Second, those Christians living to see Jesus' coming would experience, according to the Apostle Paul, an in-the-clouds "rapture" in which they would be "caught up together" with resurrected saints, as described in 1st Thessalonians 4:16-17. There is no definite indication that this gathering "to meet the Lord in the air" (1st Thessalonians 4:17) is a public event, one that can be seen by those on earth or, to describe it in 21st-century terms, a media-accessible event that can be captured on satellite imagery. So Jesus' coming back "in the same way" or "in like manner" as his ascension does not necessitate or imply a publicly visible, photographable appearance.

The attempt by Dispensational Futurists to create an artificial distinction between the rapture and the Second Coming (and thus manufacture a two-part Second Coming) has no Scriptural basis. Accordingly, when the Apostle Paul writes of the rapture of living Christians, he speaks of this action in connection with "the coming [Greek: ten parousian] of the Lord" (1st Thessalonians 4:15) -- not "a coming of the Lord" and certainly not "Part I of the Second Coming."

Moreover, Dispensationalists, who claim to interpret the Bible literally, are confronted by the problem of Christ's return from heaven on a "white horse" (Revelation 19:11-16). The angels told the apostles that Christ would return "in like manner" (Acts 1:11) as he ascended, yet, according to Acts, Jesus did not ascend to heaven on a horse of any color.

Dispensational and other premillennial Futurists, who believe that Christ will establish a 1,000-year earthly kingdom at his Second Coming, contend that the Messianic prophecy of Zechariah 14 proves the necessity of Jesus' bodily return to earth. The key verse of this prophecy says: "On that day his [the Lord's] feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, east of Jerusalem, and the Mount of Olives will be split in two from east to west, forming a great valley, with half of the mountain moving north and half moving south." (Zechariah 14:4; NIV)

But does this prophecy require the physical presence of Christ to be fulfilled? The prophet Micah uses virtually identical prophetic language to describe God's judgment -- by means of the Assyrian army -- against Samaria and Israel in the 8th century B.C.: "Look! The Lord is coming from his dwelling place; he comes down and treads the high places of the earth. The mountains melt beneath him and the valleys split apart, like wax before the fire, like water rushing down a slope." (Micah 1:3-4)

Micah's prophecy was fulfilled when the Assyrians destroyed Samaria and took Israel captive in 722-721 B.C., as the evangelical NIV Study Bible notes. No actual divine descent to earth was required, despite the vivid imagery of God coming down bodily to carry out his purpose. So by comparing Scripture with like Scripture, one sees that the physical descent of the Lord -- that is, Jesus -- to the Mount of Olives is not required to fulfill Zechariah 14.

Moreover, given the fact that Jesus had prophesied that the Son of Man would come before his disciples had finished evangelizing the cities of Israel (Matthew 10:23) and before some of his disciples had tasted death (Matthew 16:28), one should look for an event that fulfills the Messianic prophecy of Zechariah 14 within the timeframe of Jesus' own generation -- the one that would "certainly not pass away until all these things have happened" (Matthew 24:34).