.

Timing of the RapturePre-wrath doctrine teaches a rapture before the wrath of

God begins,

Pre-Wrath•Christ Will return to gather His Saints Sometime AFTER the Abomination of Desolation

•But Before the Wrath of God begins

•Accompanied by Preceding Signs

Return of Christ

Matthew 24 is a key to end times interpretation

Matthew 24 clearly refers to the gathering of His saints.

Matthew 24 parallels the rapture/return teachings of the Apostle Paul

1 Thess 4:16-1716 For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:17 Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.

Matthew 24:3131 And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.

Return of Christ/RaptureMatthew 24 parallels

2 Thess 1:7, 107 And to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels… 10 When he shall come to be glorified in his saints, and to be admired in all them that believe…in that day.

Matthew 24:3131 And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.

Return of Christ/RaptureMatthew 24 parallels

Not Coming as a Thief to Christians

1 But of the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you.2 For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night.3 For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape.4 But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief.5 Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness.6 Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober.

2 Thess. 2:1-4Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him,2 That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand.3 Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;4 Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God.

Certain Signs

Jesus Reveals the Signs of His Return

Matthew 24:3And as he sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?

Signs/Sequence Leading to Return Matthew 24

Wars And Rumours Of Wars V6Famines, And Pestilences, And Earthquakes V7Beginning Of Sorrows V8V9 Martyrdom, PersecutionGospel Preached Worlwide V14

Turmoil Centered In

Jerusalem V16-20

Those Days Shortened

Celestial Signs V29-30

Gathering Of The Saints

V31

Raptured From Wrath

1 Thess 5:9

 For God hath not appointed us to

wrath, but to obtain salvation by our

Lord Jesus Christ

After declaring that sudden

destruction will come upon the

children of darkness as a thief

in the night, Paul says we are

not appointed to that wrath but

appointed to be delivered.

RevelationSix

5th Seal is the martyrdom of the followers of Christ, slain "for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held." God does not execute Saints for their faithfulness.

Martyrs ask when God will begin His judgment and He answers that it will be a "little" while, indicating that "His" judgment has not begun.

As the 6th seal is broken it is declared that the Wrath of the Lamb is beginning.

Seals 1-5 are not the Wrath of God (though they are under His divine authority).

The 6th Seal is the signal for the commencement of Day of the Lord (His wrath).

When will You return?

Christ answered the questions about the signs/timing of His return and the end of the age.

The signs/timing do not change based upon who He is addressing.

The Savior revealed the Season Signs

The answer the Messiah gives in Matthew 24 parallels Paul's teaching in the Thessalonian letters and His revelation to John in chapter 6.

Revelation 6 proves to us that God’s wrath begins after the 6th seal, thus marking the point at which deliverance will come.

Ichetucknee River Baptist Church, Pastor

JC Hall

IRBConline.Com