Behold, Your King is Coming to You
By Warren Lee
September 13, 2007
Tape 847C
The Feast of Trumpets and what this day represents triggers the next round of events in God's Holy Day plan. The Feast of Trumpets is the fulcrum Holy Day, when the shifting of weight occurs in God's favor. This day will change history forever—a day that we would all agree cannot come soon enough!
When we think of the Feast of Trumpets, many images and thoughts come to mind. However, I want to focus on for whom the trumpet sounds: Jesus Christ. In the Christian world, there are many opinions about the return of Jesus Christ. Some even debate whether or not He will return at all, while other go even further to say that He has already returned to this earth.
The impetus for this message came six months ago, when I received an email that contained a paper about the second coming of Jesus Christ. This paper was extremely interesting and challenged me to study this subject in further detail in order to have a better grasp of the subject and, I hope, a better ability to explain the second coming of Jesus Christ.
Contained in the paper was this person's "scriptural" views of what the Bible says about this very important topic. (As a disclaimer, I want to state that I am not trying to ridicule the person or his beliefs in any way. This person sincerely believes this will occur; but I feel that his understanding clearly contradicts what the scriptures plainly say.) The paper opens with the following remarks:
Many sincere Christians are waiting for the second coming of Christ, but there is one very important point to understand.
How will we be able to recognize the second coming of Christ? What are the criteria by which we will be able to recognize Him?
The purpose of this message is to make crystal clear the manner in which Jesus Christ will return to this earth to set up His Kingdom. In order to accomplish this goal, I feel that it is important to cover two things: 1.) the track record of God's people, and 2.) how Jesus Christ came the first time.
Starting at Mount Sinai, Israel became the first nation ever to be ruled by a divine King. With Jesus Christ as their King, Israel was destined for greatness, to be an example to the rest of the world. However, with a yearning to go back to Egypt and their insatiable desire to be like the other nations of this world, this relationship, as recorded in the Bible, became destined for failure.
Let us go back to the ratification of the Old Covenant:
Exodus 24:3-4 So Moses came and told the people all the words of the LORD and all the judgments. And all the people answered with one voice and said, "All the words which the LORD has said we will do."
Notice what the Israelites proclaim in verse 3: "all the words which the LORD has said we will do." This will come into play in a minute. Moses also writes down the terms of the covenant. God is removing the opportunity for Israel to go back on their word. There will be no mistaking what will be agreed upon.
Exodus 24:7-8 Then he took the Book of the Covenant and read in the hearing of the people. And they said, "All that the LORD has said we will do, and be obedient." And Moses took the blood, sprinkled it on the people, and said, "This is the blood of the covenant which the LORD has made with you according to all these words."
Comparing verse 3 with verse 7, Matthew Henry, in his commentary, points out that they now add "and will be obedient." "Not only we will do what has been commanded, but in everything which shall further be ordained, we will be obedient." They have agreed to be obedient to everything that is in the future. He further remarks, "see here that God's covenants and commands are so incontestably equitable in themselves, and so highly advantageous to us, that the more we think of them, and the more plainly and fully they are set before us, the more reason we shall see to comply with them." While the Israelites willingly, eagerly, and somewhat excitedly accepted this agreement, let us see how long their cooperation lasted.
Moving forward now to the time of Samuel: The God of the Old Testament, whom we know to be Jesus Christ, was still the King over Israel. However, this changed quickly, as we will see. The Israelites clearly rejected the kingship of Yahweh as agreed upon during the ratification of the Old Covenant.
I Samuel 8:4-7 Then all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah, and said to him, "Look, you are old, and your sons do not walk in your ways. Now make us a king to judge us like all the nations." But the thing displeased Samuel when they said, "Give us a king to judge us." So Samuel prayed to the LORD. And the LORD said to Samuel, "Heed the voice of the people in all that they say to you; for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected Me, that I should not reign over them."
