The Second Coming of Jesus Christ: Armageddon and the Restoration of Israel

Part 7 of 10 — End-Time Prophecy: A Chronological Bible Study

The Second Coming of Jesus Christ marks the glorious conclusion of the Great Tribulation and the fulfillment of God’s promises concerning His return to establish His Kingdom. In this seventh part of our chronological study of End-Time prophecy, we examine the gathering of the nations for the Battle of Armageddon, Christ’s victorious return, the destruction of the Antichrist and the False Prophet, and the restoration of Israel as God’s prophetic purposes move toward the establishment of Christ’s Millennial Kingdom.

The Return of Jesus Christ, the Defeat of the Beast, and the Restoration of Israel

The nations have gathered, the judgments of the Tribulation have reached their appointed conclusion, and the beast stands at the height of his defiance. Yet the final outcome does not depend upon the military strength of the nations or the ability of Israel to deliver itself. The conclusion of Daniel’s seventieth week belongs to Jesus Christ. The same Lord who came in humility to bear the sins of the world will return in glory to judge its rebellion, deliver His people, and establish the kingdom promised by the prophets.

To understand this moment, we must read Revelation 19 alongside the words of Jesus in Matthew 24, the visions of Daniel, the promises of Zechariah, and Paul’s explanation of Israel’s future in Romans 11. Each passage supplies part of the picture. Together they show that Christ’s return is not merely the ending of a terrible period in history. It is the public revelation of the rightful King.

The Visible Return of the Son of Man

“Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken:” (Matthew 24:29, KJV).

“And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.” (Matthew 24:30, KJV).

Jesus places this appearing after the Tribulation and describes it as an event witnessed by the nations. This is the visible return of Christ in glory. In the pretribulational framework followed throughout our study, it is distinguished from the earlier gathering of believers to Christ described in 1 Thessalonians 4:16–17 and 1 Corinthians 15:51–52. At the Rapture, believers are caught up to meet the Lord; at His glorious appearing, the King comes to confront the nations gathered in rebellion and to establish His rule. Both events concern the same Lord and the same ultimate hope, but the passages emphasize different purposes and circumstances.

The imagery of the heavens being shaken also connects Jesus’ teaching with the prophets. Isaiah 13:9–13, Joel 2:30–31, and Joel 3:14–16 associate cosmic disturbance with the Day of the Lord and divine judgment. These passages are not competing accounts. They reveal the magnitude of the event from different perspectives.

Heaven Opens and the King of Kings Appears

“And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war.” (Revelation 19:11, KJV).

“And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God.” (Revelation 19:13, KJV).

“And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.” (Revelation 19:16, KJV).

John’s description leaves no doubt about the identity or authority of the rider. He is Faithful and True, the Word of God, and King of kings and Lord of lords. The title “Word of God” connects this vision with John 1:1–3 and 1:14, where the eternal Word is identified as God and as the One who became flesh. The One who created all things now comes to exercise judgment over the world He created.

The white horse in Revelation 19 must not be confused with the white horse of the first seal in Revelation 6:1–2. The first seal introduces a rider whose identity must be considered within the unfolding judgments. Revelation 19, by contrast, explicitly identifies its rider through titles and descriptions belonging to Jesus Christ. The similarities in imagery do not make the two riders the same person.

“And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean.” (Revelation 19:14, KJV).

Earlier in Revelation 19, the Lamb’s wife is granted fine linen, clean and white, and the text identifies the linen with the righteousness of saints (Revelation 19:7–8). This provides a strong connection between the heavenly armies accompanying Christ and His redeemed people. Jude 14–15 also speaks of the Lord coming with His saints to execute judgment, while Matthew 25:31 describes the holy angels accompanying Him. The heavenly company therefore need not be reduced to only one group. What matters to the sequence is that Christ returns in heavenly glory and that His victory is entirely His own.

The Battle Ends by the Authority of Christ

“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.” (Revelation 19:19, KJV).

Part Six followed the gathering described in Revelation 16:13–16, where deceiving spirits draw the kings of the earth toward the battle of the great day of God Almighty. Revelation 19 now reveals the outcome. The beast and the kings have assembled against Christ, but the passage does not describe a prolonged contest between equal powers. The Lord who spoke creation into existence requires no human assistance to overcome the armies opposing Him.

“And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming:” (2 Thessalonians 2:8, KJV).

Paul’s description of the man of lawlessness corresponds with John’s portrayal of the beast’s defeat. The ruler who exalted himself, demanded worship, and persecuted the saints is destroyed by the appearing of Christ. Daniel 7:11 likewise portrays the destruction of the boastful beast, while Daniel 7:26 declares that his dominion will be taken away. These passages converge upon the same conclusion: the authority permitted to the beast is temporary, and the kingdom belongs to God.

“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.” (Revelation 19:20, KJV).

The beast and the false prophet are not merely removed from political office. Their judgment is personal and final. The false prophet’s signs had been used to direct worship toward the beast and to deceive those who received his mark. Their partnership in rebellion ends with both cast into the lake of fire. Revelation 19:21 then describes the defeat of the remaining hostile forces. This brings the beast’s earthly dominion to its end before the thousand-year reign described in Revelation 20.

The Lord Intervenes at Jerusalem

“Then shall the LORD go forth, and fight against those nations, as when he fought in the day of battle.” (Zechariah 14:3, KJV).

“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;” (Zechariah 14:4, KJV).

Zechariah gives a geographical dimension to the Lord’s intervention. Jerusalem has been the focus of the nations’ assault, and the Lord comes to fight for His people. The Mount of Olives, east of Jerusalem, is specifically named. Acts 1:9–12 records that Jesus ascended from the vicinity of the Mount of Olives, and the angels declared that He would return in the manner in which He departed. These passages reinforce the expectation of a real, personal return, not merely an invisible change in the world’s spiritual condition.

Zechariah also describes extraordinary changes to the land and the emergence of living waters from Jerusalem (Zechariah 14:8–10). These details belong to the transformation associated with the Lord’s reign. The prophecy is therefore concerned not only with Israel’s rescue from its enemies, but also with the renewal of conditions under the rule of its Messiah.

Israel Recognizes the One Whom They Pierced

“And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son,” (Zechariah 12:10, KJV).

The deliverance of Israel is not merely a military rescue. Zechariah describes a profound spiritual response as the people look upon the One who was pierced. The mourning is personal and national in character, reaching the families of the land (Zechariah 12:11–14). John 19:37 applies the language of the pierced One to Jesus at His crucifixion, and Revelation 1:7 associates His coming with the recognition and mourning of those who pierced Him. The rejected Messiah is revealed as Israel’s deliverer.

This also brings us back to the central question addressed in Romans 9–11. God’s covenant promises to Israel do not establish a second way of salvation. Jewish ancestry cannot remove sin, and the nation is not saved by military deliverance alone. Israel’s restoration is bound to repentance, faith, and the saving work of Jesus Christ. The same Savior who redeems believing Gentiles is the One through whom Israel receives mercy.

“And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob:” (Romans 11:26, KJV).

“For this is my covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins.” (Romans 11:27, KJV).

Paul’s words follow his discussion of Israel’s present partial hardening, the inclusion of Gentiles, and the fullness of the Gentiles (Romans 11:25). In this prophetic framework, “all Israel shall be saved” points to the future national turning of Israel to Christ. It does not require us to conclude that every Jewish person who has ever lived is saved irrespective of faith, or that every individual living in Israel at that moment must necessarily be converted. The emphasis is the promised restoration of Israel as a people through the removal of ungodliness and forgiveness of sins.

Zechariah 13:1 likewise speaks of a fountain opened to the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem for sin and uncleanness. The language of cleansing makes the spiritual nature of this restoration unmistakable. The King who defeats Israel’s enemies is also the Redeemer who takes away sin.

The Son of Man Receives the Kingdom Promised in Daniel

“And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages, should serve him: his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed.” (Daniel 7:14, KJV).

Daniel’s vision of the Son of Man receiving dominion stands in direct contrast to the succession of beastly kingdoms that precedes it. The fourth beast and the little horn may exercise terrible power for a limited time, but their authority ends. The dominion given to the Son of Man does not pass away. Revelation 11:15 anticipates this triumph when heavenly voices announce that the kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of the Lord and of His Christ. Revelation 19 reveals the King appearing to accomplish that victory.

The prophets also connect the Messiah’s reign with Israel’s covenant promises. Isaiah 9:6–7 speaks of the throne of David and a kingdom established with judgment and justice. Jeremiah 23:5–6 promises a righteous Branch from David who will reign as King and execute judgment and justice in the earth. Luke 1:32–33 records the angel’s announcement that Jesus will receive the throne of His father David and reign over the house of Jacob forever. These promises explain why the restoration of Israel and the establishment of Christ’s kingdom belong together in this study.

