When we read of the coming of Yeshua, there are several Greek words to take into consideration besides parousia.
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Most of what follows if taken from: Kurschner, Alan. Antichrist Before the Day of the Lord: What Every Christian Needs to Know about the Return of Christ. Eschatos Publishing.
Phaneroo
Phaneroo is a verb “to appear,” phaneroō, meaning “to cause to become visible, reveal, expose publicly.”
This term contains an emphasis on the sensory rather than the cognitive. When Scripture uses this term in the context of the second coming, it refers to the appearing of Christ at the initiation of his parousia.
For example, the apostle John exhorts believers to abide in Christ until he comes back. “And now, little children, remain in him, so that when he appears [phaneroō] we may have confidence and not shrink away from him in shame when he comes back [parousia]” (1 John 2:28; cf. 1 John 3:2; Col 3:4; 1 Pet 5:4).
Epiphaneia
There is also the noun form “appearing,” epiphaneia, which means “an act of appearing, appearance”. It has the connotation of a splendid manifestation.
In the first-century Greek world, this was a term as it related to transcendence in the sense of a “sudden manifestation of a hidden divinity, either in the form of a personal appearance, or by some deed of power or oracular communication by which its presence is made known.”
In Paul’s exhortation to Timothy to fight the good fight of the faith and pursue righteousness, he orders him, “Obey this command without fault or failure until the appearing [epiphaneia] of our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Tim. 6:14).
To Titus, he says, “...as we wait for the happy fulfillment of our hope in the glorious appearing [epiphaneia] of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ” (Tit 2:13; cf. 2 Tim 4:1, 8).
The use of this term by the apostle Paul has ramifications for the pre-tribbers.
As shown in the verses above, Paul teaches that the church will be here until the “appearing” of Christ, or as some translations render it, “manifestation.”
He also instructs that the Antichrist will be present at the appearing-manifestation of our Lord: “and then the lawless one [Antichrist] will be revealed, whom the Lord will destroy by the breath of his mouth and wipe out [render useless; paralyze] by the manifestation [epiphaneia] of his arrival” (2 Th 2:8).
The inference is clear: The Antichrist will first be revealed, then at a later time Christ will be revealed. Thus, BOTH the Church and the Antichrist will be present together on earth when Christ comes back.
To claim, as pre-tribbers do, that the Antichrist will be revealed after Christ is revealed turns Paul’s explicit statement on its head. Both the church and the Antichrist will exist on earth when Christ is revealed.
When Christ is revealed, the church will be delivered out of the hands of the Antichrist.
Epiphanes
Finally, the adjective form “glorious,” epiphanēs, is employed by Luke to contrast the dark celestial disturbances. “The sun will be changed to darkness and the moon to blood before the great and glorious [epiphanēs] day of the Lord comes” (Acts 2:20).
This rich vocabulary describes the unique and awesome event of our Lord’s return. The term parousia highlights the ongoing regal-presence of Christ throughout the Day of the Lord.
The apokalypsis depicts the full knowledge-disclosure of Christ. The word group phaneroō, epiphaneia, and epiphanēs describe the dazzling glory-manifestation of Christ. These actions portray, not disconnected events, but complementary actions, providing a stunning, glorious portrayal of Jesus’ return.
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