The Prophecy Letter is a circular letter that we send out relating to the development of latter-day prophecy.

February 2025

The Return of Jesus Christ

An Examination of the Signs & Timing of His Coming

TGP Prophecy Letter – February 18, 2025

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No event in the history of man has been more greatly anticipated than that of the second coming of the Messiah, and no group awaits him more fervently than those of us who are so blessed as to be called his brothers and sisters. It has particular importance for us because it marks the end of our probationary period wrestling with the sin in our members and the pivoting point in removal of sin, evil, and the curse of the world. While sin has reigned since the fall of man, this will be the first time in which the ways of God begin to conquer and far surpass the reach of sin. No longer will lying, power hungry men hold sway over the nations, for “a king shall reign in righteousness, and princes shall rule in judgment” and “the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea” (Isaiah 32:1, Habakkuk 2:14).

Those of us who have taken on Christ’s name and walked faithfully will then be freed from sin, death, and corruption and made like unto our glorious master, and “we shall be like him” (1 John 3:2). Not only this, but he will dwell in our very midst forever (1 Thessalonians 4:17). As this will be the greatest event in the history of man to date, the greatest question that has occupied the minds of Christ’s servants has been, When will Jesus return? Even moments before he ascended to his Father from the Mount of Olives, his disciples asked him, “wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel?” (Acts 1:6). Indeed, we all want to know when!

Unfortunately, this question has also been a subject of great discouragement for some. Countless students have boldly claimed from their “supreme” understanding of the Word that Christ will and must return on such and such day in such and such year, only for that time to come and go without any great happening. History is full of examples of this, and while Christadelphians are not as guilty of this as others, there have been some who come close in their statements. The certainty of their conviction on the subject has actually worked to discourage believers, for it either has a “boy who cried wolf” affect and people decide to no longer get excited on the subject, or people begin to believe that Christ might never come back, giving fulfillment to a prophecy given through Peter:

2 Peter 3:3-4 – Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts,  (4)  And saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation.

We must be careful and ensure that we do not fall into this mindset, for the Lord knows the day and hour of his coming. Yet there is another view to this subject which can hinder us. If we read the writings of Bro. Thomas and other pioneer writers, we note a sincere expectation that Christ’s return was imminent, and in one place Bro. Thomas even suggested a date by which Gog would descend toward Israel as prophesied in Ezekiel 38 – but, well over a hundred years have since passed. The trouble which some might face is falling into a mindset which says, “If even Bro. Thomas believed that Christ’s return was imminent and he was wrong, then how can we possibly be right by saying that it is?” Again, let us not fall into this thinking.

The question for us is, How are we to look at the timing of Christ’s return from the correct point of view? What can we say with certainty and what can we not? Just as importantly, how does prophecy teach us to look for and expect Christ’s return? This is the subject which we hope to discuss in fair detail, and to do so in a way that this article will hopefully be useful until Christ returns, be it a few months or many years. I aim to be thorough in this discussion because it is only through establishing strong foundations that we can be firmly planted and informed. This will furthermore give an insight into the thought processes in my mind as I look at world events, and it is hoped that this information will help others to think and see all of these things on their own.

Before getting into the prophecies concerning Christ’s coming, I believe is first important to discuss

The Psychology Surrounding Christ’s Return

The way we view Christ’s return has a direct bearing on how we conduct ourselves in the meantime. It is natural to the carnal mind to think, “If Christ is not going to return in the next year or so, that gives me more time to do ______ and live life how I want to before getting serious about my service to him.” Perhaps all of us have had this shameful thought before, and while it’s unlikely that we’ve been so honest with ourselves as to phrase it so bluntly, such is nevertheless our meaning when we base the intensity of our service to Christ upon how near or far his return appears to be. If this is truly where our hearts lie, there are far greater issues we need to address before looking at the nature and timing of Christ’s return.

As to exactly when Christ will return, there’s a critical fact which can often be forgotten, especially by those of us who feel we still have a “good amount of time” left in our lives. As far as our individual perspective is concerned, Christ’s return is only as far away as the day of our death. While it’s unlikely that Christ will literally return on the day of our death, it will appear this way from our perspective because of the nature of the death-state. We can work and think while we are living upon the earth, but “there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave, whither thou goest” (Ecclesiastes 9:10, 5). While alive, we are aware of the passage of time and can clearly discern and feel the difference between 10 seconds and 10 years, but such will not be the case in the grave, for “the living know that they shall die: but the dead know not any thing” (Ecclesiastes 9:5). From our point of view, there will be zero seconds which pass from the moment we die to our resurrection from the grave. Even though Adam, Moses, and the countless other ancients died thousands of years ago, it will seem as if Christ’s return was the very next thing to happen after their death.

It’s easy to forget this fact, and the young will likely not drink in the full meaning of it because death can seem so distant in our future, but there are many unfortunate examples of life being lost at an early age either by car accident, disease, or a number of other hazards in the world. The truth is, we do not know how many days or years of life we have left, so we should not concern ourself too heavily with whether Christ will return in our lifetime or not. At the most, his return while be from our point of view 80 years or so from the day of our birth.

As a final note on this subject, it’s worth mentioning that those who are “alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord” do not appear to have any benefit over those who have fallen asleep in Christ, besides perhaps seeing a few prophetical events be more completely developed. Paul explains in

1 Thessalonians 4:15-16 – For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent (or “precede, come beforehand”) them which are asleep.  (16)  For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:

In other words, Christ is going to resurrect those who have died in faith before gathering his saints who are alive when he returns. Therefore, those living at his coming have no real benefit over those who have fallen asleep in Christ’s name. The whole concept of Christ “needing to return very soon” for us to devote ourselves whole-heartedly to him is therefore based upon a foundation of sand, and we can only imagine that it is displeasing to him as it shows where our hearts truly lie.

While we can perceive roughly where we are on God’s prophetic timeline, we must remember that God knows the day and hour in which He will send His son to the earth (Mark 13:32). Wherever we might perceive ourselves to be in respect to that wondrous moment, we can rest assured that His plan is moving along on pace and on time. With these things in mind, let’s look at the

The Nature of the Signs We Are Given & How to Read Them

How does the Bible describe Christ’s return, and in what ways does it show us how near or far we are from it? There are three primary ways in which the Scriptures show us this:

1.     Descriptions of the general state of the world at Christ’s return.

2.     Time “limits” which show periods which his return should come before.

3.     Chronology of latter-day events.

Let’s consider each under its own heading:

1.     The general state of the world at Christ’s return

God knows the beginning from the end, so prophecy is not a forecast – it is a revelation of sure, future events. Some prophecies tell us that when we see ______, know that ______ is near. They require us to observe and assess the world around us to see how it lines up with what was prophesied. Christ condemned the Pharisees and Sadducees for being able to do this with the physical heavens, but terribly lacking in their ability to discern the political heavens:

Matthew 16:2-3 – He answered and said unto them, When it is evening, ye say, It will be fair weather: for the sky is red.  (3)  And in the morning, It will be foul weather to day: for the sky is red and lowring. O ye hypocrites, ye can discern the face of the sky; but can ye not discern the signs of the times?