Israel did not want to have a heavenly King anymore; it could be said that they no longer wanted to be God's nation. They wanted to be like all the other nations in the world. The attraction of the world was stronger for these unconverted Israelites than wanting to be ruled by the most benevolent Being in the universe. The Israelites were nothing short of demanding in their desire for a human king, to be like the nations around them. Please note that their desire for a human king is linked with idolatry, as verse 8 clearly shows:
I Samuel 8:8-9 "According to all the works which they have done since the day that I brought them up out of Egypt, even to this day—with which they have forsaken Me and served other gods—so they are doing to you also. Now therefore, heed their voice. However, you shall solemnly forewarn them, and show them the behavior of the king who will reign over them."
Through serving other gods, Israel's judgment was clouded so badly that they completely lost focus of Jesus Christ. Please hang on to that statement. Here was the only nation on the face of the earth to have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, and they effectively tossed it aside to worship a man or to be like everyone else. Have we done the same in our lives?
The Israelites did not internalize all of the benefits of a relationship with their heavenly King. They did not value or understand the government of God. Verses 10-18 describe what their human king would be like: a complete contrast of the true King Jesus Christ.
I Samuel 8:19-20 Nevertheless the people refused to obey the voice of Samuel; and they said, "No, but we will have a king over us, that we also may be like all the nations, and that our king may judge us and go out before us and fight our battles."
Verse 19 clearly captures who broke the covenant. Like a child having a tantrum, they emphatically stamp their collective foot and say no to their heavenly King. Since, as a judge, Samuel was acting on behalf of the heavenly King, refusing to obey the voice of Samuel is equated to refusing to obey the voice of God.
The evidence tells the story that their obedience did not last very long at all. The track record of the Israelites leaves a trail of complaining and whining, which culminated in the rejection of the greatest King in favor of a human king.
Picture in your mind a graph with an x and a y axis. The first two points that we have just covered were intended to place dots on the graph, which can be connected to see if a pattern exists. It is evident that the pattern has clearly been set. Let us further prove this by jumping forward to the time of Jesus Christ. I believe that there is some vital instruction here that will apply to understanding the second coming of Jesus Christ.
Please turn to the book of Zechariah, and we will start with the monumental prophecy that describes the first coming of Jesus Christ. This verse describes what is labeled in the four gospels of the New King James Version of the Bible as "the triumphal entry of Jesus Christ."
This prophecy is important because it clearly depicted the manner in which Jesus Christ would come the first time. When this was being fulfilled, it should have been obvious to the Jews that, indeed, this was their Savior. However, we know from history—i.e. the dots on the graph—that this was not true; the Jews were expecting a conquering messiah.
As I just stated a moment ago, this verse marks the "triumphal entry of Jesus Christ" into Jerusalem. What I want you to do is to try and place yourself standing on the street, lining the route that Jesus Christ used when He entered Jerusalem.
Zechariah 9:9 Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your King is coming to you; He is just and having salvation, lowly and riding on a donkey, a colt, the foal of a donkey.
We are going to examine each phrase in this scripture and look at a couple Hebrew words. The first phrase is, "Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion!" This admonition states that they were to "rejoice greatly." The word rejoice is Strong's #3966, me`od (meh-ode'); and this phrase emphasizes that the Israelites were not just to be joyful, but to rejoice in a proper, complete manner. It even suggests vehement rejoicing.
The next phrase is, "Shout, O daughter of Jerusalem!" The word shout is Strong's #7321, ruwa, and it means "to shout; to sound an alarm with volume and intensity." Figuratively, it means to shout so loud as to split the ears. In our modern vernacular, they were to shout so loud that their ears would be ringing.
As I began digging into this, a simple question arose that I had not thought about previously. What were they shouting? The next scripture will answer that question.
Luke 19:37-39 Then, as He was now drawing near the descent of the Mount of Olives, the whole multitude of the disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works they had seen, saying: "'Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the LORD!' Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!" And some of the Pharisees called to Him from the crowd, "Teacher, rebuke Your disciples."
For your own reference, verse 38 is drawn from Psalm 118:25-26.
Quoting from the Jameson, Fausset, and Brown Commentary on verse 38: "the disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice: The language here is unusually grand, intended to express a burst of admiration far wider and deeper than ever had been witnessed before." They were fulfilling Zechariah 9. I added verse 39 to show you the reaction of the Pharisees, proving how loud the rejoicing was.
