Just this week, I came upon a Youtube post titled “A MIRACLE HAS HAPPENED! Jesus and the angels appear in Jerusalem.” No mention was made of the date of the apparently supernatural occurrence (except “10 days ago”) witnessed and reported by pilgrims who were on the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem, where this phenomenon took place.
Some of the pilgrims, and other people who have since pondered their report, believe the event to be a fulfillment of prophecy in Acts 1:12, about how the disciples of Christ had returned to Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives, where Jesus had been taken up to heaven, and where, an angel told them, Jesus will descend at His return. This is affirmed by Zechariah 14:14, which says that the Messiah’s feet will land there at His coming in great glory to save Israel.
Understandably, reaction to this apparently supernatural event has been divided. One camp believes that this event was an authentic manifestation of Christ/the Messiah and angels. Another camp believes it may have been a supernatural occurrence, but a great deception brought on by God’s enemy, Satan the devil and the antichrist – a “ruse” to trap believers into destruction.
What is the truth about this event, according to the Bible? As the video host pointed out:
- Matthew 24:24 – Christ warned that at “the end of the age” (Verse3) “false christs and false prophets will rise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect.” Christ warned further: “Therefore if they say to you ‘Look, He is in the desert!’ do not go out; or ‘Look, He is in the inner rooms!’ do not believe it” (Verse 26).
- Matthew 24:30-31 –“Then the sign of the Son of Man [Christ] will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn 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 shall gather together His elect [true Christians] from the four winds [all over the earth], from one end of heaven to the other” ( emphasis added).
*The whole world – all of earth’s inhabitants –not just the Jews or Israel, will see the coming of Christ with His angels!
- Revelation1:7 – “Behold, He [Christ] is coming with clouds, and every eye shall see Him, even they who pierced Him. And all the tribes of the earth will mourn because of Him. Even so, Amen.”
That means that Christ at His return will appear high up in the heavens, not just over the Mount of Olives, for the whole world to see Him at the same time. Only later will He touch down on the Mount of Olives, to take dominion over all nations.
*Before this happens, other events will take place that are yet to be fulfilled, before the above-mentioned sign appears:
- Revelation 6:12-17 – “I looked when He opened the sixth seal, and behold, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as a sackcloth of hair, and the moon became like blood. And the stars of heaven fell to the earth, as a fig tree drops its late figs when it is shaken by a mighty wind. Then the sky receded as a scroll when it is rolled up, and every mountain and island was moved out of its place. 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, and said to the mountains and rocks, ‘Fall on us and hide us from the face of Him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb [Jesus]! For the great day of His wrath has come, and who is able to stand’?”
- Revelation 7:1-4 – “After these things I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, that the wind should not blow on the earth, on the sea, or on any tree. Then I saw another angel ascending from the east, having the seal of the living God. And he cried with a loud voice to the four angels to whom it was granted to harm the earth and the sea, saying, ‘Do not harm the earth, the sea, or the trees till we have sealed the servants of God [true Christians] on their foreheads.’ And I heard the number of those who were sealed. One hundred and forty-four thousand of all the tribes of the children of Israel were sealed.”
*Revelation 8-9, 11:15-19 describes details of the seven trumpets (comprising the 7th seal) and the plagues they will bring. The 7th and last trumpet will herald the appearance of Christ in the clouds to gather all His elect.
- 2 Corinthians 11:14 – “And no wonder! For Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also transform themselves into ministers of righteousness, whose end will be according to their works.”
- 2 Thessalonians 2:1-4, 6-11 – “Now, brethren, concerning the coming [return] of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together in Him, we ask you, not to be soon shaken in mind or troubled either by spirit or by word or by letter, as if from us, as though the day of Christ [His return] had come. Let no one deceive you by any means, for that day will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition, who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God showing himself that he is God…For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only He [God] who now restrains will do so until he is taken out of the way. And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord will consume with the breath of His mouth and destroy with the brightness of His coming. The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this reason, God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie, that they may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.”
*Just because something supernatural or miraculous happens is no guarantee that this comes from God. That is because Satan, who deceives the whole world (Revelation 12:9), can also perform “lying wonders.” Again, he will do these wonders through his human agent called “another beast” who “had two horns like a lamb and spoke like a dragon [Satan, compare with Revelation 12:9]:
- Revelation 13:13 – “He performs great signs, so that he even makes fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men. And he deceives those who dwell on the earth by those signs which he was granted to do…”
*When the seventh and last trumpet of God is sounded by an angel of God, Christ will take control of all the kingdoms of this world, and reward His saints with glory, and destroy those who destroy the earth – foremost being Satan himself, who is called “Abaddon” or “Apollyon”, (Revelation 9:11) — meaning “Destroyer.”
- Revelation 11:15-18 – “Then the seventh angel sounded. And there were loud voices in heaven saying, ‘The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever!’ And the twenty-four elders [spirit beings] who sat before God on their thrones fell on their faces and worshiped God, saying:
‘We give You thanks, O Lord God Almighty,
The One who is and who was and who is to come,
Because You have taken Your great power and reigned.
The nations were angry, and Your wrath has come,
And the time of the dead, that they should be judged,
And that You should reward Your servants the prophets and the saints,
And those who fear Your name, small and great,
And should destroy those who destroy the earth.’”
*The apostle Paul also wrote about the sounding of the seventh and last trumpet, and the rewarding of the saints with glory:
- 1 Thessalonians 4:13-17 – “But I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep [died], lest you sorrow as others who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who sleep [have died] in Jesus.
For this I say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep. For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord.”
- 1 Corinthians 15:51-54 – “Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep [remain dead], but we shall all be changed – in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall b changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. So when this corruptible has put on incorruption and this mortal has put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written: ‘Death is swallowed up in victory.’”
*The above will take place as soon as Christ appears in the clouds at His return. This has not happened since the reported “miracle in Jerusalem!” Therefore, this “apparition” was not – and could not have been — a genuine manifestation of Christ and His angels! In addition, the reported supposed appearance of Christ was that of a man with long hair and a full beard. This runs contrary to the apostle Paul’s Christ-inspired statement in 1 Corinthians 11: 14 -15 – “Does not even nature itself teach you that if a man has long hair, it is a dishonor to him? But if a woman has long hair, it is a glory to her; for her hair is given to her for a covering.”
In the video of the supposed “miracle” the angels were depicted as women and with wings. In Scripture only cherubim and seraphim are described as having wings (Ezekiel 1:5-7, 11; 10:1, 15; Isaiah 4:2). Most of the angels are wingless and appear like men, not women. When the two angels appeared to Lot, they had the appearance of men (Genesis 19:1-5, etc.).
I trust that this proof from the Bible sufficiently clarifies whether this recent “miracle in Jerusalem” was from God, or from the devil. For more details about what will take place leading to the return of Christ. see this link: https://www.herbert-armstrong.org, click ENTER HERE, select “Books & Booklets,” and scroll down to the booklet titled “The Book of Revelation Unveiled at Last!”]
Pedro R. Meléndez, Jr.
23102024