We must therefore be diligent to watch and assess. Prophecies of this more “general” sort require us to see the world picture as a whole and not just focus on one nation. They also require us to look into the past, for we must have something to compare the current world to in order to see if things are getting closer to what was foretold. These tell us the general season of his return as compared to the day and the hour. The two prophecies which come to mind on this subject are both given to us by Christ. The first is in

Luke 17:26-30 – And as it was in the days of Noe, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man.  (27)  They did eat, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, and the flood came, and destroyed them all.  (28)  Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded;  (29)  But the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all.  (30)  Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed.

We’re here told that the “days of the son of man” will be like those of Noah. There is of course nothing wrong with eating, drinking, and getting married, but the problem was that in Noah’s day, the people were wholly engrossed in the temporal things right up to the very day of their judgment and destruction by the flood waters. The world did not heed Noah’s preaching (2 Peter 2:5) and did not care for the things of God, and the warnings were emphatically ignored. They carried on with these fleeting pleasures “until the day that Noe entered into the ark”.

The days of Lot shed light on the days of Christ’s return in a similar way. The wicked men and women of Sodom were so engrossed in their vain pleasures that they lived after their lusts, “but the same day that Lot went out of Sodom” they were all destroyed. We know that sexual perversion was rampant in that place, and it is no coincidence that the world has been almost overtaken by the LGTBQ+ ideology in the past decade or two. This was a principle sin of Sodom and showed just how far they had plunged into wickedness, and I find the recent outburst of sexual perversion a great testimony to the fact that we currently live in the days like those of Noah and Lot. This aspect was not present even a few years ago as it is today. I believe we can state that we now live in the times described here by Christ, and this passage also teaches us that we should not expect the world to get better before Christ’s return, for the people of both Noah and Lots’ days both continued in their sin until “the day” that judgment was executed.

The other passage of this sort is part of Christ’s Olivet prophecy. It must be noted that Christ’s discourse was in response to three questions of his disciples, for he had just told them that temple in Jerusalem would be completely destroyed. The Matthew account shows all of their questions: “when shall these things be (the destruction of the temple, see vss. 1-2)? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?” (Matthew 24:1). Christ’s disciples asked not only about the temple’s destruction, but also of his coming and of the end of the age. Some students believe that all of the Olivet prophecy relates to AD70, some believe that none of it does, and some believe that both are included in Christ’s response as both are part of the question. I am of the latter view, but now is not the time and place to do so. Let it suffice to say that the part we are considering must relate to the second coming of Christ, for it unquestionably shows him returning in glory and our redemption being attached to it:

Luke 21:25-28 – And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring;  (26)  Men's hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken.  (27)  And then shall they see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory.  (28)  And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh.

These signs are to indicate that Christ’s return is near, for when these signs “begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth night.” Once these signs are apparent, we can be certain that the return of Jesus is near. The word “begin” is critical, for it shows that there will be a span of time between the signs first appearing and Christ actually coming. How much time is not specified, but we imagine that it nevertheless exists to allow us to absorb and be aware of the signs we are being given.

As for the interpretation of these signs, there are varied thoughts. Those in the sun, moon, and stars can be interpreted literally as those heavenly bodies or figuratively as the political bodies. While the correct interpretation is certainly important to know, I find it significant that both have been the subjects of great wonders in recent times. As for the nations on the earth, perplexity certainly exists and the sea of nations is currently roaring with trouble. We suggest that “men’s hearts failing them for fear” means that men and women are fearful because of the instability amongst the nations.

The trouble with this kind of passage is that many brethren in Bro. Thomas’s day believed that these described the world in their days, yet time has continued on for nearly 200 years since then. It is easy to reason, “If they believed that they lived in those times, how can we be sure that we live in those times?” While we must discern the times we live in, we must learn from the past to enable us to do this more effectively. Considering what this particular prophecy describes, we must remember that nations have always been “roaring” in a sense, for they have always warred and struggled for power. That being the case, we are forced to conclude that Christ was foretelling even greater trouble than this. We are to look for world-wide trouble which has been uncommon in recent history. It is true that these signs could relate to our current day, but my mind thinks of a third World War when thinking about this. It could require more development.

We can see that prophecies like the two just considered are not clear cut as to their start and beginning, and we must therefore continually watch the world-wide scene to honestly examine whether our days describe those of prophecy. I firmly believe that we are currently in the days of Noah and Lot, and also in the days of the final part of the Olivet prophecy, and here is why. Brethren of long ago believed that they lived in the days of Noah and Lot due to the wickedness of the world during their times, but what we are seeing now fits the picture far more. The LGBT community has taken over the world and brings the modern-day “Sodom” into reality.

2.     Time “limits”

We have put the word “limits” in parenthesis for good reason. While God has given us certain spans of time in which He has shown He will work, only He knows the day and hour of their fulfillment, and we dare not to go too far and say that Christ must come back by such and such date. We must remember our fleshly limitations and be aware of the possibility that we could be wrong in our interpretation. That being said, we strive for truth, and if something appears and has thus far shown itself to be true, I believe the only good course is to stick with that interpretation unless something happens which voids it. With that established, there are two prophecies which come to mind and seem to give us slightly more concrete information regarding timing of Christ’s return.

The first relates to God’s 7,000-year plan. The days of creation are unquestionably literal days, but they also have a symbolic representation. This is first seen in the fact that the seventh day was the day God rested. We will not cite it here for space, but Hebrews 4:1-11 explains how the seventh day of creation represents the rest that we seek in our God, and it therefore equates the 1,000-year reign of Christ on the earth. There is great beauty and remarkable detail in the prophetic symbolism of all of the creation days, but now is not the place to discuss this. Let it simply be recognized that each day of creation represents a period of roughly 1,000 years, the seven-thousandth year marking the new day of rest to commence when Christ rules on the earth.

