The kingdom of God

Many times God has promised that He will rule the earth. What man has failed time and again to achieve, God will establish. The king will be a descendant of both Abraham and David (see Matthew 1:1). He will rule from Jerusalem, on David’s throne (see Luke 1:31-33). His kingdom will be one of justice and righteousness; it will involve Divine education, temple worship, and the exercise of kingly power to establish peace on earth (see Revelation 11:15-18).

The kingdom of God was once before established on earth. King David and his descendants reigned upon the throne of the kingdom of the Lord (1 Chronicles 28:5). There was nothing special about the throne itself. The Divine appointment was what mattered and when king after king had neglected God’s law, He brought that arrangement to an end. But even when the prophet Ezekiel announced the end of the kingdom to King Zedekiah (in 21:25-27), he promised that God would restore the kingdom on earth when he should “come whose right it is”.

The Second Coming of the Lord Jesus Christ to the earth has therefore to be understood against that powerful Old Testament background. When Jesus began his public ministry by announcing that the kingdom of God was at hand (Mark 1:15), he was saying to those who knew the Old Testament promises that he was the promised king. But Jesus had first come to achieve personal righteousness, and to make it possible for others to become right with God.

It is now possible for us to find peace with God through the forgiveness of our sins, by association with the saving work of the Lord Jesus. First we have to understand the Gospel, including Bible teaching about the work and person of the Lord Jesus, and the kingdom over which he is now the king. Then we have to be baptized as believing adults into his saving name (see Acts 8:12).

Behold your king!

But what is the Second Coming of the Lord going to be like? For example, would it be possible to miss it altogether and not even be aware that it had occurred? Will it be visible or invisible? Will Jesus be there in person or merely a spiritual presence? And will he come to the earth or only towards the earth?

Jesus Christ rose bodily from the grave. He was not an invisible spirit creature but one who could be seen, handled and held (1 John 1:1; Luke 24:39,40). His body was marked by the evidence of his suffering on the cross. Yet he was no longer subject to the limitations of human existence. He could come and go despite locked doors, and on Mount Olivet he ascended bodily to heaven, defying the law of gravity. The disciples had seen him go; he would return visibly. As the angel later said: “Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him” (Revelation 1:7). Or as Zechariah the Old Testament prophet had predicted, long before the crucifixion, “They shall look upon me whom they have pierced and they shall mourn for him” (12:10).

So it will not do to say that only those who look with faith will see the Lord. Some will look, see, and mourn (Revelation 1:7). Nor will it do to say that Jesus will come invisibly, for the Lord himself warned:

“Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there; believe it not. For there shall arise false Christs and false prophets …” (Matthew 24:23,24)

Nor will it do to argue that the Bible talks of the presence of the Lord, meaning that it will be an invisible one. The New Testament also talks about the revelation of the Lord, using a word that means uncovering or manifesting. In fact, the presence (Greek: parousia) of the Lord turns out to be an especially suitable term. One of the most authoritative Greek lexicons available says of the word:

“It became the official term for a visit of a person of high rank, especially of kings and emperors visiting a province.” (Arndt and Gingrich)

It is such a visit by a king that the scriptures foretell. The crowds who welcomed King Jesus into Jerusalem, when he sat astride a donkey and they threw coats and palm branches before him, shouted out greetings that referred right back to the promises of God: “Blessed be the kingdom of our father David that cometh in the name of the Lord” (Mark 11:10). Matthew comments that the rejoicing was a foretaste of what had been forecast by Zechariah the prophet, when he wrote, “Behold, thy King cometh unto thee”.

Now if the initial royal visit was attended by such joy and rejoicing, consider what the next one will be like! The prophet had declared:

“Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold thy King cometh unto thee: he is just, and having salvation … and he shall speak peace unto the heathen; and his dominion shall be from sea even to sea, and from the river even to the ends of the earth.” (Zechariah 9:9,10)

Dual fulfilment

This scripture illustrates a widely used feature of Bible prophecy: its joint short and long-term character. Jerusalem rejoiced at the kingly coming of Jesus – “lowly and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass” – just as the prophet had said. But their joy was short-lived, for he did not then go on to establish worldwide peace, or commence to rule from Jerusalem over a kingdom that was to last for ever. Jesus completed enough of the prophecy at that time to demonstrate that he was the Coming One, and to give us confidence that he will return to complete the promised transformation of the earth. Zechariah compressed the two comings in such a way that there appeared to be no interval between them. This has led some people to argue that the kingdom will never come, because, they say, even Jesus expected it in the first century, or at most shortly afterwards. It has thus been dismissed by some as an early Christian hope, which has now been superseded by a superior understanding. But when all the scriptures are studied carefully, it becomes clear that the coming of Jesus was not to occur immediately after his ascension to heaven.

The day and the hour

Any attempt to show that Jesus was mistaken about the time of his coming is doomed to failure. He clearly stated, more than once, that he did not know:

“Of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only.” (Matthew 24:36)

As he later said, this was something that the Father had reserved within His own authority (Acts 1:7). But Jesus did know that some long time would elapse before his Second Coming. He told parables to indicate that his coming would not “immediately appear” (Luke 19:11), that it would be “after a long time” (Matthew 25:19), and that there might be some delay for those who were waiting (25:5). Like their Lord, his followers were to appreciate that they could “not know what hour” he would come.

The apostles also acknowledged that they could not know the precise time of the great event for which they waited. Peter warned about people who would scoff, as so many have, at the “promise of his coming” (2 Peter 3:4). Indeed he poured scorn on their faithlessness, what he called “wilful ignorance” – people believing what they wanted to believe, regardless of the evidence. And Paul was in no doubt either, for he went on record as saying:

“But of the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you. For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh …” (1 Thessalonians 5:1,2)

Can you complete that quotation? It holds the key to two vital matters concerning the early return of the king. Notice first what the verse above says. There would be general indications available – what Paul calls “times and seasons” – which would help keep the believers prepared. And the verse continues:

“… the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night.”

When it happens the Lord’s coming will be swift, sudden and unexpected. No-one expects thieves to strike. But they often succeed because people overlook the dangers. It is also the case that speed is vital to a successful robbery, which is why the figure is used by Jesus (Matthew 24:43), Paul (1 Thessalonians 5:2), and Peter (2 Peter 3:10), to emphasise the vital point. We must be on our guard, watchful, prepared, vigilant. The Lord could come at any time! He will come when we least expect him!