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The Parousia of the Son of Man

The Greek term παρουσíα/parousia has become a stumbling block to many in the modern Church, particularly so among those who teach a pre-tribulation rapture. However, Jesus and His disciples were consistent in its use, as this study will show.

Parousia is a noun, derived from the present participle of the verb pareimi, which is a compound word: para/“near” + eimi/“to be, to exist.” Therefore, parousia literally means “a being near,” but is generally interpreted as “presence/coming/advent.” This wordʼs first New Testament use is found in Matthew 24:3 :

…the disciples came to [Jesus] privately, saying…“what will be the sign of Your parousia, and of the end of the age?”

Jesus then gave them His Mount of Olives discourse about the initial events of the end of the age, those events including the Abomination of Desolation (:15) and the Great Tribulation (:21). He then said,

Matthew 24:27 “For just as the lightning comes forth from the east and shines unto the west, so also will be the parousia of the Son of Man. … 30 …the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will wail, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And He will send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.”

Jesus then went on to explain that “that Day” of “the parousia of the Son of Man” (:36-39) will be as unexpected to the worldʼs inhabitants as was the universal judgment of the Noahic Deluge to the people of its day.

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In 1 Corinthians 15, Paul explains that the resurrection of the dead will come at the parousia of Christ:

15:21 …by Man [Jesus] also comes the resurrection of the dead. 22 For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. 23 But each one in his own order: Christ the firstfruit, afterward those who are Christʼs at His parousia.

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Paulʼs broadest description of the parousia of the Lord and its associated events is found in his Epistles to the Thessalonians.

1 Thessalonians 2:19 For what is our hope, or joy, or crown of rejoicing? Is it not even you in front of our Lord Jesus Christ at His parousia?

3:13 …may [Jesus] establish your hearts blameless in holiness before our God and Father at the parousia of our Lord Jesus Christ with all His saints.

4:14 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring together with Him those who sleep in Jesus. 15 For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we the ones living, the ones remaining until the parousia of the Lord may by no means precede those who are asleep [dead]. 16 For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout of command with the voice of an archangel, and with a trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 Thereafter we the ones living, the ones remaining shall be seized/caught up/raptured together with them in clouds, unto a meeting of the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord.

5:23 …may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the parousia of our Lord Jesus Christ.

In the above passages, Paul tells us that the resurrection of the dead, and the rapture/catching up into the clouds of all the saints in Christ, will take place at His parousia.

2 Thessalonians 2:1 Now brethren, concerning the parousia of the Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him, we ask you 2 not to be soon shaken in mind or troubled, either by word or by letter, as if through us, as though the Day of Christ [alt., of the Lord] had come. 3 Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the apostasia comes first, and the Man of Sin [alt., Lawlessness] is revealed, the Son of Perdition, 4 who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called a god or that is worshiped, so that he sits as a god in the sanctuary/holy place of God, exhibiting himself that he is a god. … 8 … this Lawless One will be revealed, whom the Lord will consume with the Spirit of His mouth, and destroy with the brightness of His parousia.

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The apostle Peter also prophesied about the parousia of the Lord:

2 Peter 3:3 …scoffers will come in the Last Days, walking according to their own lusts, 4 and saying, “Where is the promise of His parousia? … 10 But the Day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a rushing noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat… 11 Therefore…what manner of people ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, 12 looking for and hastening the parousia of the Day of God…?

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The above passages of Scripture, taken together in their context, testify the following things about “the parousia of the Son of Man”:

1) The parousia will be preceded by the Abomination of Desolation, the Great Tribulation, false christs, wars, famines and pestilences; and thereafter signs in the heavens and cataclysms on earth. Matt. 24:3-31.; much of which is mirrored in Rev. 6:1-14. And also by the apostasia, and the coming of the Son of Perdition/Lawless One. 2 Thes. 2:1-4, 8

2) The parousia will be concurrent with the resurrection of the dead, the gathering together of the believing saints by the angels of heaven, and these saints being caught up/raptured into the clouds of heaven. Matt. 24:30-31; 1 Cor. 15:21-23; 1 Thes 2:19; 3:13; 4:14-17

3) The parousia is called the Day of Christ/of the Lord/of God/of His [the Lambʼs] Wrath. 2 Thes. 2:1-2; 2 Pet. 3:10, 12; Rev. 6:17 However, although the events noted in #2 above will occur within one 24-hour day, the designations “Day of the Lord” etc. also bespeak of a heavenly-originated period of judgment that will extend many days and years beyond this one 24-hour day. This is evident from Revelation 6:15-17, the events of which which take place immediately after the heavenly and earthly signs that portend the parousia:

Revelation 6:15 And the kings of the earth, the great men, the rich men, the commanders, the mighty men, every slave and every free man, hid themselves in the caves and in the rocks of the mountains, 16 and said, “Fall on us and hide us from the Face of Him who sits on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb. 17 For the Great Day of His [alt., Their] Wrath has come…”

That era of wrath will include all of the events foretold and described up though the end of Revelation 19. It will conclude with Jesus “treading the winepress of the anger and wrath of Almight God” during His battle with and defeat of the gathered “Beast, the kings of the earth, and their armies” at the Battle of Armageddon. Rev. 19:15, 19; 16:16