We know from Scripture that the Lawless one will rise up and surround Jerusalem with his armed forces and enter the temple and declare himself to be God. (See Daniel 11:31 & 2 Thessalonians 2:3-4.)
We have seen in previous studies that the 144,000 Israelites, God's first fruits, will be there at that time. It is Satan's desire, and therefore the Beasts desire, to kill God's beloved holy ones.
We see here in Zechariah 14:1-8 that the Lord Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God, returns from heaven, to the exact spot that he left the city, in fulfillment of the prophecy found in Acts 1:9-12, to deliver his holy ones as described in Revelation 12:13-16.
We know that the woman in Revelation 12 flees the Beast for 3 1/2 years and so we know that 3 1/2 years before the Beast is caught and destroyed in Revelation 19:20, that the Lord comes from heaven as her deliverer.
This is further confirmed by the statement in Revelation12:10 that states, "Now have come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God, and the authority of his Christ."
Psalm 110:1-7
Of David. A psalm.
The LORD says to my Lord: "Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet." 2 The LORD will extend your mighty scepter from Zion; you will rule in the midst of your enemies. 3 Your troops will be willing on your day of battle. Arrayed in holy majesty, from the womb of the dawn you will receive the dew of your youth. 4 The LORD has sworn and will not change his mind: "You are a priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek."
5 The Lord is at your right hand; he will crush kings on the day of his wrath. 6 He will judge the nations, heaping up the dead and crushing the rulers of the whole earth. 7 He will drink from a brook beside the way;
therefore he will lift up his head. (NIV)
Isaiah 66:1
This is what the LORD says:
"Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool."
We see Satan and his angels cast down to the earth in Revelation 12:7-9, and when his enemies are cast down to his footstool, then the Lord leaves his place at God's right hand, to return to the earth, to gather his body, then to deliver his sealed and precious ones. Hiding them from the Beast for 3 1/2 years.
His "ruling in the midst of your enemies" takes time; three and a half years to be exact. It is not obvious, but is nonetheless true, that the Lord comes and operates behind the scenes, as it were, for three and a half years before he officially Comes as Israel's King.
