INTRODUCTION

As we begin examining the conditions and prerequisites to Messiah’s Second Coming, it is crucial to remember that the Scriptures picture His return as a separate and distinct event from the Rapture. Unlike the Second Coming of Christ to the earth, the Rapture of the Church has no preconditions attached to it. We know from the Word that it will come sometime before the Tribulation, although we do not know when or how long before. And because there are no preconditions attached to it, the Rapture can come at any time.

The Second Coming of Yeshua, however, does have a major precondition attached to it. A certain condition must be met before Christ will return to establish the Kingdom. The purpose of this study is to determine what the basis of the Second Coming of Christ is. But before we can fully understand the basis of His coming, we must first understand what occurred when Jesus’ Messiahship was rejected.

I. THE REJECTION OF HIS MESSIAHSHIP

MATTHEW 12:22-45

Using the Gospel of Matthew as a base, we see that Yeshua began His ministry in chapter four. From chapter four until chapter 12, Christ is seen going around Israel proclaiming the Kingdom and preaching the gospel of the Kingdom. He performs many miracles, and the purpose of each of these miracles between chapters four and 12 is to authenticate His person and His message. They are signs to force the nation of Israel to come to a decision regarding: (1) His person – that He is the Messiah; and, (2) His message – the gospel of the Kingdom. But, then, in Matthew 12, the whole purpose of His miracles and His ministry will undergo a radical change. The rejection of His Messiahship is about to occur.

In Matthew 12:22-29, we read:

²²Then was brought unto him one possessed with a demon, blind and dumb: and he healed him, insomuch that the dumb man spake and saw. ²³And all the multitudes were amazed, and said, Can this be the son of David? ²⁴But when the Pharisees heard it, they said, This man doth not cast out demons, but by Beelzebub the prince of the demons. ²⁵And knowing their thoughts he said unto them, Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; and every city or house divided against itself shall not stand: ²⁶and if Satan casteth out Satan, he is divided against himself; how then shall his kingdom stand? ²⁷And if I by Beelzebub cast out demons, by whom do your sons cast them out? therefore shall they be your judges. ²⁸But if I by the Spirit of God cast out demons, then is the kingdom of God come upon you. ²⁹Or how can one enter into the house of the strong man, and spoil his goods, except he first bind the strong man? and then he will spoil his house.

As we stated earlier, the purpose of the miracles of Jesus was to authenticate to the nation His person and His message. Within Judaism were also exorcists who exorcised demons (v. 27). But in Jewish exorcism, one had to communicate with a demon in order to find out its name, and, then, use that name to cast out the demon. But in the case here, where the demon caused the person to become dumb, Jewish exorcism was of no avail. Communication with the demon was rendered impossible. But Jewish theology taught that when the Messiah came, He would be able to cast out even that kind of demon.

Indeed, in verse 22 of the above passage, Christ was able to exorcise that kind of demon.

In verse 23, this caused the people to begin asking the question, “Can Jesus really be the Messiah?” This was one of the key purposes of this miracle, that they might see that He was indeed the Son of David. The people, however, were not willing to judge His person by themselves but were looking to their religious leaders, the Pharisees, to come up with some kind of public statement or judgment concerning Yeshua. They were looking to the Pharisees to conclude either that He was the Messiah or that He was not. But if He was not the Messiah, the Pharisees needed to offer some kind of alternative explanation as to how He was able to perform these many miracles.

In verse 24, we find that the Pharisees chose the latter course. They refused to accept Jesus as the Messiah, because He did not fit the Pharisaic “mold” or idea of what Messiah was supposed to say and do. Their alternative as to how He was performing His miracles was to say that He Himself was demon-possessed by Beelzebub. This, then, becomes the basis of the rejection of the Messiahship of Jesus. This is the “leaven of the Pharisees,” the false teaching about which Yeshua would warn His disciples. They were to beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, i.e., the claim that Jesus was not the Messiah but rather that He was demon-possessed. It was on these grounds that the Pharisees rejected the Messiahship of Christ.

