THE SECOND COMING OF JESUS CHRIST: Its Implications for the Church, Israel, and the Secular World

THE SECOND COMING OF JESUS CHRIST

Its Implications for the Church, Israel, and the Secular World

Rev. Dr. Feniton Jacquet

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legal rights to publish all the material in this book.

The Second Coming of Jesus Christ

Its implications for the Church, Israel and the Secular World

Copyright © 2024 by Rev. Dr. Feniton Jacquet.

ISBN: 9798890905611 (e)

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the express written consent of the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodies in critical articles and reviews.

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In memory of my father Frankel F. Jacquet

And my mother E. C. Mergénie Lirisemond Jacquet

Contents

THE PROBLEMix

DEFINITIONSxi

ABSTRACTxiii

PREFACExv

FOREWORDxxi

INTRODUCTIONxxiii

Views of Eschatology1

Historic Eschatology1

Preterist Eschatology3

Futurist Eschatology3

Idealist Eschatology5

Systems of Eschatology5

Distinctives Between the Systems6

Weaknesses of the Systems6

Views of Dispensationalism and

Tribulationalism8

Dispensational Premillennialism8

Progressive Dispensationalism10

Extreme Dispensationalism11

The Tribulation in Dispensationalism12

Premillennial Mid-Tribulationism13

Hermeneutic Position of the Premillenialists15

Views of Millennialism18

Amillennialism18

Amillennialism and the Second Coming of Christ21

Types of Covenant Theology in Amillennialism23

Postmillennialism24

Three Dominant Views of Postmillennialism26

Premillennialism32

Prophetic Signs of the Return of Jesus Christ40

Rise of False Christs43

Wars and Rumors of Wars46

One-World Authoritarian Government49

World Armament Expenditures50

International Nuclear Policies53

Famines56

Earthquakes60

The Imminence of the Return of Jesus Christ63

Doctrine of the New Testament63

Position of Modern Theologians65

The Antichrist67

Who is the Antichrist?68

What Does the Bible Say About the Antichrist?70

The Beast Out of the Sea71

The Beast Out of the Earth73

The Mark of the Beast74

The New Age Movement78

The Purpose and Time of the Return of Christ82

The Second Coming for the Saints82

The Second Coming with the Saints85

Contrast between the Return for and With the Saints 87

Purpose of the Return of Christ91

Period between the Rapture and the Second Advent106

Judgments Related to the Second Advent109

The Judgment Seat of Christ109

The Great Tribulation Period111

Length of the Tribulation Period114

The Judgments of Seven Seals114

The Judgments of Seven Trumpets114

The Judgments of Seven Bowls115

The Battle of Armageddon116

The Millennium121

The Great White Throne Judgment124

CONCLUSION129

BIBLIOGRAPHY131

THE PROBLEM

Background for the Problem

The return of Jesus Christ is perhaps the single most debated eschatological doctrine among theologians. It is all-important to eschatology and the basis of the Christian’s hope. It is one of the most widely taught doctrines in the New Testament. The time of the return of the Lord, however, is not to be revealed. It will be unexpected and consequently requires a watchful prayer life.

Statement of the Problem

Second to the doctrine of salvation, the return of Jesus Christ is arguably the most frequent and most important teaching of the Bible. It is the foundation of the Christian’s faith and an event that will impact both the church and the entire world. This extraordinary event will mark the beginning of the completion of God’s plan for the humanity. Yet, theologians and Bible scholars through the ages cannot seem to come to a consensus on which view best represents scripture and contemporary theology.

Purpose of the Research

This work investigates/evaluates both the certainty of the return of the Jesus Christ and the misunderstandings or misinterpretations regarding the meaning of this great event so awaited by the Christians. The author weighs and sifts the available evidence and makes an educated recommendation. Another purpose is to stimulate people’s awareness about the implications for the church and the secular world of Christ’s second coming.

