[Truth] 7. When will Jesus return?

7. When will Jesus return?

Anyone who believes in Jesus is waiting for Jesus to come again. But when will Jesus come?

7.1. Second Coming Promise

Jesus promised his disciples he would return.

I tell you the truth, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom. (Matthew 16:28)

 “Some who are standing here” are the 12 disciples of Jesus. Therefore, Jesus said he would return while his disciples were still alive.

But Jesus has not come for over two thousand years. What is the reason?

Jesus also said this to his disciples:

I tell you the truth, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened. Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away. "No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. (Matthew 24:34-36)

So, Jesus did not know the exact date of the Second Coming but expected it to happen in his disciples' generation.

Jesus' words did not come true at that time because it was not God's will.

What is the will of God?

7.2. God's book

After His ascension, Jesus went before God. In God’s hands there was a book sealed with seven seals, but no one, including Jesus, could see it. (Revelation 5:1, 3)

Witnessing this, the apostle John wept. He had believed all his life that Jesus was the Son of God, but now he felt he had been deceived.

However, he did not mourn for long; one of the elders informed him that Jesus had received the book because he had won, which means he had achieved God’s will for his crucifixion. With it, God was able to create the fountain of the water of life to cleanse us from sin.

Then one of the elders said to me, "Do not weep! See, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has triumphed. He is able to open the scroll and its seven seals." (Revelation 5:5)

Indeed, Jesus came before God and received the book. And after seeing it, he knew all of God's plans.

God gave Jesus the book because He wanted Him to fulfil the content of the book.

7.3. The book of Revelation

After Jesus understood God's will, he revealed it to the apostle John.

The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show his servants what must soon take place. He made it known by sending his angel to his servant John, who testifies to everything he saw--that is, the word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ. (Revelation 1:1-2)

Here, what was what given to Jesus was the book sealed with the seven seals from God’s right hand.

The apostle John received the revelation from Jesus and wrote the book of Revelation.

Hence, the book of Revelation contains the will of God that Jesus did not know when he was on earth.

And if the content of Revelation is not fulfilled, God's will cannot be done.

The problem lies in the deeply symbolic nature of the book, which hinders our ability to understand God’s will.

The reason for this unfathomable text is, as I mentioned earlier, God’s plan to finally catch the Devil and throw him into the lake of fire. But if this process had been written in detail in the Bible, the Devil would be privy to it and capable of violating God’s work.

Then, can't believers in God accomplish God's will? If not, there is no reason for God to reveal his plans through the Bible.

The book of Revelation prophesied who will accomplish God's will. It is when the fulfiller of that prophecy appears that God will naturally reveal it to him.

7.4. God's Will

God's will is to destroy the Devil through a war; therefore, God must have an army for that war.

From Genesis to Revelation, the Bible is all about war. The Bible begins with Genesis, in which the Devil tempts Adam and Eve, and ends with Revelation, in which the Devil is shown being caught and thrown into the lake of fire.

Revelation shows how God's army will be completed.

Let's look at the scene when Jesus releases the fifth seal of the book sealed with seven seals.

When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain because of the word of God and the testimony they had maintained.They called out in a loud voice, "How long, Sovereign Lord, holy and true, until you judge the inhabitants of the earth and avenge our blood?" Then each of them was given a white robe, and they were told to wait a little longer, until the number of their fellow servants and brothers who were to be killed as they had been was completed. (Revelation 6:9-11)

When Jesus broke the fifth seal, martyrs appeared.

Among them, those martyred because of “the word of God” are Old Testament saints. “The evidence we had maintained” means the Holy Spirit (Revelation 19:10), and those who receive the Holy Spirit and are martyred are New Testament saints.

They asked Jesus when He would repay His enemies for the blood they had shed as martyrs.

Jesus told the martyrs that He needed more people like them.

These are the soldiers of heaven, and it is God's will to multiply that number. When the right number has been reached, God can destroy the Devil and save all the spirits drawn to him.

7.5. Purpose of the Second Coming

The purpose of Jesus' return is to take His chosen heavenly soldiers.

At that time the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and all the nations of the earth will mourn. They will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky, with power and great glory. And he will send his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other. (Matthew 24:30-31)

At His Second Coming, all nations will join in their lamentation, and He will take the chosen ones with Him.

The reason why all the people of the earth will mourn is that before the Second Coming, God will punish those who have been proud and wicked.

Jesus knew it was going to happen at that time, but God's will is not same to it, so Jesus is waiting for that number to be reached.

7.6. 144,000

God set the number of soldiers in heaven as 144,000.

Then I looked, and there before me was the Lamb, standing on Mount Zion, and with him 144,000 who had his name and his Father's name written on their foreheads. (Revelation 14:1)

Some people say that this 144,000 is a symbolic number because it is surely far too small to be the number of those who will be saved.

But these are not those who will be saved, but the heavenly soldiers. After they destroy the Devil, all the spirits that have been taken to the Devil's world will emerge and be judged. At this time, many people will be saved.

Since heavenly soldiers have been designated for six thousand years, most of them are already in God's world. When the remainder have been chosen, Jesus will come to take them.

When Jesus takes them, there will be 144,000 people in heaven. At this time, the universe will disappear and no longer exist.

The prophecy of the disappearance of heaven is found in Isaiah and Revelation.

All the stars of the heavens will be dissolved and the sky rolled up like a scroll; all the starry host will fall like withered leaves from the vine, like shriveled figs from the fig tree. (Isaiah 34:4)

I watched as he opened the sixth seal. There was a great earthquake. The sun turned black like sackcloth made of goat hair, the whole moon turned blood red, and the stars in the sky fell to earth, as late figs drop from a fig tree when shaken by a strong wind. The sky receded like a scroll, rolling up, and every mountain and island was removed from its place. (Revelation 6:12-14)

Therefore, Mount Zion, where the Lamb, Jesus, stood with 144,000, is not a place on earth but represents a symbolic place in the world of God.

The 144,000 have names on their foreheads. Among them, those who have the name of Jesus are New Testament saints, soldiers whom Jesus has selected throughout the past 2,000 years. Those who have the name of God are Old Testament saints, soldiers whom God created prior to 2,000 years ago.

The first martyr was Abel, who died 6,000 years ago.

After God drove out Adam and Eve, they became flesh, lived on earth, and gave birth to descendants. As time went by, cognition developed and the age of agriculture began. Cain was a farmer, and Abel was a shepherd (Genesis 4:2).

From the time of Adam and Eve to the time of Cain and Abel, God did no special work on earth, so the Bible states that Cain and Abel are the direct sons of Adam and Eve.

Cain became intensely jealous of Abel when Abel's sacrifice to God was favoured over Cain’s because of his sin. Cain killed Abel, making Abel the first martyr in God's history (Matthew 23:35).

7.7. Those who have been sealed

The 144,000 have the name of God and the name of the Lamb on their foreheads, which means they have been sealed.

Then I heard the number of those who were sealed：144,000 from all the tribes of Israel. (Revelation 7:4)

It is said that the 144,000 sealed people come from the 12 tribes of Israel.

With this in mind, some say that the modern nation of Israel was established for this prophecy. But that's a misunderstanding.

As mentioned earlier, these soldiers have been produced by God and Jesus over a period of 6,000 years. Those who have the name of God are Old Testament saints, and those who have the name of Jesus are New Testament saints. Therefore, not all the 144,000 were sealed in one age.

Nor have they come from one country.

And they sang a new song ： "You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals, because you were slain, and with your blood you purchased men for God from every tribe and language and people and nation. You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God, and they will reign on the earth."  (Revelation 5:9-10)

These people originate from all countries. Thus the “Israel” where 144,000 are sealed does not mean a particular nation but refers to God's people.

Jacob was given the title ‘Israel’ by God (Genesis 35:10). In the Old Testament, Jacob's descendants were God's people, Israel, but in the New Testament, those who believe in Jesus whom God sent are God's people.

7.8. Judgment Authority

The 144,000 will receive the power to judge after the war against the Devil. And in that judgment, they will become kings over those they have saved.

I saw thrones on which were seated those who had been given authority to judge. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony for Jesus and because of the word of God. They had not worshiped the beast or his image and had not received his mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ a thousand years. (The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended.) This is the first resurrection. (Revelation 20:4-5)

In the above passage, those given authority to judge are the New Testament Saints who received the testimony of Jesus and were martyred, and the Old Testament Saints who kept the word of God and were martyred. These are the heavenly soldiers.

Participation in the first resurrection means that they are free from the Devil before others.

God must take them to destroy the Devil so that the rest will come out of Hades. It is the second resurrection.

Then there will be a judgment. At this time, the soldiers of heaven will receive the authority of judgment and will proceed to judge.

7.9. Kingship and Priesthood

After the war against the Devil, they will not only become kings over those they save but also priests of God.

No longer will there be any curse. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and his servants will serve him. They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. There will be no more night. They will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, for the Lord God will give them light. And they will reign for ever and ever. (Revelation 22:3-5)

As priests, they will serve God before His throne and enjoy eternal kingship. These are the only people who can see God directly in heaven.

These are the 144,000 heavenly soldiers, those who have the name of God, those who are sealed. Therefore, in the future, 144,000 kingdoms will be created. This is the kingdom of heaven.