The Day of Trumpets (No. 136)

Symbolism of the Day of Trumpets

The New Moon of the Seventh Month, later named Tishri, is the Day of Trumpets. It is traditionally taken as representing the Return of the Messiah, but it is much more than that. It represents the intervention of God in the Last Days, at the end of the Age and the commencement of the period in prophecy that is detailed in the texts of Daniel Chapter 12. It should not be taken to indicate that Messiah will return at Trumpets. It is also equally or more probable that he will return at Passover, some 1264 days after the Witnesses are sent by God, as we see so specifically detailed in prophecy. Given the details of the End of the Age (No. 141F_2) and Time of the End (No. 141C_4D) the feasts of the Seventh month in reality represent the Intervention of God, commencing at the end of Satan's Rule in 2026-27 with the despatch of the Witnesses (Nos. 135; 141D) and the move on into the establishment of the Millennium. The procedure goes from the Day of Trumpets on the New Moon to the Day of Atonement on the Tenth day of the month which represents the bringing of the planet to repentance and Atonement with the One True God Eloah, and then to Tabernacles representing the Establishment of the Millennium (No. 300B) and the Selection of the Holy Seed (Nos. 141E_3; 141E_3B) and its isolation and movement into the millennial system under Christ at the 121^st jubilee from the First to the Third years in 2028-2030. The sequence is mirrored in the process of the Fall of Jericho when Christ, as Captain of the Armies of the Lord, appeared to Joshua at the Fall of Jericho (No. 142) after the Circumcision of Israel at Gilgal. The Circumcision at Gilgal was another representation of the Sanctification of the Nations (No. 077), and of the Nation of Israel (No. 241) and of the Simple and Erroneous on 7 Abib (No. 291), from 1-7 Abib and again at 10 Tishri at the Day of Atonement (No. 138; 214). The entry of Christ to Jerusalem on 10 Abib was another replication of Christ arriving to meet Joshua and give direction to Joshua for the Capture of Jericho, which was to symbolise the fall of the Nations under the Witnesses in the Last Days over the 1260 days at Jerusalem. All these aspects were a type/anti-type for the preparation for the final entry into the Holy Land and the establishment of the Holy Land under the Messiah and the Resurrected Host of the First Resurrection (No. 143A). It is thus logically possible that the process of the 1335 days could permit of the arrival of the Witnesses at Trumpets to begin the intervention of God and the restoration of the Nexus of the Law which commences the 1335 days and that Messiah would therefore arrive at the 1264^th Day or in The New Year of Abib of the 30^th year and commence the complete elimination of the empire of the Beast and the systems of this world, established under the final Empire operating as the Ten Toes of Iron and Miry Clay of Daniel Chapter 2 (F027ii). The entire sequence of the Six Thousand Years of the Rule of Satan from 3974 BCE at the closure of Eden and the beginning of the First Jubilee at 1 Abib 3973 BCE ends at end Adar in 2027 which falls on 25 March 2028. Over the Jubilee years from 2026 at Atonement to the declaration of the Acceptable Year of the Lord at Atonement 2027 will mirror the entire period in the wilderness of the Forty Jubilees from 27-30 CE (see No. 300B) to 2026-2027. That leads to the Intervention of God and the Establishment of the Millennium from 2027-2030 with the Witnesses and then the Advent of the Messiah (Nos. 210A; 210B; 141E; 141E_2; 141E_3; 141E_3B).

Sin

Sin entered the world from Adam and Eve and that then committed mankind to death (Nos. 246; 248). The wages of Sin is death (Rom. 6:23). Thus God had to establish a Plan in which man could be redeemed from Sin. That of necessity involved a replacement Morning Star and mediator that could redeem the Fallen Host and Mankind from Sin. That person was the Being that was an elohim of the Host and who became a man to die and redeem mankind and the host and that being was the Archangel that became the Christ or the Messiah.

