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b. Its eschatology.
The return of Christ is imminent now, that is, He may come at any time, for
there are no predicted events that must still precede it. However, His coming consists of two
separate events, separated from each other by a period of seven years. The first of these events
will be the parousia, when Christ will appear in the air to meet His saints. All the righteous dead
will then be raised up, and the living saints will be transfigured. Together they will be caught up
into the air, will celebrate the wedding of the Lamb, and will then be forever with the Lord. The
translation of the living saints is called “the rapture,” sometimes “the secret rapture.” While
Christ and His Church are absent from the earth, and even the indwelling Holy Spirit has gone
with the Church, there will be a period of seven years or more, often divided into two parts, in
which several things will happen. The gospel of the Kingdom will again be preached, primarily, it
would seem, by the believing remnant of the Jews, and conversions on a large scale will result,
though many will still continue to blaspheme God. The Lord will again begin to deal with Israel
and it will probably at this time (though some say it will be later) be converted. In the second
half of this period of seven years there will be a time of unequalled tribulation, the length of
which is still a subject of debate. Antichrist will be revealed and the vials of God’s wrath will be
poured out upon the human race. At the end of the seven-year period the “revelation” will
follow, that is, the coming of the Lord down to earth, now not for but with His saints. The living
nations are now judged (Matt. 25:31 ff.), and the sheep separated from the goats; the saints
that died during the great tribulation are raised up; Antichrist is destroyed; and Satan is bound
for a thousand years. The millennial kingdom will now be established, a real visible, terrestrial,
and material kingdom of the Jews, the restoration of the theocratic kingdom, including the re-
establishment of the Davidic kingship. In it the saints will reign with Christ, the Jews will be the
natural citizens and many Gentiles adopted citizens. The throne of Christ will be established at
Jerusalem, which will also again become the central place of worship. The temple will be rebuilt
on Mount Zion, and the altar will again reek with the blood of sacrifices, even of sin- and
trespass-offerings. And though sin and death will still claim their victims, it will be a time of
great fruitfulness and prosperity, in which men’s lives will be prolonged and the wilderness will
blossom as the rose. In this time the world will speedily be converted, according to some by the
gospel, but according to the majority by totally different means, such as the personal
appearance of Christ, the envy aroused by the blessedness of the saints, and above all great
and terrible judgments. After the millennium Satan will be loosed for a little season, and the
hordes of Gog and Magog assemble against the holy city. The enemies are devoured, however,
by fire from heaven, and Satan is cast into the bottomless pit, whither the beast and the false
prophet have preceded him. After this little season the wicked dead are raised up and appear in
judgment before the great white throne, Rev. 20:11-15. And then there will be a new heaven
and a new earth.