“The chariots of God are twice ten thousand, with thousands doubled. Yehovah is among them at Sinai, distinctive in victory. You have ascended on high; you have led away captives” (Psalm 68:17-18 LEB).
Less literally it is rendered:
Although this passage speaks of these things concerning “Yehovah God” as coming from Sinai they actually apply to the “lord Messiah” as God’s representative, agent: i.e. Jesus. Indeed, just as Yahweh God prepared the ancient Israelites for setting up the Kingdom of Israel under Moses at the base of Mount Sinai in the Arabian Desert (Galatians 4:25), so too, the future establishment of Yehovah’s Kingdom under Jesus may also happen in this same place. So instead of the traditional view that Jesus will descend to the Mount of Olives, he likely will descend to the base of Mount Sinai. In fact, both Psalm 68:7-8 and Deuteronomy 33:1, 2, also show that Mount Sinai is part of this scenario which fits well with the other Scriptures that we shall examine concerning a Messianic march northward toward Jerusalem.
This event may take place during the additional 30 or 45 days after the return of Jesus as shown by the difference between the 1,260 and 1,290 days as well as the 1,335 days stated in Daniel 12:11, 12.
If the above scenario is correct then the time spent at the remote area of Mount Sinai may well concern the Messianic banquet spoken of in Isaiah 25:6, “And on this mountain, Yehovah of hosts will make for all peoples a rich feast, a feast of aged wines, fat-filled with marrow, filtered aged wine.” This fits with Jesus’ statement at the last supper when he said:
“I have intensely desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer,”...“I tell you, I will not eat it again until it is fulfilled in the Kingdom of God.” Then he took a cup, and gave thanks, and said, “Take this and share it among yourselves. I tell you that from now on I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the Kingdom of God comes” (Luke 22:15-18).
After the time of the magnificent and glorious display in earth’s atmosphere to demonstrate Jesus’ return (Matthew 24:29-30) and during this time of the Messianic banquet, Jesus and the complete body of his brothers and sisters will be out of sight from the world. This as Bible scholar George N. H. Peters, in his third volume of The Theocratic Kingdom, shows that “the second advent, to be appreciated, must be comprehended in its several phases, being at first secret, hidden to carry out certain purposes, and finally open, revealed.”
So rather than a pre-tribulation rapture approach, all these events occur after the great tribulation. Indeed, after this time spent near Mount Sinai Jesus and the complete body of his people will be openly displayed to the world once again as they begin the march northward.
NOTE. The angels in Acts 1:11 did not say that Jesus would come back to the same place from which he ascended i.e. the Mount of Olives. Also, the text in Zechariah 14:4 only says that Jesus’ “feet will stand on the Mount of Olives” rather than his landing there. So, his feet can be there on his arrival at that place.
Marching from Sinai through the Desert
“O God, when you went forth before your people when you marched through the wilderness, the earth quaked; Sinai itself quaked at the presence of God” (Psalm 68:7-8).
“A voice is calling in the wilderness, “Clear the way of Yahweh! Make a highway smooth in the desert for our God! And the glory of Yahweh shall be revealed” (Isaiah 40:3-5 LEB).
“Yehovah came from Sinai, and he dawned upon them from Seir; He shone forth from Mount Paran, and He came with myriads of holy ones, at His right hand a fiery law for them” (Deuteronomy 33:1, 2 LEB).
Of course, it is not Yehovah Himself, but His chief representative, agent, the Messiah who leads this march through the desert and on toward the Edomite districts of Teman and then Bozrah near Mount Seir.
“Yehovah comes from Teman and the Holy One from Mount Paran ... His radiance is like the sunlight, He has rays flashing from his hand, and there is the hiding of His power. Before Him goes pestilence, And plague comes after Him; He looked and startled the nations” (Habakkuk 3:2-6).
Jude 14 and 15 confirms this scenario when referencing a prophecy from Enoch stating:
Now Enoch, the seventh from Adam, also prophesied about them, saying, “Take note: Yehovah came with countless thousands of His holy ones. He came to execute judgment against all and to convict all the ungodly concerning all the ungodly activities that they committed, and concerning all the harsh things that ungodly sinners spoke against Him.”
This is no march of peacemaking, but of Messiah’s indignation at his enemies in Edom and their destruction as he marches on in conquest (Psalm 2):
“The mountains saw you and quaked ... sun and moon stood in their places; they went away at the light of your arrows ... In indignation, you marched through the earth; in anger, you trampled the nations. You went forth for the salvation of your people ... you struck the head of the house of evil to lay him open from thigh to the neck” (Habakkuk 3:11-13).
Isaiah also describes this destruction that the Messiah brings upon Edom and its aftermath on his northward march:
“Who is this who comes from Edom, With garments of glowing colors from Bozrah, this One who is majestic in his apparel, marching in the greatness of his strength? ‘It is I who speak in righteousness, mighty to save. ‘Why is Your apparel red, and your garments like the one who treads in the winepress? ‘I have trodden the wine trough alone, and from the many peoples there was no man with me...and their lifeblood is sprinkled on my garment ... For the day of vengeance was in my heart, and my year of redemption has come’” (Isaiah 63:1-4).
A similar picture to this is given in Revelation 19:11-18:
“Then I saw the sky opening up. There was a white horse, and the one riding it was called “Faithful” and “True.” With justice, he judges and wages war. His eyes are like a fiery flame, and there are many diadem crowns on his head. He has a name written that no one knows except himself. He is clothed with a robe that had been dipped in blood, and his name is called “The revelation of God.” The armies in the sky kept following him on white horses. They are dressed in white and clean fine linen. A sharp sword extended from his mouth so that he can strike the nations with it. He will rule them with an iron scepter, and he will trample the winepress of the fury of the retribution of God, the All-Powerful. He has a name written on his robe and on his thigh: “King of kings and Lord of lords.”
Then I saw one particular angel standing in the sun, and he shouted out in a loud voice to all the birds flying in mid-air, “Come and gather together for the great supper of God, so that you may eat the flesh of kings, the flesh of commanders, the flesh of powerful people, the flesh of horses and their riders, and the flesh of everyone, both free and bond-servant, and lowly and prominent!”
Although all the details of this complete scenario give no thought of a pre-tribulation rapture, it does show that Messiah Jesus comes in two phases (not two returns) with a time that is hidden from the world in a remote area of Sinai in Arabia. During this time the messianic banquet is held and the preparation of God’s people to be a part of the Theocratic Government will be developed to rule over God’s Kingdom, during the Messiah Jesus 1,000 year rule over the nations.
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