The crucifixion and resurrection

Christ was sent into the world to save mankind by taking away the sin of the world (Mat. 1:21; Mat. 9:6; Mk. 3:28) as the lamb (Rev. 5:6-8). Christ came into the world to bear witness to the truth (Jn. 18:37). He was slain from the foundation of the world as an exercise of God's divine prescience (Rev. 13:8). His Kingdom is yet to come to the Earth. He was destined before the foundation of the world but was made manifest at the end of times for our sake (1Pet. 1:20). Thus the Plan of Salvation (No. 001A) was detailed by God from before the laying down of the world. It was created for this very purpose.

Unless humanity believes that Christ is Messiah they will die in their sins (Jn. 8:24). Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures and he was buried and raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures (1Cor. 15:3-4), appearing to more than five hundred brethren (1Cor. 15:5-6). Christ was executed and is risen (Mk. 16:6). On his resurrection he ascended to his Father and our Father and his God and our God (Jn. 20:17). He sits on God's right hand with angels, authorities and powers subject to him (1Pet. 3:22).

The development of the Church

Christ was absent for a long period so that the full number of the elect could be brought out (Rev. 7:3). The Church developed over the period of the two thousand years to fulfil the Plan of Salvation. That plan was mirrored in the sequence of the candlesticks of the Temple of King Solomon (2Chr. 4:7ff.). There were ten candlesticks each with seven candles. These ten candlesticks represented the ten phases of the establishment of the Temple of God. The first of the candlesticks represented Messiah. The next seven represented the seven Churches under the angels of the seven Churches. The last two candlesticks represented the Two Witnesses who have power conferred on them directly from God.

The period prior to the return of the Messiah is marked by tribulation and apostasy. Christ gave the sequence in the Olivet prophecy. The sequence of the restoration is mirrored by the sequence of the Holy Days of Tishri. The 1^st of Tishri is the Feast of Trumpets. This Day heralds the Intervention of God with the despatch of the Witnesses and then, 1264 days later, the arrival of Messiah. The period is then spread over some time, which is portrayed by the span of days in Tishri. This sequence was mirrored by the period of mourning for Moses prior to entering the Promised Land (Deut. 34:8). Moses’ life represented the three periods of two thousand years or 120 Jubilees. The period of thirty days at the end shows the time required for the establishment of the Millennium. Thus the phase from the Intervention and Advent to the Reconciliation is symbolised by the period of Trumpets and the Day of Atonement to Tabernacles as the Millennium.

The period from the Reconciliation to the establishment of the millennial system is symbolised by the period from Atonement to the first Holy Day of Tabernacles. The planet is prepared for this activity and that fact is symbolised by the collection which is to take place on the evening of the first Holy Day and which cannot be left until the morning (Ex. 23:19). Christ gave the sequence in Matthew 24:3-51, producing a general scenario, within which God was to later give Revelation.

Matthew 24:3-8 And as he sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world? ⁴And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you. ⁵For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many. ⁶And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. ⁷For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places. ⁸All these are the beginning of sorrows. (KJV)

This sequence commences the false religious structure of the first seal, which follows into the other seals of war, famine/pestilence and death. This aspect in Revelation 6:1-17 is developed in the series of papers on Tabernacles. Revelation 6:9-11 is dealt with in the next comment from Matthew 24:9ff.

Matthew 24:9-14 Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name's sake. ¹⁰And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another. ¹¹And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many. ¹²And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold. ¹³But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved. ¹⁴And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come. (KJV)

Thus the tribulation of the fifth seal is extended over a long period of time. It precedes the prophecy in Daniel referred to in verse 15ff. and goes on to cover the preaching of the Gospel in all the world.

Matthew 24:15-28 When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand) ¹⁶Then let them which be in Judaea flee into the mountains: ¹⁷Let him which is on the housetop not come down to take any thing out of his house: ¹⁸Neither let him which is in the field return back to take his clothes. ¹⁹And woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days! ²⁰But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the sabbath day: ²¹For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be. ²²And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened. ²³Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there; believe it not. ²⁴For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect. ²⁵Behold, I have told you before. ²⁶Wherefore if they shall say unto you, Behold, he is in the desert; go not forth: behold, he is in the secret chambers; believe it not. ²⁷For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. ²⁸For wheresoever the carcase is, there will the eagles be gathered together. (KJV)

