[Excerpts From Glenn Hill's Book in black font -

Responses in blue & purple font from biblestudymanuals.net]

Further Commentary in blue font:

THE 'COMINGS' OF CHRIST IN REVELATION 2–3
Robert L. Thomas
Professor of New Testament
www.galaxie.com 

I) [Mt 24]

From chapter II of Glenn Hill's book entitled "IN THE GOSPELS WHEN DID JESUS SAY HE WAS COMING?]

[Excerpt from Glenn Hill's book, p. 19]:

[Glenn Hill]

"Jesus' answers to the apostles' questions are what Matthew 24 is all about. If we can see this basic fact, then we can understand this chapter. Matthew 24 is all about the Judgment Jesus had pronounced upon His people. From history we know the Roman armies completely destroyed Judea, Jerusalem, and the temple by AD 70. Matthew 24 is about the things that would be happening in the coming years from the time Jesus made these prophecies in AD 30 until the end came in AD 70. This will become clearer as we continue our study."

MATTHEW CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

From biblestudymanuals.net/mt24.htm

INTRODUCTION

When will the massive temple buildings in Jerusalem be utterly destroyed? What signs will be evident when He is coming?

What signs will mark the end of this present world system?

Chapter 24, and for that matter chapter 25, contain our Lord's answer to His disciples' three questions about His appearing as the Messiah King to establish His millennial kingdom on the earth and the events surrounding this appearing.

When read and taken in the light of all of the passages related to the doctrines spoken of in our Lord's answer, we then have as clear a picture as possible today of the events leading up to our Lord's return and of the destruction of the temple. Author John MacArthur aptly describes the Jewish mindset at the time that the disciples asked our Lord their questions:

[The MacArthur New Testament Commentary, Matthew 24-28; Moody Press; Chicago; 1989; pp.7-8]:

"In the minds of the Jews of Jesus' day, the time was ripe for the Messiah's coming. They had suffered persecution and subjugation for many centuries and were at that time under the relentless power of Rome. When John the Baptist appeared on the scene, reminiscent of the preaching and lifestyle of Elijah, the people's interest was intensely piqued. And when Jesus began His ministry of preaching, with unheard of authority and of healing every sort of disease, many Jews were convinced that He was indeed the Messiah. When He rode into Jerusalem on the colt, the crowds were beside themselves with anticipation, and they openly hailed Him as the Messiah, the long awaited Son of David (Matt. 21:9).

At that point, however, Jesus' ministry rapidly and radically departed from their expectations. According to their thinking, the next steps would be the gathering of the nations against the Messiah and His dramatic and effortless victory over them.

That idea apparently was also still in the minds of the Twelve. Jesus' many predictions that He must suffer, die, and be resurrected had simply not registered with them. In some way or another they either had discounted those teachings or had rationalized and spiritualized them into being something other than literal, physical, and historical realities...........................

In fairness to the disciples, the Old Testament prophets also saw the Messiah's coming and establishing His kingdom as a single event. The church age was a mystery to them, a mystery, as Paul explained, 'which has been kept secret for long ages past, but now is manifested' (Rom. 16:25-26). Because Israel had obviously experienced tremendous tribulation, because Jesus declared Himself to be the Messiah and identified John the Baptist as His forerunner, and because He had accepted the Messianic acclaim of the people a few days earlier, the disciples understandably thought that the sequence of events would continue as they expected. They were now certain that Jesus' next move would be to demonstrate His inexorable power over the nations that would soon rise up against Him."

Further answer to this excerpt from Glenn Hill's book requires a careful detailed reading of Matthew 24 as follows, click on this  button. 

Note that this study will answer nearly all of the points made by Glenn Hill relative to a careful reading of Matthew chapter 24. Hill has totally missed the mark on Jesus' Coming again. It did not happen in AD 70!!! None of the events portrayed in Mt 24 have occurred yet especially on  the scale and worldwide location as stipulated throughout Mt 24 and corroborating passages in Daniel, Revelation and many other passages throughout  Scripture. 

Furthermore, Christ's Second Coming was to judge the world and then begin His everlasting rule of the world beginning with the fulfillment of the New Covenant with Israel to transform every Jew into a kingdom of priests who will have no sin, know the Bible perfectly and corule with Jesus Christ over the Gentile Nations - the whole world . Christ's rule will be from the throne of David in Jerusalem in the temple. In AD 70 Jerusalem and the Temple were destroyed. This could not have happened at that time.

II) [Rev 6:15-17]:

Nevertheless let's move on to another excerpt on page 23 of Glenn Hill's book to confirm what biblestudymanuals.net. has presented so far as an accurate rebuttal:

[Glenn Hill]

"In Revelation 6:15-17, John even used Jesus' own words in describing this same time and the desperate feeling among the people: 'And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us and hide us from the face of Him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb.' All these references were about the coming Judgment of God on the Jewish people. It was coming soon, in the lifetime of those women who were weeping for Jesus! ...

For those who did believe, who did follow Jesus, Paul said they would be saved 'from the wrath to come' (1 Thess 1:10). Their deliverance from the calamities coming upon Judah certainly would begin with their obeying Jesus' command to hastily 'flee into the mountains' when they saw 'armies' begin to surround Jerusalem."

[Shouldn't we go back a little in Rev chapter 6 to figure out the context before we get to Rev 6:15-16?

Here's an excerpt from the study on Matthew chapter 24 which has Rev chapter 6 in view with corroborating context from other passages in both Old and New Testaments which clearly indicate that none of these things has occurred yet - not even in AD 70:

******* EXCERPT MT 24 STUDY INCL REV 6 ******

[Mt 24:4-5]:

"Jesus answered: 'Watch out that no one deceives you. For many will come in My name, claiming 'I am the Christ,' and will deceive many."

And the ultimate deceiver, the Antichrist who will deceive many.

[Rev 6:1-2]:

"I [John the Apostle] watched as the Lamb [Jesus Christ] opened the first of the seven seals. Then I heard one of the four living creatures say in a voice like thunder, 'Come!' I looked, and there before me was a white horse! Its rider [the Antichrist] held a bow, and he was given a crown, and he rode out as a conqueror bent on conquest."

Scoffield, (Oxford NIV Scoffield Study Bible, 1967, Oxford University Press, p.1320, footnote #1):

"The rider on the white horse is not Christ. Those who identify this rider with Him consider the passage a prophecy of conquest by the Gospel. But no crown was given to the Lord as the proclamation of the Gospel began, and the terrible world events which accompany the other three riders (vv. 3-8) do not imply an earlier conquest by Christ."

[Compare Dan 9:26b-27]:

"The people of the ruler [the Antichrist] who will come will destroy the city [of Jerusalem] and the sanctuary. The end will come like a flood: War will continue until the end, and desolations have been decreed. He [the Antichrist] will confirm a covenant with many for one 'seven' [with Israel for 7 years]. In the middle of the 'seven' he will put an end to sacrifice and offering. [Thus breaking his covenant with his evil treachery] And on a wing [of the temple] he will set up an abomination that causes desolation, until the end that is decreed is poured out on him."

Our Lord commands, as reported in Mt 24:4-5, that one who is living in the end times of the tribulation should be on his guard that he not be misled by any of the numerous false Christs who will appear on the scene - numbers like never before. Many will indeed be deceived:

[Mt 24:23-24]:

"At that time......

["At that time" refers back to Mt 24:21 which pictures a period of "tribulation unequaled from the beginning of the world"]

.......At that time if anyone says to you, 'Look, here is the Christ!' or, 'There he is!' do not believe it. For false Christs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and miracles to deceive even the elect - if that were possible."

Jesus is warning all men living at that time - during the tribulation - about this "birth pain" which signifies that the age of the Gentiles is in its final days. This does not include a direct warning to people living in other ages. Believers of the church age for example will either have died or been raptured before the tribulation begins, (1 Thes 4:13-18).

With the number of deceivers in the tribulation so much the greater than in any other age - with that number will grow the number of vulnerable people who being subject to such staggering catastrophes on the earth they will desperately seek anyone with answers - right or wrong - ultimately they will be subject to the Antichrist. Believers of the church age through whom God the Holy Spirit worked as a restraining influence will have been gone in the Rapture, (2 Thes 2:7 & 4:13-18).

Evil will now have its uninhibited day.

[Mt 24:6-7a]:

(v. 6) " 'You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come.'

["mellesete" rendered "You will hear" verb 2pl indic fut active of wars and rumors of wars]

(v.7a) Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom..

[Rev 6:3-4]:

"When the Lamb opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature say, 'Come!' Then another horse came out, a fiery red one. Its rider was given power to take peace from the earth and to make men slay each other. To him was given a large sword."

There will be such a degree of hot wars, economic and political wars and just plain rumors of conflicts everywhere that this is why Scripture reflects this condition of this "birth pain" in a form of the future tense of the Greek verb 'mello' which carries the idea of future, relentless, incessant, hearing of and occurrences. 

["mellesete" rendered "You will hear" verb 2pl indic fut active of wars and rumors of wars]

MacArthur, (op cit., p. 18):

"Following the analogy of labor pains, the implication is that the conflicts will increase both in number and intensity as the return of Christ approaches, until they explode into a grand holocaust of bloodshed and carnage."

No one who lives on the earth during the tribulation period will escape the consequences of wars and rumors of wars. All nations and all kingdoms will be involved.

[Compare Dan 11:36-45]:

(v. 36) " 'The king....... [of the Roman empire, the 10 as yet future European nations, (cp Dan 7:24). At this point in Daniel's prophecy he leaps ahead in time from Antiochus Epiphanes whose career was described in vv.21-35, overleaps the church age to the end times and begins describing the future Roman empire of 10 European nations and the one who only could be the Antichrist]

(v. 36 cont) " 'The king will do as he pleases. He will exalt and magnify himself above every god and will say unheard of things against the God of gods. He will be successful until the time of wrath is completed, for what has been determined must take place.

(v. 37) He will show no regard for the gods of his fathers....

