Rapture and Second Coming

Be Ready

Rapture and Second Coming.

At the rapture of the church, the Lord Jesus will not yet return to earth. He will then take the church from the earth to be with Him forever. It is compared to a bridegroom who picks up his bride to his father's house to celebrate the wedding there. At the return of the Lord Jesus on the Mount of Olives, He will indeed return to earth, but not alone, the entire church will also return with Him. Then the church will reign as kings on earth together with the Lord Jesus (1 Corinthians 6:2).
These two events cannot take place simultaneously. Before the church will reign with Christ on earth, the believers will first have to appear before the judgment seat of Christ to be judged, in what way they may reign with Him (2 Corinthians 5:10).
The Bible teaches us that after the rapture of the church, the last week of years from Daniel 9 will be fulfilled. In these last seven years, the antichrist will rule on earth and will eventually turn against the Jewish people. At the end of these seven years, Israel will cry out to its God and the people will turn to the Lord. Then the moment will have arrived when the Lord Jesus, together with His church, will return in glory. At His return, the Lord Jesus will cast the antichrist and his accomplice, the false prophet, into the lake of fire and lock the devil in the abyss for a thousand years.
This period of seven years between the rapture of the church and the visible return of the Lord Jesus is also called the 'great tribulation'. Jeremiah describes this as the 'time of Jacob's trouble' (30:4-9). He describes this moment as a day 'without equal', just as the great tribulation is described in Matthew 24:21: 'a period such as has never been, nor ever will be' . Unmistakably, this is the same period that we know as the great tribulation and that immediately precedes the visible return of the Lord Jesus (Matthew 24:29-30).
The church looks forward to the 'coming' of the Bridegroom to be with Him as a bride forever and as Head of the body, the church, where Head and body will be united forever. Israel expects the 'second coming', where He will return as the King of the Jews and will reign as King over Israel and the entire world. The coming is announced in the Bible as the appearance of the Morning Star, which always appears in the fourth watch of the night, so at the end of the night. The Second Coming is usually compared in the Bible to the rising of the sun, with which the new day begins. The appearance of the Morning Star will never occur at the same time as the rising of the sun, which is why the rapture of the church takes place before the visible return of the Lord Jesus to earth.

Bro Benjamin