December 28
Zechariah 11-12
Psalm 148:1-6
Proverbs 31:15-19
Revelation 19
The Second Coming of Zion’s King
“On that day, when all the nations of the Earth are gathered against her, I will make Jerusalem an immovable rock for all the nations. All who try to move it will injure themselves. The people of Jerusalem are strong because the Lord Almighty is their God. They will look on Me, the one they have pierced, and they will mourn for Him as one mourns for an only child and grieve bitterly for Him as one grieves for a firstborn son.” Zechariah 12:3, 5, 10 NIV
“I saw Heaven standing open and there before me was a white horse, whose rider is called Faithful and True. With justice He judges and wages war.” Revelation 19:11 NIV
Yesterday we looked at some of the prophecies in Zechariah about Jesus’ first coming. Today I would like to examine some of the prophecies about His second coming. Zechariah 12:10 above foretells that one day the Jews are going to realize that Jesus was their Messiah, and they will grieve bitterly. Their eyes will be opened, and they will see that they rejected, denied, and then murdered their Messiah. They will repent and turn to Him and be restored. Revelation 1:7 confirms this. Zechariah 9:10 says that Christ will be the King to rule over all the nations and Jerusalem will be the seat of His Kingdom. Zechariah 12:1-9, and 14:2-3, 12-15 foretell that Christ will fight for His chosen people against all the nations that come against them and save them from destruction. Today’s reading in Revelation 19 goes into greater detail about the battle that will take place between Jesus and His enemies. Zechariah 14:4 says that Jesus’ feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, and 14:5 tells us that Christ will come accompanied by His saints, the overcomers. Revelation 19:14 confirms this. Zechariah 14:6 talks about a time when everyone left on Earth will go to Jerusalem every year to worship Him and will be sanctified by Him.
When Jesus returns the second time, He will not come in peace. The prophecies about His second coming give a very different picture of Jesus than the humble, servant King who came to Earth as a baby in a manger. When He returns, the trumpet will sound, and He will step foot on the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem to deal with Satan and his demons and destroy evil and sin completely. Anyone who has not accepted Him as their Lord, will face His wrath and will be cast into the Lake of Fire. Then Jesus will rule the Earth from Jerusalem and establish an earthly kingdom for 1,000 years. After that, He will establish a new Heaven and new Earth where we will live for eternity. There are over 1800 references in the Bible to Jesus’ second coming. Seventeen books in the Old Testament and twenty-three books in the New Testament mention Christ’s return. One out of every thirty verses in the New Testament teaches that Jesus is coming back. The specific fulfillment of all the prophecies surrounding His first coming gives us confidence that the prophecies about His second coming will be fulfilled exactly as they have been foretold as well. We do not understand all the details, but we have been given everything we need to know to watch in hope for His return.
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