In verses 25-29, Messiah responded to this accusation by telling them that their statement could not be true, as it would mean that Satan’s kingdom was divided against itself.

In verses 30-37, Jesus pronounced judgment on the generation of that day. Verses 30-32 read:

³⁰He that is not with me is against me, and he that gathereth not with me scattereth. ³¹Therefore I say unto you, Every sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men; but the blasphemy against the Spirit shall not be forgiven. ³²And whosoever shall speak a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him; but whosoever shall speak against the Holy Spirit, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, nor in that which is to come.

That generation had committed the unpardonable sin, the blasphemy of the Holy Spirit.

We must be very clear as to what the blasphemy of the Holy Spirit is. It is the unpardonable sin which was committed by “that generation” of Israel in Jesus’ day. It involved the denial of Yeshua’s Messiahship while He was physically present on this earth on the grounds that He was demon-possessed.

This sin was unpardonable, requiring judgment. It is a sin that cannot be committed by individuals today. It was a national sin committed by the generation of Yeshua’s day; and for that generation, that sin was unpardonable. This did not mean that individual members of that generation could not be saved, for many were. It did, however, mean that nothing they could do would avert the coming destruction of Jerusalem.

Because of the rejection of His Messiahship, then, this generation of Jesus’ time had committed the unpardonable sin. Judgment was now set, and there was no way of alleviating that judgment. It was a judgment that was to be fulfilled 40 years later, in the year A.D. 70.
In verses 33-37, Messiah emphasized that there was no middle ground in the decision that had been declared regarding His Messiahship. Finally, Yeshua tells that generation of Israel that they would be condemned by their own words, saying:

³⁷For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned.

II. THE PREREQUISITE TO THE SECOND COMING

Having said all that, what then is the basis of the Second Coming of Christ? To discover this, it will be necessary to look at five more passages of Scripture.

A. Leviticus 26:40-42

In Leviticus 26, Moses foretold of how the Jews would be scattered all over the world as a result of disobedience to God’s revealed will. And through verse 39, worldwide dispersion is a fact, fulfilling Moses’ prediction. According to the New Testament, this was caused specifically by the rejection of the Messiahship of Jesus.

Then, in Leviticus 26:40-42, Moses states:

⁴⁰And they shall confess their iniquity, and the iniquity of their fathers, in their trespass which they trespassed against Me, and also that, because they walked contrary unto Me, ⁴¹I also walked contrary unto them, and brought them into the land of their enemies: if then their uncircumcised heart be humbled, and they then accept of the punishment of their iniquity; ⁴²then will I remember My covenant with Jacob; and also My covenant with Isaac, and also My covenant with Abraham will I remember; and I will remember the land.

Verse 42 reveals that God has every intent to give Israel all the blessings and promises of the Abrahamic Covenant, especially as it pertains to the Promised Land. But before they can begin to enjoy these blessings and promises of the Abrahamic Covenant, during the Messianic Age, it is first necessary for them to fulfill the condition of verse 40: They must confess their iniquity and the iniquity of their fathers. Notice this: The word “iniquity” is singular, and it is specific. There is one specific iniquity which Israel must confess before she can begin to enjoy all of the benefits of the Abrahamic Covenant.

B. Jeremiah 3:11-18

The second passage is Jeremiah 3:11-18:

¹¹And Jehovah said unto me, Backsliding Israel hath showed herself more righteous than treacherous Judah. ¹²Go, and proclaim these words toward the north, and say, Return, thou backsliding Israel, saith Jehovah, I will not keep anger for ever. ¹³Only acknowledge thine iniquity, that thou hast transgressed against Jehovah thy God, and hast scattered thy ways to the strangers under every green tree, and ye have not obeyed my voice, saith Jehovah. ¹⁴Return, O backsliding children, saith Jehovah; for I am a husband unto you: and I will take you one of a city, and two of a family, and I will bring you to Zion. ¹⁵And I will give you shepherds according to my heart, who shall feed you with knowledge and understanding. ¹⁶And it shall come to pass, when ye are multiplied and increased in the land, in those days, saith Jehovah, they shall say no more, The ark of the covenant of Jehovah; nether shall it come to mind; neither shall they remember it; neither shall they miss it; neither shall it be made any more. ¹⁷At that time they shall call Jerusalem the throne of Jehovah; and all the nations shall be gathered unto it, to the name of Jehovah, to Jerusalem: neither shall they walk any more after the stubbornness of their evil heart. ¹⁸In those days the house of Judah shall walk with the house of Israel, and they shall come together out of the land of the north to the land that I have for an inheritance unto your fathers.

