The Second Coming, part 1

Shalom, friends.

In keeping with the "last things first" direction I've chosen for this blog, we now come to the Second Coming of the Messiah Yeshua` (the Christ Jesus) - although I may have to go back at some point to the Great White Throne Judgment which comes between the Millennium and the New Earth/New Sky/New Jerusalem eternal state.

The Second Coming of the Messiah may be approached somewhat simplistically by the realization that the prophecies about the Messiah come in two groups. There is a group of prophecies about the Suffering, Dying Messiah, the Messiah Son of Joseph (as in the Joseph of Egypt), Mashiach benYosef, and there is a group of prophecies about the Victorious, Reigning Messiah, the Messiah Son of David, Mashiach benDavid. The rabbis have known about these two sets of prophecies for hundreds of years before Yeshua` was born, but they didn't have an adequate solution to how they fit together and were constantly debating how these prophecies would be fulfilled.

The solution should have been detectable in the First Advent of the Messiah: He was rejected by the leadership of the tribe of Y'hudah (who should have welcomed Him and embraced Him as their King, but they did not). So, His First Advent ended with Him fulfilling the prophecies of the Suffering, Dying Messiah, the Messiah Son of Joseph. He was crucified, shed His blood, died, and was buried at the Pesach (Passover) season. He was their "Paschal Lamb." When He rose from the dead, the Messiah, alive again, would be able to fulfill the second set of prophecies as the Messiah Son of David. However, He left this earth and ascended into the clouds to return at a later date. We were promised at that time that He would RETURN just as they saw Him leave, a SECOND Advent, a SECOND Coming.

Acts 1:6-12
6 When they therefore were come together, they asked of him, saying, Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel?
7 And he said unto them, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power.
8 But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.
9 And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight.
10 And while they looked stedfastly toward heaven as he went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel;
11 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.
12 Then returned they unto Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is from Jerusalem a sabbath day's journey.
KJV

So, He will return in the same way He left, physically descending from the clouds and through the atmosphere landing on the earth and returning to Har haZeitiym, the Mount of Olives. Some believe that means that Yeshua` will actually set foot on the Mount of Olives first, but there are other contextual clues to suggest He has other business in other locations first before coming to the Mount of Olives.

The student of Bible prophecy should read through the entire prophecy sections of each prophetic book in the Tanakh (the OT) as well as in the B'rit Chadashah (the NT) before coming to any monumental conclusions. That's why I don't adhere to any of the common prophetic viewpoints.

In the Messiah's love,
Retrobyter