How will Jesus return?

The Question of Jesus’ Return and the Challenge of Preterism

One of the questions that's come up recently on the radio show, but also in chat rooms I've been in, is how is Jesus going to return? There is an issue of preterism, which says that Jesus returned in 70 A .D.

And when I deal with people who hold to that, I go to Acts 1 9 -11. So what I'm going to do is go through this article here a little bit about how Jesus will return. I'm going to read through what I've already written, and hopefully add a little commentary about all this.

A Physical, Personal Return in the Same Way He Ascended

So, Jesus will return in the same way he ascended into heaven, and that's Acts 1. We're going to go to that in a second. It'll be physical and personal, not figurative. He will descend from heaven, from the sky, accompanied by a shout, the voice of the archangel and the trumpet of God, right there in 1 Thessalonians 4.

This is what is prophesied in Scripture, and here's an important point. Generally speaking, prophecies are fulfilled literally. Now, some people say, everything's figurative. No, that's how prophecies are done, literally.

Nevertheless, like I said, there are those who hold to the idea that Jesus returned in 70 A .D. And let's go through some of the Scriptures here and talk about this, and we'll get into that preterist view a little bit.

Matthew 24 and the Son of Man Coming in the Clouds

So, in Matthew 24, 30 -31,. And then the Son of Man will appear in the sky. That's ouranos in the Greek. And then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming in the clouds.

That's nephalon, of course, of the sky, ouranos again. He'll be coming with great power and glory, and he will send forth his angels with a great trumpet, and they'll gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of the sky, ouranos, to the other.

All right, so, clouds and the sky. You can see that right there. Clouds and the sky are right there. So, we go to Acts 1, 9 -11. This is where the angels prophesied how Jesus would return. It says,. And after he said these things, he was lifted up while they were looking on, and a cloud received him out of their sight, and as they were gazing intently into the sky, Notice, clouds in the sky.

While he was going, behold, two men in white clothing stood beside them. They said, Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into the sky? This Jesus who's taken up from you into heaven will come in just the same way as you've watched him go into heaven.

So, this refutes preterism, the idea that Jesus returned symbolically in the armies of Rome in 70 A .D. and destroyed Rome, and that's how Jesus returned. Well, obviously, that's not the case, because when you look at Acts 1, 9 -11, it's very clear.

It says the clouds of the sky, clouds in the sky, looking up in the sky. That's how he went up. This is how he's going to come back. That's the prophecy. It's amazing to me that people will just not believe what it clearly says.

1 Thessalonians 4–5 and the Day of the Lord Like a Thief

Let's go to 1 Thessalonians 4, 16 -5, verse 2. For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first.

Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. So, we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore, comfort one another with these words. Now, actually, I have it through verse 2.

We're going to get into that a little bit, probably, here, because down here, I'll show you what's going on here. All right. Now, take note of the similarities between the three major pericopes. A pericope is a section of Scripture.

It could be that big or that big. It's just a section of Scripture. So, these three pericopes here, Matthew 24, Acts 1, 1 Thessalonians 4. What it does here, we have the issue of the clouds and the sky.

They are in each of these clouds and the sky. This is how Jesus is going to return. Furthermore, further evidence that Jesus will return literally from the sky is found by comparing what is said in 1 Thessalonians 5, 2 and 2 Peter 3, 10.

In Thessalonians, the passage there states that the return of Jesus, he will descend from heaven with a shout, with a trumpet, and with the resurrection will occur. We'll be like a thief in the night.

That's what it says, right? That's in 1 Thessalonians 5, 2. The reason this is important is because when you go here, this actually should be 4 .16 .19, I think it is, or 18, but that's okay. So, when you go to, there's no chapter break in the Greek.

So, right after this comes this, for you yourselves know full well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. That's verse 2. So, but the day of the Lord will come like a thief, in which the heavens will pass away with roar, and the elements will be destroyed with intense heat, and the earth and its works will be burned up.

When I was talking to a preterist about this, the return of Christ, and we went to that verse, I said, well, this is when he returns, which is the day of the Lord that comes like a thief in the night, which is when Jesus comes back and the rapture occurs in 1 Thessalonians 4.

And so I said, 2 Peter 3 .10 here says that this is when the earth will be destroyed, the elements and the earth made, and all this. I said, what's that? He just said it was all figurative. Well, you know, it's just not how it is spoken of figuratively, okay?

Why the Return of Christ Must Be Interpreted Literally

Well, anyway, it's a literal return. Now, there are some preterists who quote the King James Version, which says that Jesus will return in like manner, which means to them, in like manner means it's not exactly the same way.

It'll be in a similar kind of way. Well, if it's similar, then it's going to have to be as he comes down from heaven, from the clouds. But they are so staunch on just affirming full preterism and everything that occurred in 70 AD that they can't see what the text says.

They just have to read stuff into the text. So what I did was I compared the verses, or this verse, in different versions. And as you can see, the NASB, the ESV, RSV, LEB, NIV, ISV, CSB all say in the same way.

It's only the ASV and the King James that say in like manner. Well, since the majority of the Bible is listed, translated as in the same way, there's no reason to focus on the King James and assert the return of Jesus being not literal but symbolic.

And the preterists would do that because they are going to ignore what the majority of the translations are. They're going to go only to something that the King James or the ASV says in like manner. And then they're going to weave a whole bunch of theology into that phrase.

So they don't go with the modern translations, what it really means. I checked the Greek, and it means in the same way. And so it's ridiculous that they will hold to that. So nevertheless, we can see that Jesus will return in just the same way that he left.

That's what the Bible says. He ascended into heaven and was received by a cloud. The clouds will be there in heaven when he descends. This is how Jesus will return. So I hope that answers that question and settles that once and for all.

God bless.