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Does
the Old Testament Predict Jesus’ Second Coming?
Does
the Old Testament ever predict the second coming of Christ? It’s been said that there are more texts in
the Old Testament about Jesus’ second coming than in the New Testament. So many, many texts about God’s waging war
against a recalcitrant humanity (such as in Isaiah 66:14-17) appear here. Isaiah 9:6-7 is about Jesus’ first and
second comings. Notice the part
concerning government in verse 6: “For
a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us; and the government will
rest on His shoulders; and His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty
God, Eternal Father [or better, “Father of Eternity”], Prince of Peace.” This prophesies that Jesus will be a ruler,
or otherwise the government could never rest on his shoulders. Then verse 7 is more clear about the coming
Messiah being an earthly ruler also:
“There will be no end to the increase of His government or of peace, on
the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with
justice and righteousness from then on and forevermore.” So when Jesus returns the second time, He
will be a conquering king, not the suffering servant (as is described in Isaiah
52:13-53:12).
Now
the Old Testament has a number of verses that describe Jesus’ return and His
resulting rule over the earth. True,
some prophecies might seem ambiguous, such as about the return of Israel to the
Holy Land, but when the details are examined, they haven’t been fulfilled yet,
so they must be about millennial conditions after Jesus’ return. For example, the attack of Gog and Magog
can’t be as Jesus returns since it follows a period during which Israel
securely dwelled in unwalled cities, which hardly fits Israel today. Notice that Zechariah 14:4 mentions the
specific location where Jesus will return to, which is Mount Olivet near the
old city of Jerusalem, which the New Testament never explicitly states.
Zechariah 12:7-10 mentions that every eye will see Jesus when He returns (cf.
Revelation 1:7) and that the Lord will wage war. Jesus’ return is symbolically portrayed in Daniel 2:44, which
refers to His kingdom destroying earthly human rule as the stone destroys the
statue that the king of Babylon, Nebuchadnezzar, had viewed in his dream. The well-known millennial text that
describes a peaceful world without war (Isaiah 2:2-4) is more about the results
of Christ’s millennial rule rather than the warfare when He returns. In a Psalm the New Testament cites no less than fourteen
times, David begins by proclaiming a
"Lord" superior to himself:
"The Lord [Yahweh] says to my Lord [adoni]: 'Sit at My right hand, until I make Thine
enemies a footstool for Thy feet.' . . . The Lord [Yahweh] has sworn
and will not change His mind, 'Thou art a priest forever according to the order
of Melchizedek'" (Ps. 110:1, 4). Notice that this
text is also about Jesus’ return, since the Father didn’t make Jesus’ enemies a
footstool during His first arrival here.
In
many cases, the Old Testament telescopes together two events widely separated
in time. For example, Micah 5:2-3
mentions where the Messiah’s birth would occur: “But as
for you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, too little to be
among the clans of Judah, from you One will go forth for Me to be ruler in Israel. His goings forth are from long
ago, from the days of eternity.
Therefore, He will give them up until the time when she who is in labor
has borne a child.” But then, verses
3-5 describe what ensues after the Conquering Messiah sets up the kingdom of God. Clearly, the Old Testament's prophets will suddenly change subject midstream, or ignore the time
element by telescoping together two events that may be separated by
centuries. When this important theoretical point is ignored, people make a mish-mash
out of the correct understanding of prophetic Scripture. For example, it’s perfectly
plausible to find a time jump between the first and last parts of Micah 5:3, although it takes the
light of further revelation (the New Testament) to make this crystal clear.
Likewise,
in Luke 4:18-19, Jesus quotes from Isa.
61:1-2, but He suddenly stops mid-sentence and mid-verse. He avoids quoting "and the day of
vengeance of our God." Why? Because this part of the prophecy wouldn't
be fulfilled during His First Coming's ministry, He didn't cite it, while the
rest of it would be, so He did. The
same principle applies to Isa. 11:1-9, in which the first three (maybe three
and a half) verses Jesus fulfilled during his First Coming, but the rest
describe what happens after the Second Coming.
In Ps. 2, v. 7 has to occur at a different time than vs. 8-12. In Mal. 3:1-2, the first verse was fulfilled in the first century A.D., but
the second still lies in the future. Why should anyone believe everything in a
given prophecy has to happen all at the same time? Dan. 11 proves otherwise, since vs. 41+ are unfulfilled at this time, but
the rest has already occurred at least preliminarily. Just because verses 3b-5 following Micah 5:2 are still
unfulfilled doesn't mean the whole prophecy must lie in the future. Micah 5:5 occurs when the Messiah returns to
bring peace to the earth between warring nations (assuming mental peace is only
a secondary meaning here--John 14:27; 16:33).
Naturally
enough, a book could be written while doing a thorough review of all the Old
Testament’s Messianic texts about Jesus’ Second Coming. This essay is just quick tour of a few key
texts.
Eric
Snow
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Why does God Allow Evil?
Click here: /Apologeticshtml/Why
Does God Allow Evil 0908.htm
May Christians work on
Saturdays? Click here: /doctrinalhtml/Protestant
Rhetoric vs Sabbath Refuted.htm
Should Christians obey
the Old Testament law? /doctrinalhtml/Does
the New Covenant Abolish the OT Law.htm
Do you have an immortal
soul? Click here: /doctrinalhtml/Here
and Hereafter.htm
Does the ministry have
authority? Click here: /doctrinalhtml/Is
There an Ordained Ministry vs Edwards.html
Is the United States the
Beast? Click here: /doctrinalhtml/Are
We the Beast vs Collins.htm
Should you give 10% of
your income to your church? Click here: /doctrinalhtml/Does
the Argument from Silence Abolish the Old Testament Law of Tithing 0205 Mokarow
rebuttal.htm
Is Jesus God? Click
here: /doctrinalhtml/Is
Jesus God.htm
Will there be a third
resurrection? Click here: /doctrinalhtml/Will
There Be a Third Resurrection.htm
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