Here are previous installments in the four-part article series, The Second Coming Does Not Begin with Armageddon:
Part 1: “Matthew 24:30–31 Is Not Describing the Battle of Armageddon in Revelation 19:11–21″
Part 2: “The Day of the Lord’s Wrath Begins Before Armageddon”
Part 3: “The Resurrection Occurs Before Armageddon”
Today, I am posting Part 4 below:
God’s Kingdom Occurs Before Armageddon
The third reason why the second coming does not start with the battle of Armageddon is because Jesus is shown to be physically on earth significant earlier than the battle begins at least before the bowl judgments.
First, in the immediate context, Rev 19:19 states, “Then I saw the beast and the kings of the earth and their armies assembled to do battle with the one who rode the horse and with his army” (Rev 19:19; cf. 16:12–16). This reveals that Jesus has already physically returned. It would make no sense for the armies of the nations to go through all that work to assemble to go to war if there was no opponent in the first place! They are camped out at Armageddon to go to war with Jesus who has recently established his kingdom headquarters in Jerusalem. When the seventh angel blew his trumpet, it was pronounced, “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he will reign for ever and ever” (Rev 11:15). Immediately after this pronouncement, “The nations were enraged” (Rev 11:18). The following two prophetic Psalms also anticipates this great battle after the reclamation of the Messiah’s kingdom in the earthly Zion.
