The description of Jesus, the Word of God, that John records in Revelation 19:15-16 belies the claim that the Rapture and the Second Coming occur as a single event. We know that when Christ comes for His Church at the Rapture, He comes as a Bridegroom for His Bride. We will meet Him in the air—with the “dead in Christ” rising first, and those who are alive following in the twinkling of an eye.
He will take us to His Father’s house, where we will dwell with Him in the place He has prepared for us. And we will celebrate the Marriage Supper of the Lamb—the title given to the suffering Son of God who redeemed us by His own blood.
When He returns to the earth, we will follow after Him as described above. And His demeanor will not convey the eager love of a Bridegroom, but the indignation of a King. In fact, John’s description is of a Warrior King returning to set right what has long been tolerated.
In Matthew 21, Jesus told of a landowner who planted a vineyard and rented it to tenants to tend. At harvest time, he sent servants to receive his portion. But the tenants beat and killed the servants, along with a larger group he sent to advocate his interests. Finally, he sent his own son, saying, “They will respect my son.” But the evil tenants conspired to kill the son and seize his inheritance.
This parable is a dramatic picture of God’s relationship with the unrepentant world. “The earth is the LORD’s, and the fulness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein” (Psalm 24:1, KJV). He has every right to ownership of every square inch, every living creature, every image-bearing person. And His only begotten Son has the same claim. To quote Abraham Kuyper, “There is not a square inch in the whole domain of our human existence over which Christ, who is Sovereign over all, does not cry: ‘Mine!'”
Yet evil men—representative of the entirety of the human race—conspired to kill the Son. They hung Him on a cross and buried Him in a borrowed tomb. They thought they had usurped God’s claim, tearing His fetters and casting off His cords. How wrong they were. How wrong all are who continue to flaunt their wickedness and hope that God’s indignation is never aroused.
Jesus’ question at the end of this parable offers a segue to the scene in Revelation 19: “Therefore when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those vine-growers?”(Matthew 21:40). Even the chief priests and elders answered rightly: “He will bring those wretches to a wretched end.”
Thus, in righteousness He will judge and wage war. Jesus will return as a Warrior King. John says, “From His mouth comes a sharp sword, so that with it He may strike down the nations, and He will rule them with a rod of iron; and He treads the winepress of the fierce wrath of God, the Almighty” (Revelation 19:15).
In short order, He will destroy the armies arrayed on the Plain of Jezreel (the Valley of Armageddon), merely speaking a word that will cause those wicked warriors to rot where they stand. He will set foot on the Mount of Olives overlooking Jerusalem from the east. As He begins walking toward the Eastern Gate, the valley containing Jewish and Muslim graves will split in two—with half moving toward the north and half moving toward the south. As He approaches the gate sealed by Suleiman to keep the Jewish Messiah out, the ancient gate will fly open so that the King of Glory might come in.
Lift up your heads, O gates, and be lifted up, O ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in! Who is this King of glory? Yahweh strong and mighty, Yahweh mighty in battle. Lift up your heads, O gates, and lift yourselves up, O ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in! Who is He, this King of glory? Yahweh of hosts, He is the King of glory. Selah (Psalm 24:7-10).
Then Jesus will ascend to the Temple Mount to fulfill the promise prophesied of Him: to reign from the throne of His father, David.
Ezekiel also prophesied of the glorious day when the glory of God would once again fill the Temple. Coming from the east, the glory will return through the Eastern Gate to take up residence in the Temple once again (Ezekiel 43:1-7). That anticipated scene offers a preview of what is described in Revelation 19.
Soon after His return, Jesus will separate the sheep from the goats and initiate His Millennial Reign. Eventually, “every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Philippians 2:10-11). Those who have rejected Him will forever regret hardening their heart against the love and mercy of God.
Even before John described the Second Coming, he recorded the praise that resounded in Heaven. Responding to a voice from the throne of God that said, “Give praise to our God, all you His bond-servants, you who fear Him, the small and the great,” the great multitude preparing to mount their war chargers cried out with the voice of many waters and many peals of thunder, saying, “Hallelujah! For the Lord our God, the Almighty, reigns” (Revelation 19:5–6).
Brothers and sisters in Christ, saints of the living God, we too can resonate with praise right now as we anticipate His soon return and His glorious Second Coming. Far from discouraged or distracted by the trials of this life, we can cry out: “Hallelujah! For the Lord our God, the Almighty, reigns.”