[This ruler will be the final ruler of the last Gentile empire - the final Roman Empire and will be a Gentile himself. Compare: "the little horn" in Dan 7:8, 24b. He has no allegiance to any of the religions of his fathers - to any of their gods.]

(v. 37 cont) He will show no regard for the gods of his fathers, or for the one desired by women.....

["He will show no regard......for the One desired by women" - no regard for the Messiah. The Antichrist repudiates the messianic hopes of Israel in order to place himself as god over them. It was the traditional hope of every woman that she would give birth to the Messiah as prophesied in O.T. Scripture]

............... nor will he regard any god, but will exalt himself above them all.

(v. 38) Instead of them, he will honor a god of fortresses [war]; a god unknown to his fathers [Satan] he will honor with gold and silver, with precious stones and costly gifts.

(v. 39) He will attack the mightiest fortresses with the help of a foreign god and will greatly honor those who acknowledge him. He will make them rulers over many people and will distribute the land at a price,

(v. 40) At the time of the end the king of the South [Egypt with Libyians and Nubians, v. 43] will engage him in battle, and the king of the North [Russia + allies, Ez 38 & 39] will storm out against him with chariots and calvary and a great fleet of ships. He will invade many countries and sweep through them like a flood.

(v. 41) He will also invade the Beautiful Land. [Israel]. Many countries will fall, but Edom, Moab and the leaders of Amon [Jordan] will be delivered from his hand.

(v. 42) He will extend his power over many countries; Egypt will not escape.

(v. 43) He will gain control of the treasures of gold and silver and all the riches of Egypt, with the Libyans and Nubians in submission.

(v. 44) But reports from the East and the North will alarm him,

[a great army from the East, 200 million strong, (China already has an army that large), moving to battle the Antichrist and another from the North, (Russia again), coming to do battle in the valley of Armageddon, Rev 9:16]

(v. 44 cont) and he will set out in a great rage to destroy and annihilate many.

(v. 45) He will pitch his royal tents between the seas

[he will now set up in Israel between the Mediterranean & Dead Seas]

(v. 45 cont) "He will pitch his royal tents between the seas at the beautiful holy mountain [Jerusalem]. Yet he will come to his end, and no one will help him."

[Mt 24:6-7a cont.]:

(v. 6) " 'You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come.'

(v.7a) Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom..

MacArthur writes, (op. cit.., p.20-21):

"Consistent with Daniel's description, Zechariah prophesied that the Lord "will gather all the nations against Jerusalem to battle, and the city will be captured, the houses plundered, the women ravished, and half of the city exiled, but the rest of the people will not be cut off from the city. Then the Lord will go forth and fight against those nations, as when He fights on a day of battle." (Zech. 14:2-3)........

But before the Lord comes to acomplish that final conquest, the Antichrist and the forces of the north, south, and east will engage in ruthless combat and succeed in slaughtering a third of the world's population. In the face of that unparalleled carnage man's last vestige of hope will vanish and stark terror will rule the day. Only believers who hold fast to the Lord will have the divinely-given strength and courage to avoid being petrified with fear."

[Mt 24:7b-8]:

"There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of birth pains."

[Rev 6:5-6; 12-14]:

[Famines - Rev 6:5-6]:

"When the Lamb opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature say, 'Come!' I looked, and there before me was a black horse! Its rider was holding a pair of scales in his hand. Then I heard what sounded like a voice among the four living creatures, saying, 'A quart of wheat for a day's wages, and three quarts of barley for a day's wages, and do not damage the oil and wine!' "

[Earthquakes - Rev 6:12-14]:

"I watched as He opened the sixth seal. There was a great earthquake. The sun turned black like sackcloth made of goat hair, the whole moon turned blood red, and the stars in the sky fell to earth, as late figs drop from a fig tree when shaken by a strong wind. The sky receded like a scroll, rolling up, and every mountain and island was removed from its place."

Famines and earthquakes have occurred throughout history but not to the great extent as those which are the birth pains of the end times: "A quart of wheat for a day's wages........every mountain and island was removed from its place." - as indicated in the parallel passages in Revelation. And consider this earthquake which will occur just before our Lord's second coming:

[Rev 16:18-20]:

(v. 18) "Then there came flashes of lightening, rumblings, peals of thunder and a severe earthquake. No earthquake like it has ever occurred since man has been on earth, so tremendous was the quake.

(v. 19) The great city split into three parts, and the cities of the nations collapsed. God remembered Babylon the Great and gave her the cup filled with the wine of the fury of His wrath.

(v. 20) Every island fled away and the mountains could not be found.

(v. 21) From the sky huge hailstones of about a hundred pounds each fell upon men. And they cursed God on account of the plague of hail, because the plague was so terrible."

Note the accompanying signs in Rev 6:12-14, previously quoted, which occur at this future time - they have definitely not occurred in history yet and are therefore yet future:

(Rev 6:12b) "The sun turned black like sackcloth made of goat hair, the whole moon turned blood red,

(Rev 6:13) and the stars in the sky fell to earth, as late figs drop from a fig tree when shaken by a strong wind.

(Rev 6:14) The sky receded like a scroll, rolling up, and every mountain and island was removed from its place."

[Mt 24:9-12]:

" 'Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of Me."

At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold,

[Rev 6:9-11]:

"When He opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain because of the Word of God and the testimony they had maintained. They called out in a loud voice, 'How long, Sovereign Lord, holy and true, until you judge the inhabitants of the earth and avenge our blood?' Then each of them was given a white robe, and they were told to wait a little longer, until the number of their fellow servants and brothers who were to be killed as they had been was completed."

The context implies a widespread - worldwide handing over: "you will be hated by all nations". The "you" does not apply to the disciples to whom our Lord was speaking nor to church age believers who are ALL raptured out of the world (1 Thes 4:13-18; 5:9) before the tribulation of God's wrath begins with the opening of the first seal and our Lord's release of the rider on the white horse (Rev 6:1-2). Our Lord is speaking prophetically to all people who become believers during the end times - ESPECIALLY JEWISH BELIEVERS. That period of time about which our Lord was prophesying is the 7 year tribulation period and no other age because the entire scenario that Jesus Christ is painting in His prophecy fits no other age.

The Greek word "paradidomi" in verse 9 which is translated "will be handed over" is used as a technical term for being arrested by those in authority, (cp Mt 4:12 - same word). How widespread the persecution will be to have public authorities directly involved in the arrest of tribulation believers! The persecution of believers will never be so widespread or so pervasive as in the tribulation time. The temporary or localized persecutions of the past - even in ancient Rome - do not qualify under this description of persistent, worldwide, pervasive, persecution of Jew and Gentile alike. These persecutions will originate largely from the Antichrist who breaks his covenant with Israel and reverses his role as protector of the Jew to persecutor!

Mark provides more details:

[Mk 13:9]:

"You must be on your guard. You will be handed over to the local councils and flogged in the synagogues. On account of Me you will stand before governors and kings as witnesses to them."

And from the Old Testament, Daniel prophesies about the same period in which these persecutions will occur relative to the actions of the Antichrist:

[Dan 7:25]:

"He [the Antichrist] will speak against the Most High [God] and oppress His saints and try to change the set times and the laws. [i.e., institute his own system of absolute rulership] THE SAINTS WILL BE HANDED OVER TO HIM FOR A TIME, TIMES AND HALF A TIME"

["TIME" = 1yr + "TIMES" = 2yrs + "HALF A TIME" = year = 3 1/2 years total]

[Compare Dan 9:24-27, (again)]:

(v. 24) "Seventy 'sevens'.........................

[70 x 7 - 490 years. Daniel would be thinking in terms of years because a number of other Scripture passages indicate that 70 years was a period of time in which God dealt with the nation Israel, (Cp Jer 25:11-12; 2 Chron 36:21). The Israel people thought in terms of sevens, ("heptads"):

one week - seven days

every 7th yr-sabbath rest year(Lev25:1-7)

the Year of Jubilee - the next yr after seven 'sevens' or 7x7 - 49 years(Lev 25:8-12)

Therefore "Seventy 'sevens' " must mean seventy sevens of years or 70 x 7 - 490 years. "Seventy sevens" could not mean days or weeks, that would be too short of a time for all of the events in the prophecy to happen. And history proves this out since 490 days and 490 weeks have already transpired without the fulfillment of the prophecy occurring. If days were meant rather than years then the words in Hebrew which are translated in English as "of days" would have also been added as it was in Dan 10:2-3.

It must mean sevens of years also because Israel had not been letting the land lie fallow every seventh year as commanded by God, (Lev 25:1-7). This made a total of 70 sabbatical years which were not honored by this time in Israel's history. It would now require 490 years of time for God to enforce this command as per His Word, (Lev 26:34-35), and provide for the land being left fallow every 7th year, (70 sabbatical years missed x 7 - 490 years)

Finally, the most basic of proofs that "seventy 'sevens' " refers to years is to test it out by calculating it by years and then examining what happened in the future to see if the prophecies were precisely fulfilled. The following verses do just that when the timespan of years is calculated in:

(v. 24 cont.) "Seventy 'sevens' are decreed for your people and your holy city to finish transgression, to put an end to sin, to atone for wickedness, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy and to anoint the most holy."

[So God has decreed that there will be a period of 490 years of Jewish history until there will be:

1) a "finish" to "transgression" - a finish to Israel's willful disobedience will be brought to an end.

2) "an end of sin" - the Hebrew word hatam" = "an end of" = completion of in the sense of ending. The context of this passage in Daniel combined with the examination of other passages which are about the same doctrine, (see *** below), indicate that the phrase "an end of sin" means a sealing up of - a final ending of the problem of unpunished sin with the satisfactory amount of punishment.

(***The concept of sealing up of sin is clearly taught in Dt 32:34 & Job 14:17).

3) atonement "for wickedness" = payment for sins - this specifically refers to our Lord's once for all time atonement for the sins of the whole world, (Ro 3:21; I Jn 2:2; Hebrews chapter 9).

4) a bringing in of "everlasting righteousness"

"to bring in" - in the verb form in this passage "to bring in" = to cause to come in. This refers to the causing to come in by God of a period of everlasting righteousness. This can only refer to that period of time in history beginning with the millennium. There is no other period in history which has everlasting righteousness.