There is thus a long persecution and then a tribulation caused by war. The elect are persecuted, and then there arises under this last system a false religious structure such that it would deceive, if it were possible, the very elect. The next phase is that of the heavenly signs of the sixth seal of Revelation 6:12-17. Matthew 24:29ff. says:

Matthew 24:29-51 Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken: ³⁰And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. ³¹And 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. ³²Now learn a parable of the fig tree; When his branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is nigh: ³³So likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors. ³⁴Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled. ³⁵Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away. ³⁶But of that day ³⁷and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only. But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. ³⁸For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, ³⁹And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. ⁴⁰Then shall two be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left. ⁴¹Two women shall be grinding at the mill; the one shall be taken, and the other left. ⁴²Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come. ⁴³But know this, that if the goodman of the house had known in what watch the thief would come, he would have watched, and would not have suffered his house to be broken up. ⁴⁴Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh. ⁴⁵Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his lord hath made ruler over his household, to give them meat in due season? ⁴⁶Blessed is that servant, whom his lord when he cometh shall find so doing. ⁴⁷Verily I say unto you, ⁴⁸That he shall make him ruler over all his goods. ⁴⁹But and if that evil servant shall say in his heart, My lord delayeth his coming; And shall begin to smite his fellow servants, and to eat and drink with the drunken; ⁵⁰The lord of that servant shall come ⁵¹in a day when he looketh not for him, and in an hour that he is not aware of, And shall cut him asunder, and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. (KJV)

The comment that “this generation would not pass away until these things were fulfilled” has a dual interpretation. Only one thing is sure, and that is that Christ was not referring to the generation of his day. If he were, then he is a false prophet and, hence, not the Messiah. The explanation has an extended and a specific meaning. A generation is forty years. Moses lived three generations or 120 years. This can equate to 120 Jubilees on a Jubilee-for-a-year basis (120 Jubilees covers six thousand years). The last phase of the life of Moses represented forty Jubilees or the last phase of the 6,000-year Plan of Salvation. Thus Christ was saying that the last phase would see the Messiah at its close, and that the people alive at its close would not pass away. The third section itself would not pass away.

The third phase covers the period of two thousand years from the Jubilee in which Christ was born and the Jubilee in which he commenced his ministry and judged Judah under the Sign of Jonah (see the paper The Sign of Jonah and the History of the Reconstruction of the Temple (No. 013)). Christ was probably born between September 6 BCE and January 4 BCE (see the paper Christ’s Age at Baptism and the Duration of His Ministry (No. 019)). He could not have been born later than January 4 BCE in view of Herod’s death in March 4 BCE. He was thus born one complete time-cycle or nineteen years from the commencement of that Jubilee, that is, in about September 5 BCE. The year 1995, at Trumpets, thus commenced the phase which is two thousand years from the conception of John the Baptist and Messiah. Atonement of 1996, being also one time-cycle from the Jubilee of 1977/8, commemorated the fortieth Jubilee from the birth of Christ. The year 1996 also commemorated the 3,000^th anniversary of David’s entry to Jerusalem. The period is thus charged with symbolism and prophetic significance.

Messiah commenced his ministry in 28 CE which was the year of return after the Jubilee of 27 CE, which being the fifteenth year of the emperor Tiberius saw John the Baptist commence his ministry. Christ did not commence his ministry until John had been put in prison after the Passover of 28 CE. He did, however, select the Apostles God had given him from end 27 CE from Tabernacles 27 CE. The ministry of Messiah thus marked the new age from the commencement of the Jubilee. The forty-Jubilee period or two thousand years ends in 2027/8. The year 2028/9 commences the seventh millennium, which anciently was termed as the Period of Just Rule. The period from 1996 to 2025/6 is the thirty-year phase we associate with the life of Messiah. The Jubilee system requires a treble-harvest year prior to the seventh Sabbath of 2026/7 and the Jubilee year of 2027 ending in 2028. The final period of the wars of the end thus commences from 1996 and continues to 2028. Messiah will commence to rule from Jerusalem at his return for the Millennium. The battles concerning the false prophet and the Beast system, centred on Jerusalem, will likewise commence from 1996 onwards.

