The Return of the King
A compilation
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In his epic fantasy The Lord of the Rings, J.R.R. Tolkien transports us to Middle Earth where the evil forces of Sauron, Lord of Mordor, have brought great darkness throughout the land. There has been much debate about whether The Lord of the Rings was written as an allegory. Tolkien himself stated that he “dislikes allegory in all its manifestations.” Later, however, Tolkien wrote, “Of course, Allegory and Story converge, meeting somewhere in Truth.”
Prophets and seers throughout the ages have foretold a cataclysmic end of the world, not unlike that described by Tolkien. Nostradamus wrote in his quatrains of a final “antichrist” and a fiery, bloody great war: “By fire he will destroy their city. A cold and cruel heart. Blood will pour. Mercy to none.” The prophets Isaiah and Daniel predicted in the Bible that in the time of the end “there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time;” and “darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people.” Jesus also warned His disciples that in the last days “nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All these are but the beginning of the birth pains.”1
“One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them, One Ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them, in the Land of Mordor where the Shadows lie.”—J.R.R. Tolkien
In the book of Revelation, the prophet John envisioned an unearthly creature rising from the depths, a monster that derives his power from a dragon representative of the powers of darkness. “I saw a beast rise up out of the sea … and the dragon gave him his power, and his throne, and great authority.” According to numerous biblical prophecies, this beast is personified in a powerful political figure who will unite the globe into a one-world government and demand the allegiance of all nations. “And the whole earth marveled as they followed the beast. And they worshiped the dragon, for he had given his authority to the beast, and they worshiped the beast, saying, ‘Who is like the beast, and who can fight against it?’ ... And authority was given it over every tribe and people and language and nation.”2
“I wish it need not have happened in my time,” said Frodo. “So do I,” said Gandalf, “and so do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.” —J.R.R. Tolkien
Although The Lord of the Rings describes an unthinkable evil, the underlying message is that there is always hope in the face of great darkness. When asked about Frodo’s efforts to struggle on and destroy the ring, Tolkien said, “That seems more like an allegory of the human race. I’ve always been impressed that we’re here surviving because of the indomitable courage of quite small people against impossible odds.” With so much darkness, we can be tempted to wonder what’s the use of a little light, a little good, a little love.
This message of hope for the meek, the weak, the powerless, and the downtrodden that is central to The Lord of the Rings was proclaimed by Jesus when He said, “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God.”3 Jesus was not born in power, but in meekness. His life began in a humble stable, His father was a simple carpenter, and His disciples were unlearned fishermen. He was scorned and persecuted by the religious leaders of His day, who finally had Him crucified to stop the spread of His gospel that threatened to overthrow their religious establishment.
Jesus’ radical message that brought such fear to the hearts of the ruling powers of His time was a message of truth and love—the love of God and the love of fellow man—the greatest force in the universe, which will ultimately vanquish all evil. Man’s rejection of God and His loving laws has caused man’s inhumanity to man, which is so apparent in today’s weary world with its oppression, mental illness, addictions, exploitation, and war.
“The world is indeed full of peril, and in it there are many dark places; but still there is much that is fair, and though in all lands love is now mingled with grief, it grows perhaps the greater. Some there are among us who sing that the Shadow will draw back and peace shall come again.”—J.R.R. Tolkien
When Jesus was cruelly crucified, it seemed that the lights had gone out in the world and that His message had been quenched. But three days after His death, He rose from the dead. Before ascending to heaven, He promised His disciples that His Spirit would live on in them as they spread the light of His truth and love to others. He also said that He would one day return to conquer evil, hatred, and all the wicked works of the Dark Lord and establish God’s kingdom of love on earth. “Even so, come soon, Lord Jesus!”4
When will Jesus return?
Matthew chapter 24 speaks about Jesus’ Second Coming, when He is going to return to gather all those who have received Him as their Savior and take them with Him back to heaven—an event commonly referred to as “the Rapture.” For nearly 1,800 years practically every Christian believed Jesus would come back after the period He refers to as “Great Tribulation, three and a half years of intense persecution.”