5) a sealing up - a fulfilling, finally, of all "visions and prophecy" in Scripture. All visions and prophecies in Scripture will be sealed, i.e. fulfilled and completed and thereby sealed up as completed, no longer applicable for fulfillment.

6) An anointing of - the enthronement of "the Most Holy", the Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ as King of kings and Lord of Lords. This will occur beginning at the period of the millennium.

******* END EXCERPT FROM MT 24 STUDY INCL REV 6 ******

So here below is author Hills commentary on Rev 6:16-17:

[Glenn Hill]

"In Revelation 6:15-17, John even used Jesus' own words in describing this same time and the desparate feeling among the people: 'And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us and hide us from the face of Him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb.' All these references were about the coming Judgment of God on the Jewish people. It was coming soon, in the lifetime of those women who were weeping for Jesus! ...

For those who did believe, who did follow Jesus, Paul said they would be saved 'from the wrath to come' (1 Thess 1:10). Their deliverance from the calamities coming upon Judah certainly would begin with their obeying Jesus' command to hastily 'flee into the mountains' when they saw 'armies' begin to surround Jerusalem."

Revelation 6:15-17 (NASB)
¹⁵  Then the kings of the earth and the great men and the commanders and the rich and the strong and every slave and free man hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains;
¹⁶  and they *said to the mountains and to the rocks, "Fall on us and hide us from the presence of Him who sits on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb;
¹⁷  for the great day of their wrath has come, and who is able to stand?"

[So in view of the context of Rev chapter 6, it is evident that this did not occur in AD 70, nor at any time in history before or after to this day in 2022.

Here's what the Bible Knowledge Commentary says on Rev 6:15-17:

6:15-17. The practical effect of the judgment was fear in unbelievers from all walks of life [and all nations, not just Israel]. They called on the mountains and the rocks to fall on them and to hide them from God's wrath [not Titus]. Their fear was so great they would rather be killed by a falling mountain than to face the wrath of the Lamb and Their wrath, referring to the anger of the Triune God. Again this is not a picture of ordinary trouble but the period of greatest distress in world history."

[which has heretofore never occurred - even in AD 70]

III) [Mt 16:28]:

(Mt 16:28 NASB) "Truly I say to you, there are some of those who are standing here who will not taste death until they see the Son of Man coming in His kingdom."

On page 36 of Glenn Hill's book we quote:

[Glenn Hill]

"We now come to the next verse, Matthew 16:28, which is the last verse in the chapter and is also the last verse in the conversation that began in verse 21. Reread verse 28, above. Jesus continued to talk about His coming so this verse is relevant to our study, as we seek to find what Jesus said about "when" He was coming. In the previous verse (27) Jesus gives the disciples some sense of when He was coming by saying it was "about" (mello) time for it to occur. In verse 28 He was more specific and put a kind of limit or maximum, as to the most distant time His coming could be. He drew a rather distinct boundary and said His coming would not be delayed beyond this point in time. To His followers He said that some of them standing and listening to Him would "not taste of death," that is, would not die, before He came back. In other words, for some of them He would come during their lifetime!"

Then on page 38 we read further

[Glenn Hill]:

We could say, just on the authority of the Scriptures we have already studied, that Jesus' return occurred somewere in the last half of the first century, probably between AD 50 and AD 80! This is amazing! Something else is amazing - the whole New Testament agrees and supports this same time frame for Jesus' Second Coming!"

So let's see what Scripture says:

[Mt 16:28, cf. Lk 9:27-35; Mk 9:1-9]:

"I [Jesus, (v. 24) tell you [the disciples, (v. 24)] the truth, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see the Son of Man coming in His kingdom."

"some who are standing here will not taste death" = This phrase limits the fulfillment of this prophecy to the disciples' physical lifetimes.

"before they see the Son of Man coming in His Kingdom" =

"coming" = "erchomenon" = present participle which indicates that our Lord must be seen in a present condition of coming in His Kingdom.

So "some" of the disciples in their physical lifetimes, (Peter, James and John), must see our Lord in His glory as He comes to bring in His Kingdom. And this is precisely what happens at the transfiguration account in Mt 17:1-9 quoted below which refers to Jesus as the Son of Man and shows a picture of Him and how he will appear as He is coming to bring in His Kingdom. This account immediately follows the prophecy in Mt 16:28 in time and in Scripture:

[Mt 17:1-9]:

(v. 1) "After six days Jesus took with Him Peter, James and John the brother of James, and led them up a high mountain by themselves.

(v. 2) There He was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and his clothes became as white as the light.

(v. 3) Just then there appeared before them Moses and Elijah, talking with Jesus.

(v. 4) Peter said to Jesus, 'Lord, it is good for us to be here. If you wish, I will put up three shelters - one for You, one for Moses and one for Elijah.'

(v. 5) While he was still speaking, a bright cloud enveloped them, and a voice from the cloud said, 'This is my Son, Whom I love; with Him I am well pleased. Listen to Him!'

(v. 6) When the disciples heard this, they fell facedown to the ground, terrified.

(v. 7) But Jesus came and touched them. 'Get up,' He said. 'Don't be afraid.'

(v. 8) When they looked up, they saw no one except Jesus.

(v. 9) As they were coming down the mountain, Jesus instructed them, 'Don't tell anyone what you have seen, until the Son of Man has been raised from the dead.' "

[C.I. Scofield states in footnote #2 in the Oxford NIV Scofield Study Bible, NIV, C. I. Scofield, Editor, Oxford University Press, 1984, p. 998]:

"The transfiguration scene contains, in miniature, all the elements of the future kingdom in manifestation (2 Pet 1:15-21):

(1) the Lord Jesus, not in humiliation but in glory (v. 2);

(2) Moses, in glory, representative of the redeemed who have passed through death into the kingdom (Mt. 13:43; cp. Lk 9:30-31);

(3) Elijah, in glory, representative of the redeemed who have entered the kingdom

(4) Peter, James, and John, not glorified, representatives, for the moment, of Israel in the flesh in the future kingdom (Ezek 37:21-27);

(5) the crowd at the foot of the mountain (v. 14), representative of those who are to be brought into the kingdom after it is established over Israel (Isa 11:10-12; etc.).

2 Peter 1:16-18 verifies the fulfillment of Mt 16:28 in the events portrayed in Mt 17:1-9:

[2 Peter 1:16-18]:

(v. 16) "We did not follow cleverly invented stories when we told you about the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of His majesty.

(v. 17) For He received honor and glory from God the Father when the voice came to Him from the Majestic Glory, saying, 'This is my Son, Whom I love; with Him I am well pleased.'

(v. 18) We ourselves heard this voice that came from heaven when we were with Him on the sacred mountain."

IV) [Jn 21:17-23]:

On page 41 we have the following quotation from Glenn Hill's book:

[Glenn Hill]

For our study we will assume this man was John. Paraphrasing, the Lord's answer to Peter  was something like this: "If I want John to live till I come again, that is none of your business; you just follow Me. The Lord seemed to be rather blunt with this leader of His apostles!

Now, we get to see if we can find anything here about our "when" question. If Jesus was planning to come back in our day in the twenty-first century, what a foolish statement He made about John! John would now be about 2,000 years old, still having birthdays, and still waiting for the Lord to come! This makes no sense at all! But Jesus knew He would be returning within a few decades. So now His statement makes sense!"

Did Jesus return within any of the disciples' lifetimes? Let's see what Scripture says:

John 21:17-23 (NASB)
¹⁷  He *said to him the third time, "Simon, son of John, do you love Me?" Peter was grieved because He said to him the third time, "Do you love Me?" And he said to Him, "Lord, You know all things; You know that I love You." Jesus *said to him, "Tend My sheep.
¹⁸  "Truly, truly, I say to you, when you were younger, you used to gird yourself and walk wherever you wished; but when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands and someone else will gird you, and bring you where you do not wish to go."
¹⁹  Now this He said, signifying by what kind of death he would glorify God. And when He had spoken this, He *said to him, "Follow Me!"
²⁰  Peter, turning around, *saw the disciple whom Jesus loved following them; the one who also had leaned back on His bosom at the supper and said, "Lord, who is the one who betrays You?"
²¹  So Peter seeing him *said to Jesus, "Lord, and what about this man?"
²²  Jesus *said to him, "If I want him to remain until I come, what is that to you? You follow Me!"
²³  Therefore this saying went out among the brethren that that disciple would not die; yet Jesus did not say to him that he would not die, but only, "If I want him to remain until I come, what is that to you?"

Note that Jesus was not stating that any of the disciples would remain until He comes again to commence His Eternal Kingdom. He was simply stating that what should be of concern to Peter was not whether John would still be alive when Jesus would come again, but for Peter to be focused on following Jesus. So there is no stipulation here that Jesus would come within the time frame of any of the disciples' lifetimes. We are all to be focused on following Jesus - no matter what our personal destiny is in o ur mortal lifetimes. Keep you eyes on Jesus. The issue is eternity not what happens in the moment to moment temporal life. Certain things in the temporal life are to be focused but with respect to eternity, not the immediate temporal result.

[(Jn 21:20-23) Bible Knowledge Commentary]:

"21:20-23. Peter, having been informed about God's plan for his life, naturally wondered what the future held for his friend John, the disciple whom Jesus loved. Jesus sharply rebuked Peter for being curious about God's will for another's life: What is that to you? You must follow Me. Some disciples can be easily distracted by unnecessary questions about God's secret will; as a result they neglect God's plainly revealed will. God's plans for Christians vary and His reasons are not often made known. Peter was to commit himself to God's plain commands to him.

V) [Mt 26:64]:

MT 26:64

HEREAFTER YOU WILL SEE THE SON OF MAN COMING

[Mt 26:62-64 NASB]:

VI) [Mt 10:23]:

This next quotation from Hill's book focuses upon Mt 10:23 is on page 46:

[Glenn Hill]

"Here we have another place where Jesus mentioned the timing of His coming and showed that His coming was not a far distant event, but would occur in the lifetime of His first disciples:

"But when they persecute you in this city, flee ye into another; for verily I say unto you, Ye shall not have gone over the cities of Israel, till the Son of man be come. (Matt 10:23)."

