The Second Coming: Global or Local?
Although many Christians believe the second coming will be a global event, the New Testament teaches it would be a local event, albeit with global significance–just like the first coming. At his first coming, Jesus sacrificed himself on the cross for the sins of the world–past, present and future. Although this was a local event that very few people outside Judea even knew about, nevertheless, it had global significance and reached backward and forward in time. It was the same with the second coming. The second coming was a local event that happened in time, yet it had global significance and reached backward and forward in time.
Let me begin by proving that the second coming was a local event. Consider what Jesus told his disciples to do when the day drew near: “But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that its desolation is near. Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains, let those who are in the midst of her depart, and let not those who are in the country enter her” (Luke 21:20-21, italics mine). Now ask yourself a question: What good would fleeing to the mountains do if the world was ending? Obviously none! By the way, we know Jesus was talking about his second coming because he says just a few verses later: “And there will be signs in the sun, in the moon, and in the stars; and on the earth distress of nations, with perplexity, the sea and the waves roaring; men’s hearts failing them from fear and the expectation of those things which are coming on the earth, for the powers of the heavens will be shaken. Then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory” (Luke 21:25-27, italics mine). Jesus clearly believed his second coming would be a local event, one that could be avoided by fleeing Jerusalem/Judea. (Jerusalem was the capital of Judea.)
In another second coming passage, Jesus compared his coming to the judgment of Sodom (Luke 17:29-30), which was a local judgment that Lot and his family avoided by heeding the angel’s advice and fleeing the city (Gen. 19:12-29). In fact, after comparing his second coming to the judgment of Sodom, Jesus said: “In that day, he who is on the housetop, and his goods are in the house, let him not come down to take them away. And likewise the one who is in the field, let him not turn back” (Luke 17:31). In other words, “Run…and don’t look back!” Once again the question should be asked: What good would running do if the second coming was a global event? Clearly, Jesus believed the second coming would be a local event, one that could be avoided by fleeing Judea.
Here is another telling statement Jesus made about his second coming: “Pray that your flight may not be in winter or on the Sabbath” (Matt. 24:20, 30). Again, why bother fleeing if it was going to be a global event? Such statements make perfect sense in first-century Judea, but they make no sense for today. Regarding the reference to winter, people in Jesus’s day traveled by foot or animal, so cold weather mattered tremendously. Today, however, we have much better means of transportation–cars, trains, airplanes with heaters–so bad weather is not all that significant. Regarding the reference to the Sabbath, in Jesus’s day traveling on the Sabbath–from sundown Friday to sundown Saturday–mattered a lot because it was forbidden by Jewish law to travel more than 2,000 cubits or ¾ mile on the Sabbath (Ex. 16: 29, Num. 35: 5). Moreover, business establishments throughout Judea were closed during the Sabbath, so it was very difficult to purchase travel supplies. Plus, Jerusalem was surrounded by a wall (before the Roman armies leveled it in AD 70), and the gates of the city were shut and barred on the Sabbath.[1] Today, however, these things are irrelevant. Jesus clearly had a local judgment in mind, one that could be avoided by fleeing the area, and one that would happen in the first century!
Notice, also, that all three of the aforementioned second coming passages (Luke 17:29-30; 21:25; Matt. 24:20) say it would happen within Jesus’s generation (Luke 17:25; 21:32; Matt. 24:34). Therefore, it must have happened in the first century! These time statements, in and of themselves, prove that the second coming could not possibly be a global event. After all, it must have happened in the first century; and if it was a global event, we would not be debating it.
Still another passage that supports this view is 2 Thessalonians 2:1-2:
“Now, brethren, concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him, we ask you, not to be soon shaken in mind or troubled, either by spirit or by word or by letter, as if from us, as though the day of Christ had come.”
This passage shows two things: (1) the second coming would happen within the lifetimes of the Thessalonians, and (2) it would be a local event that could be missed.
Regarding the first point, Paul (the writer of Thessalonians) expected some of his audience to still be alive when Jesus came. This is evident from “our gathering together to Him.” Paul did not say “their gathering to him,” as if referring to some far off generation; he said “our gathering to him.” Paul clearly expected at least some of his audience to still be alive when Jesus came to gather together the elect (his people), Jews and Gentiles alike, into one body called the church. Keep in mind, this does not mean that Paul had to remain alive until this event; in fact, Paul was beheaded by the Roman emperor Nero in AD 64. But it does mean that some of Paul’s first-century audience had to be alive.
Paul is essentially echoing what Jesus had said twenty years earlier in the Olivet Discourse: “They will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And He will send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other…Assuredly, I say to you, this generation will by no means pass away till all these things take place” (Matt. 24:31, 34, italics mine).
Same coming. Same gathering. Same timing. In fact, Jesus specifically linked this event to the destruction of the temple (Matt. 24:2, 34), which historians acknowledge happened in AD 70.
Possible objection: Some commentators say these two passages (Matt. 24:2, 34 and 2 Thess. 2:1-2) refer to two different comings/gatherings, one in AD 70 and one at the end of time.
Response: There is zero evidence for that. Remember, both Jesus and Paul put the fulfillment date within the lifetimes of their audiences (see above). It’s obviously the same event. Plus, had Paul been referring to a different coming/gathering than Jesus, Paul would have said so, if for no other reason than to avoid confusion. Paul was no doubt aware of what Jesus had said twenty years earlier in the Olivet Discourse regarding his coming/gathering. After all, this was one of Jesus’s most famous discourses![2] Furthermore, Paul knew it had not happened yet, since it was tied to destruction of the temple, which had not happened yet (see above). So Paul would not have confused the Thessalonians by talking about a different coming/gathering without at least telling them it was a different event. Paul clearly had the same coming/gathering in mind as Jesus…the one that would happen in his generation.
Another important take-away from the Thessalonians passage under consideration is that it implies that the second coming would be a local event that could be missed. Let’s look at the passage again: “Now, brethren, concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him, we ask you, not to be soon shaken in mind or troubled, either by spirit or by word or by letter, as if from us, as though the day of Christ had come” (2 Thess. 2:1-2, italics mine).
Think about this passage logically. If the second coming was supposed to be a global event, why would the disciples be worried about missing it? By the time Thessalonians was written in around AD 52, the disciples had already been hearing about this event for more than twenty years, ever since the Olivet Discourse back in AD 33. Surely by this time the disciples would have known what kind of event to expect (global or local). And had they been expecting a global event, they would not have been worrying about missing it. Yet some of them clearly were–which means they were expecting a local event, one that could be missed.
Global Significance
Although the second coming was a local event, it had global significance and reached backward and forward in time–just like Jesus’s first coming. During his first coming, Jesus sacrificed himself on the cross for the sins of world–past, present, and future. Although very few people outside Judea even knew this event had happened, let alone witnessed it, this “obscure” event nevertheless had worldwide significance and reached backward and forward in time. It was the same at Jesus’s second coming in AD 70. This, too, was a local event–although far more people witnessed Jesus’s second coming than his first–that had global significance and reached backward and forward in time.
How could an event in space and time have global significance and transcend space and time? Some commentators have argued that it is because God is omnipresent (everywhere at once) and outside time; therefore, what God does in space and time transcends space and time. God’s being outside time could also explain how he knows the future. To God, everything–past, present, and future–is now.
However such things are possible–and the Bible does not tell us for sure–both of Jesus’s comings were local events that had global significance and reached backward and forward in time. Christians have no problem believing this about Jesus’s first coming, so why should it be so difficult to believe this about his second coming–especially given the following descriptions of the event? For example:
Jesus said every person would be rewarded according to his deeds at this judgment in AD 70: “For the Son of Man will come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and then he will reward each according to his works. Assuredly, I say to you, there are some standing here who shall not taste death till they see the Son of Man coming in His kingdom” (Matt. 16:27–28).
Jesus also said about this judgment in AD 70: “These are the days of vengeance, that all things which are written may be fulfilled” (Luke 21:22, italics mine). All things written! What Jesus essentially meant is that everything prophesied about in the Old Testament (which had yet to be fulfilled) would finally happen. This includes the judgment (Mal. 4:1–5), the general resurrection (Dan. 12:2), and the second coming (Zech. 14:1–2). All things! And when did Jesus say this would happen? “Assuredly, I say to you, this generation will by no means pass away till all things take place” (Luke 21:32).
Elsewhere, Jesus said (in AD 30) that all the righteous blood shed on the earth–from Abel, the very first person murdered in the Bible, onward–would be avenged within “this [first-century] generation“: “Therefore, indeed, I send you prophets, wise men, and scribes: some of them you will kill and crucify, and some of them you will scourge in your synagogues and persecute from city to city, that on you may come all the righteous blood shed on the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah, son of Berechiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar. Assuredly, I say to you, all these things will come upon this generation” (Matt. 23:34–36, italics mine).
Thirty years later, on the eve of the judgment, Peter said in approximately AD 64 that Jesus was “ready to judge the living and the dead…The time has come for judgment to begin” (1 Pet. 4:5, 17)…”The end of all things is at hand” (1 Pet. 4:7).
The judgment in AD 70 was much more than just a local judgment. It had global significance and reached backward and forward in time–just like his first coming!
For more information about this topic, see my article The Reason for the Second Coming. Or, for a detailed discussion, see my book The End Is Here, available summer 2024.
Alex Polyak, The Bible Fulfilled 12/8/23
[1] Adam Clarke, Adam Clarke’s Commentary on Matthew 24:20, https://www.sacred-texts.com/bib/cmt/clarke/mat024.htm, Aug 6, 2023.
[2] The Olivet Discourse is mentioned in three out of four gospel accounts (Matthew, Luke and Mark). And the only reason John did not mention it in his gospel account is because he wrote an entire book about it on the eve of its fulfillment called Revelation (see my book The End Is Here, available summer 2024).
