The Stages of Christ's Ascension and Return (Part 12)

We are coming to the end of the details of the return of Jesus Christ. We have looked at the stages of His return and the order of how they mirror His ascension. We have also briefly previewed the events of Revelation that take place between the stages of Jesus multi-part return and how they progress throughout the end times. To wrap up with, I have a few more things to mention, but before I do, I'd like to remind you of the two primary points that glue this whole study together. They are as follows,

1. As with many other patterns, shadows, and types found in the Bible, the ascension of Jesus Christ can teach us of the stages of His return.
   
   
2. Paul's two 'famous' rapture scriptures, in 1Cor.15 and 1 Thess.4, express the event in general, (ie: they expound on the WHOLE coming of Christ, across the whole 7-year period of the tribulation, for all saints. The scriptures do NOT represent just the rapture of the Body of Christ.)
   

So, let's now deal with the last few events which occurs at the very end of the second coming of Christ and just before we get to the inauguration of the Millennial Kingdom. In Daniel 12:12 we are informed of a 75-day period of time after the 7-year tribulation. Each half of the tribulation is 1260 days in duration (or 42 months each). But in the verse 12, Daniel mentions the span of 1335 days, which is 75 days longer than 1260 days. The events we will now discuss will probably occur within this time.

Let's start by reading this passage in Matthew 25. 

Matt.25:31 When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory: 32 And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats: 33 And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left. 

34 Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:    ……   

41 Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels: … 46 And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.

You will recognize this as the parable of the sheep and the goats. This parable that Jesus taught provides us with one of the events that will happen during this 75-day period.

After the battle campaign is won, after Armageddon, after the judgement of the Antichrist and the false prophet, who are cast into the lake of fire, and after Satan is cast into the bottomless pit, Jesus will take His seat on the throne of His glory and He will judge all the nations, in order to divide them out into the sheep and the goats. The 'sheep' nations are those who supported the Jews during the tribulation, (read Matt.25:34-40), and the 'goat' nations are those who did not support Israel throughout the tribulation, (read Matt.25:41-46).

The sheep who will stand on the right hand of Jesus Christ; the right hand being a reference to a place of honour and status, and will be the people who will be entering into the Millennial Kingdom after it's inauguration. Those who are on the left hand side of Jesus, according to Jesus' own words, will go away into everlasting punishment.

Another event that will occur in this 75-day period (which separates the end of the tribulation from the beginning of the Millennial Kingdom), is the salvation of the remnant of Israel in the wilderness. At the end of the battle campaign the Lord will appear unto them as they cry our, "Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord". They will recognize Jesus as their King and Messiah. They will mourn greatly (as one who has lost their only child) for their unbelief and mistrust in Jesus and for the crimes they have done against him. But as per prophecy, their tears will be turned into joy and their sorrow into laughter, Isa.61. It is at this time that the Lord will pour out His Spirit upon them and they will be born of water (Red Sea passing) and of Spirit (John 3). The new covenant will be realized and they will receive a heart of flesh, and the Word of the Lord will be written on their hearts. They will receive utter forgiveness and be reconciled to their God and Messiah, Jesus Christ. It it hey who will become the priesthood in the Millennium. They will carry the Word of the Lord to the nations and be the salvation of them, Zech.8:23.

Another big event to take place at this time is the resurrection of all the rest of the saints who lived throughout time and who are still at this point sleeping in death. Before we detail this resurrection of the dead, let me you that there are specific groups of saints who are not 'sleeping' in the earth at this time, because of the effects of the blood of Christ. 

Let's quickly list these groups for clarity,

1. The Body of Christ: The body of Christ is unique in the regard that they died when Christ died. They were buried with Christ. They were resurrected with Christ. His death and resurrection was their death and resurrection. When a grace believer dies, he does not sleep in the earth as other saints. Since he has already experienced resurrection he is immediately present with the Lord at death. Of course, those members of the body of Christ who are alive when the pre-tribulation rapture takes place are caught up to join the rest of the Body and remain in the Lord's presence from this point on. (This group inherits the heavens and will reign with Christ as they govern the heavenly places in His name and honour and glory).
   
