In addition, you have Rev.1:7 confirming the Lord's literal return with the clouds:
"Look! He comes with the clouds of heaven. And everyone will see him—even those who pierced him.And all the nations of the world will mourn for him. Yes! Amen!"
What is the criteria for something being literal or not?
Prophecies in Zechariah can confirm parts of that verse in Revelation.
Zechariah 12:[SUP]8 [/SUP]In that day shall the Lord defend the inhabitants of Jerusalem; and he that is feeble among them at that day shall be as David; and the house of David shall be as God, as the angel of the Lord before them.
[SUP] 9 [/SUP]And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem.[SUP]10 [/SUP]And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and
they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn.
AND
Zechariah 14:1Behold, the day of the Lord cometh, and thy spoil shall be divided in the midst of thee.[SUP] 2 [/SUP]For I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle; and the city shall be taken, and the houses rifled, and the women ravished; and half of the city shall go forth into captivity, and the residue of the people shall not be cut off from the city.[SUP] 3 [/SUP]Then shall the Lord go forth, and fight against those nations, as when he fought in the day of battle.
[SUP] 4 [/SUP]And his feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east, and the mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof toward the east and toward the west, and there shall be a very great valley; and half of the mountain shall remove toward the north, and half of it toward the south.[SUP]5 [/SUP]And ye shall flee to the valley of the mountains; for the valley of the mountains shall reach unto Azal: yea, ye shall flee, like as ye fled from before the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah: and
the Lord my God shall come, and all the saints with thee.
It doesn't mention clouds but His feet shall stand on the Mount of Olives which shall cause it to cleave and create a valley for the people to flee to. That gives the impression to me as coming from above and touching down on that Mount of Olives. The saints that comes back with Him are the pre trib raptured saints. Hopefully, He will help me explain below.
It is after the defeat of world's armies and Satan when Satan is cast into the pit for a thousand years is when the alleged "first resurrection" takes place in Revelation which by Zechariah account, the Lord is already ON EARTH BY THEN.
The use of the phrase "first resurrection" was not to imply the only resurrection as if to exclude the pre trib rapture of those saints in Christ Jesus that had abided in Him including O.T. saints shall be risen first and those living shall meet up with them to meet the Lord in the air to be forever with the Lord......because the apostle John reported that the ones coming out of this "first resurrection" were only those saints that went under the oppression and persecution of the mark of the beast which will only be during the great tribulation.
Then John reported that the rest of the dead will be resurrected later on. That was John signifying that the resurrection of the saints coming out of the great tribulation will happen first BEFORE the rest of the dead will happen later on. This was not John signifying that this was the only resurrection, but that the resurrection of the saints coming out of the great tribulation will happen first BEFORE the rest of the dead shall be resurrected later on at the white throne judgment seat of Christ as mentioned later on towards the end of the Book of Revelation.
So I take it literal since Zechariah prophecies are to be taken literal since His feet has to touch down on the Mount of Olive to cleave it and create a valley to provide an escape fr those He is rescuing when He comes down from above.
Believers should not take "first resurrection" out of context when it was just saying that resurrection of the saints coming out of the great tribulation will happen first BEFORE the rest of the dead be resurrected later on.
Revelation 20:1And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand.[SUP] 2 [/SUP]And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years,[SUP] 3 [/SUP]And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a little season.[SUP] 4 [/SUP]And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.
[SUP]5 [/SUP]But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection. [SUP]6 [/SUP]Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.
The second death means they can never be judged to go to the lake of fire. Being a part of that resurrection does signify that they had obtained a terrestrial inheritance where physical death is still possible, thus they are the vessels unto dishonor in His House. They are not resurrected to be liken unto angels that never die nor live in the city of God as vessels unto honor, but they serve the King of kings placed all over the world in raising up the generations for the milleniel reign of Christ which also means they will be marrying and having children too in setting the example of those they rule over as priests.
1 Timothy 3:1This is a true saying, if a man desire the office of a bishop, he desireth a good work.[SUP]2 [/SUP]A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, vigilant, sober, of good behaviour, given to hospitality, apt to teach;[SUP] 3 [/SUP]Not given to wine, no striker, not greedy of filthy lucre; but patient, not a brawler, not covetous;[SUP]4 [/SUP]One that ruleth well his own house, having his children in subjection with all gravity;[SUP]5 [/SUP](For if a man know not how to rule his own house, how shall he take care of the church of God?)
The firstfruits will not be marrying, but they that be Christ's at His coming will.
There are vessels unto honor which obtain the eternal glory that comes with their salvation in Christ Jesus at the pre trib rapture.
Then there will be vessels unto dishonor that did not look to Him for help as their Good Shepherd to discern & depart from iniquity and thus became castaways to be received later on because the prodigal sons are still sons, even though they have given up their first inheritance for wild living which can be by living a sinful life or a religious life of works that deny Him.
Once Satan has been defeated for the last time and cast into the lake of fire after that small season when he is released from the pit, then death will be done away with too along with hades into the lake of fire. Then the vessels unto dishonor can never die after that, and thus they have inherited eternal life in a glorified terrestrial form instead of a celestial form.
1 Corinthians 15:[SUP]22 [/SUP]For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.[SUP] 23 [/SUP]But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ's at his coming.[SUP] 24 [/SUP]Then cometh the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when he shall have put down all rule and all authority and power.[SUP] 25 [/SUP]For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet.[SUP] 26 [/SUP]The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.
[SUP]35 [/SUP]But some man will say, How are the dead raised up? and with what body do they come? [SUP]36 [/SUP]Thou fool, that which thou sowest is not quickened, except it die: [SUP]37 [/SUP]And that which thou sowest, thou sowest not that body that shall be, but bare grain, it may chance of wheat, or of some other grain:
[SUP]38 [/SUP]But God giveth it a body as it hath pleased him, and to every seed his own body. [SUP]39 [/SUP]All flesh is not the same flesh: but there is one kind of flesh of men, another flesh of beasts, another of fishes, and another of birds.
[SUP]40 [/SUP]There are also celestial bodies, and bodies terrestrial: but the glory of the celestial is one, and the glory of the terrestrial is another. [SUP]41 [/SUP]There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars:
for one star differeth from another star in glory.