A careful reading of this passage provides a different conclusion than what author Glenn L. Hill has contrived:

MATTHEW 10:23

"YOU WILL NOT FINISH GOING THROUGH THE CITIES OF ISRAEL BEFORE THE SON OF MAN COMES"

[Mt 10:23]:

[Jesus said to His disciples, (Ref. v. 1)]:

"When you are persecuted in one place, flee to another, I tell you the truth, you [the disciples, (v. 1)] will not finish going through the cities of Israel [preaching the gospel of the Kingdom of God is at hand, i.e., imminently ready to begin upon their acceptance of Jesus Christ as Messiah, (vv. 6-7)] before the Son of Man [the Lord Jesus Himself] comes."

"you will not finish going through the cities of Israel" = "you" refers to our Lord's disciples at the time of His earthly ministry, (v. 1).

"will not finish going through the cities of Israel [proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom, (vv. 6-7)] = Notice that application cannot be made to another time since it is limited in context to the disciples' ministry of bringing the gospel of the kingdom of heaven exclusively to the cities of Israel and nowhere else, (v. 5).

Our Lord had commissioned them to proclaim to Israel that upon Israel's acceptance of Him as their Messiah He would usher in His Kingdom right then and there:

OUR LORD'S IMMINENT PROMISE TO BRING IN THE KINGDOM

During our Lord's earthly ministry, before His death, burial and resurrection, the message proclaiming the kingdom was preached, stipulating that if Israel trusted in their Messiah Jesus, our Lord would bring in the kingdom as promised before the church was even formed. At this time the church was not yet in view. The disciples themselves were Jews at this time and not Christians. They were not yet part of the church.

[Mt 3:1-2, 6-8]:

(v. 1) "In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the desert in Judea and saying,

(v. 2) 'Repent, for the kingdom of heaven, [the eternal rule of God in heaven over the earth, Dan 2:34-36, 44-45] is at hand [is imminent].

"Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand" =

"at hand" = imminently ready to begin]

This passage is speaking about the Jewish people, (compare Isa 40:1-3 & Mt 3:3), who came to John the Baptist in order to come to a point of repentance relative to faith in the coming Messiah for their entrance into the kingdom of God.

[Compare Jn 1:29-31]:

(v. 29) '''The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, "Look, the Lamb of God, Who takes away the sin of the world!

[Had the nation Israel accepted our Lord as Messiah and Savior, then the cross and the kingdom would have been imminent & without 2000 years of church age. But this is not what the Bible predicts would happen: The offer to Israel of the Kingdom through faith alone unto salvation in the Messiah was made and rejected. Our Lord then changed the direction of His gospel of eternal life, and began to establish the foundation of the church through which the Gospel message would then be carried to the world. The Mosaic Law Age was thereby abruptly interrupted in its 383rd year with 7 years left to be fulfilled in the future, (Dan 9:24-27). The once for all time sacrifice for sins was then made - the basis for eternal life for both Jew and Gentile - followed by 2000 years of the church age.

After the rapture of the church there will be a resumed period of time when Israel will finally accept their Messiah: the last 7 years of the Age of the Mosaic Law - the Tribulation period, (Dan 7:25, 12:ALL, 1 Thes 4:13-18, Rev 12:ALL)]

[Jn 1:29-31 cont.]:

[So John the Baptist continues to describe Israel's Messiah to the nation Israel]:

(v. 30) This is the One I meant when I said, 'A Man who comes after me has surpassed me because He was before me.'

[A GodMan Who comes after me in time - has surpassed me because He was before me - being God, He is eternal]

(v. 31) I myself did not know Him, but the reason I came baptizing with water was that He might be revealed to Israel."

[Notice that John's water baptism ministry focused on the nation Israel. And John testified that his water baptism of Jesus and others had something to do with the revelation to Israel of the Messiah Jesus Christ - that He was the Lamb of God Who came to take away the sin of the world.

Every Jew in the nation of Israel who had trusted in the Messiah to come at that time indicated this trust by going to John the Baptist and receiving John's water baptism. So what were those people who were baptized in John's baptism saying then? That they had been united to Christ as part of the church? Obviously not! That wasn't the issue! What they were saying with the Baptism of John was that they were ready to be identified with the Messiah Savior and the offer of His Kingdom - His earthly Kingdom. In other words, the Millennium was ready to be inaugurated right then 2000 years ago! It was only waiting upon the acceptance of the Jewish people of the King which God had provided: God Himself, God the Son, the One Who was born on that first Christmas day and Who now had grown to Manhood and had just begun His ministry... ...John's baptism was...... a religious rite for Jews only, signifying confession of sin and commitment to a holy life in the anticipation of the coming Messiah [Mt 3:6-8]. It never occurred outside of Israel! No one hearing John preach asked him what he was talking about relative to the kingdom of heaven, for the concept of Messiah's rule over the kingdom of earth was a common thread in Old Testament prophesy. The requirement for the Messiah's coming was that the nation Israel repent.. [i.e., trust alone in the Messiah alone for eternal life and not in their heritage through Abraham: Mt 3:1-2, 8-10]"

When Christ appeared to the Jewish people, the next event in prophesy as they understood it should have been the setting up of the Davidic kingdom with their Messiah as King. Even our Lord's disciples understood it this way:

[Mt 24:3]:

"And as He [Jesus, (v. 1)] was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, saying, 'Tell us, when will these things be, and what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?"

At the time of John the Baptist the Lord Jesus Christ also baptized Israelites in the Jordan River and preached the same message as John the Baptist did: the message of the good news of the kingdom of heaven for Israel for those who trust in Him as Messiah for eternal life in the kingdom:

[Mt 4:17]:

"From that time on [from the time when John the Baptist was imprisoned, Mt 4:12-16] Jesus began to preach, 'Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. ' " Cp. Mt 9:35-38; Mk 1:14; Lk 4:43-44.

[Mk 6:6b-12]:

(v. 6b) "Then Jesus went around teaching from village to village.

(v. 7) Calling the Twelve to Him, He sent them out two by two and gave them authority over evil spirits.

(v. 8) These were His instructions: 'Take nothing for the journey except a staff - no bread, no bag, no money in your belts.

(v. 9) Wear sandals but not an extra tunic.

[Notice that the context of this passage indicates local towns - WITHIN JUDEA - WITHIN ISRAEL]

(v. 10) Whenever you enter a house, stay there until you leave that town.

(v. 11) And if any place will not welcome you or listen to you, shake the dust off your feet when you leave, as a testimony against them.'

(v. 12) They went out and preached that people should repent."

And in the parallel passage in Matthew, our Lord issues the following instructions to His disciples:

[Mt 10:5-7]:

(v. 5) '''These twelve Jesus sent out with the following instructions: "Do not go among the Gentiles or enter any town of the Samaritans.

(v. 6) Go rather to the lost sheep of Israel.

(v. 7) As you go, preach this message: 'The kingdom of heaven is near.' " '''

"The kingdom of heaven is near [i.e., imminent, at hand]" =

"near" = "eggiken" = caused to approach, to draw near, i.e., imminent, ready to be ushered in.

Notice that our Lord commanded His disciples NOT to preach the gospel of the kingdom to Gentiles. The message was exclusively for the nation Israel - if they accept Him as their Messiah our Lord was ready, right then and there, to bring in the millennial kingdom. So the water baptisms that our Lord had His disciples perform were for the same symbolic purpose as the baptisms that John the Baptist performed: identification by each individual Jew with the nation Israel and with the bringing in of the kingdom by trusting in the Messiah Jesus Christ:

[Jn 4:1-2]:

(v. 1) "The Pharisees heard that Jesus was gaining and baptizing more disciples than John,

(v. 2) although in fact it was not Jesus Who baptized, but His disciples."

[Jn 3:22-36]:

(22) '''After this, Jesus and His disciples went out into the Judean countryside, where He spent some time with them, and baptized.

(v. 23) Now John also was baptizing at Aenon near Salim, because there was plenty of water, and people were constantly coming to be baptized.

(v. 26) They [some of John's disciples] came to John and said to him, "Rabbi, that man Who was with you on the other side of the Jordan - the One you testified about - well, He is baptizing, and everyone is going to Him."

(v. 27) To this John replied, "A man can receive only what is given Him from heaven.

(v. 28) You yourselves can testify that I said, 'I am not the Christ but am sent ahead of Him.'

(v. 29) The bride belongs to the bridegroom. The friend who attends the bridegroom waits and listens for Him, and is full of joy when he hears the bridegroom's voice. That joy is mine, and it is now complete.

(v. 30) He must become greater; I must become less." '''

So John the Baptist testifies here that the Messiah, Whom he announced as the "Lamb of God Who takes away the sin of the world", (Jn 1:29), is here, ready to usher in His kingdom. Our Lord also preaches to and water baptizes individuals of Israel so that they would "repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." Messiah's kingdom is imminent and only awaits Israel's changing its mind and accepting Christ as Savior and Messiah.

[Mt 10:23 cont.]:

[Jesus said to His disciples, (ref. v. 1)]:

"When you are persecuted in one place, flee to another, I tell you the truth, you [the disciples, (v. 1)] will not finish going through the cities of Israel [preaching the gospel of the Kingdom of God is at hand, i.e., imminently ready to begin upon their acceptance of Jesus Christ as Messiah, (v. 6-7)] before the Son of Man [the Lord Jesus Himself] comes."

"before the Son of Man comes" = Before the Lord Jesus Christ makes His triumphal entry into Jerusalem as the Son of Man - as the Messiah of Israel - in order, upon being accepted by the nation Israel, to bring in the Kingdom as their King.

"the Son of Man" = Our Lord often refers to Himself as the Son of Man.

[Compare Mt 8:19-20]:

(v. 19) "And a certain scribe came and said to Him, [Jesus, (v. 18)], 'Teacher, I will follow You wherever You go.'

(v. 20) And Jesus said to him, 'The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests; but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head."

[Compare Mt 12:8]:

Our Lord is answering the Pharisees accusations that Jesus was breaking the Sabbath. He answers authoritatively as the Lord of the Sabbath:

"For the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath."

And Old Testament Scripture clearly portrays the Son of Man as the GodMan who will reign over His kingdom on the earth:

Consider what Scripture defines as the meaning of the term: 'Son of Man'.

C.I. Scofield states in footnote #4 in the Oxford NIV Scofield Study Bible, NIV, C. I. Scofield, Editor, Oxford University Press, 1984, p. 819:

"The expression 'son of man' is a common Semitic way of indicating an individual man (Ps. 4:2; 57; 4; 58:1; 144:3; Jer 49:18, 33; 50:40; 51:43). God addresses Ezekial about ninety times by this title. In Dan. 7:13 the term is used to show that an actual man [Who is at the same time God] will come in the clouds of heaven to receive a worldwide kingdom. From this use in Daniel it came to refer to the glorious Messiah [Who is defined in Scripture as God Himself], and in such a sense Jesus utilized it calling Himself 'the Son of man eighty times in the Gospels."

[Notice: singular + THE = definite article = THE unique - one and only - Son of man singular: indicating Diety]

[Compare Jn 9:35-38]:

(v. 35) "Jesus heard that they had put him

["him" = the blind man who was healed by Jesus]

(v. 35 cont.) "Jesus heard that they had put him out [of the Temple]; and finding him, He said, 'Do you believe in the Son of Man?

(v. 36) He answered and said, 'And Who is He, Lord, that I may believe in Him?

(v. 37) Jesus said to him, 'You have both seen Him, and He is the One Who is talking with you.'

(v. 38) And he said, 'Lord, I believe.' And he worshipped Him.' "

So the man who was given sight recognized that the One Who claims to be the Son of Man is to be worshipped. And the blind man who was Jewish, (v. 35), knew full well that only God is to be worshipped. The term 'the Son of Man' when it refers to our Lord in Scripture means God the Son in His role as the representative Man with respect to His mission, (Mt 11:19; Lk 19:10); His death and resurrection, (Mt 12:40; 20:18; 26:2), and His Second Coming, (Mt 24:37-44; Lk 12:4). A passage in Daniel confirms this:

[Dan 7:13-14]:

(v. 13) "In my [Daniel's] vision at night I looked and there before me was One like the Son of Man coming with the clouds of heaven.

["clouds" = here refer to angels, (Ps 104:1-4]

(v. 13 cont.) He approached the Ancient of Days.....

["Ancient of Days" = a special name for God referring to His eternality - in this passage it refers to the Personality of the Father, (Dan 7:9)]

(v. 13 cont.) He approached the Ancient of Days and was led into His presence.......

[So God the Son, Who is God and Man at the same time, appears in heaven in Daniel's vision of the future in His glorified human body. He is thusly led by angels into the throne room and the presence of God the Father before hosts, i.e. armies, of angelic beings and believers of ages past, (vv. 9-12)]

(v. 14) He was given authority, glory and sovereign power; all peoples, nations and men of every language worshipped Him....

["worshipped Him" = indicates our Lord's Diety, for only God is to be worshipped, (Dt 6:13; Mt 4:10)]

[Dan 7:13-14 cont.]:

(v. 14 cont.) He was given authority, glory and sovereign power; all peoples, nations and men of every language worshipped Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away; and His kingdom is one that will never be destroyed."

[It is in the name of the Son of Man in which universal judgment is committed to Him, (Jn 5:22,27). And in the Son of Man is fulfilled the Old Testament foreview of blessing and salvation through a coming Man, (Gen 1:26: 3:15; 12:3; Ps 8:4; 80:17; Isa 7:14: 9:6-7; 32:2). All of this is a function of God and God alone. So He Who bears the title of the Son of Man is God Himself]

[Mt 10:23 cont.]:

[Jesus said to His disciples, (ref. v. 1)]:

"When you are persecuted in one place, flee to another, I tell you the truth, you [the disciples, (v. 1)] will not finish going through the cities of Israel [preaching the gospel of the Kingdom of God is at hand, i.e., imminently ready to begin upon their acceptance of Jesus Christ as Messiah, (vv. 6-7)] before the Son of Man [the Lord Jesus Himself] comes [to bring in the Kingdom]."

The fulfillment of Mt 10:23 occurs just as our Lord predicted it:

Within the perspective of the disciples - those to whom our Lord was speaking.

Before the disciples finished proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom to the cities of Israel, 
Jesus Christ as the Son of Man would make His triumphal entry into Jerusalem in order to receive the acceptance of Israel as their King and as a result bring in the Kingdom - but they ultimately rejected Him and crucified Him instead.

[Jn 12:12-15]:

(v. 12) "On the next day the great multitude who had come to the feast, when they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem,

(v. 13) took the branches of the palm trees, and went out to meet Him, and began to cry out, 'Hosanna! Blessed is He Who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel.'

(v. 14) And Jesus, finding a young donkey, sat on it; as it was written,

(v. 15) 'Fear not, Daughter of Zion; behold, your King is coming, seated on a donkey's colt. [Ref. Zech 9:9]' "

But this atmosphere of acceptance deteriorated into one of supreme rejection:

[Jn 19:13-15]:

(v. 13) "When Pilate heard this, he brought Jesus out and sat down on the judge's seat at a place known as the Stone Pavement (which is Aramaic is Gabbatha).

(v. 14) It was the day of Preparation of Passover Week, about the sixth hour. 'Here is your king,' Pilate said to the Jews.

(v. 15) But they shouted, 'Take Him away! Take Him away! Crucify Him!"

'Shall I crucify your king?' Pilate asked.

'We have no king but Caesar,' the chief priests answered."

Compare our Lord's statement on this matter of His rejection:

[Lk 19:41-44]:

(v. 41) "As He approached Jerusalem and saw the city, He wept over it

(v. 42) and said, 'If you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace - but now it is hidden from your eyes

(v. 43) The days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment against you and encircle you and hem you in on every side.

(v. 44) They will dash you to the ground, you and the children within your walls. They will not leave one stone on another, because you did not recognize the time of God's coming to you.' "

VII) [Revelation 2-3]:

From page 51, 54-55 we read in the chapter entitled, 'IN THE REVELATION WHEN DID JESUS SAY HE WAS COMING?": 

[Glenn Hill]

"It will be interesting to see whether Jesus reveals anything about the time of His return in the last book of the Bible, the great mystery book, Revelation....

The book opens like this:

"The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto Him, to shew unto His servants things which must shortly come to pass; and He sent and signified it by His angel unto His servant John (Rev 1:1)...

So far all of our answers seem to come from the first few verses. That is the sign of a well-written letter, is it not? Go back to verse 1. Jesus said that He was showing His servants things which MUST SHORTLY come to pass. That is quite a hint! He was saying to these seven churches that the things about which they would be reading in their letter were things that would happen "shortly." And He put even more emphasis on "shortly" by adding "must"! Jesus was saying that the things in this book were not going to be stretched out over centuries and millennia. They MUST come to pass SHORTLY!

Can you believe that? Virtually all we see, hear, and read today is how all these prophecies in Revelation are either happening right now or they are on the verge of happening in the near future! Something is wrong here! Jesus told these churches in Asia in the first century AD that these things "must shortly come to pass"! That was nearly 2,000 years ago! Either the events prophesied in Revelation have long since been fulfilled or Jesus and John deceived, misled, and lied to the saints at Sardis, Ephesus, and the other churches! What a dilemma this is for Christianity and for its teachings that the prophecies in Revelation are still waiting to be fulfilled - 2,000 years later!"

Note that there is NOTHING stipulated or quoted or referred to by Glenn in his book which is taken from Rev chapters 4-22; Dan 9:24-27; Mk 13all; Mt chapters 24-25; 1 Thes 14:13-15:11 & 2 Thes 2:1-12; Zech chapters 12-14; Ez 37:21-28; Isa chapter 60; Jer 30:4-31:40; Ezek 36:16-37:28; et al to describe events predicted for the time of the Rapture, the Day of the Lord / the Tribulation Period and thereafter so as to corroborate that these things actually did occur in AD 70 or not. He focuses mainly upon Rev chapters 2 & 3 and somewhat on 6 to "prove" out his case via stretching words and phrases outside of their context to prove his case for a local AD 70 Second Coming instead of a worldwide series of events involving all mankind many years after AD 70. How are so many passages omitted that show a worldwide effect when Christ comes again? We have looked at Rev chapters 4-22; Dan 9:24-27; Mk 13all; Mt chapters 24-25; 1 Thes 14:13-15:11 & 2 Thes 2:1-12; Zech chapters 12-14; Isa chapter 60; Jer 30:4-31:40; Ezek 36:16-37:28; et al; and find that what these passages describe have not actually occurred yet. Rev chapters 4-22 add even more detail and expand this even more, including supernatural, worldwide, universe and heavenwide effects. Just open up Revelation and read through all 19 chapters and see how expansive / all encompassing are the events in heaven and earth that lead up to the Rapture, Tribulation, Second Coming and thereafter.

[A) [Compare Bible Knowledge Commentary On Rev 1:1]:

"1:1. The opening words, The revelation of Jesus Christ, indicate the subject of the entire book. The word "revelation" is a translation of the Greek apokalypsis, meaning "an unveiling" or "a disclosure." From this word comes the English "apocalypse." The revelation was given to John to communicate to others, His servants, and it prophesies what must soon take place, rather than relating an historic presentation as in the four Gospels. The word "soon" (en tachei; cf. 2:16; 22:7, 12, 20) means that the action will be sudden when it comes, not necessarily that it will occur immediately. Once the end-time events begin, they will occur in rapid succession (cf. Luke 18:8; Acts 12:7; 22:18; 25:4; Rom. 16:20)."

****** ******

Here is a study on these issues in Revelation chapters 2-3 in blue font by Robert L. Thomas with interjections from other sources in [purple font] that will bring considerable light on the issue of the Comings of Christ as portrayed in Scripture properly interpreted :

Six of the seven messages of Christ in Rev 2–3 contain references to
His coming. In three instances He promises to come and deliver His faithful
from persecution, and in three He threatens to come and judge the unfaithful.
 In all six His coming is imminent, whether for deliverance or for judgment.
The only way this can happen is for the deliverance - the rapture of the
church - and the judgment - the beginning of Daniel's seventieth week - to
occur simultaneously. The two chapters provide three more passages that
refer to His coming indirectly. The forecast in these too is for His return at
any moment. A survey of other relevant NT passages reflects the same dual
imminence for the two events. The phenomena surrounding these predicted
comings lead inevitably to the conclusion that Christ's return for His church
must be pretribulational, because this is the only way to explain satisfactorily
how the two future events can be simultaneous.

[biblestudymanuals.net: 

Note that the future judgment of Christ upon the world is portrayed in Scripture as the Day of the Lord - beginning with the Rapture, the Tribulation Period, a period of seven years beginning immediately after the Rapture and escalating thereafter in judgment upon the earth and climaxing with Christ's Second Coming which climaxes His judgment upon the earth thereafter beginning His millennial kingdom rule on earth to last forever when there will be a new heavens and a new earth ]

Robert L. Thomas

In Revelation 2–3 Christ speaks of His coming explicitly in six
of the messages to the seven churches of Asia. He does so in three of
the messages through a form of the verb 5 erxomai (erchomai, "I will
come"1) (2:5, 16; 3:11). In two of the messages he does so with the verb

________________________________________________________________

FOOTNOTES

1 Though 5 erxomai (erchomai, "I will come") is present tense, contextual nuances in
Revelation and the verbal idea of "coming" warrant construing it as a futuristic use of
the present tense. The same understanding prevails in the verb's use in John 14:3: "I
will come again and receive you to Myself. "Comings_of_Christ"

________________________________________________________________

vidently a unique protection for them in their temporal lives - the Rapture not being in view in this context because the world conditions since the first century never reached to the point of escalation that would then indicate the imminency of the Rapture & Tribulation Period.  Nevertheless all believers are given protection / salvation / deliverance from temporal difficulties, i.e., temporal salvation / deliverance each in accordance with the sovereignty of God.]
 

[biblestudymanuals.net]

This cannot be because the urgent need of the Thyatiran church as stipulated in Rev 2:25 as well as the local / urgent needs of the other churches because all have come and gone - their mortal lives have ended BEFORE THE RAPTURE. But recall the dead in Christ will rise up in perfect resurrection bodies first and go with Christ to heaven for rewards for their perseverance if any at the Judgment Seat of Christ . None of them therefore were part of the conditions to be met to make the Rapture / Tribulation Period become imminent which the latter over these thousands of years is therefore yet future.

Nevertheless all believers are given protection / salvation / deliverance from temporal difficulties, i.e., temporal salvation  each in accordance with the sovereignty of God

.

For all believers are given protection / salvation / deliverance from temporal difficulties, i.e., temporal salvation  each in accordance with the sovereignty of God.

[biblestudymanuals.net]

Note that the phrase rendered, "I also will keep you from the hour of testing, that hour which is about to come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth," has in view the commencement of the 7 year tribulation period . This tribulation period will commence immediately after the rapture which the rapture is imminent / near in the sense that it is the next prophetic event to occur in history - which from the first century on even to this day and age of 2022 has not occurred yet as one may discern by properly studying the events following the rapture as portrayed in 

For all believers are given protection / salvation / deliverance from temporal difficulties, i.e., temporal salvation  each in accordance with the sovereignty of God

This does not have the rapture in view which is presented in Rev 3:10-11 which will rescue church age believers by extracting them from the planet earth up into the clouds to bring them back to heaven with Himself to await seven more years when He will come again just in time to stop mankind from destroying humanity on the planet and to begin His rule on earth. Two separate comings of Christ are therefore in view in Rev 1:7 - the Second Coming and in Rev 3:10-11 - the Rapture ]

Incidentally, this is the fifth in a series of promises to the faithful in the Philadelphian church (cf. one promise in 3:8, two in 3:9, and one in 3:10).

The appending of "soon" (tax eq \O(/,y), tachy) to His promised coming makes
explicit what is only implicit in 2:25. It heightens the expectancy that Christ's
coming to deliver the faithful from their difficult circumstances was not far away.7

[biblestudymanuals.net]

And Christ's deliverance, i.e., the Rapture of all believers who are physically alive [as well as all those who are dead in Christ] at the commencement of the Day of the Lord / Tribulation period would have occurred had history reached the point in which the tribulation was about to begin. But it did not happen in the first century or at any time into the 21st century. If it was about to occur, then it would have necessitated Christ's coming soon to / quickly to locate Himself in the clouds above the earth to Rapture the church from the surface of the earth in the lifetimes of believers throughout the earth in the first century. So Christ would have arrived soon in the clouds to catch up the believers in the clouds to bring them home with Him. Thereafter, there would have been seven years transpired when He would have returned to the surface of the earth in His Second Coming - visible to all mankind - in judgment upon unbelievers on the earth as well as in protection of all those who became believers in Him during these seven years - especially every single Jew / Israelite in order to become a nation of Jewish priests over the people of the earth ; and to rule the earth forever co-ruling with Jesus Christ.

For all believers are given protection / salvation / deliverance from temporal difficulties, i.e., temporal salvation  each in accordance with the sovereignty of God

That focus is repeatedly instrumental in bringing encouragement to God's people in the midst of
their persecution.

[biblestudymanuals.net]

Whether or not a believer is in the midst of temporal persecution day by day or specifically as a result of the imminently approaching Day of the Lord - the Tribulation or if it is some other temporal difficulty or trial ; regardless, he is nevertheless commanded / encouraged to be faithful moment to moment in his Christian life with a view to God's speedy deliverance from such temporal difficulty and for rewards in heaven to whatever the case may be in accordance with the Sovereignty of God his Father - whether the difficulty be due to a purview of the Day of the Lord or not! On the other hand martyrdom is not out of the question or discipline for a believer who warrants it as indicated in Christ's address to the seven churches in Rev 2 & 3, or simply a testing out of ones faithfulness beyond the will of the believer]

are commanded / encouraged to be faithful with a view to speedy deliverance from such temporal difficulty outside of the purview of the events of the Day of the Lord, etc. and for rewards in heaven to whatever the case may be in accordance with the Sovereignty of God his Father

are commanded / encouraged to be faithful with a view to speedy deliverance from such temporal difficulty outside of the purview of the events of the Day of the Lord, etc. and for rewards in heaven to whatever the case may be in accordance with the Sovereignty of God his Father

are commanded / encouraged to be faithful with a view to speedy deliverance from such temporal difficulty outside of the purview of the events of the Day of the Lord, etc. and for rewards in heaven to whatever the case may be in accordance with the Sovereignty of God his Father

]

are commanded / encouraged to be faithful with a view to speedy deliverance from such temporal difficulty outside of the purview of the events of the Day of the Lord, etc. and for rewards in heaven to whatever the case may be in accordance with the Sovereignty of God his Father

Note that whatever situation is prevalent at the time for each believer of any age, whether or not it is the actual imminent approach of the Day of the Lord / the Tribulation Period, the believer's perseverance is commanded and will be rewarded commensurately

are commanded / encouraged to be faithful with a view to speedy deliverance from such temporal difficulty outside of the purview of the events of the Day of the Lord, etc. and for rewards in heaven to whatever the case may be in accordance with the Sovereignty of God his Father

[biblestudymanuals.net.
Note that whatever situation is prevalent at the time for each believer of any age, whether or not it is the actual imminent approach of the Day of the Lord / the Tribulation Period, the believer's perseverance is commanded and will be rewarded commensurately at the Judgment Seat of Christ

.

[biblestudymanuals.net.
Note that whatever situation is prevalent at the time for each believer of any age, whether or not it is the actual imminent approach of the Day of the Lord / the Tribulation Period, the believer's perseverance is commanded and will be rewarded commensurately . The lang uage here does not necessarily demand the Rapture or the Second Coming or anything in between re: the 7 year Tribulation period]

are commanded / encouraged to be faithful with a view to speedy deliverance from such temporal difficulty outside of the purview of the events of the Day of the Lord, etc. and for rewards in heaven to whatever the case may be in accordance with the Sovereignty of God his Father

are commanded / encouraged to be faithful with a view to speedy deliverance from such temporal difficulty outside of the purview of the events of the Day of the Lord, etc. and for rewards in heaven to whatever the case may be in accordance with the Sovereignty of God his Father

are commanded / encouraged to be faithful with a view to speedy deliverance in temporal time from such temporal difficulty outside of the purview of the events of the Day of the Lord, etc. and for rewards in heaven to whatever the case may be in accordance with the Sovereignty of God his Father

The timing of Christ's return depends solely on the Father's determination

[Emphasis underlining mine / BSM]

(Acts 1:7).
Acts 1:7 (NASB)
7  He said to them, "It is not for you to know times or epochs which the Father has fixed by His own authority;"

But from man's perspective, the NT anticipates the alignment of three
prerequisites for that return to occur. One is the national repentance of Israel (Acts
3:19-21).