In verses 14-18, Jeremiah begins to describe the blessing which God has in store for Israel in the Messianic Kingdom. It will be a time of tremendous blessing and restoration for the Jewish people, when the Kingdom is established by their Messiah. But all these blessings are conditioned by verse 13, which declares that they must acknowledge or confess one specific iniquity that they committed against Jehovah their God.

C. Zechariah 12:10

The third passage is in the Book of Zechariah. Zechariah chapters 12, 13 and 14 are a unit of thought that develop one theme. Chapter 13 speaks of the national cleansing of Israel from their sin. Chapter 14 describes the Second Coming of Messiah and the establishment of the Kingdom. But these events – the cleansing of Israel followed by the Second Coming of Christ and the Messianic Kingdom – are all conditioned on Zechariah 12:10:

And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplication; and they shall look unto me whom they have pierced; and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his first-born.

Before Israel receives the cleansing of her sin and before Christ returns to establish His Kingdom, Israel must first look “unto” (not “upon” or “on” as in some translations) the One whom they have pierced and plead for His return. Once they do this, then, and only then, will they receive their cleansing and begin to enjoy the blessings of the Messianic Age.

D. Hosea 5:15

The fourth passage is in Hosea five, a chapter in which the One speaking is God Himself. In verse 15, He states: I will go and return to my place, till they acknowledge their offence, and seek my face: in their affliction they will seek me earnestly.

There are certain presuppositions behind the understanding of this verse: One must leave a place before returning to it. In this passage, God states that He is returning to His place. God’s place is Heaven. Before God can go back to Heaven, He must first leave it. The question is, when did God leave Heaven? God left Heaven at the Incarnation in the person of Yeshua of Nazareth. Then, because of one specific offense committed against Him, Jesus returned to Heaven at the ascension from the Mount of Olives.

This verse further states that He will not come back to earth until that offense which caused Him to return to Heaven is acknowledged or confessed. What is that Jewish national offense committed against the person of Christ? It is not, as many believe, the act of killing Him. The murder of Messiah was committed by Gentile, not Jewish, hands:  He was condemned and sentenced by a Gentile judge; He was crucified by Gentile soldiers. But all this is ultimately irrelevant; God’s program for mankind – Jews and Gentiles alike – required Jesus to die anyway to become the sacrifice for sin. The national offense of Israel was in the rejection of His Messiahship. And Hosea 5:15 again affirms that Yeshua will return to the earth only when this offense is acknowledged or confessed.

E. Matthew 23:37-39

The fifth passage, in Matthew 23, contains Christ’s denunciation of the Scribes and Pharisees, the Jewish leadership of that day, for leading the nation in the rejection of His Messiahship:

O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, that killeth the prophets, and stoneth them that are sent unto her! how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not! Behold, your house is left unto you desolate. For I say unto you, Ye shall not see me henceforth, till ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord.

Speaking to the Jewish leadership, Christ reiterates His original desire to gather them if they would only accept Him (v. 37). But due to their rejection of His Messiahship, they will be scattered instead of gathered. Their house, the Jewish Temple, will be destroyed with nothing remaining (v. 38). He then declares that they will not see Him again until they say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord. This is a messianic greeting, and it will signify their acceptance of the Messiahship of Jesus.

Messiah will not return until the Jews and the Jewish leaders ask Him to come back. For just as the Jewish leaders led the nation to the rejection of His Messiahship, they must someday lead the nation to the acceptance of that very same fact.

This, then, is the twofold basis of the Second Coming of Christ:  Israel must confess her national sin and then plead for Messiah to return, to mourn for Him as one mourns for an only son.