«　WEEK 2　DAY 1　»

　　Matt. 24:27 For just as the lightning comes forth from the east and shines to the west, so will the coming of the Son of Man be.

　　30 And at that time the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the land will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.

　　The Greek word translated “coming” in Matthew 24:27 is parousia, and it literally means “presence.” The same word is translated as “presence” in Philippians 2:12. To His believers the Lord’s return will involve His presence with them. The Lord’s presence will begin before the great tribulation, when the overcoming believers are raptured, ... and last until the end of the great tribulation, when the Lord will descend to reveal Himself to the world…. During this time the Lord will rapture the believers into His presence at different times. With respect to the believers, His coming involves their rapture to His presence; with respect to the Lord, His presence involves His coming to the believers. (CWWL, 1932-1949, vol. 4, “Crucial Truths in the Holy Scriptures, Volume 6,” p. 599)

　　The Lord’s parousia will start when the Lord raptures the overcomers to heaven to be with Him before the beginning of the great tribulation. Beginning at this time, the Lord’s parousia, that is, His coming, will last for three and a half years until His appearance is manifested. This manifestation..., or appearance, is what the Bible calls the manifestation (epiphaneia) of His coming (parousia) [2 Thes. 2:8]. The Lord’s return involves a period of time, the parousia (coming), and a point in time, the epiphaneia (manifestation)….Therefore, 2 Thessalonians speaks of the epiphaneia of His parousia.

　　If we do not understand that this word parousia refers to His coming over a period of time, we will not understand why the Lord’s return begins before the great tribulation but does not consummate until the end of the tribulation, a period of three and a half years. We will also be unable to understand why some places in the Bible speak of the Lord coming before the great tribulation, and other places speak of His coming after the great tribulation.

　　The Bible shows that the Lord’s second coming is an actual coming and that the Lord Himself will descend from the heavens to be manifested before men. His coming with respect to His believers involves a long period of time, the time of His presence, which begins before the great tribulation and ends at the end of the great tribulation…. At the end of the great tribulation, the coming of His presence will be manifested when He comes to earth to appear to men. His coming is hidden and secret at the beginning and manifested and open at the end.

　　One aspect of the Lord’s second coming involves a coming that is hidden and secret, like the coming of a thief in the night. The hidden and secret aspect of the Lord’s second coming occurs before the beginning of the great tribulation; it is not related to His manifestation at the end of the great tribulation.

　　Although there is a secret and hidden aspect of the Lord’s coming, which will be seen only by those who are watchful, the Bible also speaks of His coming as lightning across the sky, which will be seen openly by everyone [Matt. 24:27, 30]…. These portions speak of two different aspects of the Lord’s second coming: the hidden, secret aspect and the manifested, open aspect. The hidden aspect is His parousia, and the open aspect is His epiphaneia….Only watchful, overcoming believers who are waiting for Him will participate in the hidden aspect. All the world will see the open aspect, and all believers will participate in it. (CWWL, 1932-1949, vol. 4, “Crucial Truths in the Holy Scriptures, Volume 6,” pp. 599-602)

　　Further Reading: CWWL, 1932-1949, vol. 4, “Crucial Truths in the Holy Scriptures, Volume 6,” ch. 60; CWWL, 1983, vol. 1, “Living in and with the Divine Trinity,” ch. 4