The last aspect of the last phase in this process – before the Earth is allowed to be harmed – is the judgment of the elect. The sequence was prophesied in Ezekiel 34. In the Last Days the shepherds take care of themselves and not the sheep (Ezek. 34:4-5). The shepherds are then removed. Christ will judge the sheep by how they treat one another (Ezek. 34:17ff.). This can only be done properly by removing the shepherds. The removal and the judgment are referred to in Zechariah 11. Zechariah 11:3ff. notes the wail of the shepherds.

Zechariah 11:3-13 Hark, the wail of the shepherds, for their glory is despoiled! Hark, the roar of the lions, for the jungle of the Jordan is laid waste! ⁴Thus said the LORD my God: "Become shepherd of the flock doomed to slaughter. ⁵Those who buy them slay them and go unpunished; and those who sell them say, 'Blessed be the LORD, I have become rich'; and their own shepherds have no pity on them. ⁶For I will no longer have pity on the inhabitants of this land, says the LORD. Lo, I will cause men to fall each into the hand of his shepherd, and each into the hand of his king; and they shall crush the earth, and I will deliver none from their hand." ⁷So I became the shepherd of the flock doomed to be slain for those who trafficked in the sheep. And I took two staffs; one I named Grace, the other I named Union. And I tended the sheep. ⁸In one month I destroyed the three shepherds. But I became impatient with them, and they also detested me. ⁹So I said, "I will not be your shepherd. What is to die, let it die; what is to be destroyed let it be destroyed; and let those that are left devour the flesh of one another." ¹⁰And I took my staff Grace and I broke it, annulling the covenant which I had made with all the peoples. ¹¹So it was annulled on that day, and the traffickers in the sheep, who were watching me, knew that it was the word of the LORD. ¹²Then I said to them, "If it seems right to you, give me my wages; but if not, keep them." And they weighed out as my wages thirty shekels of silver. ¹³Then the LORD said to me, "Cast it into the treasury" -- the lordly price at which I was paid off by them. So I took the thirty shekels of silver and cast them into the treasury in the house of the LORD. (RSV)

This text in Zechariah 11:3-13 is the prophecy concerning the destruction of the theocracy of Israel and the failure of the priestly system. The staff of grace was the covenant with Israel. Messiah was the Messiah of Aaron who would take the grace given to Israel and extend it to the Gentiles. Here the prophecy shows that the priesthood would destroy him and pay his betrayers thirty pieces of silver, and that the amount would be cast into the treasury. However, the money had to be removed because it was blood money. The thirty pieces of silver was seen contemptuously as the price of a slave (see Soncino, cf. Ex. 21:32), but it was also weighed out as one piece per entity of the Inner Council of God. Also, the problems of the destruction of the three shepherds in one month is held by the Soncino to possibly refer to the three classes of rulers in Israel – namely, kings, priests and prophets (see the paper Measuring the Temple (No. 137)).

Thus the leadership of Israel is removed in one month. This period of one month is referred to in Hosea 5:7. This is the New Moon of the destruction.

Hosea 5:5-7 The pride of Israel testifies to his face; Ephraim shall stumble in his guilt; Judah also shall stumble with them. ⁶With their flocks and herds they shall go to seek the LORD, but they will not find him; he has withdrawn from them. ⁷They have dealt faithlessly with the LORD; for they have borne alien children. Now the new moon shall devour them with their fields. (RSV)

