Where will Jesus return?

In the next verse we have one of the most remarkable predictions to be found in the prophetic scriptures: "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." (v. 4.) It was from the mount of Olives, as the reader will remember, that our Lord ascended up to heaven (Acts 1:12), and, after a cloud had received Him out of the sight of the disciples, and while they were still wistfully gazing after their departed Lord, two angels said to them, "Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen Him go into heaven." (Acts 1:9-11) No words could be more precise or state more definitely that Jesus Himself should return to the earth, and that in a visible manner; and now we learn from Zechariah that He shall return to the very spot whence He ascended, and that the very same feet that once trod Olivet, in company with His disciples, shall once again stand in the same place. No ingenuity whatever can explain away the simple words, "His feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of Olives," and in this way, as another has pointed out, "Jehovah identifies Himself, so to speak, with the meek and lowly Jesus formerly on the earth, in order that the identity of the Saviour and Jehovah should be clearly acknowledged."

But when Jehovah thus comes, in the person of the Messiah, He comes with power and great glory; the earth will acknowledge the presence of her rightful Lord, and thus the mountain, on which He will stand, cleaves in the midst. As we read indeed in the psalm, "The earth shook and trembled; the foundations also of the hills moved and were shaken, because He was wroth" (Psalm 18:7), so will it be again on this eventful day. The effect will be that a great valley will be formed by half of the mountain removing toward the north, and half toward the south, running east and west, its western end being immediately opposite to the eastern side of the city of Jerusalem, and its eastern end terminating, it would seem, at Azal. Isaiah cries, "Oh that thou wouldest rend the heavens, that thou wouldest come down, that the mountains might flow down at thy presence, as when the melting fire burneth, the fire causeth the waters to boil, to make thy name known to thine adversaries, that the nations may tremble at thy presence! When thou didst terrible things which we looked not for, thou camest down, the mountains flowed down at thy presence." (Isa. 64:1-3.) So will it also be in this day of which Zechariah speaks, and the wonders flowing from the presence of Jehovah will strike terror into the hearts of the beholders, for they will flee as they fled from before the earthquake in the days of Uzziah, king of Judah.†

He will appear when the tribulation-persecution of the Jewish nation under the Antichrist will have reached its height, and His coming will bring it to an end. All nations will be gathered against Jerusalem and the city shall be taken, "then the Lord shall go forth and fight against those nations" (Zechariah 14). His appearing will be the destruction of those foes, but it will be the deliverance of the Godly Jews who are looking for Him. "To them that look for Him shall He appear . unto salvation" (Hebrews 9:28 ). "His feet shall stand in that day on the Mount of Olives . . 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 ye shall flee to the valley of the mountains ... and the Lord my God shall come and all the saints with Thee" (Zechariah 14:4-6). This passage throws light on the Lord's words in Matthew 24:15,16. "When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place (whoso readeth, let him understand). Then let them which be in Judæa flee into the mountains." And it will be the fulfilment of Acts 1:11. "This same Jesus, which is taken up from you into Heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen Him go into Heaven." He will return to the very spot from which He went up, His feet will stand again upon the mount of Olives.

This great battle will take place, not at Armageddon, but at Jerusalem, for the Lord's feet will stand upon the Mount of Olives at Jerusalem (v. 4). This will fulfill what an angel told the disciples after they had seen the Lord Jesus taken up to heaven (Acts 1:9-11). Just as He ascended from the Mount of Olives at Bethany (Luke 24:50-51), so He will come to Israel at the same place.

At this time His coming will be with powerful signs, for the Mount of Olives will be split in two, leaving a great valley between the two sections. A great earthquake could cause this, whether the one spoken of in Revelation 16:10, is difficult to decide. At any rate, three occasions of great significance to Israel are attended by great earthquakes, the death of the Lord Jesus (Matt. 27:50-51), His resurrection (Matt. 28:1-6), and the future great occasion of His returning to Israel. All of these events are intended, not only to shake the earth, but to shake people to their depths.

Verse 9 of course overlaps the end of Luke's Gospel, the ascension being spoken of there also. The disciples witnessed this, and a cloud receiving Him out of their sight, the cloud indicating some measure of obscurity, for there are things concerning His bodily ascension to heaven that are beyond our present limit of understanding. Only in Acts do we read of the angelic appearance of the two men at this time. We can understand the disciples gazing up into heaven, but they would see Him no longer in this way. He will yet come in like manner to the same location, the mount of Olives, when He takes His rightful place of glory and majesty. There is no suggestion as to how long the time would be, and of course the rapture will take place before this. Meanwhile, the day of grace has lengthened out far beyond what we might have imagined.

Afterwards no doubt a new heaven and a new earth are seen; but who contends that this is the sphere to which the Lord comes? He will come as He went (Acts 1:11). "His feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east." To this earth He is coming, not to the new earth in the eternal state. To the same world in which He suffered He will, according to the scriptures, come back, and for seasons of refreshing from His presence. Then will be, not the day of the destruction of the universe, but times for restoring all things, whereof God spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets since time began. These glorious times have never yet been accomplished, and therefore must be before eternity. They are reserved for Christ's presence and reign, as He waits for the joint-heirs before He enters on it. But for the eternal judgment heaven and earth fled away; when it is over, we see the new and eternal universe. Hence He must have come back previously to both. With this agrees His coming out of heaven in judgment of the earth, described in Revelation 19. He came to the world, and avenged His people on the Beast and the False Prophet with the kings and their armies; after which the risen saints reign with Him over the earth a thousand years. This it is, not on but over the earth. He with the glorified saints will have their home on high; none the less shall they reign over this world for the allotted time. Compare John 17:22-23.

We shall not wait till Christ comes down to the earth, but go up to meet Him in the air; and afterwards we shall come down with Him. He will come and make this world the place of His power; then we shall get another sphere for the manifestation of the mightiness of His power down here. Do we realize how much our joy depends on looking for the coming of the Lord? If I am not making Him my one object, as He is God's one object, is my eye single? Surely not! surely not! If my eye is ever on the manifestation of His Lordship, it is single.

And for these ends they will have risen and met Him. For as they are to come back with Him to the earth, in the day of His power, in judgment, so must they have gone before, to be with Him in the heavens. Is it too much to say this? We meet Him as He comes from heaven to the air; we are with Him when He returns, to the earth. (1 Thess. 4)

When the Lord comes, however, for His saints, He will halt so to say, in the air. From that halting place he will shout, and the dead in Christ shall rise first, and those of us that are alive at the time shall be changed, and they and we shall go up together and meet Him in the air to be ever with Him. This is evident from the 16th and 17th verses of the chapter (1 Thess. 4).

It is evident from this verse that the Lord Jesus is Himself coming just as He went. How did He go? Personally; then personally He will come. He went actually as a living Man - it was no spirit manifestation. Then actually as a living Man He will come. He went visibly; visibly He will come. He went from the earth. Then to the earth He will return.

Nevertheless, in spite of her pride and her confederacy with evil, Jerusalem shall be taken in the last days. We have seen, when studying the other prophets, that this will be the case; and then afterwards, when again besieged, Jehovah will intervene for the destruction of these enemies. This is very distinctly announced here. The nations shall be assembled by Jehovah; the city shall be taken and the houses rifled, and half the people led captive. Jehovah will then come forth against those nations, as we read in chapter 12 (compare Isa. 66 and Micah 4). He comes in the Person of Christ to the Mount of Olives, whence He ascended. The Mount of Olives cleaves in the midst, forming a great valley, spreading terror among the people who are there. But if Jehovah identifies Himself thus, so to speak, with the meek and lowly Jesus formerly on the earth, in order that the identity of the Saviour and Jehovah should be clearly acknowledged, it is not the less true that He will come from heaven in all His glory (as He Himself predicted, as well as the prophets beginning with Enoch). The heavenly saints will accompany Him in His public manifestation to the eyes of an astonished world. Marvellous glory for those that are His, with whom He will manifest Himself before all the wicked! For here it is Jehovah's public coming to the earth, as the righteous Judge, making war upon all that rebel against Him.