[biblestudymanuals.net/new_covenant.htm

If the word repentance in this passage means for all of a generation of Israelites to change their minds from not believing unto believing Jesus Christ for forgiveness of sins unto eternal life

are commanded / encouraged to be faithful with a view to speedy deliverance from such temporal difficulty outside of the purview of the events of the Day of the Lord, etc. and for rewards in heaven to whatever the case may be in accordance with the Sovereignty of God his Father

are commanded / encouraged to be faithful with a view to speedy deliverance from such temporal difficulty outside of the purview of the events of the Day of the Lord, etc. and for rewards in heaven to whatever the case may be in accordance with the Sovereignty of God his Father

are commanded / encouraged to be faithful with a view to speedy deliverance from such temporal difficulty outside of the purview of the events of the Day of the Lord, etc. and for rewards in heaven to whatever the case may be in accordance with the Sovereignty of God his Father

vidently a unique protection for them in their temporal lives - the Rapture not being in view in this context because the world conditions since the first century never reached to the point of escalation that would then indicate the imminency of the Rapture & Tribulation Period.  Nevertheless all believers are given protection / salvation / deliverance from temporal difficulties, i.e., temporal salvation / deliverance each in accordance with the sovereignty of God.]

are commanded / encouraged to be faithful with a view to speedy deliverance from such temporal difficulty outside of the purview of the events of the Day of the Lord, etc. and for rewards in heaven to whatever the case may be in accordance with the Sovereignty of God his Father

are commanded / encouraged to be faithful with a view to speedy deliverance from such temporal difficulty outside of the purview of the events of the Day of the Lord, etc. and for rewards in heaven to whatever the case may be in accordance with the Sovereignty of God his Father

Their plight was far worse.

Lukewarm describes those who have professed Christ hypocritically and whose
actions betray that their hearts are not in what they pretend to be.72

[Not true. The word lukewarm can only be used relative to the Christian faith of believers. It cannot be used to describe unbelievers relative to their Christian faith. Unbelievers have no opportunity to be anything but unbelievers, they have no "temperature" such as lukewarm, hot, cold relative to their relationship with Jesus Christ, not even cold!! Furthermore, one is not a believer if he has always professed Christ hypocritically and never once exercised a true moment of faith alone in Christ alone for eternal life. On the other hand believers can be hypocritical in their Christian lives. They can even stop believing moment to moment; but that does not make them lose their salvation does it? Because salvation is by grace through a moment of faith alone in Christ alone, (ref. Eph 2:8-9). BTW there is no such thing as an hypocritical faith. Faith is simply a mental acceptance / assent in something as true. It is either on or off it cannot be hypocritical or false. Faith cannot be hypocritical because it would not be faith at all, not having been actually expressed .

Christ's description of them in 3:15-16 markedly resembles His denunciation of the
religious authorities of His day for their hypocrisy (e.g., Matt 23:13-36).

[biblestudymanuals.net]

But that does not mean those in view in Rev 3:15-16 are unbelievers like those unbelievers whom Jesus denounced in Mt 23 does it?? NO. Believers can act quite unfaithfully, even worse than before they became believers ]

[biblestudymanuals.net]:

This is an irresponsible statement. First of all there is no such thing as a nominal Christian. One is either saved by grace through a moment of faith alone in Christ alone plus nothing else, and that salvation is not of yourself, it is the gift of God, not by works, (Eph 2:8-9); or one is not a Christian at all. Acting poorly has nothing to do with whether or not one is a Christian, i.e., one who is saved unto eternal life .

[biblestudymanuals.net
(Rev 3:17) '''Because you say, "I am rich, and have become wealthy, and have need of nothing," and you do not know that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked,'''

This verse cannot be interpreted as saying that the church never had a relationship with Christ as Savior. Why then address them as the church? Did not Jesus know that none of them were saved? So why tell John to address them as a church when he wrote Revelation? Furthermore, one's behavior is not what saves one, a moment of faith alone in Christ alone is what does .

Scripture, especially the New Testament epistles with all of its commands and instructions on how Christians are to conduct themselves, presumes that no believer even in the church age will act faithfully all the time. There are even warnings to believers of severe discipline, even early physical death for unfaithful behavior

. No believer can claim to be all that faithful, i.e., one moment without sin, (1 Jn 1:8 ).

are commanded / encouraged to be faithful with a view to God's speedy deliverance and / or judgment from such temporal difficulty outside of the purview of the events of the Day of the Lord, etc. and for rewards in heaven to whatever the case may be in accordance with the Sovereignty of God the Father

ALL believers are part of the remnant of believers who are present in every age, whether they are faithful or not. To be part of the remnant is to simply have become a believer via a moment of faith alone in Christ alone. No one is actually perfectly faithful at any time in their temporal lives, (1 Jn 1:8). They are nevertheless preserved because they have been permanently guaranteed to have eternal life via the indwelling Holy Spirit, persuant to the promise of God to provide eternal life at the moment of faith alone in Christ alone, (Eph 1:13-14 ).

The sentence that Robert Thomas made above, "The existence of a faithful remnant in Laodicea is not as explicit as in the

Rev 3:10, 2:22, 3:16 NASB]:

3:10  'Because you have kept the word of My perseverance, I also will keep you from the hour of testing, that hour which is about to come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth.'

[The hour upon the whole world points to the Tribulation period, but perseverance is not the ticket that gets you raptured. For it says in Scripture re: the Rapture that all those dead and alive in Christ, not just those who persevere will be caught up . On the other hand, one might say that those believers in the church age who persevered in their lives especially during moments in which they were in great duress - great tribulation - no matter how many years ago, all the more will be caught up and be rewarded all the more, which it is implied in Rev 3:10]
   

are commanded / encouraged to be faithful with a view to speedy deliverance from such temporal difficulty outside of the purview of the events of the Day of the Lord, etc. and for rewards in heaven to whatever the case may be in accordance with the Sovereignty of God his Father

are commanded / encouraged to be faithful with a view to God's speedy deliverance or discipline from such temporal difficulty outside of the purview of the events of the Day of the Lord, etc. and for rewards in heaven to whatever the case may be in accordance with the Sovereignty of God the Father

The word lukewarm can only be used relative to the Christian faith of believers. It cannot be used to describe unbelievers relative to their Christian faith. Unbelievers have no opportunity to be anything but unbelievers, they have no "temperature" such as lukewarm, hot, cold relative to their relationship with Jesus Christ, not even cold!! Furthermore, one is not a believer if he has always professed Christ hypocritically and never once exercised a moment of faith alone in Christ alone for eternal life. On the other hand believers can be hypocritical in their christian lives. They can even stop believing moment to moment; but that does not make them lose their salvation does it? Because salvation is by grace through a moment of faith alone in Christ alone, (ref. Eph 2:8-9). BTW there is no such thing as an hypocritical faith. Faith is simply a mental acceptance / assent in something as true. It is either on or off it cannot be hypocritical or false. It cannot be hypocritical because it would not be faith at all, not having been actually expressed .

But that does not mean those in view in Rev 3:15-16 are unbelievers like those unbelievers whom Jesus denounced in Mt 23 does it?? NO. Believers can act quite unfaithfully, even worse than before they became believers ].

are commanded / encouraged to be faithful with a view to speedy deliverance from such temporal difficulty outside of the purview of the events of the Day of the Lord, etc. and for rewards in heaven to whatever the case may be in accordance with the Sovereignty of God his Father

tever the case may be in accordance with the Sovereignty of God his Father

know any believers who are living faithful lives enough to merit Christ's return in His Second Coming based on their faithful merits??? Or return to the clouds above to rapture only faithful believers. I don't. There are no faithful believers in the sense of those without sin = 1 Jn 1:8, 9 . For there is not going to be anyone who can declare that he is living a faithful life in order to merit Christ's return to rapture them up, it's all by grace, saved by grace raptured by grace. Furthermore, Christ's Second coming to the earth after seven years of Tribulation will be a return to a population composed of believers who are not part of the Church but believers during the Tribulation period, i.e., Tribulation saints - the last seven years of the period under the Mosaic Law. They are all imperfect all the way to unfaithful, none perfect hence none actually faithful, (1 Jn 1:8-10

). Furthermore, Christ's return to earth is not to faithful Christians in His Second Coming for He has already taken up all the faithful Christians seven years before that at the Rapture. They all have already been transformed into their perfect resurrection bodies. They will have been judged at the Judgment Seat of Christ. Secondly those on the face of the earth at the Second Coming will be Tribulation believers not Church Age believers plus unbelievers, the latter and larger group comprising the earth's population who will refuse to believe in Jesus. They will be under Christ's judgment / wrath. The former will be delivered from further devastating circumstances and persecution, i.e., events of the tribulation especially the entire Jewish population as a result of Israel's unamimous record of becoming believers in Christ at that time when He appears at His Second coming. They are then transformed into sinlessly perfect mortal believers, long living, with a perfect knowledge of God's Word: a fulfillment of the New Covenant .

[biblestudymanuals.net]:

Jesus Christ will not return to the earth in His Second Coming to rescue the faithful believers of the church age. He will have already done that 7 years before His Second Coming - and more: He will have taken every believer, faithful or not, including those dead in Christ, from the face of the earth to heaven at the Rapture seven years earlier than when He will come in His Second Coming to the earth. This is so because individuals are saved by grace and that salvation is not of themselves, it is a gift of God and not by works, (Eph 2:8-9 ). So church age believers such as those in view in Rev chapters 2-3 in the first century will not need to be delivered from the tribulation / end times / day of the Lord difficulties because they won't even be on the earth! 66667777 They will have been caught up / raptured into the clouds by Jesus Christ Who awaits for them there in the clouds and Who will bring them back to heaven. So all church age believers will be raptured, not just the faithful believers. Most of the time the messages to the 7 churches are addressing issues in the temporal moment to be addressed in the temporal life by Jesus Christ in that time span, not to await His Second Coming - those which are not pursuant to the arrival of the Day of the Lord, Tribulation Period, Second Coming, etc.

as exemplified in part in Rev 2-3 in the first century and consequent centuries are commanded / encouraged day by day in the temporal life as they lead them before God to be faithful with a view to a temporal speedy deliverance from such temporal difficulty by Jesus Christ outside of the purview of the events of the Day of the Lord, etc. and for rewards in heaven to whatever the case may be in accordance with the Sovereignty of God his Father

are commanded / encouraged to be faithful with a view to speedy deliverance from such temporal difficulty outside of the purview of the events of the Day of the Lord, etc. and for rewards in heaven to whatever the case may be in accordance with the Sovereignty of God his Father

are commanded / encouraged to be faithful with a view to speedy deliverance from such temporal difficulty outside of the purview of the events of the Day of the Lord, etc. and for rewards in heaven to whatever the case may be in accordance with the Sovereignty of God his Father

are commanded / encouraged to be faithful with a view to speedy deliverance from such temporal difficulty outside of the purview of the events of the Day of the Lord, etc. and for rewards in heaven to whatever the case may be in accordance with the Sovereignty of God his Father

