Many believe that when they see the Nukes come streaming in, they will be singing, ‘Here comes Jesus!’ (at the end of the world). I do not hold this view.
From the Exodus to the fall of Israel (Judah) in 587 B.C., God was present, in His Temple, and He was King over Israel. God Ruled over Israel, with and through, His Priests, Prophets and kings of Israel.
Psalms 114:1
When Israel came forth from Egypt, the house of Jacob from an alien people, Judah became God's holy place, Israel, God's domain.
Deuteronomy 33:1
This is the blessing which Moses, the man of God, pronounced upon the Israelites before he died. He said: "The LORD came from Sinai and dawned on his people from Seir; He shone forth from Mount Paran and advanced from Meribath-kadesh, While at his right hand a fire blazed forth and his wrath devastated the nations. But all his holy ones were in his hand; they followed at his feet and he bore them up on his pinions. A law he gave to us; he made the community of Jacob his domain, and he became king of his darling.
Right before Jesus ascended into heaven, the Apostles wanted to know “What about the great Kingdom, You, the prophesized Messiah, is to give to us, the Jewish people?" I paraphrase a bit. But I think they were a little confused as to how Jesus could be leaving without doing what scriptures had raved about Him, the Messiah, coming to do, which is to Restore the Kingdom of Israel on earth.
Acts of the Apostles 1:6
When they had gathered together they asked him, “Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?” He answered them, “It is not for you to know the times or seasons that the Father has established by his own authority. But you will receive power when the holy Spirit comes upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, throughout Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” When he had said this, as they were looking on, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him from their sight.
Jesus will Come to Rule the world, but He will come as the Father came to Rule over Israel, not as an individual in the flesh as He came to die on the cross for our sins. Apocalyptic scriptures talk in great length about the glory of Zion, which is the Restored Kingdom of Israel. Jesus tells us that He will destroy the Jewish Temple, built of stone, and rebuild a Temple, not built of stone, in three days. I say Jesus is going to Come to dwell in the human body of His Church, rather than a stone temple, when He comes to Restore Israel and His Temple within Israel. The Restored Kingdom of Israel, Zion, will be the Catholic Church, which will metamorphosis into the Restored Kingdom of Israel, Zion, upon Jesus' Coming to Rule the world. The world will see Jesus, through all the miracles, signs and wonders, shining forth from Zion/the Catholic Church, and the nations will stream to the Catholic Church/Zion, to be with Jesus, in His Kingdom Come.
Please look at the similarities between when God Comes to Israel at Sini, and scriptures describing Jesus Second Coming.
Revelation 1:4
John, to the seven churches in Asia:
grace to you and peace from him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven spirits before his throne, and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead and ruler of the kings of the earth. To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood, who has made us into a kingdom, priests for his God and Father, to him be glory and power forever [and ever]. Amen.
Behold, he is coming amid the clouds,
and every eye will see him,
even those who pierced him.
All the peoples of the earth will lament him.
Yes. Amen.
“I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “the one who is and who was and who is to come, the almighty.”
Exodus 19:1
Arrival at Sinai. In the third month after the Israelites’ departure from the land of Egypt, on the first day, they came to the wilderness of Sinai. After they made the journey from Rephidim and entered the wilderness of Sinai, they then pitched camp in the wilderness.
While Israel was encamped there in front of the mountain, Moses went up to the mountain of God. Then the LORD called to him from the mountain, saying: This is what you will say to the house of Jacob; tell the Israelites: You have seen how I treated the Egyptians and how I bore you up on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself. Now, if you obey me completely and keep my covenant, you will be my treasured possession among all peoples, though all the earth is mine. You will be to me a kingdom of priests, a holy nation. That is what you must tell the Israelites. So Moses went and summoned the elders of the people. When he set before them all that the LORD had ordered him to tell them, all the people answered together, “Everything the LORD has said, we will do.” Then Moses brought back to the LORD the response of the people.
The LORD said to Moses: I am coming to you now in a dense cloud, so that when the people hear me speaking with you, they will also remain faithful to you.
When Moses, then, had reported the response of the people to the LORD, the LORD said to Moses: Go to the people and have them sanctify themselves today and tomorrow. Have them wash their garments and be ready for the third day; for on the third day the LORD will come down on Mount Sinai in the sight of all the people. Set limits for the people all around, saying: Take care not to go up the mountain, or even to touch its edge. All who touch the mountain must be put to death. No hand shall touch them, but they must be stoned to death or killed with arrows. Whether human being or beast, they must not be allowed to live. Only when the ram’s horn sounds may they go up on the mountain. Then Moses came down from the mountain to the people and had them sanctify themselves, and they washed their garments. He said to the people, “Be ready for the third day. Do not approach a woman.”
The Great Theophany. On the morning of the third day there were peals of thunder and lightning, and a heavy cloud over the mountain, and a very loud blast of the shofar, so that all the people in the camp trembled. But Moses led the people out of the camp to meet God, and they stationed themselves at the foot of the mountain. Now Mount Sinai was completely enveloped in smoke, because the LORD had come down upon it in fire. The smoke rose from it as though from a kiln, and the whole mountain trembled violently. The blast of the shofar grew louder and louder, while Moses was speaking and God was answering him with thunder.
Matthew 24:29 The Coming of the Son of Man.
“Immediately after the tribulation of those days, the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from the sky, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. And then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming upon the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.
NAB3 REV 11:17
“We give thanks to you, Lord God almighty, who are and who were. For you have assumed your great power and have established your reign. The nations raged, but your wrath has come, and the time for the dead to be judged, and to recompense your servants, the prophets, and the holy ones and those who fear your name, the small and the great alike, and to destroy those who destroy the earth.” Then God’s temple in heaven was opened, and the ark of his covenant could be seen in the temple. There were flashes of lightning, rumblings, and peals of thunder, an earthquake, and a violent hailstorm.
Exodus continued: When the LORD came down upon Mount Sinai, to the top of the mountain, the LORD summoned Moses to the top of the mountain, and Moses went up. Then the LORD told Moses: Go down and warn the people not to break through to the LORD in order to see him; otherwise many of them will be struck down. For their part, the priests, who approach the LORD must sanctify themselves; else the LORD will break out in anger against them. But Moses said to the LORD, “The people cannot go up to Mount Sinai, for you yourself warned us, saying: Set limits around the mountain to make it sacred.” So the LORD said to him: Go down and come up along with Aaron. But do not let the priests and the people break through to come up to the LORD; else he will break out against them.” So Moses went down to the people and spoke to them.
NAB3 JOH 2:18
“What sign can you show us for doing this?” Jesus answered and said to them,
“Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up.” The Jews said, “This temple has been under construction for forty-six years, and you will raise it up
in three days?”
NAB MAT 26:61
"This man has declared, 'I can destroy God's temple and rebuild it in three days'"... ...
Soon you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of the Power and coming on the clouds of heaven.
The ‘
You will be to me a kingdom of priests, a holy nation’ that God hoped, but failed, to attain in the nation Israel, will come to fulfillment when Jesus Comes again and enters into His Catholic Church/Zion, upon His Second Coming.
Common! All Christ has done on earth for the past 2000 years has been with and through His Church, the Catholic Church. Does anyone really think that Jesus is going to Rebuild a Jewish Temple, built of stone, and reside in physical nation Israel, on earth? Jesus will destroy the Jewish religion on earth, when He comes to Reside, on earth, and Rule the world, from His Temple, the Catholic Church. When the Jews see Jesus in His Glory, they will convert, be baptized and join Jesus, with us Catholics. There will no longer be a Jewish Temple or religion, when Jesus returns.
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