What does this mean? It means that we can look and see where we are generally on this 7,000-year timeline and perhaps find a maximum end-date. We say all of this with great caution, for there is no reliable method of determining exactly what year we are currently in. Day 1 of creation represents years 0-999, Day 2 represents years 1000-1999, and so on. Therefore, the beginning of Day 7 of creation (the day of rest) represents years 6000-6999. The Hebrew calendar currently says that we are in year 5785 from the day of creation, so this would mean that Christ could likely not return for another 300 years or so.

But hold on - this assumes many big things, one important piece being that the 1,000 year reign of Christ would begin exactly on the six-thousandth year. I don’t believe each creation day represents an exact 1,000 years, but rather a general period of 1,000 years. If it does so happen to occur on the six-thousandth year, we must remember that this would mark the beginning of his millennial reign, not the moment he gathers and judges his saints. That occurs before his reign officially begins because his saints are the ones who help Christ conquer and rule. All of this being said, there are roughly 4,000 years from creation to Christ, and since his days there have been another 2,000 years. I believe we can state with confidence that we are around the 6,000-year time frame, which certainly is enough for me to believe that Christ’s coming is not far away.

The time “limit” passage of this sort could allow us to get even more specific with a timeframe for Christ’s return. It again relates to the Olivet prophecy, specifically the fig tree aspect. The Luke account says,

Luke 21:29-33 – And he spake to them a parable; Behold the fig tree, and all the trees;  (30)  When they now shoot forth, ye see and know of your own selves that summer is now nigh at hand.  (31)  So likewise ye, when ye see these things come to pass, know ye that the kingdom of God is nigh at hand.  (32)  Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass away, till all be fulfilled.  (33)  Heaven and earth shall pass away: but my words shall not pass away.

The fig tree is often used to represent Israel in the Bible (Hosea 9:10 for example). Prior to Christ giving the Olivet prophecy, he happened upon a fig tree which appeared to have figs due to its leaves, and the account ties into what we learn in the Olivet prophecy:

Mark 11:13-14, 20-21 – And seeing a fig tree afar off having leaves, he came, if haply he might find any thing thereon: and when he came to it, he found nothing but leaves; for the time of figs was not yet.  (14)  And Jesus answered and said unto it, No man eat fruit of thee hereafter for ever. And his disciples heard it…  (20)  And in the morning, as they passed by, they saw the fig tree dried up from the roots.  (21)  And Peter calling to remembrance saith unto him, Master, behold, the fig tree which thou cursedst is withered away.

Like the fig tree, Israel had the appearance of righteousness by the strict (but corrupted) adherence to the law, thinking that their righteousness was found in the letter of the law. But as the parable showed, they were fruitless and wicked. Christ therefore ordered the destruction of the tree of Israel just how he cursed the literal fig tree:

Matthew 23:37-38 – O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!  (38)  Behold, your house is left unto you desolate.

John the Baptist preached and warned Israel of all of these things and showed their fruitlessness, the reason for their “appearance” of righteousness, and the destruction to come as a result:

Matthew 3:8-10 – Bring forth therefore fruits meet for repentance (the fig tree with leaves, but no fruit):  (9)  And think not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to our father: for I say unto you, that God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham (the “leaves” themselves, their lineage from Abraham being sufficient to be acceptable to God).  (10)  And now also the axe is laid unto the root of the trees (the destruction to come): therefore every tree which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.

We find that the fig tree of Israel was destroyed through the events of the Jewish-Roman wars of AD66-138, AD70 being a climactic point. The tree has since then been withered and long dead, but the Olivet prophecy foretold of its rebirth, for Christ spoke of it rebudding in the latter times and being linked to the other signs of the prophecy. This is where the time “limit” comes in. The nation of Israel was reborn on May 14, 1948. Christ says that “This generation shall not pass away, till all be fulfilled”, and we believe that “this generation” refers to the fig-tree generation – that which was born when the fig tree of Israel was reborn. Assuming that this interpretation is correct, we can then look to see how old that generation is and how much of it is left.

Those who were born in 1948 like Israel was will be 77 years old this year, and Scripture tells us that “The days of our years are threescore years and ten; and if by reason of strength they be fourscore years” (Psalms 90:10). 70 years is about the average lifespan of man, though some make it to 80 and beyond “by reason of strength”. Assuming that this is the correct lifespan of a generation, we can conclude that all of the things Christ foretold in the Olivet prophecy should be fulfilled around Israel’s 80th birthday, for he said that “this generation shall not pass away, till all be fulfilled.” This would be 2028.

Seeing the current world situation, this appears very tenable. However, this is based on the assumptions that 70-80 years is the correct value of “the generation” which wouldn’t pass away. If the “generation” somehow refers to something else, the span of 80 years would of course be irrelevant. I believe this to be the correct interpretation of the passage because it allows the Scriptures to define the value (Psalm 90:10), but it could refer to something else.

That being said, I know of no other alternative interpretation which answers my questions and fits the narrative, and I believe that this is correct. But, if 2028 comes and goes without Christ returning, I will certainly not lose any faith, nor will I be surprised. It will simply mean that our understanding was incorrect, and that’s something that the last 200 years of history have shown to be true time and time again. We are talking about unfulfilled prophecy, and it’s a proven general rule that most prophecies are only clearly and completely understood after they have been fulfilled. We must remember that prophecy is given to warn us of things to come, but not to give us “all of the answers”. It is not to glorify man, but to glorify God.

3.     Chronology of latter-day events

In my view, the most reliable method of determining where we are on the prophetic timetable is by understanding what prophecy says certain nations are going to do and then assessing where they are now and what they are doing today. The principle is simple: the Scriptures give great detail as to the actions of Christ once he returns to the earth. If one of these prophecies seems to describe or almost describe our present day, then it is likely close to fulfillment. If, however, it does not describe our day, then there is obviously more which must be developed.

For example, the Ezekiel 38 confederacy will not come against Israel today or tomorrow (as of this writing). While this seems like a bold statement, I have no problem whatsoever saying it because the circumstances and alliances of the prophecy are not existent today, and they require far more development than which will likely be accomplished in a day. The confederacy itself does not even exist yet, nor do the other many things we find in the prophecy. As I will try to explain later, I find that the Scriptures tell us what will come before this event.

Now, there are some things which must be considered with this method of looking at latter day events. Truly, all three of these kinds of prophecies must be looked at together to create one cohesive picture if our interpretations are to be even remotely close to accurate. We cannot just pick one and ignore the others, for they are all signs given by our Lord. Yet this last kind of prophecy can be the most difficult because it requires the most footwork and study, particularly if our views aren’t founded on solid foundations (as mine weren’t for a long time). It is fairly easy to read the prophecy about “the days of Noah and Lot” and see its application to our day, but it takes more study and familiarity with both the Scriptures and present-day events to know God’s prophetical plan moving forward. Depending on our view, it might also take a great deal of humility to acknowledge that we were incorrect in our thinking, and this is something which took me a while to sort out, for nobody likes having to go back to the drawing board. Nevertheless, it is logical that the method which requires the most work is the most helpful to us, and it is certainly more than worth the study and mental effort, “for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap” (Galatians 6:7).

There are a great variety of thoughts on latter-day prophecy concerning order of events and even whether some things are fulfilled or not, but now is not the place to discuss all of those things. Let it be said that we are dealing with unfulfilled prophecy and that it’s almost certain that nobody has everything right. While we would not write and speak things that we do not believe and find to be Scripturally sound, we must always remember the limitations of our carnal frame. That being said, my studies (and those of others) have found what we believe to be clear evidence for general order of events, enough to at least talk about it with some confidence. It will be of some comfort to know that we do not need to have every single latter-day event figured out to perceive whether Christ’s appearance is near or not. We need only understand in what time and circumstances he first appears on the scene, for from that point and forward, he will have his saints with him.

I feel it would be insufficient to explain my understanding of these first events in a quick fashion, so I will explain it in a separate section of its own. Yet before we can cover this, there is a critical principle which must be clearly understood:

The Distinction between Christ’s Return & His Interaction with the World at Large

The is a great difference between when Christ’s return to gather and judge his household and his return to establish the Kingdom of God, conquer the earth, and establish it in righteousness. These are the two principle purposes for Christ’s return to the earth, and while they are not separate “comings” of Christ since both occur when he appears “the second time” (Hebrews 9:28), one comes before the other and appears to be carried out in a more concealed manner.

We find that Christ gathers and judges his saints first, and the primary reason for this understanding is simply that prophecy shows Christ having his immortalized saints with him when he begins to conquer the nations, and if this is true, he must gather and judge his saints first. This gets into the subject of the judgment and how long that will take, and we will go into a more detailed explanation of these things when we lay out our understanding of Christ’s first actions on the earth. For now, the concept just needs to be understood.

The sequence is this: Christ returns, gathers his saints, judges his household, perhaps enjoys the marriage supper of the lamb at this time, and then he goes forth to save Israel, and this marks the beginning of his conquering of the earth. There are therefore two (or potentially three if the marriage supper is included) things which Christ will do after he returns but before he is known and seen on the world stage. The big question is, how long will it take him to gather and judge his household? In other words, how much time might elapse between his return and his acting upon the nations of the world?

The import of this directly relates to what we should and shouldn’t expect to see while we wait for our Lord’s return. For reasons we’ve explained many times, we believe that the Psalm 83 war will be the first conflict that Christ engages in. We watch the Middle East with anticipation as we see the nations begin to align in this manner, yet we must remember that the beginning of this war DOES NOT mark the moment when Christ returns, for the Scriptures show that he has been active prior to this event with his saints. I find that Psalm 83 could likely be a lightning war like Israel’s 1967 and 1973 wars where multiple Islamic nations came against them in a matter of hours or days. Since Christ has his immortalized saints with him at that time, I believe that it is unwise for us to expect to see the Psalm 83 nations come against Israel, or at least to see this with mortal eyes. My view is that if the covenanted of the Lord see the Psalm 83 war take place, it will be while standing at Christ’s side and vested with the glorious spirit nature as he prepares to goes forth to conquer and save Israel. I don’t believe that I will be writing a prophecy letter announcing that the war has begun, for I will not have time. I will have been removed to the judgment scene for some time (so I understand).

We see then that the duration of the judgment has a direct bearing on how much prophetical development we are allowed to see before Christ gathers us. To use an illustration, let’s use some random numbers and say that the judgment takes five years, but it only takes a month for the Islamic nations of Psalm 83 to assemble and come against Israel. This would mean that there is a period of almost five years between Christ’s gathering of his saints and his first visible appearance amongst the nations. This would be almost five years in which the nations could continue on “as normal” while the saints have been brought away for judgment. If we were waiting for the Psalm 83 war to begin to know that Christ was near, his return would come as a sudden and very unexpected event, for we would have been gathered at a time when the Psalm 83 war still looked like a distant reality. This is a hypothetical scenario, but it shows the nature of the issue at hand and could well be true.

How Will the Saints be Gathered?

This question is important to ask because it tells us what the experience of being gathered will be like. In what way will Christ gather his saints? The Scriptures explain that Christ will send forth the decree for his saints to be gathered, and the angels will be the gatherers:

Psalms 50:3-5 – Our God shall come, and shall not keep silence: a fire shall devour before him, and it shall be very tempestuous round about him.  (4)  He shall call to the heavens from above, and to the earth, that he may judge his people.  (5)  Gather my saints together unto me; those that have made a covenant with me by sacrifice.

Matthew 24:31 – And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.

This gathering of the elect appears to be very swift and abrupt from our point of view, and we’re given a picture of what it will be like in

Matthew 24:40-42 – Then shall two be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left.  (41)  Two women shall be grinding at the mill; the one shall be taken, and the other left.  (42)  Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come.

We find the saints going about their normal lives working in the fields, grinding at the mill, and some sleeping in their beds (Luke 17:34-36), when suddenly those in covenant are “taken” while those around them who are not in covenant are “left”. We will be going about our daily lives as we are today when we are suddenly visited by a heavenly figure and whisked away to the scene of judgment. We don’t know whether we will see the angel appear to us, and if we do, whether they will appear as a normal person as they have done in the past with Abraham and Lot (Genesis 18-19). Since we have seen that these final days are likened to the days of Lot, I believe that we will see them, but they will seem to us as normal people by all outward appearance, for so it was with Lot. We will then be brought to stand before our Lord for judgment, and we believe this will take place at Mount Sinai (a subject for another time).

This then brings up the question,

How Long Will the Judgment Take?

We might be disappointed to learn that there is not much revealed on this subject. Some have suggested that it could 40 years or more, but the premise I read for this was unconvincing and did not make sense with the context of the verse (I even forget what the exact proof was). There are many unknowable factors involved which make all of the difference as well, and the only thing I believe we can do with confidence is consider the principles we’re taught about the judgment seat and hypothesize based on these. So if we can accept that there are some things that we may not know all of the details of, let us consider the important factors of the judgment to learn what we can, for its importance goes far beyond trying to determine how long the judgment will take.