The Soncino develops the commentaries which make various attempts to show who the three shepherds were. In the Talmud they were said to be Moses, Aaron and Miriam. The advocates of a pre-exilic date identify them with the last kings of Israel: Zechariah, Shallum, and Menahem; or with the last three kings of Judah: Jehoahaz, Jehoiakim and Zedekiah (rabbi Kimchi). The advocates of a Maccabean date think of certain high priests of the period: Jason, Lysimachus and Menelaus; or of Judas Maccabeus and his brothers Jonathan and Simon (rabbi Arbarbanel), who ruled the people for one month of years (i.e. thirty years). Driver remarks cautiously: “The allusion seems to be to some incident of the time, now unknown to us”. In one month is probably a formal term meaning a short time (cf. Hos. 5:7). The link to the time-frame of thirty years on a year-for-a day-basis is firmly fixed in the minds of the commentators. This is probably the basis of the identification of Moses, Aaron and Miriam as the three because of the first period of thirty days’ mourning. The year-for-a-day principle is identified with this prophecy. Thus we appear to be dealing with a period of thirty years when the shepherds are removed from the sheep and the sheep are given charge of themselves. This coincides with the tribulation and the period of the Advent. The three thirty day periods seem to relate to the Mourning for Miriam from 1937-1967, which covered the period over the Persecution of the Holocaust ending in 1941-1945 and then going on through the wars from 1948 to 1967. The Second Period of the Mourning for Aaron was from 1967-1997 which began with the Six Day War, 2300 years from the Battle of the Granicus in 334 BCE, when Judah regained control of Jerusalem but could not rebuild the Temple, and were still in heresy over Hillel and many other Babylonian false doctrines (see also No. 300B). The Final Period of 30 year-days was from 1997 to 2027 being the Mourning for Moses, when the world did away with the Law of God given through Moses.

This staff of grace would act as protection until the Time of the Gentiles was completed. Thus the wars of the end would take up from the completion of the prophecies concerning the times of the Gentiles. This link was broken, removing the protection of Israel (see also Soncino).

Zechariah 11:14 Then I broke my second staff Union, annulling the brotherhood between Judah and Israel. (RSV)

Here the union between Israel and Judah is broken. The two aspects of the rulership are shown to be separated. We know that the Kingdom of God was taken from Judah and given to a nation showing the fruits of the Kingdom. Therefore, the breaking of the staff of Union required the ordination of the Seventy [plus two] (Lk. 10:1,17) as the new Sanhedrin and the new priesthood. This priesthood was to continue for many years until the final days. Then the Last Days would see the raising up of an idol shepherd (KJV).

Zechariah 11:15-17 Then the LORD said to me, "Take once more the implements of a worthless shepherd. ¹⁶For lo, I am raising up in the land a shepherd who does not care for the perishing, or seek the wandering, or heal the maimed, or nourish the sound, but devours the flesh of the fat ones, tearing off even their hoofs. ¹⁷Woe to my worthless [idol] shepherd, who deserts the flock! May the sword smite his arm and his right eye! Let his arm be wholly withered, his right eye utterly blinded!" (RSV)

The destruction of the sheep is seen as being a serious problem. The second part of this prophecy is found in Zechariah 13:7-9.

Zechariah 13:7-9 "Awake, O sword, against my shepherd, against the man who stands next to me," says the LORD of hosts. "Strike the shepherd, that the sheep may be scattered; I will turn my hand against the little ones. ⁸In the whole land, says the LORD, two thirds shall be cut off and perish, and one third shall be left alive. ⁹And I will put this third into the fire, and refine them as one refines silver, and test them as gold is tested. They will call on my name, and I will answer them. I will say, 'They are my people'; and they will say, 'The LORD is my God."' (RSV)

This speaks of the Last Days. The sheep are scattered. Two thirds are to be cut off and one third left alive. The remaining third will be tried in the fire of tribulation. They will buy of the Lord gold that is refined in the fire. This is the period immediately prior to the coming of the Messiah. This final aspect of the fifth, sixth and seventh seals takes some thirty years to complete. During this period the entire nation of Israel, both physical and spiritual, is dealt with, having its leadership of princes, priests and prophets removed and its people killed. The remainder of that nation will be as young lions among the nations. This process is explained in the paper Measuring the Temple (No. 137). Over that thirty-year period Messiah will remove the world’s government and religious systems entirely – the kings, the priests and the false prophets. The period of the Witnesses from 2026-27 to 2030 will see the final selection of the Holy Seed to the Advent of Messiah and the elimination of the Beast system and all false religion.

