1. “All Israel will be saved, as it is written, ‘The Deliverer will come out of Zion; He will turn away ungodliness from Jacob’” (Rom. 11:26; see also Zech. 12:10; 13:1).
Although the Jews are God’s chosen people, they have strayed far from God. But even though they strayed from Him, God has not given up on them. Therefore, He will save them at the time of the Lord’s second coming. When the Lord returns, He will be the Deliverer of the Jews, the house of Jacob, and He will turn away their ungodliness. Thus, the entire house of Israel will be saved. God will pour out the Spirit of grace and of supplications upon them. They will look upon Him whom they have pierced, and they will repent and believe in the Lord (12:10). Then there will be an opened fountain to wash away sin and impurity, and they will be cleansed (13:1). This opened fountain is Christ’s pierced side.
2. “His feet will stand in that day on the Mount of Olives...and the Mount of Olives will be split at its middle toward the east and toward the west into a very great valley...And you will flee into the valley of My mountains” (Zech. 14:4-5).
Antichrist will lead the great armies of the nations to surround and attack the Jews and to destroy Jerusalem. When there is no way to escape from his attack, the Lord will return, and His feet will stand upon the Mount of Olives, the mountain from which He ascended (Acts 1:9-12). The Mount of Olives outside of Jerusalem will be split at its middle toward the east and toward the west forming a very great valley through which the Jews will escape and be saved. This will be like the Israelites’ escape from Pharaoh’s pursuit through the Red Sea after they left Egypt. When there was no way of escape, God opened the Red Sea so that they could be saved.
3. “I will return, and I will rebuild the tabernacle of David which has fallen; and I will rebuild its ruins and erect it again”; “He will reign over the house of Jacob” (Acts 15:16; Luke 1:33).
Even though the Jews lost their nation and the kingly throne of the house of David disappeared from among them, God promised that He would restore the nation of Israel, that is, the kingdom of the Jews with the kingship of the house of David. This will be fulfilled at the Lord’s second coming. According to the flesh, the Lord came out of the seed of David (Rom. 1:3; John 7:42). According to the genealogy in Matthew 1, He is the legal heir to the throne of David. When the Lord returns, He will rebuild the tabernacle of David; that is, He will restore the kingdom of David, which will be the restoration of the nation of Israel, and He will be the King of the Jews, the house of Israel. Then all the matters recorded in Jeremiah 23:5-6; Isaiah 14:1-2; 35:8-10; 65:19-25; and 66:20-21 will be fulfilled.
The preceding points speak of the need for the Lord’s second coming with respect to the Jews. The salvation of the Jews and the restoration of their kingdom are related to His return.
1. “Indeed, in those days... / I will gather all the nations / And will bring them down to the valley of Jehoshaphat; / And I will enter into judgment with them there... / There cause Your mighty ones to descend, O Jehovah!... / Come, tread, / For the winepress is full; / The wine vats overflow, / For their evil is great” (Joel 3:1-2, 11, 13; see also Zech. 14:2-5, 12-13; Rev. 14:17-20; 19:11-21).
Man will never be able to resolve the problems of this world. Man even has a difficult time dealing with the problems of the world. The problems of the world are like a pile of tangled string that great men of every age have been unable to unravel. They have not been able to solve the messy situations in the world; they have only created a greater degree of entanglement to the point that the pile of string has become one big knot. According to the present world situation, the Lord Jesus must return in order for the world’s problems to be resolved.
When He returns, the Lord will deal with the powers that have rebelled against Him on the earth. He will gather Antichrist and his armies of the nations to the valley of Jehoshaphat outside of Jerusalem below the Mount of Olives to execute judgment on them. The Lord will appear as a mighty One to make war with all who oppose and rebel against Him. He will tread upon them as if He were treading grapes in a wine vat. The Lord will attack them so that their flesh will shrivel, their eyes will dry in their sockets, and their tongues will rot. They will be totally destroyed by the Lord, and birds will eat their flesh. The leaders of these rebellious nations, Antichrist and the false prophet, will be captured and cast alive into the lake of fire. This is how the Lord will deal with the rebellious powers on the earth.
2. “He laid hold of the dragon, the ancient serpent, who is the Devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years and cast him into the abyss and shut it and sealed it over him, that he might not deceive the nations any longer” (Rev. 20:2-3).
When He returns, the Lord also will deal with the Devil, who corrupts the world and deceives the nations. The Devil is the source of all disasters and confusion in the world. If he is not cast out, the world will have no peace. When the Lord returns, an angel will lay hold of the Devil, bind him, cast him into the abyss, and seal it so that he cannot make mischief, deceive the nations, or damage the world.
3. “When the Son of Man comes in His glory and all the angels with Him, at that time He will sit on the throne of His glory. And all the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them from one another, just as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats” (Matt. 25:31-32).
When He returns, the Lord will also judge the nations living on the earth. He will sit on the throne of His glory, and all the nations of the earth will be gathered before Him to be judged. He will separate the living people of the nations, just as a shepherd separates sheep from goats, counting those who are good as righteous and allowing them to enter into His earthly kingdom to enjoy its earthly blessings. He also will condemn those who are evil and wicked and send them to the lake of fire prepared for the devil and his angels to be punished eternally. Thus, the Lord will deal with all the problems among the nations. The section in chapter 57 on the judgment before Christ’s throne of glory details the Lord’s judgment upon the living nations at His second coming.
4. “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ, and He will reign forever and ever” (Rev. 11:15; see also Zech. 14:9).
After the Lord returns and clears up the problems on earth, He will establish His kingdom on the earth, and the earth will become His kingdom. The Lord will be the King over all the earth and will exercise righteousness so that the earth will be peaceful and blessed (Isa. 32:1; 2:4; 11:1-9).
The preceding points refer to the Lord’s second coming with respect to the nations of the world. The Lord’s return is needed in order to deal with the powers of evil on earth, to cast out the devil, and to punish the evil. The Lord’s return also is needed in order to make the earth a healthy, happy place. When the Lord returns, He will deal with every negative thing and person so that the earth will be a peaceful, blissful kingdom in which man can enjoy the blessings prepared for him from the foundation of the world (Matt. 25:34).
The Lord’s second coming fulfills the needs of the believers, the Jews, and the nations. The problems afflicting the believers, the Jews, and the nations will be resolved only with the Lord’s second coming. Once He returns, the problems of every kind of person on earth will be solved.