Christ’s Second Advent in Prophecy
By John Nevins Andrews
WE have shown that the doctrine of the revelation of Christ in the clouds of heaven to judge the world was known to the antediluvians, to the patriarchs, and during the entire period from the patriarchs to the reign of David. We will now trace this doctrine from the time of David to the first advent of Christ. Thus Psalms 45:3–6 speaks of the second advent of Christ, as may be seen by comparing the passage with Rev. 19:11–16: “Gird thy sword upon thy thigh, O most mighty, with thy glory and thy majesty. And in thy majesty ride prosperously because of truth and meekness and righteousness; and thy right hand shall teach thee terrible things. Thine arrows are sharp in the heart of the king's enemies; whereby the people fall under thee. Thy throne, O God, is forever and ever; the scepter of thy kingdom is a right scepter.” This prophecy relates to Christ (compare verses 6, 7 with Heb. 1:8, 9), and it relates not to his first advent but to his second. The second advent must be intended in Ps. 68:1, 2, 3: “Let God arise, let his enemies be scattered; let them also that hate him flee before him. As smoke is driven away, so drive them away; as wax melteth before the fire, so let the wicked perish at the presence of God. But let the righteous be glad; let them rejoice before God; yea, let them exceedingly rejoice.” Compare these verses with 2 Thess. 1:6–10. In verses 20–22 this psalm speaks of the resurrection: “He that is our God is the God of salvation; and unto God the Lord belong the issues from death. . . . The Lord said, I will bring again from Bashan, I will bring my people again from the depths of the sea.” Compare with this Rev. 20:13. The resurrection of the just at the coming of Christ was distinctly understood by the psalmist. “Thou, which hast showed me great and sore troubles, shalt quicken me again, and shalt bring me up again from the depths of the earth.” Ps. 71:20. Compare this with Ps. 17:15. The second advent of Christ to judge the world is thus predicted: “Let the heavens rejoice, and let the earth be glad; let the sea roar, and the fulness thereof. Let the field be joyful, and all that is therein; then shall all the trees of the wood rejoice before the Lord; for he cometh, for he cometh to judge the earth; he shall judge the world with righteousness, and the people with his truth.” Ps. 96:11–13; 98:7–9.463 The second advent is also predicted in Ps. 97:3–5: “A fire goeth before him, and burneth up his enemies round about. His lightnings enlightened the world; the earth saw, and trembled. The hills melted like wax at the presence of the Lord, at the presence of the Lord of the whole earth.” The second advent of Christ and the great day of Judgment is predicted in Ps. 76:8, 9, though the past tense is used for the future, as is frequent in the prophets: “Thou didst cause judgment to be heard from Heaven; the earth feared, and was still, when God arose to judgment to save all the meek of the earth.” Solomon believed in this great day of Judgment, for he said: “For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil.” Eccl. 12:14. Isaiah predicted the second advent of Christ when he said: “And they shall go into the holes of the rocks, and into the caves of the earth, for fear of the Lord, and for the glory of his majesty, when he ariseth to shake terribly the earth. In that day a man shall cast his idols of silver, and his idols of gold, which they made each one for himself to worship, to the moles and to the bats; to go into the clefts of the rocks, and into the tops of the ragged rocks, for fear of the Lord, and for the glory of his majesty, when he ariseth to shake terribly the earth.” Isa. 2:19–21. Compare this with Rev. 6:12–17. Isaiah thus predicts the second advent of Christ, and the resurrection of the just: “He will swallow up death in victory; and the Lord God will wipe away tears from off all faces; and the rebuke of his people shall he take away from off all the earth; for the Lord hath spoken it. And it shall be said in that day, Lo this is our God; we have waited for him, and he will save us; this is the Lord; we have waited for him, we will be glad and rejoice in his salvation.” Isa. 25:8, 9. “Thy dead men shall live, together with my dead body shall they arise. Awake and sing, ye that dwell in dust; for thy dew is as the dew of herbs, and the earth shall cast out the dead. Come my people, enter thou into thy chambers, and shut thy doors about thee; hide thyself as it were for a little moment, until the indignation be overpast. For behold the Lord cometh out of his place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity; the earth also shall disclose her blood, and shall no more cover her slain.” Isa. 26:19–21. And again he says: “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. For by fire and by his sword will the Lord plead with all flesh; and the slain of the Lord