Significance of the Research

This research is of utmost importance due to the fact there are so many theories that have given birth to so many interpretations of the doctrine of the return of Christ. Readers will be informed about the various different eschatological schools of thoughts such as, classical premillennialism, dispensational premillennialism, postmillennialism, and amillennialism. A critical analysis of each will be made with the author’s arguments for the most biblically sound and theologically credible view.

DEFINITIONS

a) Classical premillennialism. According to J. Douglas and Merrill C. Tenney, this view teaches that the kingdom of God primarily has to do with the redemption. The kingdom was offered to Israel, but when it was rejected its blessings were given to a people who will produce its fruits. The kingdom works in the world through the church, bringing the blessings of God’s rule to all who will receive them.

b) Dispensational premillennialism looks to the Old Testament for its definition of the kingdom. The kingdom of God is theocratic, not soteriological. It is the earthly Davidic (millennial) kingdom destined primarily for Israel. It does not have to do chiefly with the church nor with redemptive blessings brought into the world by Christ; rather, it concerns the earthly national blessings promised to Israel. This view believes that God has two plans that must be kept separate: an earthly national plan for Israel (theocratic) and a spiritual redemptive plan for the church (soteriological).

c) Amillennialism is a modification of classical premillennialism, accepting its basic definition and structure of the kingdom but omitting the millennial age. The kingdom is God’s redemptive rule in Christ working in the world through the church. It will come to its consummation with the second coming of Christ to inaugurate the age to come. Most amillennialists deny that Israel has any future but see the church as the new Israel, which has experienced the fulfillment of the Old Testament prophecies in spiritual terms.

d) Postmillenialism sees the kingdom as the reign of God in Christ through the church, which is destined to conquer the entire world and establish God’s reign in all human society through the triumphant preaching of the gospel. Only after this Millennium or Golden Age will Christ return for the final judgment and the resurrection of the dead to inaugurate the age to come.

ABSTRACT

The return of Jesus Christ is one of the most popular topics in the theological and biblical circle since the early church history. It is prophesied in literally scores of passages throughout the scriptures. It is taught and parabolically explained in various ways. The return of Jesus Christ either to rapture the church or establish the millennial earthly kingdom will be one of the most breaking and glorious events ever to be witnessed by mankind. It is of utmost significance to the Christian and unbeliever alike as it completely dwarfs all other considerations put together. There are many signs of the return of Christ: the great warning; signs in the medical, natural, political, and social worlds; Spirit manifestations; signs in the world of knowledge; persecution of God’s true followers; signs in the heavens; the antichrist. This project will demonstrate the writer’s view that Christ will return to rapture the church, deliver Israel, and establish the Millennium.

PREFACE

By this time, we hear some people affirming that December 2011 is the ultimate date. According to them, by this date the great event of the return of Christ will take place. What is unbelievable is that many members of some churches take for granted this saying. We can see by such attitude a lack of the knowledge of the Bible, which says that no one knows the day of the Lord’s return. It takes some theologians who are very conscientious to re-establish the truth. One of them is Dr. Feniton Jacquet. We have in his thesis a clear idea about the eschatological facts.

It is important to note that eschatology as a subject of study has been always the center of interest of Dr. Jacquet. When the occasion was given to him to collaborate at the development of Bethsaida’s church in Montreal where he left his mark, he had spent a lot of time studying with this church every angle in connection with the return of Christ. In other words, he knows the facts around this coming event as he knows his pocket.

In this book, what he gives to himself as purpose can be seized at two levels. First, he gives to himself the objective to put in full light the misunderstandings regarding the return of Christ. As everyone knows, there is a number of theories that have been established on this subject. Second, Dr. Jacquet senses the need to stimulate people’s awareness about the implication of the return of Christ for the church, Israel, and the secular world.

One of the main factors that constitute the strength of the approach of the book is the attention that Dr. Jacquet pays to the different perspectives concerning the return of Christ. He puts them before the eyes of the readers so that anyone can have a good idea of the subject and adopt the right position. The first perspective that he exposes is what is known as amillennialism. According to those who support this doctrine, there will be no millennium age after the return of Christ. If there is a millennium, it is now, that is to say the millennium age is the time of the church. We have to go back to Origen (185-ca 254) to discover the origin of the amillennialism.