Why were the disciples supposed to shout like this? The answer to that question is the next phrase in the verse. If you have not looked into this before, you will see that there is some very exciting information here.
The next phrase is, "Behold, your King is coming to you." The word behold means "to see," and the Jews of the day were to see the arrival of their King in Jerusalem. Note that His first coming was "seen" by the masses, but only those of whom God had opened their eyes spiritually were able to actually understand who this was.
I want to focus in on the words your King. Looking back over Israel's history as a nation, we see that they had many kings. Saul, David, and Solomon ruled over the twelve tribes. When the tribes of Israel were split into north and south, the north, or house of Israel, had nineteen kings; and the south, the house of Judah, had twenty kings. However, only one King—I repeat, only one King—is designated as being as "your King." Brethren, only Jesus Christ fits this remarkable proclamation.
The next phrase is, "He is just and having salvation." From the perspective of a first century Jew, this would have been in line with the popular idea of a conquering Messiah. They viewed salvation as being brought physically.
The next phrase, "lowly and riding on a donkey," completely contradicts the concept of the Messiah that the Pharisees wanted. Their King entered Jerusalem in a humble manner, riding a beast of burden, instead of entering Jerusalem on a war horse, ready to do battle and bring deliverance to the Jews from the oppression of Roman rule. Is there any connection between the donkey being a working animal and what the Messiah accomplished during His first coming on earth? I believe that there is.
The last phrase, "a colt, the foal of a donkey," simply clarifies that the donkey was a foal, harmless, young, and innocent. Again, this was by no means a battle-hardened war horse.
This marks the second rejection of Jesus Christ as the King of Israel. He spent three and half years under the scrutiny of the Pharisees and the religious elite of His day. Brethren, they could not "see" the true Messiah even as He passed immediately before them.
I want to ask a question: Is it possible to compare the blindness of the Pharisees with that of the Laodiceans? I believe it is, because mathew 15:14 calls the Pharisees the leaders of the blind and Revelation 3:17 describes the Laodicean as wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked, in need of nothing. They were or they are both physically blind to their spiritual condition.
Now let us move up to our modern day and determine exactly how He will come. Referring again to the paper that I received: "We need to carefully examine the scriptures to understand how Jesus will return. This is not a matter to be taken lightly." This statement with which I do agree, as I am sure that you would, too. That is exactly what we will do.
To continue quoting from the paper, the person goes on to state: "If we have a fixed idea of how He will come and we are wrong, then it is possible to miss His coming, isn't it?" Well, brethren, this is puzzling to me. It is the Bible, not man, that has fixed the idea of how Jesus Christ will return. On the other side of this remark is the fact that if we did not have a fixed idea of how Christ will return, then God could be accused of being a fraud.
Let us carefully examine the scriptures! Please turn to Acts, where Jesus Christ leaves the disciples and ascends into heaven to be at the right hand of the Father.
Acts 1:9-11 Now when He had spoken these things, while they watched, He was taken up, and a cloud received Him out of their sight. And while they looked steadfastly toward heaven as He went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel, who also said, "Men of Galilee, why do you stand gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will so come in like manner as you saw Him go into heaven."
What I want to draw your attention to is that contained in these three verses are six references to sight: watched, sight, looked, behold, gazing, and saw. Here were two angels, sent by God, telling the apostles—and, by extension, any who would read these words for all time—that when Jesus Christ would return to the earth, it would be in like manner as to how He was taken up. Therefore, we cannot remove sight from this equation. They saw Him go up, and those who will be alive at the time will see Him come in like manner.
Please turn with me now to see a companion scripture in the Old Testament.
Isaiah 40:3-5 The voice of one crying in the wilderness: "Prepare the way of the LORD; make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley shall be exalted and every mountain and hill brought low; the crooked places shall be made straight and the rough places smooth; the glory of the LORD shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together; for the mouth of the LORD has spoken."
Verse 5 is where I really want to focus, because it clearly states that all flesh will see it together. Was this spoken by a mere man? No, by the mouth of the Lord! I ask you, is there any higher authority? Make no mistake about it: Jesus Christ will return from heaven, just as the scriptures in Acts and Isaiah, as well as many other scriptures, confirm.