The second coming of Christ

Christ came first as the sacrifice for the redemption of sin. He did not come first as King Messiah, and this fact was misunderstood by the Jews of his day. They expected a conquering king (Mat. 27:11,29,37; Lk. 23:2-3,37-38; Jn. 19:14-16). Nevertheless, he was acknowledged by some through the Holy Spirit as the King of Israel (Jn. 1:49; 12:13-15), thus fulfilling prophecy (Zech. 9:9).

The restoration of the Bible system through the Advent of Messiah is found in Zechariah 14:4. Christ said by parable that he had to go away and then return (Lk. 19:12). Jesus will come again in power, accompanied by the Host of Heaven (Mat. 25:31) as King Messiah (Rev. 17:14). His coming will be clearly visible as lightning in the heavens (Mat. 24:27). He will reign in power with the resurrected saints (Rev. 20:4).

The Messiah will come to the Mount of Olives. With his elect he will establish his government. He will rebuild the Temple (Acts 15:16). He will reintroduce the biblical system, including the Sabbaths, New Moons and annual Holy Day periods Isa. 66:23-24 (F023xvi). All nations will be required to send their emissaries to Jerusalem for the Feast of Tabernacles, or they will receive no rain in due season (Zech. 14:16-19). He will destroy the “man of sin” at his coming (2Thes. 2:8) and subsequently the world powers. The man of sin will come to power through the activity of Satan, with power and pretended signs and wonders (2Thes. 2:9). This apostasy is sent upon the Temple of God because they did not love the truth and so be saved. Therefore, God sends upon them a strong delusion to make them believe what is false, because they do not hold fast to the truth in the first place (2Thes. 2:10-12). The Lord will destroy this apostate system with the breath of his mouth and the appearance of his coming (2Thes. 2:8). This apostasy occurs among the elect so that if it were possible it would deceive even the very elect (Mat. 24:11,24).

The Millennial Reign of Christ

The millennial reign of the Messiah is specifically mentioned in Revelation 20:2-7. The thousand-year period is referred to as a Millennium or Chiliad. Christ will establish a reign on this planet for a thousand years with the resurrected saints (Rev. 20:3-4). Satan will be bound for a thousand years and sealed in the bottomless pit or tartaros, the place of the fallen angels (2Pet. 2:4).

The saints – those beheaded for the Testimony of Jesus and the word of God, and those who had not worshipped the Beast and its image or received its mark on their foreheads or hands – will be resurrected and will reign with Christ for the thousand years (Rev. 20:4). This is the First Resurrection (Rev. 20:5). The rest of the dead do not come to life until the thousand years are ended (Rev. 20:5). This is the Second (or general) Resurrection.

During this thousand-year period, Christ will re-establish the Kingdom according to the biblical Laws he gave at Sinai. This will occur from the day that he stands on the Mount of Olives (Zech. 14:4,6ff.). The nations will wage war against Jerusalem and will be destroyed (Zech. 14:12). Every one that survives of the nations shall go up every year to worship the Lord of Hosts and keep the Feast of Booths or Tabernacles (Zech. 14:16-19). The Sabbath and Holy Days will be mandatory, and the Law will issue from Jerusalem.

At the end of the Millennium Satan will be released again to deceive the nations over all the Earth (Rev. 20:7-8). They will again be gathered for battle but will be destroyed by fire (Rev. 20:9); and then Satan will be destroyed. The General Resurrection and the Judgment of Krisis, or correction, will then occur (Rev. 20:13-15).

The coming will be with great signs and wonders, in power and great glory (Mat. 24:27,30; Rev. 1:7). Christ’s return will be obvious and accompanied by heavenly signs (Rev. 6:12). The powers will be shaken. The sun will be darkened and the moon will not give its light (Mat. 24:29; Acts 2:20). He will be seated on the right hand of power and will come on the clouds of Heaven. God thus gives Christ power (Mat. 26:64; Mk. 14:62; Lk. 21:27; Acts 1:11).

Christ will come with the shout of the Archangel Michael, and at the last trumpet blast (1Thes. 4:16-17; Rev. 11:15). When the Son of man comes with his angels in all his glory, to be glorified in his saints (2Thes. 1:10), he will separate people and deal with them (Mat. 25:31-46).

