A third reason that the second coming of Christ taught in the New Testament cannot be the final judgment day is because the judgment spoken in connection with Christ’s return was escapable, while the final judgment taught among a majority of churches today is not escapable.
The great a terrible day of the Lord that Joel references in chapter two and was fulfilled in that generation of the first century is an escapable judgment. Mark records,
“Watch therefore: for ye know not when the Lord of the house cometh, whether at midnight or at cockcrowing or in the morning; lest coming suddenly he find you sleeping. And what I say unto you I say unto all, Watch” (13:35-37).
This is just the first pitch but watch the second and third strike. Matthew records Jesus saying in verses 42-44 of Matthew 24:
“Watch therefore: for ye know not on what day your Lord cometh. But know this, that if the master of the house had known in what watch the thief was coming, he would have watched and would not have suffered his house to be broken through. Therefore be ye also ready, for in an hour that yet think not the Son of man cometh” (24:42-44).
Here, the watching or preparedness is directly linked to preventing the thief from breaking into the house. If the Lord’s coming, which is likened to a thief’s coming, is a final gathering to punish the wicked and reward the righteous, there is nothing that can be done to prevent their capture and consignment. Yet, Mathew in the context of the destruction of Jerusalem (Matthew 24), speaks of watching for the purpose of fleeting and protection.
Finally, the third strike leaves no doubt as to its meaning. Luke ends with the warning:
“But watch ye at every season, making supplication, that ye may prevail to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man” (21:36).
The watching was not for the purpose of living a faithful life so you are not caught unprepared at His coming on the final judgment day. Luke, once again, adds the thought that preparedness would aid them in escaping “these things that shall come to pass” and to “stand before the Son of man.” Matthew’s statement is found in verses 42-44, which describes the section that some believe to be referring to the final judgment. Luke’s parallel account clearly reflects a judgment that is escapable and would occur in the lifetime of those living in that generation. So, Matthew 24:42-44 cannot be referring to a final judgment at some distant future because the judgment of which He speaks is escapable. Similarly, Jesus gives the warning in the early part of the chapter,” When therefore ye see the abomination of desolation…then let them that are in Judea flee unto the mountains…” (Matthew 24:15-16).
Eusebius, a third-century historian, wrote: “The whole body, however, of the church at Jerusalem, having been commanded by a divine revelation given to men of approved piety there before the war removed from the city and dwelt at a certain town beyond the Jordan, called Pella. So, in a siege of Jerusalem, where 1,100,000 Jews perished and another two and one half million were taken into slavery, not one faithful individual who heeded the warnings of Jesus given in this chapter perished because they fled as Jesus had commanded them to do.