It is of course an important principle that not everyone who has died will appear at the judgment seat. Daniel 12:2 records that “many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt.” It is not all who sleep in the dust of the earth, nor is it even most of them, but simply “many” that will be raised. There are many passages which explain why the resurrection to judgment is limited to certain individuals and what makes one a participant thereof. Only those who have come out of “the law of sin and death” in Adam and have entered into “the law of the spirit of life” in Christ will be resurrected for judgment, for only these have made a covenant with God. Those who never entered into Christ remain in Adam, and “in Adam all die” (1 Corinthians 15:22).

When Christ returns, he will send out the command to his angels to resurrect and gather those who have taken on his name so he might judge them according to the quality of their new life they received in Christ in baptism:

Psalms 50:4-5 – He shall call to the heavens from above, and to the earth, that he may judge his people.  (5)  Gather my saints together unto me; those that have made a covenant with me by sacrifice.

We note that only the “saints” are called and judged, and this term has a specific meaning. This title is primarily applied to those who have made a covenant with God. Paul writes his first letter to Corinth “Unto the ecclesia (“called out ones”) of God which is at Corinth, to them that are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints” (1 Corinthians 1:2). The words “to be” are italicized in the KJV, showing that they were added by the translators. The literal meaning of the verse shows that the word “saint” is defined as “them that are sanctified in Christ Jesus,” for such are “called saints”. We find this same principle in many other places in Scripture, just one being

1 Thessalonians 4:13-14 – But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope.  (14)  For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him.

The ecclesia at Thessalonica was concerned for their brothers and sisters who fell asleep (died) in Christ, and Paul comforted them by explaining that they are not like the “others” who remain out of covenant and “have no hope”, for their brethren put on the name of Christ. Since “Jesus died and rose again” and baptism is our symbolic death, burial, and resurrection through him, any who enter into his death will also be made partakers of his resurrection. Paul explains this in

Romans 6:3-5 – Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death?  (4)  Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.  (5)  For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection:

Christ being the “forerunner” and “captain of our salvation” (Hebrews 6:20, 2:10), it is on the basis of his resurrection that others can attain it. Hebrews 13:20 says that God “brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant”. Christ was raised by God on the basis Christ’s own perfect blood, and it is therefore this same blood that we come into relation with in baptism and which makes us “saints” and nigh to God. This is why Paul says that only “them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him.”

The reason for the emphasis on this critical principle is twofold. Firstly, we can see that it is a matter of life and death, and many in the world who have been deceived by apostacy believe that they are “nigh to God” and have the hope of life eternal by simply “accepting Jesus in their hearts”. Baptism and covenant relation are optional at best in their minds, yet we see that without putting off our old man in Adam and putting on our new man in Christ through symbolically participating in his death, burial, and resurrection (baptism), then we remain in a state of estrangement from God and His promises. In writing to the ecclesia at Ephesus, Paul explains the difference in their state and hope both prior to and after coming into covenant:

Ephesians 2:12-13 – That at that time (before baptism) ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world:  (13)  But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ.

It is therefore a matter of salvation – an important matter indeed!

The second reason for this emphasis relates directly to our subject of how long the judgment will take, for it’s obvious that if there are more people who need to be judged, it will take longer to judge them all. While we’ve seen that is only the covenanted who will stand in the judgment, this still does not tell us what the number is. We are told by Christ that “many are called, but few are chosen” (Matthew 22:14), so only a “few” of the “many” who come into Christ will have lived their lives acceptably to him.

Now, we are given a concrete number of the redeemed, which means that we have a number given to us as to what could constitute the “few who are chosen”. This number is recorded in

Revelation 14:3 – And they sung as it were a new song before the throne, and before the four beasts, and the elders: and no man could learn that song but the hundred and forty and four thousand, which were redeemed from the earth.

The number of the redeemed is 144,000. Before we get too carried away, we must be careful in how we view and use this number, for it’s unlikely that it’s intended as a literal number. It’s given to us in the most symbolic book in the Bible, and it’s likely that it is a symbolic number. It has been suggested that the 144 comes from the multiplication of 12x12. There were 12 tribes of Israel and 12 apostles, and the whole number of 144 therefore represents the whole of those redeemed of both Jews and Gentiles. Such is my view, and I find it further substantiated from Revelation 5:11 which says that “the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands.” It might be mentioned that this number appears to relate not only the redeemed of this dispensation, but also the angels which exist now, so this could account for the greater number. Nevertheless, we see simply in the way this is worded that it’s not intended to give a concrete number, but “thousand” is used to convey the great number of the redeemed. Even just multiplying the 10,000 times 10,000 part brings us to 100,000,000, and to this is added more “thousands of thousands.” I believe the point is pretty simple: the redeemed will be great in number.

For the sake of argument, let us say that there will be 144,000 thousand saints who are redeemed. These are the number of those who are saved, not the number of those in covenant which will be judged, for of that bunch there will be some good and many wicked. We do not know the ratio of good to evil, but simply that “many are called, but few are chosen”. In the parable of the ten virgins though, we find that five were faithful and five were unfaithful, so 50% are saved in that example (Matthew 25:1-13). I don’t believe that this ratio is designed to represent the actual ratio, but let us proceed with the number for the sake of argument. There are therefore 288,000 persons to be judged and 144,000 saints are saved. I believe that both of these numbers are far short of what the numbers will actually be, but let us set that aside for the moment.

Now that we have some numbers to play with, we must look into the process of judging these persons. The covenanted of the Lord are going to be judged so they might “give account” of their stewardship (Romans 14:12, 1 Peter 4:5). Such have taken on the name of Christ and come out from under the law of sin and death, and in coming out of the waters of baptism, they are at that moment with “no condemnation” (Romans 8:1). They received clean, white garments by their Lord, and their task from then on is to keep their garments pure and clean until the Lord returns (Revelation 3:4. 16:15). As all are still of a corruptible frame and nature, it is inevitable that such will stain their garments with sin, and the purpose of the judgment is for Christ to determine whether they have conducted themselves sufficiently to his will and kept their garments as clean as possible. To this end, we find evidence that Christ will judge each of his servants on an individual basis:

2 Corinthians 5:10 – For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad.

All saints will appear before Christ, and as this passage says, it is to receive the reward for what they have done “in his body”. This short phrase is another critical one which shows who will appear before Christ and why, for it refers to Christ’s body that we enter into throughout covenant. Our inherent uncleanness from birth and all of our sins which we committed while we were “in Adam” were washed away in the waters of baptism, and it is therefore only for the things we have done while “in Christ” that we must give account for (1 Corinthians 15:22, Romans 3:24, Romans 8:1).