Another idea put forth in the paper is that Jesus Christ may return to this earth as a physical human being. Brethren, will Jesus Christ return to this earth a second time in the flesh?
Luke 21:25-28 "And there will be signs in the sun, in the moon, and in the stars; and on the earth distress of nations, with perplexity, the sea and the waves roaring; men's hearts failing them from fear and the expectation of those things which are coming on the earth, for the powers of heaven will be shaken. Then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. Now when these things begin to happen, look up and lift up your heads, because your redemption draws near."
This event is also covered in Matthew 24:29-31 and Mark 13:24-27. As verse 27 of Luke 21 puts it, will a physical human being be able to come "in a cloud with power and great glory"? No, he will not. In verse 25, we see the "distress of nations" and "men's hearts failing...from fear." What impact would a physical human being have verses that of the divine Jesus Christ? I am baffled that a person could even come up with such an idea; it is definitely not scriptural. Nowhere in the Bible that I know of does it say that when Christ returns a second time that He will come in the flesh again.
All of the world's major religions are expecting a great messianic figure to enter the scene and set up a new age of peace and prosperity. What is a messianic figure? I looked it up on Wikipedia, and here is what it says:
A messianic figure is a person who is viewed as having a number of the characteristics of the messiah in the eyes of a particular group. These usually include that the person is charismatic, influential, develops a power base, is appealing to a large group that views itself as oppressed in some way, and appears to offer a way to overthrow that oppression.
The Buddhists are looking for the fifth Buddha.
The Hindus are looking for the Vishnu.
The New Agers are looking for Maitreya.
Muslims are waiting for the grand Mahdi to appear suddenly in Mecca.
The Jews are looking for the messiah, not the Son of God; they are looking for a great human leader.
We are going to read some very well-known verses:
Matthew 24:4-5 And Jesus answered and said to them: "Take heed that no one deceives you. For many will come in My name, saying, 'I am the Christ,' and will deceive many."
We are going to do a breakdown of some of the phrases, taken from Barnes' Notes:
"Take heed": The admonition to take heed was telling the disciples that they were to be constantly on their guard, because many would arise to deceive the people.
"Many shall come in my name": not in the name or by the authority of Jesus or claiming to be His followers and to be sent by Him, but in the name of the Messiah, or claiming to be the Messiah.
"I am Christ" - I am the Messiah. Messiah is a Hebrew word, meaning "anointed one." It is the equivalent of the New Testament word for Christ, which also means "anointed."
This will be a very tumultuous time on the earth. Many will be under great duress and wanting to be delivered from the events occurring around them.
In these verses, Jesus Christ is talking to His disciples, not the masses. We must keep in mind that this is written to the Laodicean era of the church; therefore, Christ's concern is not that people in the world would be deceived but that His own disciples (converted members with God's Holy Spirit—us) should not allow themselves to be deceived. I emphasize the word allow, because Jesus Christ clearly lays the responsibility squarely on our shoulders. We must be the ones to take heed by being diligent in praying, studying, and putting into practice the way of life that is outlined in the Bible.
Think about Peter, emphatically saying, "Oh, no, I will not deny your name." In return, Christ flat out tells him, "Yeah, you want to make a bet?" He knew exactly what would happen. That should scare us straight.
Matthew 24:23-27 "Then if anyone says to you, 'Look, here is the Christ!' or 'There!' do not believe it. For false christs and false prophets will rise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect. See, I have told you beforehand. Therefore if they say to you, 'Look, He is in the desert!' do not go out; or 'Look, He is in the inner rooms!' do not believe it. For as the lightning comes from the east and flashes to the west, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be."
As verse 25 states, "See, I have told you beforehand." Brethren, if we are staying close to God through prayer, study, and overcoming, we will not be deceived. This warning is critical to our understanding because God is removing all excuse from anyone in the church who falls prey to being deceived. One very important point to keep in the forefront of our minds is that this deception will be bound to the earth. In other words, none of these "messiahs" or "deliverers" will come from heaven; they will be situated on earth.
