There are over 300 Bible references to the second coming of Jesus Christ to the earth. I said earlier if God mentions something in the Bible twice it’s important to God. Only the doctrine of salvation is mentioned more time in the Bible. Every New Testament writer mentions it and every Christian scholar accepts it as fact. The whole purpose of the Bible is the revelation of Jesus Christ as the Lord and Savior of mankind and the Second Coming is the climax of the entire Bible. While there is no disputing Jesus will return to earth as He said He would, there is a wide difference of opinion about the how and when of Jesus’ return. Scripture is clear Jesus will return in two phases, once in the air to gather in all the believers to Himself, both dead and alive. Christians refer to this as the rapture.
Later on Jesus actually returns to earth as King of kings and Lord of lords and sets His foot down on the Mount of Olives where He will then defeat Israel’s enemies, judge the nations and set up His millennium kingdom here on earth. We know the date of this glorious appearing will be exactly seven years to the day after Israel signs a middle east peace agreement. We just don’t the signing date yet. There will be many other signs before that day. The first phase of Jesus’ return will be to snatch away the saints instantaneously in what we refer to as the rapture. There is no sign that has to occur before God removes the saints so it could come at any moment. What we do know is the rapture will occur before the tribulation begins. The “blessed hope” will be a time of great joy as we reunite with our loved ones in the air before returning to heaven with Jesus. Only God knows the time of the rapture. We are instructed to watch for His coming.