It is only in the last hundred or so years that interpretations such as that by C. I. Scofield (1843–1921) emerged with the false doctrine that Jesus would come before the Tribulation. This interpretation put forth this idea: “Don’t worry, Jesus is going to come and take you out of this world before the trouble comes, so you won’t have to suffer.” But what does the Bible say?
In Matthew 24, when Jesus’ disciples ask Him what sign will signal His return, Jesus answers with not one but a number of signs—wars, famines, pestilences, earthquakes, persecution of Christians, a proliferation of false prophets, lawlessness, a pervading lack of love, and the gospel being preached in every nation. “Then,” He says, “the end will come.”5
Beginning with the next verse, Jesus tells us what we can expect during the Great Tribulation—the last three and a half years leading up to His return, which is also the last half of the Antichrist’s reign. Jesus also tells us what specific sign to watch for, so we’ll know exactly when that period is beginning:
“When you see the ‘abomination of desolation,’ spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place ... then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be.”6
We find out in the book of Revelation that this “abomination of desolation” is an image of the Antichrist, or Beast.7 Both Daniel and Revelation tell us that this image will be set up in the holy place at exactly the middle of the Antichrist’s seven-year reign.8
When does Jesus come back? “Immediately after the tribulation of those days” Jesus returns.9 Jesus doesn’t say that when you see the abomination of desolation standing in the holy place He’s about to return to rapture His followers away from the Antichrist and the trouble to come. He warns His followers to “flee to the mountains” and to prepare for a time of great tribulation.10 In other words, His followers will still be here.
Why did the Lord and the prophets go to so much trouble to document exactly how long the Great Tribulation would last—the exact time in terms of days, months, and years—if His followers didn’t need to know these things, if they won’t be here, counting the days and the weeks?11 Jesus told us these specifics because He wants those of us “who are alive and remain” during that time12 to be able to take heart in knowing that the Tribulation isn’t going to last forever, and that every passing day is bringing the glorious end closer.
Jesus warns us not to expect Him sooner than has been foretold. He also warns us to not be deceived by false prophets who will try to tell us that Christ’s coming is imminent or that He’s already here somewhere.13 He tells us to not believe them, because when He comes, we will know it!
Some people who teach a pre-Tribulation Rapture even state that it’s going to be a secret Rapture, and that nobody is going to see Him except the saved. However, His Word tells us that He’s going to “come in the clouds with great power and glory.” The sky will light up from one end to the other, and there will be such signs in the heavens that we couldn’t possibly mistake the fact that Jesus is coming. In fact, it says that “every eye shall see Him.”14 Everyone will know that Jesus has returned!
Everyone will also see the dead in Christ—all the saved people who have already died—rising to meet Him in the air as He comes. They will hear Jesus, too, because He’ll “descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and a great sound of the trump of God.”15 It will be the greatest spectacle the world has ever seen!
After the dead rise to meet the Lord, “then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air.”16 And so will we be forever with the Lord.
Compiled from material from Activated. Adapted and republished August 2021.
Read by John Laurence.
1 Matthew 24:7–8 ESV.
2 Revelation 13:1–4, 7 ESV.
3 Matthew 5:5, 9 KJV.
4 Revelation 22:20.
5 Matthew 24:4–14.
6 Matthew 24:15, 21.
7 Revelation 13:14–15.
8 Daniel 9:27; Matthew 24:15–21; Revelation 13:5.
9 Matthew 24:29.
10 Matthew 24:16–22.
11 Daniel 7:25; Revelation 12:6, 13:5.
12 1 Thessalonians 4:17.
13 Matthew 24:23–26.
14 Revelation 1:7.
15 Matthew 24:27, 30; Acts 1:9–11; 1 Thessalonians 4:16; Revelation 1:7.
16 1 Thessalonians 4:17.
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