No book reveals Christ’s coming back as clearly as the book of Revelation does. This book reveals that Christ’s coming back has two aspects—a secret aspect and a public aspect. This is possible because Christ is wonderful. Firstly, Christ will come back secretly as a thief (3:3b; 16:15). No thief tells you in advance the time of his arrival. In His secret coming as a thief, Christ will come to steal the precious things. No thief steals things that are without value. Thieves only come to steal what is valuable. Christ tells us to be watchful, saying, “If therefore you will not watch, I will come as a thief, and you shall by no means know at what hour I will come upon you” (3:3b). The time of His secret coming is unknown. We all must ask ourselves, “Am I precious? Am I worthy of being stolen by Christ in His secret coming?”
At the close of the great tribulation, Christ will come openly on the cloud (1:7; 14:14). Among Christians, there are two concepts of Christ’s second coming. According to one concept, Christ will come before the tribulation, and according to the other concept, His coming will be after the tribulation. Because many Christians have not seen the two aspects of Christ’s coming—the secret aspect and the open aspect—they have been fighting amongst themselves. Both the coming before the tribulation and the coming after the tribulation have some basis in the Scriptures. But, having tunnel vision, most Christians have not seen the whole view of Christ’s coming back. Firstly, Christ will come secretly and then He will come publicly. His secret coming will be for the overcoming saints, and His public coming will be for all the earth. Thus, 1:7 says, “Behold, He comes with the clouds, and every eye shall see Him.” When Christ comes on the cloud, the earth will see Him. We must be clear that Christ’s coming back will firstly be concealed and eventually it will be manifested openly and publicly.
In a very positive sense, the book of Revelation is a book of judgment. Christ, God’s Administrator, will judge everything. Firstly, He judges the church, and afterwards, He will judge the world.
Christ will judge all the world by the sixth seal, the seven trumpets, and the seven bowls (6:12-17; 8:1-2, 12; 11:14-15; 15:1, 7-8; 16:1-21). During the more than nineteen centuries since Christ’s ascension, the world has been punished by natural calamities. But from the opening of the sixth seal, the world will be punished by supernatural calamities. Revelation 6:12 and 13 say, “And I saw when He opened the sixth seal, and there was a great earthquake, and the sun became black as sackcloth made of hair, and the whole moon became as blood; and the stars of heaven fell to the earth as a fig tree casts its unripe figs when shaken by a great wind.” The sun becoming black as sackcloth, the moon becoming as blood, and the stars falling to the earth are supernatural calamities. The seven trumpets will also be supernatural calamities. The first four trumpets will bring forth judgment on the earth, the sea, the rivers, and the sun, moon, and stars. The great tribulation will begin with the fifth trumpet, continue with the sixth trumpet, and be concluded with the seven bowls of the seventh trumpet. All these are the judgments executed by Christ on the world.
In Revelation 17 and 18 we see the judgment on the great Babylon, which is apostate Christendom. Besides His judgment upon the whole world, the Lord will execute a special judgment upon Christendom, Babylon the Great.
Christ’s judgment will also be upon Antichrist, the false prophet, Satan, and their followers (19:11—20:3, 7-10). The Antichrist is the man of sin (2 Thes. 2:3) and the little horn (Dan. 7:8), and the false prophet is the one who works with the Antichrist. The Antichrist, the false prophet, and Satan are devilishly triune and form a counterfeit trinity. Because the Antichrist will be so enticing and attractive, he will have a great following. But all his followers will be destroyed along with the Antichrist, the false prophet, and Satan. Christ will judge the Antichrist and the false prophet by means of supernatural calamities: the earth will open and they will fall directly into the lake of fire. They will not die, be buried and resurrected, and then face the judgment at the great white throne. In their case, there will not be the need for these procedures. They will fall into the lake of fire supernaturally.