As a matter of fact, Origen put forward an allegorical interpretation of the Bible and spiritualizes the kingdom that he identifies with the time of the church. This doctrinal position has been popularized by Augustine for whom the church and the kingdom are the same thing. Consequently, the kingdom is the time between the first and the second comings of Christ. The religious origins of Luther and Calvin tell why they have been amillennialists. For example, Luther believes that he was at the time of the great tribulation. For his part, Calvin was very critical toward the chiliasm that he saw as an injury, a foolish thing, and an unacceptable blasphemy. The core point of amillennialism is that all vetero-testament’s prophesies are fulfilled in the church.

There is another important doctrine about the return of Christ. It is called postmillennialism. One of the defenders of this doctrine is Joachim de Flore (1135-1202). For him and those who agree with him, the events found in Revelation 20 refer either to the past or to the heaven. In its relation with postribulationism, A. H. Strong affirms that the period of the millennium will take place in the last days of the militant church. As postribulationism stands on the literal interpretation of the Bible, it regards the millennium as the last thousand years of the period between the first and second comings of Christ.

Besides postmillennialism and amillennialism, there is also premillennialism, a doctrine supporting the idea that, after his second advent, Christ will reign in person on Earth for a thousand years. Why? The reason is that this span will be necessary in order for some of the biblical promises not fulfilled in the present age to be accomplished. In contrast with amillennialism and postmillennialism, premillennialists believe that Christ will come back before the millennium, which will be a golden age in which righteousness and peace will abound, war will be banned, and prosperity in the spiritual, economic, and political realms will be worldwide.

As we can observe, all that concerns the return of Christ has a direct link with eschatology (eschatos = last; logos = discourse) or the theology of the last things. This type of theology put forward two things: 1) the biblical prophecies concerning Israel, Christ, the church, Satan, the great tribulation, the resurrection of the dead, the millennium kingdom, the final judgment, and the eternal state, and 2) the use of the principle of literal versus non-literal interpretation. Premillennialists cling to the literal interpretation. In that sense, they believe that the millennium kingdom is literal and real and will take place after the second advent of Christ.

Depending on the principle of interpretation that one adopts, one’s perspective on the return of Christ corresponds. It is very important to say, as we deal with prophecies, that interpretation has to be beyond all questions. It is the only way, because prophecies have been addressed to another people in another time and place. The research shows that there are four views that have been developed in the history of the church. One of them is the idealist interpretation. It understands prophecy to be the expression of general principles, so that what is portrayed in the book of Revelation is nothing but the timeless images of the victory of good over the evil. The idealist perspective cannot be greatly distinguished from the earlier allegorizing approach of the Alexandrians such as Clement and Origen. It is more recent than any other view and must be linked to amillennialism, which promotes a nonliteral type of interpretation of prophecy.

Another way to grasp prophecy and the return of Christ is the historicist perspective. Some scholars call it the church-historical interpretation. This view emphasizes history and its continuity as seen in the book of Revelation. According to historicism, Revelation is just a panoramic view of the church history from apostolic times to the present. It tries to put in full light the symbolism of a number of events such as the rise of Catholic Church and the papacy, the French Revolution, the emergence of Islam, and so on. It is remarkable that it is this view that Luther, Calvin, and other Reformers adopted. What has to be said is that historicism is not in favour today, probably because of the conflicting interpretations of the actual historical events contained in Revelation. For example, for the defenders of the historicism, the Antichrist and Babylon are connected with Rome and papacy.

Dr. Jacquet explains another view. We find it under the label preterist view. It is known also under another name, which is the past-historical interpretation, which name is symptomatic of its orientation. As a matter of fact, the preterist view regards Revelation’s prophecy as a description of first-century events in the Roman Empire, that is to say,