The Nations Are Gathered Before the King for Judgment

“When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory:” (Matthew 25:31, KJV).

“And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats:” (Matthew 25:32, KJV).

After describing His coming in glory, Jesus speaks of a judgment in which the nations are gathered before Him. The sheep are welcomed into the kingdom, while the goats depart into punishment (Matthew 25:34, 41, 46). Within the premillennial chronology we are following, this judgment belongs to the transition between the Tribulation and the establishment of Christ’s earthly reign. It concerns those who remain alive when the King appears, rather than the final judgment of the dead described after the Millennium in Revelation 20:11–15.

Jesus describes the treatment of His brethren as evidence in this judgment. Those welcomed by the King had shown mercy to the hungry, thirsty, stranger, naked, sick, and imprisoned; those condemned had failed to do so. These actions must not be separated from the wider biblical teaching that salvation is by grace through faith. Rather, the deeds reveal the reality of the individuals’ response to Christ. Genuine faith produces a proper, obedient response to what God has revealed. The judgment exposes that reality.

This distinction also helps explain who enters the Millennial Kingdom in mortal bodies. The Church saints raised and glorified at the Rapture do not return to ordinary mortal life. Revelation 20:4–6 also describes the resurrection and reign of those who were martyred for refusing the beast. Yet the prophetic picture includes people who survive the Tribulation and enter the kingdom as living human beings. The separation described in Matthew 25 provides a natural place in this chronology for the identification of those who enter the earthly kingdom and those who are excluded.

Daniel’s Additional Days and the Transition to the Kingdom

“And from the time that the daily sacrifice shall be taken away, and the abomination that maketh desolate set up, there shall be a thousand two hundred and ninety days.” (Daniel 12:11, KJV).

“Blessed is he that waiteth, and cometh to the thousand three hundred and five and thirty days.” (Daniel 12:12, KJV).

Daniel 12:7 speaks of a time, times, and an half, corresponding to the three-and-a-half-year period that is also expressed as 1,260 days in Revelation 12:6 and as forty-two months in Revelation 13:5. Daniel then gives the additional figures of 1,290 and 1,335 days, counted from the removal of the daily sacrifice and the setting up of the abomination. These numbers extend thirty and seventy-five days beyond a 1,260-day comparison, respectively.

The additional days may accommodate events associated with the transition into the kingdom, including the judgment of the nations, the removal of opposition, and preparations for Christ’s reign. Nevertheless, Daniel does not expressly identify what occurs on each additional day. We should retain the numbers he gives without assigning an invented calendar to the events. The return of Christ, the defeat of the beast, the judgment of the nations, and the establishment of the kingdom are revealed; their exact spacing within this transition is not fully specified.

The Defeat of the Beast Is Not Yet the Final Judgment of Satan

The beast and false prophet have been cast into the lake of fire, but Revelation does not end with their defeat. The next chapter introduces another decisive act: Satan himself is bound and confined so that he can no longer deceive the nations during the thousand years (Revelation 20:1–3). This is an important chronological distinction. Satan’s confinement at the beginning of the Millennium is not the same event as his final casting into the lake of fire after the thousand years (Revelation 20:7–10).

The rebellion that began with the serpent will not be permitted to govern the coming kingdom. Christ will reign, His saints will share in that reign, and the nations will live under His righteous authority. Yet Scripture also reveals a final testing after the thousand years, followed by the Great White Throne judgment and the new heaven and new earth. These events belong to the next stages of our chronological study.

From the Tribulation to the Reign of the King

We have now followed the final conflict to its conclusion. Jesus Christ appears in power and great glory. The beast and false prophet are defeated and judged. Jerusalem is delivered, Israel is brought face to face with its pierced Messiah, and the promises of the prophets move toward fulfillment. The nations stand before the King, and those welcomed into His kingdom enter a world no longer governed by the beast’s deception and persecution.

God’s Word is written from His perspective for our perspective. Daniel, Zechariah, Jesus, Paul, and John each reveal aspects of this same prophetic conclusion. When we compare their testimony, the central sequence becomes clear even where Scripture does not disclose every intervening day. The King returns, His enemies are defeated, His people are delivered, and His kingdom is established. Our study now moves to the binding of Satan, the first resurrection, and the thousand-year reign of Jesus Christ described in Revelation 20.