In the Old Testament, the term "*coming*" was often used in relation to God’s judgment, intervention, or action in history, and not necessarily His final or second coming. Many times, it referred to God "*coming*" to a nation or people in judgment, to bring about His will or to restore justice. It is not always a reference to an apocalyptic or eschatological event. For example, in [Isaiah 19:1-2](https://www.bible.com/bible/100/ISA.19.1-2), the LORD "*comes*" to Egypt, bringing **judgment** that causes turmoil and conflict: > [!bible]+ [Isaiah 19:1-2 - NASB](https://bolls.life/NASB/23/19/) > ^**1**The oracle concerning Egypt. Behold, the LORD is riding on a swift cloud and is about to **come** to Egypt; The idols of Egypt will tremble at His presence, And the heart of the Egyptians will melt within them. ^**2**'So I will incite Egyptians against Egyptians; And they will each fight against his brother and each against his neighbor, City against city [and] kingdom against kingdom. %% #Isaiah #Isaiah19 %% In [Ezekiel 30:3](https://www.bible.com/bible/100/EZK.30.3), the prophet speaks of a day of the Lord's judgment on Egypt. Similarly, in [Malachi 3:1-2](https://www.bible.com/bible/100/MAL.3.1-3), the LORD "*comes*" to His temple, bringing purification and **judgment**, which is likened to a refiner's fire. > [!bible]+ [Malachi 3:1 - NASB](https://bolls.life/NASB/39/3/) > ^**1**'Behold, I am going to send My messenger, and he will clear the way before Me. And the Lord, whom you seek, will suddenly **come** to His temple; and the messenger of the covenant, in whom you delight, behold, **He is coming**,' says the LORD of hosts. %% #Malachi #Malachi3 %% The best examples to show this is when Israel was Judged the *first time* during the exile to Babylon: read these verses: > [!bible]- [Isaiah 13:6-13 - NASB](https://bolls.life/NASB/23/13/) > ^**6**Wail, for the day of the LORD is near! It will come as destruction from the Almighty. ^**7**Therefore all hands will fall limp, And every man's heart will melt. ^**8**They will be terrified, Pains and anguish will take hold of [them]; They will writhe like a woman in labor, They will look at one another in astonishment, Their faces aflame. ^**9**Behold, the day of the LORD is coming, Cruel, with fury and burning anger, To make the land a desolation; And He will exterminate its sinners from it. ^**10**For the stars of heaven and their constellations Will not flash forth their light; The sun will be dark when it rises And the moon will not shed its light. ^**11**Thus I will punish the world for its evil And the wicked for their iniquity; I will also put an end to the arrogance of the proud And abase the haughtiness of the ruthless. ^**12**I will make mortal man scarcer than pure gold And mankind than the gold of Ophir. ^**13**Therefore I will make the heavens tremble, And the earth will be shaken from its place At the fury of the LORD of hosts In the day of His burning anger. %% #Isaiah #Isaiah13 %% > [!bible]- [Isaiah 34:2-8 - NASB](https://bolls.life/NASB/23/34/) > ^**2**For the LORD'S indignation is against all the nations, And [His] wrath against all their armies; He has utterly destroyed them, He has given them over to slaughter. ^**3**So their slain will be thrown out, And their corpses will give off their stench, And the mountains will be drenched with their blood. ^**4**And all the host of heaven will wear away, And the sky will be rolled up like a scroll; All their hosts will also wither away As a leaf withers from the vine, Or as [one] withers from the fig tree. ^**5**For My sword is satiated in heaven, Behold it shall descend for judgment upon Edom And upon the people whom I have devoted to destruction. ^**6**The sword of the LORD is filled with blood, It is sated with fat, with the blood of lambs and goats, With the fat of the kidneys of rams. For the LORD has a sacrifice in Bozrah And a great slaughter in the land of Edom. ^**7**Wild oxen will also fall with them And young bulls with strong ones; Thus their land will be soaked with blood, And their dust become greasy with fat. ^**8**For the LORD has a day of vengeance, A year of recompense for the cause of Zion. %% #Isaiah #Isaiah34 %% > [!bible]- [Ezekiel 32:1-10 - NASB](https://bolls.life/NASB/26/32/) > ^**1**In the twelfth year, in the twelfth [month], on the first of the month, the word of the LORD came to me saying, ^**2**'Son of man, take up a lamentation over Pharaoh king of Egypt and say to him, 'You compared yourself to a young lion of the nations, Yet you are like the monster in the seas; And you burst forth in your rivers And muddied the waters with your feet And fouled their rivers.'' ^**3**Thus says the Lord GOD, 'Now I will spread My net over you With a company of many peoples, And they shall lift you up in My net. ^**4**'I will leave you on the land; I will cast you on the open field. And I will cause all the birds of the heavens to dwell on you, And I will satisfy the beasts of the whole earth with you. ^**5**'I will lay your flesh on the mountains And fill the valleys with your refuse. ^**6**'I will also make the land drink the discharge of your blood As far as the mountains, And the ravines will be full of you. ^**7**'And when [I] extinguish you, I will cover the heavens and darken their stars; I will cover the sun with a cloud And the moon will not give its light. ^**8**'All the shining lights in the heavens I will darken over you And will set darkness on your land,' Declares the Lord GOD. ^**9**'I will also trouble the hearts of many peoples when I bring your destruction among the nations, into lands which you have not known. ^**10**'I will make many peoples appalled at you, and their kings will be horribly afraid of you when I brandish My sword before them; and they will tremble every moment, every man for his own life, on the day of your fall.' %% #Ezekiel #Ezekiel32 %% > [!bible]- [Joel 2:1-11 - NASB](https://bolls.life/NASB/29/2/) > ^**1**Blow a trumpet in Zion, And sound an alarm on My holy mountain! Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble, For the day of the LORD is coming; Surely it is near, ^**2**A day of darkness and gloom, A day of clouds and thick darkness. As the dawn is spread over the mountains, [So] there is a great and mighty people; There has never been [anything] like it, Nor will there be again after it To the years of many generations. ^**3**A fire consumes before them And behind them a flame burns. The land is like the garden of Eden before them But a desolate wilderness behind them, And nothing at all escapes them. ^**4**Their appearance is like the appearance of horses; And like war horses, so they run. ^**5**With a noise as of chariots They leap on the tops of the mountains, Like the crackling of a flame of fire consuming the stubble, Like a mighty people arranged for battle. ^**6**Before them the people are in anguish; All faces turn pale. ^**7**They run like mighty men, They climb the wall like soldiers; And they each march in line, Nor do they deviate from their paths. ^**8**They do not crowd each other, They march everyone in his path; When they burst through the defenses, They do not break ranks. ^**9**They rush on the city, They run on the wall; They climb into the houses, They enter through the windows like a thief. ^**10**Before them the earth quakes, The heavens tremble, The sun and the moon grow dark And the stars lose their brightness. ^**11**The LORD utters His voice before His army; Surely His camp is very great, For strong is he who carries out His word. The day of the LORD is indeed great and very awesome, And who can endure it? %% #Joel #Joel2 %% > [!bible]- [Joel 2:28-32 - NASB](https://bolls.life/NASB/29/2/) > ^**28**'It will come about after this That I will pour out My Spirit on all mankind; And your sons and daughters will prophesy, Your old men will dream dreams, Your young men will see visions. ^**29**'Even on the male and female servants I will pour out My Spirit in those days. ^**30**'I will display wonders in the sky and on the earth, Blood, fire and columns of smoke. ^**31**'The sun will be turned into darkness And the moon into blood Before the great and awesome day of the LORD comes. ^**32**'And it will come about that whoever calls on the name of the LORD Will be delivered; For on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem There will be those who escape, As the LORD has said, Even among the survivors whom the LORD calls. %% #Joel #Joel2 %% This "*coming*" is tied to God's judgment against nations. In **Revelation**, several warnings about **judgment** use the phrase "*coming*" without referring to the second coming of Christ. In [Revelation 2:4-5](https://www.bible.com/bible/100/REV.2.4-5), Jesus warns the church to repent, or He will "*come*" and remove their lampstand. In [Revelation 2:16](https://www.bible.com/bible/100/REV.2.16), there is a warning of coming judgment: > [!bible]+ [Revelation 2:16 - NASB](https://bolls.life/NASB/66/2/) > ^**16**'Therefore repent; or else **I am coming** to you quickly, and I will make war against them with the sword of My mouth. %% #Revelation #Revelation2 %% In [Revelation 3:3](https://www.bible.com/bible/100/REV.3.3), Jesus warns that He will "*come like a thief*" to those who do not repent. Lastly, in [Revelation 3:10-11](https://www.bible.com/bible/100/REV.3.10-11), Jesus promises to "*keep*" those who are faithful from a time of global testing, stating, "*I am **coming** quickly.*" Therefore, while Christ will indeed return in His second coming, many references to His "*coming*" in the Bible are related to judgment.