JESUS IS COMING AGAIN
Timothy Tow
Not a Lamb, Rather a Lion
In the Second Coming of Christ, no more does He come as a Lamb but rather as the Lion of the Tribe of Judah. No more need to suffer as when He first came to earth, but as the conquering Prince. Riding on a white horse He comes in a second Triumphal Entry by His own might and power, in a victory march over His enemies. “In righteousness He doth judge and make war” (Rev 19:11).
Further description of His awful Majesty: “His eyes were a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns; and he had a name written, that no man knew, but he himself. And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God. And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean. And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.” (Rev 19:12-16).
Armageddon Aftermath
That “He treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God” (Rev 19:15) harks back to the preview of the Battle of Armageddon in Revelation 14:14-20. That Christ will personally save His own is prophesied in Zechariah 13:8, 9; 14:1-4: “And it shall come to pass, that in all the land, saith the Lord, two parts therein shall be cut off and die; but the third shall be left therein. And I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried: they shall call on my name, and I will hear them: I will say, It is my people: and they shall say, The Lord is my God….
“Behold, the day of the Lord cometh, and thy spoil shall be divided in the midst of thee. For I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle; and the city shall be taken, and the houses rifled, and the women ravished; and half of the city shall go forth into captivity, and the residue of the people shall not be cut off from the city. Then shall the Lord go forth, and fight against those nations, as when he fought in the day of battle. And his feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east, and the mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof toward the east and toward the west, and there shall be a very great valley; and half of the mountain shall remove toward the north, and half of it toward the south.”
In our present perspective John’s vision is as follows: “And I saw an angel standing in the sun; and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all the fowls that fly in the midst of heaven, Come and gather yourselves together unto the supper of the great God; That ye may eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of captains, and the flesh of mighty men, and the flesh of horses, and of them that sit on them, and the flesh of all men, both free and bond, both small and great. And I saw the beast, and the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against him that sat on the horse, and against his army” (Rev 19:17- 19).
The Antichrist and his allies rally in a last- ditch stand against Christ and His heavenly hosts, but all to no avail. By a word from His mouth all their weapons of war, whether rocket launches, whether laser guns, tanks and howitzers, “Patriots” or chemical bombs, etc etc were totally paralysed. “And this shall be the plague wherewith the Lord will smite all the people that have fought against Jerusalem; Their flesh shall consume away while they stand upon their feet, and their eyes shall consume away in their holes, and their tongue shall consume away in their mouth. And it shall come to pass in that day, that a great tumult from the Lord shall be among them; and they shall lay hold every one on the hand of his neighbour, and his hand shall rise up against the hand of his neighbour” (Zech 14:12, 13).
“When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the Lord shall lift up a standard against him” (Isa 59:19). Throughout Israel’s checkered history of war after war, in their hour of utter despair, has not Jehovah come to their rescue? The opening of the Red Sea so Israel could escape on dry land, the drowning of Pharaoh and his chariots by the Red Sea closing upon them, the Conquest of Canaan under Joshua, the slaying of 185,000 of the Assyrians in one night in Hezekiel’s reign—these are some of the saving acts of God against Israel’s enemies. In modern times, how Jehovah has preserved the young nation of Israel against great odds from the Arab nations, time after time, is a reminder that God is our refuge and strength a very present help in trouble. The saving of God’s very own in history’s final Battle will be executed by the Son of God personally coming down to earth from heaven.
WWIII Criminals Sentenced Alive
“And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone” (Rev 19:20). Like the WWII War Criminals, as mentioned earlier, the Antichrist and his false prophet will be given the death sentence and consigned alive into “a lake of fire burning with brimstone” which is the hell of hells. The rest of the Antichrist armies Christ will kill by uttering one word from His mouth. Those who lie dead in the battlefields around Armageddon will become a feast for vultures and every bird of prey. These birds will be directed specially from many countries by the Spirit of God to clean up the bloody carnage of the war that ends all wars.
“The heathen raged, the kingdoms were moved: he uttered his voice, the earth melted. The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah. Come, behold the works of the Lord, what desolations he hath made in the earth. He maketh wars to cease unto the end of the earth; he breaketh the bow, and cutteth the spear in sunder; he burneth the chariot in the fire. Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth” (Ps 46:6-10).
[Source: Timothy Tow, Coming World Events Unveiled (Singapore: Far Eastern Bible College Press, 1995), pp106-110.]
REVISION OF THE CHINESE UNION VERSION (CUV)
In the Quarterly Record (Jul-Sep 2012) of the Trinitarian Bible Society (TBS), it was reported that the revision of the CUV is currently underway: “Another project of great importance to the Society and many of our supporters is the revision of the Chinese Union Version. A native Chinese pastor, well-versed in Biblical Hebrew and Greek, is engaged in this work, and despite other heavy commitments, he has completed the first draft revision of a number of Scripture portions, including the Gospel according to John. It is hoped that this will be finalised in the coming year, with a limited initial quantity printed and circulated for feedback. If well-received, it is hoped that a larger quantity could be printed towards the end of 2013, Lord willing.” This is welcome news indeed. While we wait for this work to be completed, Chinese readers would do well to use the CUV together with the Peking Mandarin Union Version of 1872 for reference. You may freely download your copy from FEBC’s website at www.febc.edu.sg/assets/pdfs/VPP/Parallel
–Bible.pdf.
We thank God for the TBS—for the Bible translation, publishing and distribution work she is doing. In the year ended December 2011, TBS distributed more than 12 million Bibles and Bible portions. The TBS promotes the Authorised Version (KJV) and all other faithful and accurate versions or translations that are based on the divinely inspired and preserved Hebrew and Greek words of the Holy Scriptures as found in the Hebrew Masoretic Text and Greek Textus Receptus.
Mr D P Rowland, General Secretary of the TBS, prays, “May the Lord raise up a new generation of faithful young men and young women who will also truly value their Bibles as the divinely inspired and preserved Word of God, and prayerfully and practically associate with the God- honouring and Christ-centred principles and work of the Society!” Truly, the Lord has raised the TBS for such a time as this!
It is my prayer as well, that True Life Bible-Presbyterian Church and the Far Eastern Bible College remain Christ- exalting and Bible-defending institutions, ever glorifying our omnipotent God and Saviour, and magnifying His inspired and preserved words especially in these last days of rampant unbelief and apostasy. “And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.” (Matt 24:12). JK