   
2. The Little Flock: These are the saints of the Jewish church in the book of Acts (±AD30-AD70) are the ones who endured to the end, who "loved not their lives unto the death" (Rev.12:11). We learned in an earlier part of this study that their souls are not asleep but are before the altar in heaven and they cried out to the Lord to avenge their deaths (Rev.6:9-10). They are given white robes to wear. (I speculate that these white robes are glorified bodies since they are not resurrected at any point?) This group of saints were to prepare Israel for the coming King and Kingdom. Israel would not believe and this program was put on hold.
   
   
3. The 144000: Their unique ministry, which continues that of the Acts church, is to prepare Israel to receive their Messiah and the Kingdom. According to Rev.14:1, we see them in the Lord's presence in the heavenly Jerusalem before it descends to earth's proximity. They are in this position for either losing their lives or because they were raptured.
   
   
4. The Tribulation and Great Tribulation Martyrs: They are people who believed the gospel proclaimed by the 2-witnesses and the 144000 in the tribulation, or the angel who proclaimed the everlasting gospel in the great tribulation in Revelation 14. Like the Acts church, these souls appear in heaven too, systematically as they are killed for their faith, and form part of the growing number of countless souls, each given a white robe (glorified body?) and who hold palm branches in their hands, Rev.7:9.
   
   Groups 2, 3 and 4 above will have places of honour in the heavenly Jerusalem throughout the Millennial Kingdom, and may be positioned there, or on earth, throughout the Kingdom 

Old Testament and Kingdom Saints Resurrection (who died before Christ's blood was shed.)

With these groups recalled, let's get back to this large group of sleeping souls who are about to be resurrected in the flesh, Ezek.37. The resurrection of all these saints, who are the last to be awakened to fill up the "First Resurrection" Rev.20:6, are all those righteous souls from Adam to the Kingdom Program (which ended at Pentecost. People like: Adam, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Job, ... David, the prophets, John the Baptist, Lazarus, ...). These are the souls who will enter into the Millennial Kingdom in new flesh bodies and will have places of authority and rulership in various hierarchies. They will administer the will of the King of Kings to the gentile 'sheep' nations (survivors of the 7-year tribulation) who have also entered into the Millennial Kingdom at this point.

Daniel 12:2 summarizes the two very different fates facing mankind: "Many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt." Everyone will be raised from the dead, but not everyone will share the same destiny. Revelation 20:4-6 mentions a "first resurrection" and identifies those involved as "blessed and holy". These are the souls listed above, from the Body of Christ to the last group of resurrected souls. The second death (the lake of fire, Revelation 20:14) has no power over these individuals. The first resurrection, then, is the raising of all righteous souls. It corresponds with Jesus' teaching of the "resurrection of the just" (Luke 14:14) and the "resurrection of life" (John 5:29).

Revelation 20:12-13 identifies those comprising the second resurrection as the wicked judged by God at the Great White Throne judgment prior to being cast into the lake of fire. The second resurrection, then, is the raising of all unrighteous souls; the second resurrection is connected to the second death. It corresponds with Jesus' teaching of the "resurrection of damnation" (John 5:29).

The event which divides the first and second resurrections is the Millennial Kingdom. The last of the righteous are raised to reign "with Christ a thousand years" (Revelation 20:4), but the "rest of the dead [that is, the wicked] lived not again until the thousand years were finished", (Revelation 20:5).

Following the 75-day interval, Jesus will inaugurate His Millennial Kingdom and enter into it triumphantly and King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Isaiah 2:2-4; Micah 4:1-7; Revelation 20.

The last event that is noteworthy is the appearance of the heavenly city into the proximity of earth at the beginning of the Millennial Kingdom. Since I have written on this occurrence in another post, I'll simply refer to it here. It provides scriptural reference to the city's appearance and also some additional details to take note of. Make sure to read,

New Jerusalem descends before the Millennial Kingdom

In Conclusion

This has been a long series, but my hope is that you have understood the interpretation I have exposed of 1 Cor.15:51-52 and 1 Thess.4:16-17, and how this ties in to the stages of Christs return. I hope that it reveals some truths in scripture that might inspire you, excite you and edify you. If anything, I hope that it will encourage you to get into the scriptures for yourself and study these things to gain the understanding that brings you to peace and a deeper relationship with our Saviour. My prayer is that God will continue to bless you with His truth and His love until the appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ.