“On the occasion of her brother Lazarus’ death, Martha, like all Jews of Jesus day, believed the resurrection would take place on the last day.”
Will the “last day” occur before or after the thousand-year reign of Christ?
Because I doubt that you can find much support for arguing after. Yet, if the “last day” is BEFORE the thousand years, then in what sense is the day “last”?
There is only one second coming of Christ. But it involves multiple events over a period of time, just like His first coming. Christ’s conception, birth, growth to manhood, ministry, death, burial, and resurrection are all part of His first coming. Likewise, one aspect of Christ’s second coming is the rapture of the Church. Another is His return to earth to establish His kingdom.
His second coming involves a period of time and includes the millennial reign of a thousand years. The translation of living saints takes place in a moment. At the rapture, angels gather the elect. And we meet the Lord in the air. This is distinct from when He plants His feet on Mt. Zion and it splits in two. It is distinct from when the angels gather the wicked and cast them out.
Matthew 13:30 & 41
Let both grow together until the harvest, and at the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, “First gather together the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them, but gather the wheat into my barn.”
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,
Matthew 24:31
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.
1 Corinthians 15:52
in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.
I do not find a distinction between the time period called the “last day”, the “day of the Lord”, and the “end”. I would be interested in any evidence to the contrary.
If the last day is another way of describing the day of the Lord, then the verses you presented only support a pre-wrath view, rather than arguing against it.
I don’t believe the 2nd coming is multiple events, that’s where we differ.
Heb. 9:28 says when Christ appears it will be “the second time,” there won’t be a third time. In the next chapter, 10:12,13, it has Christ in heaven at the right hand “expecting” his enemies to be put under his feet. Which means he won’t be leaving heaven until then...to rapture anybody or anything else.
His enemies aren’t put under his feet until chapter 19 of Revelation, which assuredly does NOT take place before the tribulation, nor the middle of it.
Re: these two references in the book of Hebrews, 9:28 and 10:12,13, the writer of Hebrews must have believed the point in time that Christ descends from heaven to the earth to put his enemies under his feet would be when he appears “the second time.” No appearance, coming, or revelation until then.
The chronology of Revelation, chapter 19 leading into chapter 20, makes it clear enough that his descent from heaven to destroy his enemies (put under foot) in 19:11-21, would be that “second time” of Heb. 9:28, and “the last day” of John 6, which ushers in the millennial reign of Christ (chapter 20).
“The last day,” thus closes out this age while ushering in the next, the millennial. It doesn’t take two leaving heaven and descents from heaven (two 2nd comings), to accomplish this, one to resurrect and rapture the saints, another to defeat his enemies.
He descends from heaven, resurrects and raptures the saints on the way down, 1 Thess. 4, continues, now with his saints, to defeat his enemies at Armageddon.
Heb. 10:12,13, says he stays in heaven until his enemies are ready to be put under foot, chapter 19 of Revelation describes that very thing.