This passage merely says that all of such must appear before Christ, but it doesn’t necessarily indicate how. Will this be all at once, or will it be on an individual basis? This has great import on our subject, for it will obviously take far longer to judge each servant individually rather than judging all at once. I believe that it will be done on an individual basis, one of the primary reasons being 1 Peter 4:5 which speaks of saints “Who shall give account to him that is ready to judge the quick and the dead.” To “give account” means exactly that: to explain and confess. This is the only understanding from the Greek of these two words, and it seems to me to require that the judgment is done on an individual basis, for how could all give account before Christ on the things they’ve done while in his body? It is true that all things are possible with the Lord, but this has not prevented him from working in ways which align with logic and reason. Indeed, when read about the judgment seat, we gain a picture of a court scenario where a judge sits on his and a servant comes before him for his hearing.

Furthermore, when Christ judges the nations, he says that “he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats” (Matthew 25:31-33). This was not done all at once, but had to be carried out individually. Historically, the entire mixed group would be funneled by the shepherd and made to pass by him one by one. The shepherd would have his rod in his hand, and if a sheep came before him, he would guide them to one side with his rod. If it was a goat, he would use the rod to direct them to the other side. At the end, all sheep and goats had been separated, and this was the only way to ensure that there were completely separated. This is where the term “pass under the rod” came from and why it refers to judgment in general (Ezekiel 20:36-38).

If the saints are to be judged individually, then we have at least 288,000 individuals who will each appear before Christ to give account. But how long will this take? How long will we stand before Christ? Logically, it would seem that some would take longer than others. It must also be recognized that we will not have to give an entire, exhaustive account of our lives in Christ, detailing every good and bad thing we ever did. Such would be superfluous to him who knows all things and a waste of time. I believe we will only have to answer for the things which we have not repented of. We are told that Christ presently hears our prayers to God and intercedes on our behalf (Hebrews 8:1, 7:25, Romans 8:27, 34). Sins which we truly repent of are forgiven, and it would seem contradictory for God to forgive us of a sin only to bring it back up and hold us accountable for it at the judgment seat. That’s the purpose of forgiveness and “putting away” sin, assuming we genuinely repent. Instead, there will be many sins we have committed which we have either not repented of or not even been aware of. Sins of ignorance are dealt with more mercifully than willful sins, but they are nevertheless sins which require atonement. Such was the case under the law of Moses (see Leviticus 4-5). If this is the case, then we might still have a long list of things to give account for, but it would take significantly less time than giving an entire account of our lives.

Here we come to the crux of it all. Let us assume that hearing and judgment of each person who stands before Christ takes only one minute. That means that the judgment would take no less than 288,000 minutes, which comes out to 200 days, or a little over half a year. The judgment would therefore take around half a year from start to finish. Yet this is almost certainly a very short estimate, so let us just multiply it by 10. This would mean that there are 2.88 million people requiring judgment, and it would take 2,000 days, or about five and a half years. If this is even remotely close to accurate, we could be gathered by Christ and taken from the world scene no less than five and a half years before Christ makes his visible appearance on the earth.

We go through this exercise not to try and figure out exactly how much time the judgment will take, but rather to show how little we actually know about this subject and why we should always be prepared. There are ways in which we can plausibly see it taking years or even decades to complete, but it’s also possible that it could be done much more quickly. Some have suggested that the judgment will be done in another dimension, or at least in a place and way in which time is not a factor. This would allow the judgment all the time it needed while it would seem to the natural world to be almost instantaneous. I acknowledge that this is a possibility and cannot discount it altogether, but it does seem out of character to me with what we know about God and how He works. There were many things in the past which He could have done instantaneously, yet He chose a different method and worked with time frames which we are familiar with. This theory also has no Scriptural support whatsoever, so the most we can say is “maybe”. The point is, we just don’t know.

There are yet other unknowns to this subject which may unsearchable considering what has been revealed to us. For example, we know that “the dead in Christ shall rise first”, and “Then we which are alive and remain” will be gathered to him (1 Thessalonians 4:16-17). While we saw how the living will be taken (Luke 17:34-36), the Scriptures do not fully explain whether the dead in Christ will have been judged already at this point or will still await judgment. In other words, does Christ gather all of his saints at once, both dead and living, and then begin the judgment, or is it possible that he could resurrect and gather the dead, judge them, and then gather the living for judgment? The latter would make some logical sense for the living, for the question has been posed as to what the saints will do while “waiting their turn” for judgment. The dead in Christ far outnumber those who are living today, so if we today were gathered after the dead have been judged, our “wait time” would be significantly shortly. Again, this is not explicitly revealed.

As you can see, there is so much that we do not know about the exact details of this subject, and every idea that is posed comes with questions about outworking and time. While we might be frustrated at the lack of specific detail, it is this way for a Divine purpose. If God wanted us to know the full details, He would have revealed them. He has nevertheless given us enough information to know the important things, and I believe He doesn’t go into more detail because we now have reason to expect Christ’s coming for his saints at any time. It is hoped that we now see how foolish it is to look at the signs of the times and claim that “Christ will not return and gather us for another 10 years” or whatever number one likes. It’s possible that his appearance and conquering of the nations is that far away, but such cannot be stated about his gathering of his saints. Nobody can know this, and to say such things goes far beyond what has been revealed to us.

We considered many foundational things up to this point, and this was important to set proper expectations of what we might expect. But let us now get to more meat of the subject and discuss the

Christ’s First Appearance on the Scene Accompanied by His Saints

We are going to examine what I find to be the first initial actions which Christ will take when he returns to the earth which show him to have his immortalized saints by his side. God’s plan involves Christ conquering the entire planet, and while there is much detail revealed to us as to the order of these events, we will only talk about the very first stages of this conquest. It is needless for us to go any further than this, for once Christ has gathered us and we reside by his side forever, the chronology of events afterward is not important to us, for “so shall we ever be with the Lord”, and everything will be well with us (1 Thessalonians 4:17). Our purpose here is to understand the first time and place we find Christ with his immortalized saints by his side, and if we can know this, we can therefore know for certain that before that event happens, the saints will be gathered and judged. How long before is of course unknown as we have seen.