The phrase in this passage rendered, "hour upon the whole world" points to the Tribulation period, but perseverance is not the ticket that gets you raptured. For it says in Scripture re: the Rapture that all those dead and alive in Christ, not just those who persevere will be caught up . On the other hand, one might say that those believers in the church age who persevered in their mortal / temporal lives especially during moments in which they were in great duress no matter how many years ago, all the more will be caught up and be rewarded all the more, which it is implying in Rev 3:10

are commanded / encouraged to be faithful with a view to speedy deliverance from such temporal difficulty outside of the purview of the events of the Day of the Lord, etc.; and for rewards in heaven to whatever the case may be in accordance with the Sovereignty of God his Father

are commanded / encouraged to be faithful with a view to God's speedy deliverance from such temporal difficulty outside of the purview of the events of the Day of the Lord, etc. and for rewards in heaven to whatever the case may be in accordance with the Sovereignty of God the Father

The word luke warm can only be used relative to the Christian faith of believers. It cannot be used to describe unbelievers relative to their Christian faith. Unbelievers have no opportunity to be anything but unbelievers, they have no "temperature" such as lukewarm, hot, cold relative to their relationship with Jesus Christ, not even cold!! Furthermore, one is not a believer if he has always professed Christ hypocritically and never once exercised a moment of faith alone in Christ alone for eternal life. On the other hand believers can be hypocritical in their christian lives. They can even stop believing moment to moment; but that does not make them lose their salvation does it? Because salvation is by grace through a moment of faith alone in Christ alone, (ref. Eph 2:8-9). BTW there is no such thing as an hypocritical faith. Faith is simply a mental acceptance / assent in something as true. It is either on or off it cannot be hypocritical or false. It cannot be hypocritical because it would not be faith at all, not having been actually expressed .

But that does not mean those in view in Rev 3:15-16 are unbelievers like those unbelievers whom Jesus denounced in Mt 23 does it?? NO. Believers can act quite unfaithfully, even worse than before they became believers ].

to whatever the case may be in accordance with the Sovereignty of God his Father

(16) When the bow is in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth.”

(17) God said to Noah, “This is the sign of the covenant that I have established between me and all flesh that is on the earth.”

[There will be a time when the earth is destroyed again, this time by fire. You can find one (of many) references to this in the New Testament. Note that only unbelievers will be put to death and cast into the Lake of Fire. Believers will be transformed into perfect beings to live forever in the New Heavens and the New Earth .]

[Compare 2 Peter 3:4-10 (ESV)]:

(v. 4) "They will say, “Where is the promise of His coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all things are continuing as they were from the beginning of creation.”

(v. 5) For they deliberately overlook this fact, that the heavens existed long ago, and the earth was formed out of water and through water by the word of God,

(v. 6) and that by means of these the world that then existed was deluged with water and perished.

(v. 7) But by the same word the heavens and earth that now exist are stored up for fire, being kept until the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly.

(v. 8) But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.

(v. 9) The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.

(v. 10) But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed."

[Compare Isa 65:17 ]:

(Isa 65:17 NIV) "Behold, I will create new heavens and a new earth. The former things will not be remembered, nor will they come to mind."

[Compare Rev 21:1]:

(Rev 21:1 NASB) "Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth passed away, and there is no longer any sea.

"Another event was also prophesied to occur before this horrible Judgment Day arrived. The prophecy is in Joel 2:28-32, which we looked at in our study of the Last Days. Among other things, Joel quoted God as saying:

'I will pour out My spirit upon all flesh. (Joel 2:28)
Before the great and terrible day of the Lord come. (Joel 2:31).

On the day of Pentecost, as we have seen, Peter used this text from Joel in his preaching (Acts 2:14-21). Peter said to the people, regarding the strange things which they were seeing and hearing:

"But this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel. (Acts 2:16).

Thus Peter plainly stated that Joel's prophecy of the outpouring of God's spirit was being fulfilled on that Pentecost day. Peter quoted Joel and said: "This is that!" Peter stated emphatically that Joel's prophecies were being fulfilled! This coming of the Spirit, along with the other wonders about which Joel prophesied, was to occur BEFORE "that great and notable day of the Lord come" (Acts 2:20)

First we had God's promise to send "Elijah," John the Baptist, BEFORE that great day. Now we have another promise by God to 'pour out My Spirit,' 'Before the great and terrible day of the Lord come,' And Peter declared to the mockers that what happened at Pentecost was indeed the pouring out of the Spirit of which Joel prophesied. So, if this outpouring of the Spirit was coming BEFORE 'the great day,' then that great Day of Judgment could not be very far away from Pentecost. And it was not! Within forty years of Pentecost Judea and Jerusalem lay in ruins!

Many times I have preached about Pentecost and the outpouring of the Spirit. I talked about how this was all to happen before the Lord would come back and judge the world. I said this 'great and terrible day of the Lord' could happen any day. How wrong I was, at least with my timing! The Spirit was indeed to come BEFORE 'the great and terrible day of the Lord.' But if 2,000 years later that great Judgment Day has not yet come, what kind of sign is that? It is no sign at all! The coming of the Spirit at Pentecost becomes totally irrelevant to the coming of that great day.

But (1) the coming of John the Baptist and (2) the coming of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost were each relevant to the coming of the great Judgment Day. These two events, prophesied hundreds of years earlier, both came to pass within a few years of each other, and they came to pass in the days of Jesus and His apostles. These two events were to precede the coming of that Judgment Day, and they did! Within forty-some years of both events, the Roman armies killed or captured the people of Judah, destroyed the land of Judea, and burned down Jerusalem and the temple.

This utter annihilation of the land and nation of Judah, suffering the great wrath of its God, was the biblical Judgment Day! It is that to which a multitude of Scriptures refer:"

We covered Acts chapter 2 and Joel chapter 2 under point IX above. The message is still the same, these events as described by Peter in Acts 2 and the prophet Joel in chapter 2 have not changed. The events have not yet occurred as stipulated .

Many key passages are cited by author Glenn Hill in his book which upon careful reading actually stipulate literal - not symbolic - historical events which will lead up to, include and follow Jesus Christ's Second Coming - a yet future event because nothing so far has occurred literally in history according to a proper interpretation of Scripture of any of these passages which he has cited / quoted. There is no cause for taking it all as symbolic in order to reverse engineer a personal unsubstantiated point of view. Nevertheless, despite the facts and full corroboration of Scriptural passages throughout the Bible most of these stipulations of events leading up, including and after Christ's Second Coming author Hill states are symbolic and not literal / actual. For he does not believe they are yet future but that they all took place in 70 AD and therefore he must impose his imagination upon these literal descriptions in order to bring the context to what he has concluded must be AD 70 and no other time. So he must force them to have occurred in AD 70 no matter how much he ignores, rewrites, symbolizes. If taken literally as they are framed as such in the context, they have indeed not literally occurred even up to this day, and especially not in 70 AD. Certainly WW1 & WW2, natural disasters throughout the ages such as earthquakes, volcanoes, etc. have far exceeded what happened in Jerusalem in 70 AD both on the scale of the events and the number of people involved - i.e., the WHOLE WORLD as opposed to one city in Palestine!!! Although none of these events has literally occurred precisely as stipulated in Scripture which includes all over the world, not just in Jerusalem; nevertheless author Hill declares that they all refer to AD 70 in Jerusalem alone and Christ's coming and the total destruction of Judaism and the end of the Mosaic Law period in some way without a single attempt to explain what any of those specific stipulations which he claims are symbollic literally refer to in AD 70 Jerusalem. Nevertheless, author Hill's implication is that these many symbolic stipulations do refer to actual, literal things of Christ's coming in AD 70 but never provides any details. Never does he provide evidence of how the symbolism actually proves out that they all occurred in AD 70, especially the arrival of Jesus Christ in all His majesty as King of kings, and Lord of lords to rule the earth in righteousness forever more!!! I did not read of anything very righteous going on from AD 70 to the present day which includes two world wars while Christ was supposedly ruling the world from the Temple in Jerusalem which was destroyed by Rome. Finally, the character of the Tribulation period of seven years is distinctly of the Mosaic Law and Temple worship which contradicts author Hill's assertion that the Temple was destroyed when Christ comes again. For wasn't the Temple going to continue on into the Millennial Rule:

[Compare Ezekiel 37:24-28 (NASB)]:

24  "My servant David will be king over them, [Israel] and they will all have one shepherd; and they will walk in My ordinances and keep My statutes and observe them.

25  "They will live on the land that I gave to Jacob My servant, in which your fathers lived; and they will live on it, they, and their sons and their sons' sons, forever; and David My servant will be their prince forever.

26  "I will make a covenant of peace with them; it will be an everlasting covenant with them. And I will place them and multiply them, and will set My sanctuary in their midst forever.

27  "My dwelling place also will be with them; and I will be their God, and they will be My people.

28  "And the nations will know that I am the LORD who sanctifies Israel, when My sanctuary is in their midst forever."'"

(v. 16) "Then the survivors from all the nations that have attacked Jerusalem will go up year after year to worship the King, the LORD Almighty, and to celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles.

(v. 17) If any of the peoples of the earth do not go up to Jerusalem to worship the King, the LORD Almighty, they will have no rain.

(v. 18) If the Egyptian people do not go up and take part, they will have no rain. The LORD will bring on them the plague he inflicts on the nations that do not go up to celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles."

(v. 19) This will be the punishment of Egypt and the punishment of all the nations that do not go up to celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles.

(v. 14:20) On that day HOLY TO THE LORD will be inscribed on the bells of the horses, and the cooking pots in the LORD's house will be like the sacred bowls in front of the altar.

(v. 21) Every pot in Jerusalem and Judah will be holy to the LORD Almighty, and all who come to sacrifice will take some of the pots and cook in them. And on that day there will no longer be a Canaanite in the house of the LORD Almighty."