Jesus Christ Returns to Earth

Characteristics:

-Jesus and his army return to destroy the enemies and kings of the earth

-He comes as king and judge

-Jesus' victory over the wicked of the world

-The beast and false prophet cast into lake of fire

Description:

At His first coming Jesus came as a lamb and a savior, in His second coming Jesus comes as a Lion and a judge of the earth.  In the Old Testament the prophet Zechariah sees nations of the earth gathering and going against Jerusalem.  However the Lord will come with his saints to defend the city and destroy all the nations that have come against it.  Zechariah 12 and 14 describe this powerful event. 

…And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem. (Zechariah 12:9)

In the New Testament Revelation 19 John sees heaven open and a white horse, with Jesus sitting on it.  His description is very marvelous.  His eyes are as a flame of fire and ready for judgment and war.  His armies also on white horses follow Him.  A sharp sword goes out of his mouth to smite the nations.  He treadeth the winepress of the wrath of God.  He is called the King of Kings, and Lord of Lords.  An angel cries out to earth to the fowls of the earth, gather for the supper; to eat the flesh of kings of the earth.  The beast and kings and nations of earth are gathered to make war against the King of Kings.  The beast and the false prophet, because of there deceiving the people on earth, are taken and cast alive in to the lake of fire.  The remaining people were slain with the sword that proceeded out of his mouth.  These are the people who received the mark of the beast and worshipped his image.

In Revelation 14:18-20 an angel cries out that the grapes are fully ripe.  The grapes are people of nations who are fully ripe for Christs wrath in this devastating even.  The grapes are trodden as in a winepress.  The blood is filled for 1600 furlongs or 200 miles.

The best scriptural interpretation is that these kings of the earth and armies that are gathered in Armageddon (Rev 16) eventually make their way towards Jerusalem.  This is where Jesus, the King of Kings, will defeat them.  The grapes are trodden in the winepress.  There are many phases and details about Jesus's return to earth that are detailed in the Bible and require time to understand, but in the end Jesus will be the victor.  For those who are saved by Gods grace in this present age need not worry about the details; we have overcome his wrath.

What an awe-inspiring vision we are given!  Who are the armies and saints that will return with Jesus?  Revelation 19 says they will be clothed in fine linen, white and clean.  This is a description of his people who were resurrected during event 1 - people who were saved by his Grace.  Perhaps the tribulation saints will be with him, along with his vast angels.  Regardless it is Jesus, the King of Kings, that will bring upon judgment and wrath on the peoples and nations who worshipped the beast on earth.  

Christ himself told His apostles about his return (Matthew 24).  It shall be as lightning coming from the east and shining in the west.  The New and Old Testament work together to tell of this great event that is to come.  God Almighty who gave us His beloved son can now establish his everlasting kingdom for his saints on earth.  What a marvelous event!

Scripture Reference:

Revelation 19: 11-21

And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war.

His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns; and he had a name written, that no man knew, but he himself.

And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God.

And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean.

And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God.

And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.

And I saw an angel standing in the sun; and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all the fowls that fly in the midst of heaven, Come and gather yourselves together unto the supper of the great God;

That ye may eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of captains, and the flesh of mighty men, and the flesh of horses, and of them that sit on them, and the flesh of all men, both free and bond, both small and great.

And I saw the beast, and the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against him that sat on the horse, and against his army.

And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone.

And the remnant were slain with the sword of him that sat upon the horse, which sword proceeded out of his mouth: and all the fowls were filled with their flesh.

Zechariah 12: 1-9

The burden of the word of the LORD for Israel, saith the LORD, which stretcheth forth the heavens, and layeth the foundation of the earth, and formeth the spirit of man within him.

Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of trembling unto all the people round about, when they shall be in the siege both against Judah and against Jerusalem.

And in that day will I make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all people: all that burden themselves with it shall be cut in pieces, though all the people of the earth be gathered together against it.

In that day, saith the LORD, I will smite every horse with astonishment, and his rider with madness: and I will open mine eyes upon the house of Judah, and will smite every horse of the people with blindness.

And the governors of Judah shall say in their heart, The inhabitants of Jerusalem shall be my strength in the LORD of hosts their God.

In that day will I make the governors of Judah like an hearth of fire among the wood, and like a torch of fire in a sheaf; and they shall devour all the people round about, on the right hand and on the left: and Jerusalem shall be inhabited again in her own place, even in Jerusalem.

The LORD also shall save the tents of Judah first, that the glory of the house of David and the glory of the inhabitants of Jerusalem do not magnify themselves against Judah.

In that day shall the LORD defend the inhabitants of Jerusalem; and he that is feeble among them at that day shall be as David; and the house of David shall be as God, as the angel of the LORD before them.

And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem.

Zechariah 14: 1-5

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; and the city shall be taken, and the houses rifled, and the women ravished; and half of the city shall go forth into captivity, and the residue of the people shall not be cut off from the city.

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, and the mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof toward the east and toward the west, and there shall be a very great valley; and half of the mountain shall remove toward the north, and half of it toward the south.

And ye shall flee to the valley of the mountains; for the valley of the mountains shall reach unto Azal: yea, ye shall flee, like as ye fled from before the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah: and the LORD my God shall come, and all the saints with thee.

2 Thessalonians 1:7-9

 And to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels,

In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ:

Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power;

Revelation 14:18-20

And another angel came out from the altar, which had power over fire; and cried with a loud cry to him that had the sharp sickle, saying, Thrust in thy sharp sickle, and gather the clusters of the vine of the earth; for her grapes are fully ripe.

And the angel thrust in his sickle into the earth, and gathered the vine of the earth, and cast it into the great winepress of the wrath of God.

And the winepress was trodden without the city, and blood came out of the winepress, even unto the horse bridles, by the space of a thousand and six hundred furlongs.

Saints with the Lord – Jude 1:14

And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints