The object of this article is to re-prove what was always clear to us all, but has been called into question in recent decades – namely – that Christ’s second coming in glory occurs at the end of the seventieth week, and not any time before that. It is necessary to do this because, according to the Pre Wrath rapture model, Christ comes in all His glory and with the holy angels, every eye seeing Him, somewhere at the middle of the second half of the seventieth week.

Another point Pre Wrath makes is that the “mourning” expressed when Christ returns in glory is a sadness at the very fact that He has returned. It is, according to Pre Wrath, the terror of the wicked express at the sixth seal. The Bible, however, teaches that many people are overjoyed and relieved at Christ’s glorious return.

The way to know when the second coming in Glory is is to look at the different second coming passages, ascertain what events they are associated with and try to locate the time of their occurrence.

This study will focus primarily on the Old Testament background for the timing of the Lord’s second coming in glory.

The Old Testament Background

Psalms

Psalm 24 speaks of the gates and everlasting doors being lifted up for the King of glory to “come in” (lit. just “come”, יבוא) after being “mighty in battle” (8). His glorious coming is closely linked with a righteous, and therefore repentant, Israel (vv. 3-6), at the beginning of the millennium (v. 1).

In Psalm 50 we read that “our God shall come” and “a fire shall devour before Him” (v. 2). His coming is associated with His shining forth from Zion (v. 1) and judging among His people Israel.

Psalm 96 records a worldwide rejoicing “before the Lord, for He is coming, for He is coming to judge the earth.” (13). “He shall judge the peoples righteously.” (10) His glory, honour and majesty are declared (3, 6) as people enter His courts with millennial sacrifices (8). It’s a joyful, not a sad, event.

In Psalm 97 “a fire goes before Him” when He comes, “and burns up His enemies round about” (v. 3), causing the mountains to “melt like wax” at His presence (v. 5) while “all the peoples see His glory”. “Zion hears and is glad”, not “sad,” and the daughters of Judah rejoice because of His judgments (v. 8), as the “multitude of isles” (sheep nations) take part in their joy. Israel’s rejoicing in His return presupposes their repentance.

One thing not to miss here is that “His lightningslight the world” (v. 4). This strongly reminds of His sign appearing in the heavens in Matthew 24:27: “For as the lightning comes from the east and flashes to the west, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be.”

Psalm 98 presents similar thoughts of the whole earth singing and shouting joyfully (1, 4-8), “for He is coming to judge the earth” and its people with equity (9). “His right hand and His holy arm have gained Him the victory,” (2) as in Isaiah 63’s “My own arm brought salvation for Me”–a clear end-of-the-seventieth-week prophecy describing Armageddon. The ends of the earth have seen His salvation, making it, again, an end-of-the-seventieth-week event.

And of course, the Messianic greeting in Psalm 118 welcomes the Lord with “Baruch Haba”, i.e., “blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD”–a greeting our Lord prophesied would have to precede His ever being seen again (Matthew 23:39).

Zechariah

In Zechariah 2, the daughter of Zion is told to “Sing and rejoice… for behold, I am coming” to dwell in her midst (10). “Many nations shall be joined to the Lord in that day” and become His people. So His coming is associated with Zion’s joy, with the beginning of the millennium, and with righteous nations joining in. We do not read of an appearance before that which causes Israel great sadness.

Zechariah 8 ties the Lord’s return with His dwelling in her midst: “I will return to Zion, and dwell in the midst of Jerusalem.” (3). The remaining verses speak of a repentant, happy and restored Israel.

Zechariah 9 speaks of Israel’s supernatural empowerment for the battle of Jerusalem (15-16) when “The Lord their God will save them” (16). This happens on “that day” (16) in which “the Lord will be seen over them and His arrow will go forth like lightning.” (14). The Lord’s being “seen over them” is an important detail to remember. It is described almost identically in Isaiah 60, showing very clearly that Christ’s glorious light, when He appears over Israel, is an undiminishing light at the end of the 70^th Week. We will return to this later.

Zechariah 12 is of crucial importance. It has the drama at its peak/climax. God actually “makes” Jerusalem a cup of drunkenness and a heavy stone for all the nations (2-3) so that He can show His might and saving power by cutting them in pieces when they gather against her (4). He supernaturally empowers Israel for the battle and saves them (5-9). It’s on that day that God pours upon them the spirit of grace and supplication and “they will look on Me whom they pierced” and “mourn for Him as one mourns for his only son, and grieve for Him as one grieves for a firstborn… the land shall mourn, every family by itself” (10-14). They will at last see their elder brother Yeshua, Whom they pierced, and recognize the old national sin they have repudiated for 2,000 years. It will be the greatest national mourning of all time.

John relates this by saying: “Behold, He is coming with clouds, and every eye will see Him, even they who pierced Him. And all the tribes of the earth will mourn because of Him.” (Rev. 1:7). When Jesus was on trial at Annas’ home, He regarded His coming in glory as His vindication by saying “I am,” (the Messiah, that is) “and you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Power, and coming with the clouds of heaven.” (Mark 14:62). It’s then, and only then, that Israel sees the crucified One for the first time after His humiliation—when He comes with the clouds of heaven in power and glory.

It’s rather sad that the climactic Zechariah 12 passage has little mention or importance in Alan Kurschner’s “Antichrist Before the Day of the LORD” book.

Zechariah 13-14. Again, that same Day, water starts flowing from Jerusalem (13:1) and false prophets are purged from Israel’s midst (13:2-6).

It’s also at that final battle of Jerusalem that “Thus the Lord my God will come, and all the saints with You”. Christ’s feet will stand on the mount of Olives from whence He ascended, to provide an escape route for His people (14:1-5). The turning off of normal daylight, and the appearance of His supernatural light in the evening, are mentioned together with the flow of water from Jerusalem and the beginning of His millennial reign (14:6-9), tying His coming in glory, once again, to the very end of the seventieth week.

Isaiah

Isaiah 25. “And it will be said in that day: “Behold, this is our God; We have waited for Him, and He will save us. This is the Lord [lit. this is Yahveh]; We have waited for Him; We will be glad and rejoice in His salvation”” (9). When Jesus was seen the first time by His people Israel, He was rejected. The second time He will be seen—He will not be rejected or ignored. He will be waited for. His second coming in glory will bring joy, comfort and relief to His people.¹

Isaiah 42. All the inhabitants from the islands and coastlands to the ends of the earth break out in joyful song because “The Lord shall go forth like a mighty man… [and] prevail against His enemies” (10-13). This shows an opposite dynamic from what Pre Wrath presents.

Isaiah 52 says that the watchmen of Zion “shall see eye to eye when the Lord brings back Zion [alt. returns to Zion]”. It’s good to check the Israeli secular and religious commentaries, who have no axe to grind when it comes to evangelical eschatology. They say that “eye to eye” means Jehovah’s return will be seen from close proximity,² and that they will see with their eyes the return of the Shekinah to Zion.³ And again, there is great joy and comfort when He returns (7-9), not sadness.

Verse 10 is particulary interesting. It says “The Lord has made bare His holy arm in the eyes of all the nations; and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God.” The Lord’s “holy arm” and “God’s Salvation” are both references to the Messiah Himself⁴ made bare for every eye to see when He comes in glory. This happens when God “has redeemed Jerusalem.” (8)

Isaiah 59 has a long section detailing Israel’s repentance and hearty confession of her sin. It’s then that the Lord sets out to repay with fury against His adversaries and causes them to “fear the name of the Lord from the west, and His glory from the rising of the sun” (19). He returns to Zion only once they turn from transgression: “The Redeemer will come to Zion, and to those who turn from transgression in Jacob” (20). The last verse (21) talks about Israel’s continued faithfulness to the Lord during the Millennium, once again showing that the timing of Lord’s coming in glory is intimately connected to Zion’s redemption, not to their rejection of Him.

Isaiah 60 is of crucial importance in understanding the exact timing of Jesus’ coming in glory. “Arise, shine; For your light has come! And the glory of the Lord is risen upon you.” (1). The great light of Jesus’ glory is seen upon Zion, and Zion rejoices because the Messiah, her light, has come. This coming is associated with the final and glorious regathering of Israel (vv. 4, 8-9, 22) and God’s abundant blessing to her, both spiritually and temporaly by making all other nations subservient to her (vv. 5-7, 10-18, 21). This occurs at the end of the 70th Week.

The almost identical Hebrew wording for “His glory will be seen upon you” (2) and Zechariah 9’s “Then the Lord will be seen over them” (v. 14)⁵ is a strong indication that it is speaking of the same event, which, according to Zechariah 9, is also placed together with the Lord’s defence of Israel during the last battle for Zion (vv. 15-16). So the overwhelming majority of references tie His glorious coming to the end of the seventieth week. It’s hard to find references that don’t tie His glorious coming to that point in the seventieth week.

Furthermore, the light that shines upon Israel when He comes never diminishes but rather makes the sun and moon redundant (vv. 19-20). It stays throughout the Millennium.⁶ This would be impossible if His glorious appearing were at any other time other than the very end stages of the seventieth week.

Isaiah 63:1-6: Armageddon as the glorious second coming. Verses 1-6 relate Jesus’ coming from Edom after His slaughter there. This is none other than the last battle of Armageddon (which does not occur in Armageddon itself). We know this because a few clear elements are repeated in the clear Armageddon passage of Revelation 19, such as His garment being stained with blood (Rev 19:13) after He treads the winepress of the fierceness of God’s wrath against the nations (Rev 19:15). The birds are then invited to feast from this slaughter (Rev 19:17).

“This One who is glorious in His apparel” (Isaiah 63:1) obviously corresponds to Revelation 19’s grandeur—His white horse, His flaming eyes and the many crowns on His head, the sharp sword coming out of His mouth and His title, “King of Kings and Lord of Lords”, being written on His robe and thigh (11-12, 15-16). Not to mention His armies with Him in white robes and horses. It’s an obvious display of majesty only found at the closing stages of the seventieth week. However, this magnificence is not present around the time of the sixth seal, which is the alleged time of Jesus’ coming in glory, according to Pre Wrath. This is one reason Kurschnerite Pre Wrath heavily downplays the majesty of Jesus’ coming in glory as described in Revelation 19. Pre Wrath prefers that glory to be in Revelation 6, where it clearly is not.

Isaiah 63:1-6 is also tied to Isaiah 34 because both passages state that it’s “the day of vengeance against the nations” and “fury against all their armies” (34:2, 8), and that this bloodbath takes place in Edom (34:3, 5-7). It, too, is referred to as a great sacrifice and “great slaughter” (34:6) bringing utter destruction upon the enemy (34:2).

Isaiah 30 also speaks of this particular coming: “Behold, the name of the Lord comes from afar, burning with His anger, and His burden is heavy; His lips are full of indignation, and His tongue like a devouring fire” (27). The connection with Armageddon in Revelation 16 cannot be overlooked. The nations have a bridle put in their jaws as they’re led astray into battle (Isaiah 30:28). In Revelation we are told that this leading into battle is done through evil spirits using signs to convince them (Rev 16:12-16). In this “day of the great slaughter” (Isaiah 30:25) God rains hailstones upon His enemies (Isaiah 30:30)—just like the hailstones of the seventh bowl (Rev 16:21) after the gathering at Armageddon (Rev 16:16). And of course, Christ brings salvation with Him (Isaiah 63:5) resulting in festive singing and joy for His people (30:29), not sadness.

This would be a good place to explain the connection between Armageddon and Edom. Depending on the location in Edom, it could be as far as 150 miles away from Armageddon. The last great battle, however, does not take place in Armageddon, but in Edom. Armageddon is only the place in which the Antichrist assembles his armies for battle, while the real battle is in that place in the wilderness to which the Jews of Judea fled, which is very likely the wilderness of Edom. Antichrist will bring his armies there and to Jerusalem in a last attempt to annihilate the Jewish people. It is at this point that Messiah comes and saves them (Zechariah 12).

