“I don’t think it will take the Lord very long to dispose of his enemies...do you?”
No. But the question is not “what can He do?”, but “what does He say He will do?” We could argue that it makes sense for God to create the universe in three days rather than six, but He chose six.
My point is that all of the various paradigms about the timing of Christ’s return sound good and have an internal consistency. But when we open the Bible, we often find that our paradigms do not fit.
That is why I suggest a study on the topic of the Day of the Lord. There are many scriptures that describe what will happen during this period, what precedes it, and how the second coming is connected to it.
The traditional post-trib view does not allow time for the Day of the Lord to occur if it is placed after Daniel’s seventieth week. I’m not sure how there can be any dispute that the return of Christ happens when that Day arrives.
The pre-wrath view is a post-trib view, but it is held that the Great Tribulation does not last for the entire second half of Daniel’s seventieth week, and that this seven year period is completed by the Day of the Lord.
To me the differences between the various views come down to the questions: “What is the Day of the Lord?” and “When is it in relation to Daniel’s seventieth week?”
However, I find that views other than pre-wrath, prefer to generalize or gloss over the meaning and significance of the Day of the Lord when it is really the crux of the matter.
Much more is said in scripture about this Day than even the abomination of desolation and Daniel’s seventieth week.
The main reason that I usually engage in this debate is because I want to hear all of the arguments against my views so I can study the alternatives and be sure I am subscribing to the most well-supported. There are many things I do not understand about prophecy, but I do believe there are practical implications in terms of our witness and conduct and a correct view of the gospel, dispensations, etc.
The consequence of error on this subject may be to expect Christ’s return too soon or too late, and thus be unprepared. We are commanded to both watch and be ready, as well as to wait patiently.
So I appreciate your feedback and Biblical insights even if we do not reach an agreement.
You seem to want to make “the day of the Lord” into a single 24 hr day. It’s not. It’s a period of time.
Methinks you make the day of the Lord more complicated than it actually is.
Simply put, man has had his “day,” the Lord (Jesus Christ) is going to have his. But man is not going to turn over power and control to Christ without a fight. The Lord, depicted in a number of places in scripture as a “man of war,” is well up to the task. He comes IN PERSON to defeat the enemies of his reign. He comes as Lord, the “Lord” part of “the day of the LORD.”
Once again, the references from Hebrews. He is in heaven now, and will remain so, until he has his enemies - enemies of his coming reign - just where he wants them, i.e., gathered nicely together in a bunch, Rev. 19:19. At that point, and only at that point, does he leave heaven to take care of his enemies...IN PERSON.
Not until then is power shifted from man to the Lord, not until then does he come as the Lord. On HIS day, the day of the Lord.
That’s when he comes “the second time,” Heb. 9:28. The incarnation marked the first time he came, what we see described in Rev. 19 marks “the second time.”
The first time he came as a Lamb, “once offered to bear the sins of many,” he comes “the second time without sin,” in other words, NOT to bear the sins of many as he did the first time, this time he comes as a lion. (See Heb. 9:28, Rev. 5:5)
When Christ comes again, he comes as Lord or King, the kingdoms of this world become his at that point, Rev. 11:15, he remains in heaven until THEN.
The rapture is our great hope to be sure, but it is but incidental to the greater purpose mentioned above, the emphasis in scripture is always his coming Lordship. That great day is HIS day, the day of the Lord.