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The "Second Coming" of

Yehovah

John D. Keyser

For the last 1,700 years millions of Christians have focused on the so-called "Second
Coming of Christ" as THE main event which ushers in the Kingdom of God. But, as surprising as
this may seem, the "coming of the Messiah" at the end of the age is definitely NOT the major em-
phasis of the Old Testament prophets. In fact, less than a dozen texts describe the role of the com-
ing Davidic King and, in contrast, there are literally HUNDREDS of texts in the Hebrew Prophets
which deal with the end of the age, the great Day of Judgment and the arrival of the Kingdom of
God.

Strangely, in text after text, the role of the Messiah is not even mentioned -- much less em-
phasized! Now don't misunderstand, this is NOT to minimize the Biblical doctrine of the Messiah.
Rather, the point is this: A very BASIC teaching of the Bible has been totally ignored by untold
millions -- that of the COMING OF YEHOVAH GOD HIMSELF!

The identity and role of Jesus Christ had a very different connotation in the first century
from that which it has had ever since the Council of Nicea in 325 A.D. Notes author Don Cupitt:

The mainstream churches are committed to a certain doctrine about Jesus, but specialists
in early Christian thought are questioning the arguments by which that doctrine was
reached. New Testament scholars ask if the New Testament teaches it at all, and histori-
ans wonder at the gulf between Jesus himself and fully-developed Christianity. These
questions are very unsettling, for they imply that Christianity [and this includes Churches
of God] may be IN WORSE CONDITION THAN WAS THOUGHT. It is perhaps not a
basically sound structure that needs only to be modernized, but may be in need of radical
reconstruction...(The Debate About Christ, London: SCM Press, 1979, p. vii, 4).

So, at this point, we need to clearly identify the names applied to God the Father and those
applied to the Messiah, Jesus Christ. When you diligently study the Bible one thing emerges with
vibrant clarity -- the identity of the Davidic Messiah (Christ) is NEVER confused with that of YE-
HOVAH (YHVH), the Eternal God of Israel.

To claim, as many Christians have, that the Messiah IS YEHOVAH (YHVH) God in the
flesh -- or even to EQUATE the Messiah with YEHOVAH -- borders on blasphemy and reflects
the worst kind of confusion and, certainly, an abysmal ignorance of the most basic texts in the Bi-
ble. Writes Jim Tabor --

The Messiah is the one chosen and appointed BY YEHOVAH; he is the CHIEF AGENT
OF YEHOVAH, who sits at His right hand. He is, accordingly, YEHOVAH'S anointed

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