Isaiah 63:15 – 64:12:Israel’s Pleading. “Look down from heaven, and see from Your habitation, holy and glorious. Where are Your zeal and Your strength, the yearning of Your heart and Your mercies toward me? Are they restrained? … Return for Your servants’ sake, the tribes of Your inheritance… our adversaries have trodden down Your sanctuary… Oh, that You would rend the heavens! That You would come down!That the mountains might shake⁷at Your presence—as fire burns brushwood, as fire causes water to boil—to make Your name known to Your adversaries, that the nations may tremble at Your presence! … Your holy cities are a wilderness, Zion is a wilderness, Jerusalem a desolation. Our holy and beautiful temple, where our fathers praised You, is burned up with fire; And all our pleasant things are laid waste.”

This very moving prayer of supplication, and all similar ones (found Psalm 80, Isaiah 25-26 and others), belong to Israel: they are spoken by Israel, and concern Israel, and only Israel. There are no such prayers of the church found in the Scripture, despite the fact the church, today, vastly outnumbers Israel. This lack of representation is easily explained by the fact that the church will not be present on earth during the time that these prayers are uttered.

The setting of Isaiah 63:15-64:12 is clear: the abomination of desolation has been set up in the Holy Temple. Jerusalem is being trampled by Antichrist’s troops at the exact midpoint of the seventieth week (Revelation 11:1-2). Israel has fled to the wilderness, to the place designated for her (Revelation 12) and the land has become desolate. Now Israel is repenting, pleading, entreating the Lord to “return” (v. 17). It is exactly as the Lord said shortly before His crucifixion, that “you shall see Me no more till you say, ‘Blessed is He who comes…’” This time, Israel is repentant and ready to welcome their Messiah. Now they are asking Him to come, after they rejected Him 2,000 years for. So the pattern remains: first repentance, then return in glory.

Now, if Christ had already returned in glory and flaming fire by the time this prayer is prayed, as Kurschner would most probably have it, then this prayer of Israel’s would be meaningless at best—purely insolent at worst. But Christ has not yet returned with fire when this prayer is prayed, because as we see from this and other passages, the glory and return in flaming fire are reserved for the very end of the seventieth week (Psalm 50:2, Psalm 97:3, Isaiah 30:27, 66:15-16). Psalm 97:3-6 is a particular fulfilment to this prophetic prayer.

Isaiah 66 says “the Lord will come with fire.” Three times (15-16) the passage mentions fire as part of His coming in glory “with His chariots”. “The slain of the Lord shall be many” when He comes “to render His anger with fury.” Yet Jerusalem and all who love her rejoice together with her, making His coming a joy and comfort to many who have waited for it (10-11, 13-14). Like many other prophetic Scriptures, this passage speaks about that time of the end of the Day of the Lord and the beginning of the Millennial reign, and once again associates Christ’s coming with millennial glory and joy. Its natural placement would be at the very end of the seventieth week.⁸

Daniel

Daniel 7 is crucial in understanding the timing of the Lord’s coming in glory. First, it immediately associates His coming in the clouds of heaven with His receiving and beginning the Kingdom: “…behold, One like the Son of Man, coming with the clouds of heaven!… Then to Him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom” (13-14). Secondly, it mentions the Antichrist “making war against the saints,” for three and one half years, “and prevailing against them, until the Ancient of Days came”. (21-22, 25). The Antichrist continues his persecution for three and a half years, until Messiah comes. So the only coming recorded here is the one in the clouds, at the very end of the second half of the seventieth week. There is no glorious coming recorded during the persecution period—only after it.

Daniel 12’s first 3 verses show that Israel will undergo the greatest tribulation humanity has ever known, but Michael the archangel will rise up to help them (v. 1).⁹ At the end of this time, Israel’s elect will be delivered and there will be a resurrection (vv. 1b-2). Jeremiah 30:7 also teaches that Israel will be delivered out of the time of “Jacob’s trouble” (same word for “Tribulation”), a day which compares to nothing else in history for its severity (30:7). It doesn’t speak about Israel being delivered out of a separate and worse phase that comes after that tribulation. So presumably, the deliverance is at the end of the severe three and a half year persecution (Daniel 7:21-22, 25), hence at the end of the seventieth week.

A Note on the Resurrection before the Millennium

Note that it is a resurrection that is mentioned in Daniel 12:2, not a rapture. This is true of other Old Testament resurrection passages as well, such as Isaiah 26:19, as there was no concept of a rapture of the saints in the Old Testament. The concluding verse of Daniel 12 (and of the whole book) shows the same: “But you, go your way till the end; for you shall rest, and will arise to your inheritance at the end of the days.” (v. 13). Old Testament saints like Daniel rest peacefully through the great catastrophes of the apocalypse until they are raised (not raptured) to inherit their lot in the Millennial Kingdom.¹⁰ Resurrection language, not rapture language, is also employed in the resurrection of the martyrs in Revelation 20:4-6.

Another confirmation that this resurrection occurs at the end of the seventieth week comes from a comparison of this passage with Jesus’ parables. Following the resurrection in Daniel 12:2, verse 3 tells us that “those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the firmament, and those who turn many to righteousness like the stars forever and ever.” Jesus referred to this in Matthew 13:41-43, when He said: “The Son of Man will send out His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all things that offend, and those who practice lawlessness, and will cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth. Then the righteous will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears to hear, let him hear!”.

Note that this passage occurs when Jesus removes the unrighteous out of His kingdom on that glorious day when He establishes it. It’s describing the opposite process from of a rapture. The rapture is removing the righteous element out of Satan’s kingdom¹¹ while in this passage the wicked are removed from the world, with the help of angels, before the Kingdom starts. It is then that the righteous shine, once again placing the Daniel 12:2-3 resurrection at the end of the seventieth week—not at any time before that.

To summarise the Old Testament part:

All of the events mentioned above, without exception, tie the coming of the Lord to the ending stages of the 70th week. It is upon this Old Testament understanding that the New Testament expands, expecting the reader to be informed of these passages.

A Selection of New Testament Passages

Matthew 24

Pre Wrath rapturists make heavy use of Matthew 24 as a basis for their teaching. This would be a good opportunity to address the timing of the second coming in glory from Matthew 24 and briefly address some of the main points raised by Pre Wrathers through this chapter.

The sign of His coming. In verse 3 Jesus was asked “what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age.” Pre Wrathers argue that this sign must of necessity be the darkening of the sun and moon while stars are falling, mentioned in verse 29. This sign heralds the end of the Great Tribulation, which is “shortened” to be less than 3½ years (v. 22), after which the church is removed so that the Day of the Lord can start and God’s wrath can be poured out. Since the sixth seal (Rev. 6:12-17) has darkening and stars falling etc., then it obviously is the unmistakable sign described by Jesus, hence His coming is after the sixth seal. Answer: The sign of Jesus’ coming in glory is not the darkening of the sun and moon and the falling of the stars. As verse 30 says, “Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven.” “Then” means His sign will appear after such celestial disturbances. They in themselves do not constitute His sign. His sign is what He mentioned in verse 27, “as the lightning comes from the east and flashes to the west, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be.” This means the sixth seal is not the sign of His second coming. In fact, the second coming is not in the sixth seal at all: it doesn’t mention His coming, there is no light, lighting or shining, no Shekinah glory mentioned, no clouds, angels or trumpets, etc. One must come to terms with the fact that severe celestial signs appear more than once during the seventieth week, but Christ’s glory appears only once, at the end of it.
Matthew 24 is dealing with the Israeli Jews in the end times. It is not general. “Let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains” (v. 16), “that your flight may not be … on the Sabbath” (v. 20), etc. This corresponds exactly with the woman (Israel) fleeing to the desert in Revelation 12. Both of these passages occur exactly after the setting up of the abomination of desolation at the midpoint of the seventieth week. As seen in Daniel ch. 7:21-22, 25, the severe persecution of the saints lasts for 3½ years—not a day less or more—at the end of which Christ comes in the clouds of heaven. Therefore, His coming in glory is at the end of the second half of the seventieth week. The Tribulation is not literally “shortened” (v. 22)—it simply means it won’t last longer than its designated time.
Duration of the Great Tribulation. a) The Great Tribulation is the toughest period humanity will ever know. This is emphasised in three places: “such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be” (v. 21); “that day is great, so that none is like it;” (Jeremiah 30:7); “such as never was since there was a nation, even to that time” (Daniel 12:1). Since it is the worst day that ever has been and ever will be, it cannot be followed by a day that is “worse than the worst ever.” The distinction between the Great Tribulation and the Day of the Lord is therefore artificial. b) Dr. Andy Woods correctly points out that it would make no sense at all for the Great Tribulation to be cut short, otherwise “no flesh would be saved”, only to be followed by a worse phase. The whole point of this shortening would be relief or cessation of judgments and culling. c) Both Jeremiah 30:7 and Daniel 12:1 indicate that Israel will saved out of the Great Tribulation (“he shall be saved out of it [out of Jacob’s trouble]”, “at that time [of the Great Tribulation] your people shall be delivered”.¹² These indicate that the Great Tribulation lasts until Israel’s salvation at the end of the seventieth week, when Christ returns to save them.
Who is told “do not go out”? Isaiah 26:20 speaks of the remnant of Israel during the second half of the seventieth week: “Come, my people, enter your chambers, and shut your doors behind you; Hide yourself, as it were, for a little moment, until the indignation [heb. זעם, Wrath] is past.” In the Olivet discourse, Jesus is giving specific instructions to the remnant of Israel. The Antichrist, seeing he can’t devour them on the way to their hiding place (Rev. 12:14-17), will employ false prophets and christs (Matthew 24:23-25) to lure the remnant out of their hiding place. Christ’s instructions are very specific: when they say Christ is out in the desert, “do not go out” (v. 26). Out of where? Out of the chambers they are hiding in. It is not a general instruction for the church. They’ll then try saying “Look, He is in the inner rooms!” which the remnant mustn’t believe either (v. 27). They are to remain in their hiding place for 1,260 days (Rev. 12:14) until it’s clear that Christ has come to deliver them: “For as the lightning comes from the east and flashes to the west, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be.” This happens at the end of the seventieth week.

Matthew 25

In verses 31-35, it’s amply clear that the judgment of the sheep and goats, which occurs at the end of the seventieth week, occurs immediately after Jesus arrives in glory:

“When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory. All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats…”. It is then that Jesus starts His millennial kingdom, welcoming into it redeemed Israel and all the sheep nations. “Then the King will say to those on His right hand, ‘Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:”

Now we’ll turn to the epistles.

2 Thessalonians 1 says: “⁶since it is a righteous thing with God to repay with tribulation those who trouble you, ⁷and to give you who are troubled rest with us when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with His mighty angels, ⁸in flaming fire taking vengeance on those who do not know God, and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. ⁹These shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power, ¹⁰when He comes, in that Day, to be glorified in His saints and to be admired among all those who believe, because our testimony among you was believed.”

Firstly, this passage shows that when God repays those who afflicted His church, it is regarded as “tribulation,” (v. 6) using the same Greek word that is used throughout the New Testament for the tribulation (thlipsis). It’s not “Man’s wrath”, “Satan’s wrath” or any separate phase that comes after the tribulation. This tribulation is God’s retribution.

Secondly, Jesus’ coming with flaming fire (vv. 8, 10) gives rest to those who are persecuted (v. 7). One might ask if the saints are not already rested when they have died and gone to be with the Lord? However, we learn from the souls of the saints under the altar (Revelation 6:9-11) that even among those who have already died in the Lord, and especially for Him, there is an element of unrest which remains until “that day” when He comes—that day in which He is vindicated and publicly glorified with all His saints (v. 10). This happens when His opponents “shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power” (v. 9), at the end of the seventieth week.¹³

2 Thessalonians 2:8 says that “the Lord will consume [the Antichrist] with the breath of His mouth and destroy [him] with the brightness of His coming.” This shows very clearly that when the Lord comes in glory, the Antichrist will be destroyed by the brightness of it. It’s not a long and gradual process of destruction.¹⁴ This once again places Jesus’ coming in glory at the very end of the seventieth week.

And Finally, Revelation 19 shows Christ’s splendor and glory in His return to the earth at the end of the seventieth week, at the battle of Armageddon.

All of these, and more, point clearly to a return in glory at the end of the seventieth week, and only then.

1The force of the Hebrew in Isaiah 12:2 “Behold, God is my salvation” is similar to Isaiah 25:9 and could read: “Here is the God of my salvation” (12:2) and “Here is our God” (25:9) such as when a person points with his finger to something that he sees. But since this is different from the overwhelming majority of translations, I rest my case. However, it’s worth mentioning that Isaiah 12:2 also closely connects Christ’s arrival with the millennial joy and blessing of a repentant Israel.

2S. L. Gordon, תורה נביאים כתובים עם ביאור חדש Masada, 1947, in his Isaiah volume, p. 117.: “עין בעין—כלומר: מקרוב—יראו בשוב יהוה ציון—כאשר ישוב לציון”.

3E. S. Artom, known in Israel as the Cassuto commentary, Isaiah volume, p. 162, 1990 Yavnaeh Publishing House.

4Isaiah 40:10, 49:6, 53:1, 66:14, Psalm 80:17, 98:1-3, 118:15-16, Luke 2:30

5Zechariah 9:14: וַיהוָה עֲלֵיהֶם יֵרָאֶה, Isaiah 60:2: וְעָלַיִךְ יִזְרַח יְהוָה, וּכְבוֹדוֹ עָלַיִךְ יֵרָאֶה.

6See also Isaiah 2:5, where it’s clear Jehovah’s light, to which all Gentiles come, never diminishes.

7KJV “flow down,” LXX “melt”, same as Young’s, Webster’s and Douay-Rheims. This would be more in line with Psalm 97 where “the mountains melt like wax at the presence of the Lord”.

8In that passage, when it talks about those who have not seen His glory (19), it’s clearly referring to His glory in the temple, since at His coming, every eye saw His glory, from East to West.

9The word for “stand up” or “rise up” is the same as Mordecai’s “relief and deliverance will arise for the Jews from another place” (Esther 4:14). It does not mean “to desist,” as Rosenthal suggested, but has the meaning of rising up to defend, as all Bible translations suggest, none excepted.

10In his book, Rosenthal tried to explain why the term “the end” means “somewhere in the middle of the second half of the seventieth week”. But any thinker should ask himself why anyone would insist that “the end” should mean “three quarters through the seventieth week” and not simply the end of it.

11See also Matthew 13:49.

12Rosenthal asserts that this deliverance is the rapture. See his strained explanation in his book, “The Pre-Wrath Rapture of the Church”, Marvin Rosenthal, p. 267.

13See how Christ’s coming with flaming fire is always associated with the end of the seventieth week: Psalm 50:2, Psalm 97:3, Isaiah 30:27, 63:17-64:2, 66:15-16.

14Pre Wrathers are aware of the fact that the Antichrist should be destroyed with the brightness of Christ’s coming. This creates a problem for them since they moved “the brightness of His coming” a few years back to the area of the sixth seal and have the Antichrist still waging war a few years later. To make it look better they invented the “Gradual Demise” doctrine, according to which the Antichrist is on a slow and gradual demise that lasts a few years, beginning at the Trumpet judgments. This doctrine was never heard of and was practically invented out of thin air only to facilitate the Pre Wrath model.