In 3:4 the mockers said, “Where is the promise of His coming?” The Greek word for “coming” is parousia, which literally means presence. According to the New Testament, the Lord’s parousia, His coming, will not last merely an hour or a day. Rather, it will last for a period of time. Through detailed study of the Scriptures we have come to see that the Lord’s parousia will probably begin at the middle of the seventieth week, that is, in the middle of the last seven years before the millennium. Furthermore, it will probably begin from the time the Lord leaves the throne of God in the third heaven and descends to the air wrapped in a cloud (Rev. 10). This means that the Lord’s parousia will take place during the last three and a half years of this age.
According to chapter twelve of Revelation, the man-child will be raptured to the throne of God. Revelation 12:5 says, “And she brought forth a son, a man-child, who was about to shepherd all the nations with an iron rod; and her child was caught up to God and to His throne.” To be “caught up” is to be raptured. The rapture of the man-child will be to the throne of God, and it will be before the one thousand two hundred sixty days (v. 6), which will be the time of the great tribulation of three and a half years (forty-two months, Rev. 12:14; 13:5; 11:2). After the rapture of the man-child, there will be a period of three and a half years, or forty-two months. We need to notice the fact that the man-child will be raptured not to the air, but to the throne of God, where the Lord Jesus is today. Therefore, for the man-child to be raptured to the throne of God means that the man-child will be in the presence of the Lord, in the parousia of the Lord. This proves that, in the midst of the seventieth week, the Lord Jesus will still be at the throne of God in the third heaven.
Chapter fourteen of Revelation speaks of the one hundred forty-four thousand firstfruit. Revelation 14:1 says, “And I saw, and behold, the Lamb standing on mount Zion, and with Him a hundred and forty-four thousand, having His name and the name of His Father written on their foreheads.” These one hundred forty-four thousand “who have been purchased from the earth” (Rev. 14:3) have been “purchased from among men as firstfruit to God and to the Lamb” (v. 4). These will be the first ripe ones in God’s field and will be reaped before the harvest as firstfruit to God and to the Lamb. The harvest will be reaped later in verses 14 through 16. This means that the one hundred forty-four thousand will be raptured to the heavens before the harvest, just as the firstfruits of the good land were reaped and brought into the temple of God before the harvest (Lev. 23:10-11; Exo. 23:19). The events recorded in Revelation 14:6-13, all of which will take place during the great tribulation (Matt. 24:21), indicate clearly and prove strongly that the firstfruit in Revelation 14:1-5 will be raptured before the great tribulation, and the harvest in verses 14 through 16, which includes the majority of believers, will be raptured after the great tribulation. The firstfruit will be raptured to the heavens and will be with Christ there. After this rapture, there will be a period of three and a half years, the second half of the seventieth week.
Revelation 12 and 14 both speak of the same period of time. These chapters give us the ground to say that, at the earliest, the parousia of the Lord will begin from the middle of the seventieth week. After the raptures of the man-child and of the one hundred forty-four thousand firstfruit, the Lord Jesus will leave the third heaven with these overcoming saints and descend to the air. Instead of coming directly to the earth, He will remain in the air enclosed in a cloud. In Revelation 10:1 Christ is clothed with a cloud, but in Revelation 14:14 He is on the cloud. This latter verse corresponds to 1 Thessalonians 4:17 and indicates that the Lord’s coming back is then to be made public. This means that first the Lord’s parousia will be hidden. Then, according to 2 Thessalonians 2:8 there will be the appearing of His parousia. The Lord’s coming, therefore, will be hidden before it appears openly. His coming involves a period of time. First it will be in secret, and then it will appear to the public. It will be probably at the end of the seventieth week that the Lord’s parousia will appear. At this time the Lord will no longer be clothed with the cloud, as in Revelation 10, but will be sitting on the cloud, seen openly, as in Revelation 14. That will be the appearing of His parousia, the appearing of His coming. The best way to translate 2 Thessalonians 2:8 is to follow a literal rendering and speak of the appearing of His coming.
If we have at least a general idea concerning the Lord’s coming, we shall know why Peter says that the day of the Lord will come as a thief. Not only will the Lord Himself come as a thief, but even the day of the Lord will come in this way. The coming of that day will be hidden, not open.
We have pointed out that in 3:10 Peter says that in the day of the Lord the heavens will be burned. This will take place after the millennium. The day of the Lord will come before the millennium, but the burning of the heavens will be after the millennium. This is the reason we say that here Peter passes over the millennium, a period of a thousand years, and regards the burning of the heavens and the earth as the last matter that will take place in the day of the Lord.
At this point I would ask you to consult the chart printed on page 111. On this chart we can see a diagram of the seventy weeks of Daniel 9:24-27. First we have a period of seven weeks, then a time of sixty-two weeks, and finally, after a gap of undetermined length, the last week, the seventieth week. The seventieth week will be followed by the thousand years of the millennial kingdom. At the end of the millennium two events will take place, perhaps at the same time: the burning of the heavens and the earth, and the judgment at the white throne. According to the diagram, the day of the Lord will begin preliminarily at the start of the last seven years, and the Lord’s parousia will begin at the middle of these years. Before the middle of the seventieth week, certain natural calamities will take place, as in the sixth seal. The Lord’s day, as we can see from the diagram, will be open and will not be completed until the end of the millennium, at which time there will be the judgment on Gog and Magog.
Now we can understand that the day of the Lord is a day of judgment. This day of judgment will begin from the start of the last week, the seventieth week. During this period of time, God will judge heaven, earth, and those living on earth, according to what is written in the book of Revelation. Then in the middle of the seventieth week the man-child and the one hundred forty-four thousand will be raptured to the third heaven. Following that, the Lord’s parousia will begin. The Lord will bring His presence down to the air, and He will be concealed for a time in the cloud. This will be the hidden part of His parousia. Then, probably at the end of the seven years, the Lord’s parousia will be made public, and the Lord Himself will descend to earth to exercise judgment upon Antichrist and his army. The Lord will also cause Satan to be bound and cast into the abyss, where he will be kept for a thousand years. Also, the Lord will sit on His throne in Jerusalem to judge the nations. Through that judgment, the situation of those on earth will be cleared up. The Christians will have been judged at the judgment seat of Christ, the Jews will have been judged, and the nations will have been judged at Christ’s throne of glory. As a result, everything will be made ready for the peaceful kingdom that will last for a thousand years. However, at the end of the millennium, Satan will be released from his prison and will instigate the rebellion of Gog and Magog. Christ will then judge Gog and Magog, and Satan will be cast into the lake of fire. This will take place at the end of the millennium. Then there will be the judgment at the white throne and the burning of the heavens and the earth. After this, the day of the Lord will be completed, and eternity will be ushered in with the new heaven and the new earth.