Question has long attended Jude's quote of the non-canonical "Book of Enoch": "I saw the Lord come with his myriads of angels, to bring all men to judgment and to convict all the godless of all the godless deeds they had committed, and of all the defiant words which godless sinners had spoken against him" (Jude 14 NEB). The point, of course, is that divine inspiration saw fit to sanction the apocryphal author's quotation of an actual prophecy by Enoch.
This first recorded reference to Christ's Second Advent establishes the basic setting for our Lord's anticipated return. Within this context the following applies:
1. Christ returns for the purpose of addressing human defiance and rebellion (Jude 14)
2. Christ returns for the purpose of saving the world from self-annihilation (Matt. 24:22)
3. Christ returns for the purpose of reordering the world and present world order ("time of restoration," Acts 3:21).
4. Concurrent to his return in judgment of an ungodly world, Christ also rescues the believing Church ("It is only just for God... to give relief to you who are afflicted and to us as well when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with His mighty angels in flaming fire, dealing out retribution to those who do not know God...," (II Thess. 1:6-10 NASB).
5. Christ returns to establish the divine reign upon earth in which, as the redeemed, we shall also reign with him (Matt. 25:31; Rev. 5:10; 20:4-6).
Over the past two hundred years, considerable speculative proposal has been added to the foregoing. As time progresses, however, adherence to biblical pronouncement will prove itself a resource vital to insight and stability.
Burl Ratzsch