shall be many.” Isa. 66:15, 16. Jeremiah predicts the battle of the great day of God, which is connected with the second advent of Christ: “The Lord shall roar from on high, and utter his voice from his holy habitation; he shall mightily roar upon his habitation; he shall give a shout, as they that tread the grapes, against all the inhabitants of the earth. A noise shall come even to the ends of the earth; for the Lord hath a controversy with the nations, he will plead with all flesh; he will give them that are wicked to the sword, saith the Lord. . . . And the slain of the Lord shall be at that day from one end of the earth even unto the other end of the earth; they shall not be lamented, neither gathered, nor buried; they shall be dung upon the ground.” Jer. 25:30, 31, 33. Compare this with Rev. 19:11–21. The resurrection of the just is at the sound of the last trumpet (1 Cor. 15:51–54), when the Lord descends from Heaven. Matt. 24:29–31; 1 Thess. 4:15–17. This resurrection is thus described by Ezekiel: “Behold, O my people, I will open your graves, and cause you to come up out of your graves, and bring you into the land of Israel. And ye shall know that I am the Lord, when I have opened your graves, O my people, and brought you up out of your graves.” Eze. 37:12, 13. The events of the Judgment are thus described by the prophet Daniel: “I beheld till the thrones were cast down, and the Ancient of days did sit, whose garment was white as snow, and the hair of his head like the pure wool; his throne was like the fiery flame, and his wheels as burning fire. A fiery stream issued and came forth from before him; thousand thousands ministered unto him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him; the Judgment was set, and the books were opened. I saw in the night visions, and, behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and they brought him near before him. And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages, should serve him; his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed.” Dan. 7:9, 10, 13, 14. See also what Daniel says of the resurrection. Dan. 12:1, 2. Hosea speaks of the resurrection of the just, which takes place at the second advent: “I will ransom them from the power of the grave; I will redeem them from death; O, death, I will be thy plagues; O, grave, I will be thy destruction; repentance shall be hid from mine eyes.” Hosea 13:14. Joel predicts the events of the last day: “The sun and the moon shall be darkened, and the stars shall withdraw their shining. The Lord also shall roar out of Zion, and utter his voice from Jerusalem; and the heavens and the earth shall shake; but the Lord will be the hope of his people, and the strength of the children of Israel. Joel 3:15, 16. The prophet Micah predicts the second advent in these words: “For, behold, the Lord cometh forth out of his place, and will come down, and tread upon the high places of the earth. And the mountains shall be molten under him, and the valleys shall be cleft as wax before the fire, and as the waters that are poured out.” Micah 1:3, 4. And Nahum describes the last day thus: “He rebuketh the sea, and maketh it dry, and drieth up all the rivers; Bashan languisheth, and Carmel, and the flower of Lebanon languisheth. The mountains quake at him, and the hills melt, and the earth is burned at his presence, yea, the world and all that dwell therein.” Nahum 1:4, 5. The prophet Zephaniah testifies: “The great day of the Lord is near, it is near, and hasteth greatly, even the voice of the day of the Lord; the mighty man shall cry there bitterly. Seek ye the Lord, all ye meek of the earth, which have wrought his judgment; seek righteousness, seek meekness; it may be ye shall be hid in the day of the Lord's anger. Zeph 1:14; 2:3. Zechariah describes the events of the great day of God, in which he says: “The Lord my God shall come, and all the saints with thee.” Zech. 14:5. And Malachi says of that day: “For, behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble; and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the Lord of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch. But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings.” Mal. 4:1, 2. We have no further testimony to consult till John the Baptist came to act as the herald of Christ. It is certain that John understood the prophecies concerning the coming of Christ in the clouds of heaven at the last day, for he announced the “wrath to come,” and almost in the words of Malachi declares that the chaff should be burned up with “unquenchable fire.” Matt. 3:7, 12. Thus we have traced the doctrine of the advent of the Lord in the clouds of heaven, and of the Judgment of the great day, through the entire period of more than four thousand years, which intervened between the creation and the first advent. In our next article, if God permit, we will trace this doctrine through the New Testament.