A couple of months ago, Sue and I saw on the Glenn Beck show on CNN a segment about a man in Florida who claims to be Jesus Christ, "the man." This is a clear distinction from Jesus Christ, the divine Being, an interesting clarification that the man himself makes. After watching the segment, I went to the internet to see this for myself. I found a news website in Florida called CBS4.com. I watched the video interview of this man and I was able to obtain the transcript of the interview from the website. Let me read this to you.
His name is Jose Luis de Jesus Miranda; his followers call him everything from "apostle" to "Dad," or simply "Jesus Christ man." De Jesus Miranda himself believes he is the living incarnation of "Jesus Christ man," "the second coming of Christ."
This self-proclaimed "Son of God" is a 60-year-old former heroin addict and convict. The divorced father of four was born in Puerto Rico and now lives in South Florida with his second wife.
What De Jesus is doing at more than 300 centers in Central and South America, Cuba, and the United States is preaching a message of "freedom to indulge," because according to this modern messiah, there is no sin, no devil, and no hell to pay.
De Jesus says, "It does not exist. The devil was destroyed two thousand years ago."
It is music to the ears of his followers, mostly Hispanic men and women who believe that they are God's chosen people, predestined for salvation no matter what they do on earth.Unfazed by the criticism, De Jesus continues to plan for the role he believes he is destined to play on the world's stage. "I will be president of the biggest government that this earth has experienced," promised De Jesus.
Brethren, a person who is a prophet or says that he comes in the name of Christ must at least have a message that points to Christ or the Father. This man clearly does not, since he says that there is no sin and no devil. It is easy to tell that this man is a fake.
Going back to the paper, I will state that the next remark is a real doozy: "Many people think that He will have a glorious and magical appearance coming from the sky on a horse with chariots and so forth. People are waiting for a spectacular light show if you will."
Matthew 24:29-31 "Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And He will send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other."
These verses confirm exactly where the sign of the Son of Man will be seen, as spoken of by the Son of Man Himself. More importantly, if He does not appear as He states that He will, He would be a liar and a fraud. He could not be the Messiah.
Notice the reception He gets as well: "the tribes of the earth will mourn." They will mourn because they know now that Jesus Christ will rule the earth as King of kings and Lord of lords. There is no misunderstanding who is in control. The nations of the world will battle against Jesus Christ and His saints, as depicted in Zechariah 14.
His return will be unmistakable because it will not originate on the earth. God is going to make it obvious that the real Deliverer will not be like those on the earth. Jesus Christ is not only coming from heaven and not only will every eye see Him, but He will be coming in a fashion that cannot be faked. He is coming in all His glory.
Please turn to another very familiar scripture for the Feast of Trumpets:
I Thessalonians 4:15-17 For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep. For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord.
Verse 16 again confirms the location from which Christ makes His entrance: from heaven. However, my purpose in reading these verses to you is to draw your attention to an interesting detail contained in verse 16.
Think back to what happened when Zechariah 9:9 was fulfilled. It was the disciples who were doing the shouting. This time it will be Jesus Christ Himself who will be the One shouting! This detail provides another clue for us in identifying the true Messiah. What will Jesus Christ be shouting?
Isaiah 42:13 .The LORD shall go forth like a mighty man; He shall stir up His zeal like a man of war. He shall cry out, yes, shout aloud; He shall prevail against His enemies
The shout is undoubtedly the Commander's call to arms, a shout of war.
As I finish this message, I want to end with the last comment made in the paper. The author ends the paper with the following statement: "If we are looking for a great miraculous sign in the sky to find Christ, then beware."
The track record of Israel repeatedly demonstrates her unfaithfulness to God; therefore, we must ensure that we do not travel the same path. It is clear from the scriptures that Jesus Christ will indeed return to this earth in the same manner in which He went up.
Trying times do lie ahead, and because God is just and merciful we have been forearmed, which is also to be forewarned of what our responsibilities are. Because there is no denying that we are in the Laodicean era of the church, these warnings are especially pertinent to us since the possibility of deception is very real.
Being transformed into the image of Jesus Christ through God's Holy Spirit is our only way to ensure that we will be able to recognize the true Messiah. Let us physically and spiritually get ready for the sounding of the seventh trumpet and the declaration that we are all so eagerly waiting to hear: "The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever!" Behold, your King is coming to you!
WDL/pp/klg