It is helpful to give a basic breakdown of the general stages of Christ’s conquering plan. We find that there are basically three wars which will turn “the kingdoms of this world” into “the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ” (Revelation 11:15). These can be listed as

1.     The Islamic Proximal War - This will involve Israel and what the Scriptures call the surrounding Islamic enemies “round about”, which includes Hamas in the Gaza Strip, Hezbollah in Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Iraq, and Saudi Arabia. This war is motivated by religious hatred and the “right” to the Holy Land. This will begin by a joint Islamic attack and Israel requiring salvation from these enemies by the Lord’s intervention, and it will result in these enemies being wiped out and their lands coming under the control of Christ, thus fulfilling the promise to Abraham and his seed (Genesis 13:14-18, 15:18-21, 17:8, Psalm 105:9-11). This conflict is described in Psalm 83, Zechariah 12-13:6, 14:4-21, Joel 3, Obadiah 1:17-21, Ezekiel 28:24-26, 34:22-28, Isaiah 63:1-3, Habakkuk 3, Zephaniah 3:14-20, Isaiah 11:11-16, and others. All of the wealth of these nations will be acquired by Christ, and such will set the stage for the next conflict.

2.     The Gogian War – This will involve the new Kingdom of God (Israel) and the nations of Russia, Iran, Turkey, Libya, Sudan, and potentially a few others (their identity often debated). These nations will be led by Russia, and they will come against Israel to take the “spoil and a prey” that they recently acquired from the Islamic nations (compare Zechariah 14:14, 2:4-5, and Isaiah 33:22-23 to Ezekiel 38:11-13). It is motivated by riches alone, and the result is that these nations will be destroyed by Christ and their lands absorbed into Christ’s now much larger empire. This conflict is described in Ezekiel 38-39 and Revelation 20:7-10 and will likewise set the stage for the next and final war.

3.     The Papal War – Though there is probably a better title for this conflict, we called this the Papal war because it is essentially lead by the Apostacy and waged on the basis of resistance to the rule of Christ. This resistance will be heavily “supported” on a religious basis as the Apostacy deceives the nations. This conflict will include the rest of the planet. We find it described it Daniel 2:34-35, 8:23-25, Revelation 14:7-11, 15-29, 15:2, 16:13-21, chs. 17 & 18, 19:19-21, and others.

Let us now look at the process we find from the gathering of Christ’s saints to his appearance on the world scene:

The Return and Call to Judgment

On the appointed day and appointed hour, Christ will return to the earth for the purpose of receiving his bride to himself. The description of his return is like that of God’s descent upon Mount Sinai so many years ago, and I believe that that account in Exodus is a figure of the judgment to come (compare to Exodus 19). We read,

Psalms 50:3-5 – Our God shall come, and shall not keep silence: a fire shall devour before him, and it shall be very tempestuous round about him.  (4)  He shall call to the heavens from above, and to the earth, that he may judge his people.  (5)  Gather my saints together unto me; those that have made a covenant with me by sacrifice.

The saints will come before Christ, and those who are found worthy will hear the wonderful words of

Matthew 25:21 – Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord.

Those who have fallen short will hear another, terrible verdict:

Matthew 25:26-30 – Thou wicked and slothful servant…  (30) cast ye the unprofitable servant into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

It’s difficult to think of a more apt description of this class than what we’re given here. Such will have learned the truth earlier in their life and come into covenant but will not have given due diligence to the things of the truth. They will have known the promises but failed to make them their promises, and many of this class will likely have done nothing more than delay genuine service for another day and lived more for the things of the world, but Christ appeared before they decided to truly apply themselves to him. “The lord of that servant shall come in a day when he looketh not for him, and in an hour that he is not aware of” (Matthew 24:50). Such will have known their great mistake once they have been gathered and feel a panic never known before, for they will know that the time for repentance is now passed. Standing before Christ, they will finally see the hope that they were offered but fell short of, and they will be ordered away from the presence of Christ to the second death. Being pulled away from him, they will weep for having cut themselves short of the hope, for

Luke 13:28 – There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when ye shall see Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, and all the prophets, in the kingdom of God, and you yourselves thrust out.

Let us therefore labor to always be ready for our Lord’s return and not put off any of our service to him. To delay is only to harm ourselves and insult our Lord, and we tempt him in trying “live life to the fullest” in the ways of the world for as long as we can and planning to do right on some future day. The Lord “shall cut him asunder, and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites” (Matthew 24:51). May none of us bring such an end upon ourselves, and it is for this basic reason that this article was written.

The Marriage Supper of the Lamb

In relation to timing, we have seen that it is simply impossible to know exactly how long this gathering and judgment of the saints will take from start to completion. Yet I believe it’s also possible that another event could immediately follow the judgment which would occur before Christ and the saints appear to the world at large, and this would be “the marriage supper of the lamb” (Revelation 19:7-9). This is the celebration of the bride groom returning for his bride and bringing her to himself. Some believe that this will take place at the end of Christ’s reign when “God himself” will descend to the earth (Revelation 21:1-3) while others believe that it will take place right after the judgment.

We find that the eternal joining of Christ and his saints is described in relation to a groom and bride getting married, and I believe this is critical to this subject. Hebrew tradition was that once a man and woman were engaged, the husband was to go to his father’s house and build a house for him and his bride that was attached to his father’s house. The groom and bride were not allowed to see one another until all was complete, but once it was finished, he would return to her in the most extravagant and least expected way to surprise his love. He would often gather all of his friends and family with trumpets and instruments and lead a joyous procession to her dwelling. This was usually done in the middle of the night while she slept, and she would awake to joyous commotion and know that her groom had finally returned for her. They would then immediately go to the marriage feast which had been prepared to celebrate their unity from that point forward. Never again would they have to be apart from one another.

All of these things should ring a bell to us. Any who enter into covenant through baptism become the betrothed of the Lord. Our Lord is the groom who has gone to his Father’s house to prepare a place for us, and he has likewise promised that when the time is right, he will return to the earth to be with us, and from that point forward, we will always be with him (John 14:2-3). The only difference is that this “house of the Lord” will be on earth, not in heaven (Isaiah 2:2-4). The Hebrew tradition of marriage also explains the situation we find in the parable of the ten virgins (Matthew 25:1-13). Those who are found worthy at the judgment seat will be the true bride of Christ and will enjoy the marriage supper with him, for it says “they that were ready went in with him to the marriage” (Matthew 25:10). It is for this reason that I believe the marriage supper of the lamb will take place right after the judgment and before Christ does anything else on earth. In this supper, the Lord will gird himself and serve his faithful servants. We find this in

Luke 12:37 – Blessed are those servants, whom the lord when he cometh shall find watching: verily I say unto you, that he shall gird himself, and make them to sit down to meat, and will come forth and serve them.

