🕒 7 min read · 📝 1349 words
- Conversion is the true Second Coming: Jesus enters the believer’s heart through the Holy Spirit—not a future bodily return (Acts 3:20, John 14:23, Hebrews 9:28).
- Traditional eschatology is reframed: Expecting a physical return distorts Scripture and invites spiritual consequences (Revelation 22:18).
- The concept of a Physical Second Coming is actually an addition to scripture.
🔥 The Day of the Lord: Discipline, Not Doom
- Distinct from the Second Coming: The Day of the Lord is not Christ’s arrival in a person’s life, but His disciplinary visitation to correct willful sin in believers (1 Thess 5:2, 2 Thess 2:3, 1 Cor 11:32).
- Administered through spiritual fire: Jesus uses the Devil and comes as a thief, 2 Peter 3:10. Believers may be exposed to demonic spirits (Matt 25:41, Rev 1:18) until they repent and are restored or pay the “uttermost farthing” (Matt 5:26).
- A refining process: This judgment purifies believers, burning away ungodliness or the elemental carnal behaviors and preparing them to enter deeper into the Kingdom (2 Pet 3:10, Titus 2:11–13).
🧠 Delusion and Restoration
- God sends delusion to correct: Disobedient believers may be given over to false beliefs so they can be judged and restored (2 Thess 2:11–12).
- Sleep as spiritual complacency: The “sleeping” in 1 Thess 4:13 refers to backslidden believers, not physical death.
- Faith preserves through fire: Even those under discipline remain in Christ if they hold fast to faith (1 Thess 5:10, Rom 10:17).
- 1 Thessalonians 5:10 shows that, regardless of whether a Christian overcomes willful sin, maintaining faith in Jesus ensures they will “live with Christ” as referenced in 1 Corinthians 3:15.
🔥 The beasts released with the opening of the seals in Revelation are not mere agents of chaos; they are demonic forces under Christ’s control, used to discipline disobedient believers.
Evil angels exist eternally, Ps 8:5 and Heb 2:9. Their place of punishment is referred to as “eternal fire”, Mt 25:41.
During our earthly lifetime or First resurrection (Col 3:1), Christians can either dwell in the presence of Evil Spirits or in Jesus’ Holy Spirit/presence.
Jos 24:15 ¶ And if it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.
Unbelievers do not have this choice. By definition, they dwell apart from the Lord.
Jesus holds the keys to Hell’s fire (Revelation 1:18) and grants us the keys to His Kingdom (Matthew 16:19). Christians have the choice to allow or resist the influences of evil in their lives.
We can both enter and exit the presence of evil spirits, Mt 5:26.
When facing temptation, Christians can choose whether to enter the temptation or be delivered from the Evil Spirits.
Christians are never subjected to the Devil’s power without Jesus’ oversight, as stated in 1 Cor 10:13 and Proverbs 16:7.
The Battle of Armageddon, often misinterpreted as a geopolitical war, is scripturally portrayed as the spiritual conflict that occurs when willfully sinful Christians are disciplined by God.
God disciplines everyone He accepts as His child, meaning we will all experience these moments or “Days” of judgment at various points in our lives, as mentioned in Joel 3:14.
This battle occurs in the Valley of Jezreel, also known as Megiddo, a symbolic place where divine correction meets rebellion. It signifies not the end of the world but the end of self-rule, as believers are humbled and restored through repentance and perseverance (Rev 16:16, Hosea 1:4–5).
During the battle known as “Armageddon,” believers are disciplined to help them avoid condemnation, as mentioned in 1 Corinthians 11:32 and James 5:20.
These beastly spirits play a role in the Battle of Armageddon, where Christians who persist in willful sin encounter divine correction.
The battle belongs to the Lord (2 Chron 20:15), and as His followers, we do not fight against flesh and blood but against spiritual forces (Eph 6:12).
Jesus, as the Lion of Judah, is metaphorically described as coming like a thief. To cleanse (Ez 39:7-8) believers so they overcome what is unholy. This reflects God’s grace, guiding believers to reject ungodliness.
Jesus determines the timing and intensity of this discipline, guiding the Day of the Lord as a purifying fire. Armageddon isn’t about geopolitics—it’s deeply personal.
It’s the believer’s Jezreel, where the forces once endured are now faced head-on, and where triumph brings renewal.
🌍 Obadiah 1:15 – Judgment Near to All Nations
“For the day of the Lord is near upon all the heathen…” The Day of the Lord is not limited to believers.
It is near to all nations, signaling that unbelievers too are under divine scrutiny.
Unbelievers however face judgment for rejecting truth, and unless they “repent” they will ultimately perish according to John 3:16.
- Unbelievers lack the covenantal framework to deny ungodliness (Romans 1:18, Titus 2:11–12). The grace that teaches a person to deny ungodliness has appeared to everyone.
- Still, unless a person humbles themselves before God (James 4:6), they will not receive God’s help in denying ungodliness.
- They may possess counterfeit peace, but without repentance, they cannot enter the Kingdom (Matt 7:21).
- God desires their repentance, not destruction, John 3:16.
- 1Ti 2:4 Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.
🕊️ Mercy in Judgment: Why Unbelievers Cannot See
God’s mercy isn’t just for believers—it reaches even His enemies. In His compassion, He doesn’t impose understanding on those who reject Him. As Jesus said, “Unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God” (John 3:3).
Unbelievers are spiritually blind by nature, unable to perceive the truth they resist. They often see Christians as misguided, not realizing that their inability to perceive the truth is itself a form of divine mercy—God shielding them from the weight of a reality they reject.
This mercy doesn’t cancel out justice. According to Scripture, unbelief results in perishing (John 3:16)—not eternal torment, but the soul’s destruction (Matthew 10:28). The body returns to dust, the spirit goes back to God (Ecclesiastes 12:7), but the soul, which holds identity and relationships, can be damaged beyond repair. This is the loss of personhood.
The flaming sword in Eden guarded the way to the Tree of Life (Genesis 3:24), much like the Sword of the Spirit—the Word of God—now protects the path to eternal life. Only those who embrace truth can enter. Unbelievers, though free from the burden of knowing what they reject, remain cut off from life. Their false sense of peace is fleeting; their ultimate fate is silence.
Unbelief isn’t just rebellion—it’s the surrender of existence itself. In His mercy, God withholds understanding; in His justice, He withholds life.
Embedded Doctrinal Drift: A Historical Snapshot
Darby (1830s): Introduced dispensationalism and pre-tribulation rapture, shifting prophecy away from allusions towards personal transformation and toward distant predictions.
John Nelson Darby mistakenly viewed the revelation of Jesus as an external, future event rather than an internal reality for believers.
The passages in John 14:23 and Colossians 1:27, however, teach that through love and obedience, Christians experience the indwelling of the Father and the Son, and that “Christ in you” is the “hope of glory”.
Brookes (1830–1897): A Presbyterian minister and early dispensationalist, Brookes mentored C.I. Scofield and helped shape American pretribulational thought. His verse-by-verse expositions and leadership in the Niagara Bible Conference laid the groundwork for institutionalizing futurist eschatology.
Scofield (1909): Amplified Darby’s views via the Scofield Reference Bible, embedding them into American evangelical study habits.
Branham (1946–1965): Merged dispensational themes with charismatic revivalism, claiming prophetic authority and end-time revelation.
Seminary Adoption (1950s–present): These interpretations became institutionalized through theological education and popular media.
These views, once fringe, became mainstream— not through Scripture alone, but through repetition, institutional endorsement, and emotional appeal—often distorting the original context of prophetic texts.