Don’t Assume Jesus Is Returning the Same as He Came 2,000 Years Ago

What do you think of when you think about Jesus’s return to this planet? Do you think of a gentle soul that only wants us to love others? While this description of Him isn’t far off the mark, when Jesus returns to Earth it is to fulfill Old and New Testament prophecies of the Messiah.

The Messiah has two roles in the body of the Scriptures. His initial arrival was in humility alone, being born as a tiny baby in poverty-stricken conditions.

Though I must say, better is the righteous with a little than the wicked with much. He chose a humble couple engaged to be married to bring Himself into this world.

Isaiah 53 describes the first mission of the Messiah, which is to die on behalf of our sins, and Genesis 3 shows the protoevangelium of the Messiah to promise the serpent’s defeat (Satan is a serpentine angel, not a guy with horns and a pitchfork ruling a fictional hell).

But the rest of the Bible, along with Jesus’s own words, describes the second mission of the Messiah.

That is the warrior-king’s conquering of Israel’s enemies for all time.

Jesus is returning as the Lion of the Tribe of Judah, the Jewish king who will rule the entire planet from Jerusalem.

Despite what certain podcasters would have you believe, Israel is very much a part of God’s end-times plan to restore all things back to the way they were in Gan Eden. Notice when Jesus returns, He roars like a lion, and in doing so, the entire universe quakes.

“The LORD roars from Zion, and utters His voice from Jerusalem, and the heavens and the earth quake. But the LORD is a refuge to His people, a stronghold to the people of Israel” (Joel 3:16 [ESV]).

“And he said: “The LORD roars from Zion and utters His voice from Jerusalem; the pastures of the shepherds mourn, and the top of Carmel withers” (Amos 1:2 [ESV]).

“You, therefore, shall prophesy against them all these words, and say to them: ‘The Lord will roar from on high, and from His holy habitation utter His voice; He will roar mightily against His fold, and shout, like those who tread grapes, against all the inhabitants of the earth. The clamor will resound to the ends of the earth, for the Lord has an indictment against the nations; He is entering into judgment with all flesh, and the wicked He will put to the sword, declares the Lord.’ ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts: Behold, disaster is going forth from nation to nation, and a great tempest is stirring from the farthest parts of the earth’” (Jeremiah 25:30-32 [ESV]).

For people who believe the Bible is full of contradictions, it seems suspiciously congruent with itself over hundreds to thousands of years. That’s kind of weird…

When Jesus returns, the Bible describes it as a day of terror unlike any other in human history. The sun will stop shining, the moon will darken to a blood-red color, and the stars will withdraw their shining as well. The entire universe will shake, and a heavenly army will accompany Jesus to defeat the Antichrist and his armies, not to mention punishing the sinful world.

God alone has control of the cosmos to this degree. It will prove to humanity once and for all that He alone is worthy of worship and is just in carrying out His judgment for breaking His Torah.

“God came from Teman, and the Holy One from Mount Paran. Selah. His splendor covered the heavens, and the earth was full of His praise. His brightness was like the light; rays flashed from His hand; and there He veiled His power. Before Him went pestilence, and plague followed at His heels. He stood and measured the earth; He looked and shook the nations; then the eternal mountains were scattered; the everlasting hills sank low. His were the everlasting ways. I saw the tents of Cushan in affliction; the curtains of the land of Midian did tremble” (Habakkuk 3:3-7 [ESV]).

Does this sound like a gentle and kind Jesus who just wants the world to love each other during the worst time in history?

Sometimes war is necessary. And it is not unrighteous to kill the enemy when they threaten the rest of the world.

If even Jesus fights and crushes all His enemies like someone treading a winepress (Isaiah 63), which is quite gruesome to think about, then war and being a warrior are not a sin.

God cannot sin, so war cannot be a sin when done in justice and righteousness.

Jesus does not want any hand to shed innocent blood, as this is one of the things He says He hates in the Book of Proverbs (hands that are quick to shed innocent blood).

I highlighted the location in Habakkuk because there is a common theme among all the prophets. These areas are in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and Ethiopia (along the Nile). Whenever you see Jesus returning in the Old Testament, He is always fighting what are today Islamic nations.

Not that all Muslims are evil, but rather, the brotherly feud between Isaac and Ishmael continues into the end times.

You can have your sci-fi Bible prophecy conferences about the Nephilim and the like, but the Bible consistently portrays the end times as the last conflict between Judah, Israel, and the descendants of Ishmael and Esau.

 But Jesus doesn’t magically show up and say, “Please, guys, stop all the fighting.”

He slaughters His enemies and destroys the nations that come against end-times Israel, and even judges among those in Judea at the time.

We should not be expecting a lovey-dovey Jesus to return. He is the Lion of Judah, too, not just the Lamb of God.

Both facets of His nature show His essence as Yahweh Sabaoth. The LORD of Armies. But He fights fairly and without injustice.

Meaning: His wars are perfectly righteous.

Remember. He is returning as a warrior, not in humiliation.

Blessings and shalom to you and yours.