The thought of Christ serving us might seem strange and simply wrong, and perhaps we share the same sentiment that Peter felt when Christ served him and tried to wash his feet. Peter said. “Lord, dost thou wash my feet?... thou shalt never wash my feet” (John 13:6-8). The thought of the son of God, the redeemer of mankind, and the future king of the earth washing Peter’s feet was so incongruous to him, and he felt that he should be the one washing Christ’s feet and ministering to him. Does not this same thought not enter into our minds? Yet the Lord is a gracious and loving master, and he will cleanse and minister to his servants. He will nourish those who have lived their lives unto him in faith. Such is what we find concerning the marriage supper.

As for timing, we know not how much time this will add after the judgment, but it is nevertheless after this that we find Christ going forth to Israel’s salvation.

                                                    Christ’s Appearance on the World Scene

We find that Israel will require saving from the Psalm 83 enemies, and it seems that this cry will come into the Lord’s ears after the marriage supper. Christ will then go forth from the scene of judgment and marriage supper to their salvation (Habakkuk 3, Isaiah 63:1-6). We will not go into great depth for time and space, but there are two basic principles we find that lead us to this conclusion:

1.     Israel requires saving from Christ and his saints

2.     Christ and the saints are shown coming to Israel’s aid from the regions of Mt. Sinai

The only thing we need to really establish for our purpose here is that the saints are with Christ when these things occur, so we will not discuss these two points in depth. For verses showing Israel’s need for Christ’s intervention and their procession from Mt. Sinai, see Habakkuk 3:3-13, Isaiah 63:1-6, Zechariah 12:7, 14:4. This latter aspect of them coming from Sinai has been more thoroughly considered in a previous article we wrote which can be accessed here.

It is certain that Christ will have his saints help him conquer (Palm 149:5-8, Revelation 19:11-21), but it is sometimes debated at what point he gathers his saints. Is it after he has conquered the land and established the Kingdom, or is it before? What we will show here is evidence that the saints are with Christ as he saves Israel from her Islamic enemies “round about”, and therefore before the Kingdom is established.

There are multiple ways we can look at this, but the most direct is simply to consider the verses which show Israel being saved by Christ and specifically mention the saints. There are two I find on this subject. The first is in Zechariah 14. It must be noted that this conflict is strictly between Israel and the “heathen round about” Israel (Zechariah 12:2, 14:14). We find Christ’s appearing to Israel in the same place that he left it – the Mount of Olives:

Zechariah 14:4-5 – 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.  (5)  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.

The mention of the “saints” here is the clear evidence, for it cannot refer to Israel as Israel is the one who needs the help, and it also is not a term typically used to describe angels. The angels are not the ones who will be conquering and ruling the nations with Christ – this will be the role of the saints. Paul tells us in Hebrews that “unto the angels hath he not put in subjection the world to come” (Hebrews 2:5).  On the contrary,

Revelation 2:26-27 – And he that overcometh, and keepeth my works unto the end, to him will I give power over the nations:  (27)  And he shall rule them with a rod of iron; as the vessels of a potter shall they be broken to shivers: even as I received of my Father.

This promise to conquer and rule the nations is only applicable to us, and it explains why Revelation 19:15 shows the two-edged sword of judgment being in the mouth of Christ but in the hands of the saints in Psalm 149:6-9. Christ orders the judgments as a general, and the saints execute it as his soldiers. If the reader has the time to read this article from above about the march of the saints from Sinai, this will be even more clearly seen.

The other passage which I believe shows the saints conquering is in Obadiah, and here the context is also shown to be the initial conquering of the promised land:

Obadiah 1:19-21 – And they of the south shall possess the mount of Esau; and they of the plain the Philistines: and they shall possess the fields of Ephraim, and the fields of Samaria: and Benjamin shall possess Gilead.  (20)  And the captivity of this host of the children of Israel shall possess that of the Canaanites, even unto Zarephath; and the captivity of Jerusalem, which is in Sepharad, shall possess the cities of the south.  (21)  And saviours (plural, not singular) shall come up on mount Zion to judge the mount of Esau; and the kingdom shall be the LORD'S.

The lands promised to Abraham are here inhabited (Genesis 15:18-21, Exodus 23:23), and this is the result of the local nations being conquered by a plural entity. Not a “savior”, but rather “saviors” shall execute judgment. This means there must be more than one savior, and as the word here means “freed ones” (Strong’s H3467), I believe it can only refer to those who have been very recently freed from sin and death – the saints.

Conclusion

The meaning of this is that the saints will be with Christ before Israel even requires saving by Christ, and since we’ve seen that years could pass from point when the saints are gathered for judgment to the point in which Israel requires saving, we could be gathered at any moment. This is my firm belief, and as I believe that the Psalm 83 conflict will be a swift battle like that of 1967 or 1973, I am not expecting to see the stage “set” for that conflict to break out at any moment. Instead, I believe that we will be gathered long before such a conflict looks imminent. The fact that we are even seeing the stage being set is an incredible testament to the nearness of our Lord.

Consider: we saw that the saints will be going about their daily lives when the angels appear to gather them. If we see the Psalm 83 war begin, rest assured that I will not be working for a while as I would expect to be gathered very quickly. Recall that our deliverance would be like that Noah and Lots’, and they were delivered in a time when things did not appear by natural evidence to be at an end (Luke 17:26-30). We do not read that the people of Sodom saw a great fire in the sky coming down and then Lot left the city. We do not read that the people of the earth in Noah’s day saw a large cloud forming and started to panic, and then Noah and his family were shut up in the safety of the ark. All is to the contrary, and things seem to have appeared normal. I believe our gathering by the angels will occur under the same circumstances. Instead of things looking like they’re just about to happen, the Scriptures seem to indicate that all will appear as normal when the saints are gathered, and it is for this reason why we must always distinguish between Christ’s appearance for his saints and his appearance to conquer the earth.

We should therefore always be ready for Christ’s return and lay it to our hearts that it truly could occur at any moment. Let us close these thoughts with the admonition and great promise of our Master to those who are prepared and worthy at his coming:

Luke 12:35-37 – Let your loins be girded about, and your lights burning;  (36)  And ye yourselves like unto men that wait for their lord, when he will return from the wedding; that when he cometh and knocketh, they may open unto him immediately.  (37)  Blessed are those servants, whom the lord when he cometh shall find watching: verily I say unto you, that he shall gird himself, and make them to sit down to meat, and will come forth and serve them.

In the Hope of Israel,

Tanner Hawkins