| Christ's Second Comings, continued: Long-standing has been the controversy among expositors as to when Christ will return all the way to Earth. A minority say he never will. Others say he will continue to descend to Earth as, or shortly after, the Rapture takes place. Yet others believe that after the Rapture, he will ascend to (or remain in) heaven for a time (some say 3-1/2 years, others 7 years), and then will return to fight the Battle of Armageddon. Evidence has been presented in this book to support the latter view, excepting that the middle, intervening era has been shown to be on the order of fifty years.* According to the Esther allegory, the time when the Son of man comes to receive power in heaven most likely corresponds to the time when Ahasuerus assembled the top officials of his kingdom before him on his throne. (See http://geocities.com/remnantofjacob/sacredhistory.html) The sending out of the angels to gather together the elect, which follows, corresponds to Ahasuerus's messen-gers being sent throughout the kingdom to gather to his palace the fairest virgins of the land. The Esther allegory apparently doesn't cover the period of "the battle of that great day of God Almighty" (Rev. 16:14), which is, how-ever, symbolized later on by Nehemiah's unexpected return to Jerusalem. * This is not to say that Christ won't be present on Earth at all during this era. On the contrary, New World prohecies say that he will. However, he will not yet fully manifest his glory until he appears at Jerusalem to fight the final battle with Gog and Magog. Zech 14 These topics go far beyond the discussion here, however. See pages 180 and 193-94. Lastly, there is one other important passage that tells of Christ coming "in the clouds." The book of Acts describes what took place when Jesus Christ ascended into heaven, in full view of his disciples, forty days after his resurrection: While they beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight. And while they looked steadfastly toward heaven as he went up, behold, two men [angels] stood by them in white apparel; which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven. Then returned they unto Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet. . . Acts 1:9-12 In this case, the angels were apparently not referring to the time that Christ will return for his Church, but rather to the time that he will return to Earth to fight the Battle of Armageddon. This is shown in a prophecy by Zechariah: Behold, the day of the LORD cometh, and thy spoil shall be divided in the midst of thee. For I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle. . . Then shall the LORD go forth, and fight against those nations, as when he fought in the day of battle. And his feet shall stand in that day upon the Mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east. . . Zechariah 14:1-4 The Mount of Olives is the place from which Jesus ascended to heaven. His return there that the angels spoke about refers to his final coming in glory to purge Jerusalem and judge the nations. Return to part one. The Marriage and the Marriage Feast Much of the End Time scenario is revealed by another group of closely related parables in the Gospels, which tell of a marriage and a marriage feast. Like the passages about Christ's coming, these parables are usually over-simplified, and therefore partially misinterpreted. One difficulty in interpreting the parables about the marriage is because for Jews, both in Jesus' day and at present, the marriage ceremony was/is composed of two distinct parts. The first part is called kiddushin, a ceremony during which the bride is consecrated to the groom, usually by the latter speaking a vow. 1 Tradition-ally, this first ceremony took place at the house [in the Gospel parables = Earth/Jerusalem] of the bride-to-be [= the Church], to which the suitor [Christ] had traveled. There the purchase price (mohar) was established and paid [His life's blood]. The betrothal was completed and sanctified when the two partook together from a cup of wine that had been blessed with a benediction. A dinner or feast typically followed, or was part of the event. [= The Lord's Supper: And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, Drink ye all of it; for this is my blood of the new testament [covenant], which is shed for many for the remission of sins. Matthew 26:27-28 This was the marriage covenant.] After this initial wedding ceremony = the consecration/covenant, the groom went back to his father's house [heaven] to prepare a bridal chamber. The bride henceforth wore a veil [to symbolize that she was set apart], and prepared herself and her wedding garments for the time of his return. ["And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness (lit. 'righteous deeds') of the saints." Rev. 19:8] Just before he departed, the groom promised his bride that he would return for her: [I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also. John 14:2-3] The traditional kiddushin ceremony can be compared with the non-Jewish practice of engagement, but there was one vital difference: the man and woman were regarded as henceforth bound in marriage, and the covenant could only be broken by divorce. Regardless of this, however, they did not begin to live together until the second marriage ceremony, nissu'in. This ceremony, the marriage proper, took place much later. (For a virgin, it was generally one year, or a minimum of one year.) More benedictions were recited over the couple, after which the two went into the bridal chamber (huppah) for the consummation. After the marriage was consummated, the father of the groom provided a feast for the wedding guests. Although there has been a wide range in the manner of performing the two halves of the marriage ceremony over the years, the basic distinction between kiddushin and nissu'in has persisted into modern times. Continue Previous page Return to Index |