👁️ Every Eye Shall See Him: Refuting the Invisible A.D. 70 Second Coming
The study of prophecy often encounters the claim that Jesus Christ already fulfilled His promise to return during the destruction of Jerusalem in A.D. 70. This interpretation, central to the doctrine of Preterism, confines many major eschatological passages to the first century. However, when measured against the explicit statements of Scripture, the A.D. 70 theory crumbles, leaving the expectation of The Lord’s Return firmly in the future.
1. The Divine Standard: A Visible, Global Spectacle
The most immediate and profound difficulty with the A.D. 70 theory is the disparity between the historical event and the predicted nature of Christ’s return. The historical account describes a Roman siege and the subsequent razing of the Temple; it was a localized, military, and human action.
In stark contrast, the Bible defines the Second Coming as a physical, global, and unavoidable event:
- Matthew 24:30 (KJV): “And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.”
- Acts 1:11 (KJV): “Which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven.”
Jesus ascended bodily and visibly; therefore, His return must also be bodily and visibly seen by the inhabitants of the earth. The A.D. 70 events, witnessed only by those in Judaea, do not align with the universal visibility promised by God.
2. The Great Resurrection: The Essential Signpost
The timing of Christ’s return is intrinsically linked to the central event of Christian hope: the resurrection of all believers. Scripture insists that the Parousia (coming) is the moment of the great harvest of the righteous dead.
The Apostle Paul is unambiguous on this point:
- 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17 (KJV): “For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air…”
- 1 Corinthians 15:23 (KJV): “But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ’s at his coming.”
If the Second Coming occurred in A.D. 70, then a general, global resurrection and rapture of all saints, from Abel to the believers of the first century, must have also transpired. No credible historical or physical evidence exists for this massive transformation of humanity, forcing Preterist arguments to resort to non-literal, “spiritual” resurrections—an interpretation that undermines the hope of the physical, immortal body promised to believers.
3. The End of the World: The Finality of the Consummation
The return of Christ marks the consummation of the age, leading to the establishment of the eternal order and the judgment of the wicked. This event is coupled with the destruction of the physical elements of the present cosmos.
The Apostle Peter speaks of the destructive fire that accompanies the Day of the Lord:
- 2 Peter 3:10 (KJV): “But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.”
The events of A.D. 70, while marking the end of the Jewish sacrificial system and state, did not mark the end of the world, the final judgment, or the dissolution of the heavens and earth. Humanity, history, and the physical world continued unchanged in their fundamental nature. We are still living in the “last days” before the Lord’s return, not after it.
The Return Question
The Scriptures command us not to look backward to an unseen return, but forward to a glorious future: a return that will be literal, physical, and globally manifest. The A.D. 70 destruction was a type of judgment and a fulfillment of localized prophecy against Jerusalem, but it was not The Lord’s Return.