The elect, the 144,000 and those of the Kingdom of God – those given the Holy Spirit through repentance and adult baptism and keeping the Commandments – will be resurrected at Christ's coming. This is the First Resurrection. The rest of the dead will not live until the end of the Millennium. This is the Second Resurrection (Rev. 20:4ff.). The elect are the hope and reason for the coming of the Messiah (1Thes. 2:19; Rev. 22:20). The elect are to be established blameless in holiness ready for the coming of Christ and the Host (1Thes. 3:13; 1Thes. 5:23). The love of the truth is essential to be saved (2Thes. 2:10). The Lord will slay the wicked one at his return and at his appearing with the breath of his mouth (2Thes. 2:8). The Church is admonished to stay awake and not sleep because it does not know the hour the Lord comes (Mk. 13:35-37; Rev. 3:3,11). Christ returns in righteous judgment and makes war with all those who refuse to keep God's Commandments (Ps. 96:13; Rev. 19:11). Christ will return and deal with mankind for all its activities (Rev. 22:12).

The gathering of Israel

Messiah will return to save the planet, not to destroy it. From the beginning of sorrows, the persecution shall take place. The planet will destroy itself, under the demons. Messiah will save the elect.

Matthew 24:9-22 Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name's sake. ¹⁰And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another. ¹¹And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many. ¹²And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold. ¹³But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved. ¹⁴And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come. ¹⁵When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:) ¹⁶Then let them which be in Judaea flee into the mountains: ¹⁷Let him which is on the housetop not come down to take any thing out of his house: ¹⁸Neither let him which is in the field return back to take his clothes. ¹⁹And woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days! ²⁰But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the sabbath day: ²¹For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be. ²²And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened. (KJV)

Messiah will not destroy the world; he will come to prevent the process.

On the return of the Messiah, the elect and the survivors of physical Israel – some of whom will be used as priests – will be gathered to Jerusalem from the four corners of the Earth (Isa. 11:12; 66:19-21).

Isaiah 66:15-24 For, behold, the LORD will come with fire, and with his chariots like a whirlwind, to render his anger with fury, and his rebuke with flames of fire. ¹⁶For by fire and by his sword will the LORD plead with all flesh: and the slain of the LORD shall be many. ¹⁷They that sanctify themselves, and purify themselves in the gardens behind one tree in the midst, eating swine's flesh, and the abomination, and the mouse, shall be consumed together, saith the LORD. ¹⁸For I know their works and their thoughts: it shall come, that I will gather all nations and tongues; and they shall come, and see my glory. ¹⁹And I will set a sign among them, and I will send those that escape of them unto the nations, to Tarshish, Pul, and Lud, that draw the bow, to Tubal, and Javan, to the isles afar off, that have not heard my fame, neither have seen my glory; and they shall declare my glory among the Gentiles. ²⁰And they shall bring all your brethren for an offering unto the LORD out of all nations upon horses, and in chariots, and in litters, and upon mules, and upon swift beasts, to my holy mountain Jerusalem, saith the LORD, as the children of Israel bring an offering in a clean vessel into the house of the LORD. ²¹And I will also take of them for priests and for Levites, saith the LORD. ²²For as the new heavens and the new earth, which I will make, shall remain before me, saith the LORD, so shall your seed and your name remain. ²³And it shall come to pass, that from one new moon to another, and from one sabbath to another, shall all flesh come to worship before me, saith the LORD. ²⁴And they shall go forth, and look upon the carcases of the men that have transgressed against me: for their worm shall not die, neither shall their fire be quenched; and they shall be an abhorring unto all flesh. (KJV)

This phase will see the re-establishment of the biblical religious system based on the ancient lunar calendar. Messiah will re-establish the Sabbaths, the New Moons and the Feasts as part of the restoration of the Law. This will be done by might and power through the armies of God.

Then we will go into the greatest phase of our history. The unbaptised survivors will be under total divine protection, and they will grow up and develop Israel and the new world structure of the Millennium. These people will find it easy to enter into judgment in the Second Resurrection. Most will be translated to Elohim at the end of the Millennium, in that Resurrection. The elect will become spirit beings over the process we now examine. This process is the Marriage Supper of the Lamb.

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