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Ezekiel also was impressed by the brightness, or the glorious light emitting from the person who appeared to him. Eze 8:2 Again, he is seeing the very nature of the Lord, for the Lord is light, both literally and spiritually. 1 John 1:5 He is the source, the beginning, the author, the creator of light. He has placed a portion and an evidence of who and what He is, in all of His creation. Jesus is the brightness of the glory of the Lord. He is the manifest glory, the very effulgence of that everlasting glory which is always apparent in the presence of the Lord. Heb. 1:3 Isaiah prophesied of a day when the visitation of the glory and the abiding presence of the Lord would be seen upon the church, as the dawning of a new and brilliant day. A day of exceeding great darkness for the ungodly but a day of great and wondrous light for the Bride, for the glory of the Lord will be made manifest through her. Isa. 60:1-2 She is to be that glorious church of His holiness and to be without spot of wrinkle. Eph. 5:27 This will be the final harvest occurring just before the great tribulation period. Isa. 60:3-5 The harvest of the earth in the end of the age by the Lord may be found in Revelation 14:14-16.
The exceeding great brilliancy of the glory of the Lord is also to be seen at the time of His second coming. It is very interesting and enlightening to note the sequence of last day events as Paul presented them to the church at Thessalonica. He placed first things first by stating that the person whose name is Wicked, that is, the antichrist will first be revealed and of course finish his evil works here on this earth. 2 Thess. 2:8a. He is destined to be consumed by the second coming of the Lord Jesus. That destruction will be wrought by the Lord Jesus using the Spirit of His mouth, or the sword of the Spirit, (which is the Word of the Lord Eph. 6:17). 2 Thess. 2:8b.
The brightness (epiphaneia – manifestation, or appearance) of His coming (parousia – advent or return) validates the time of the return of Christ to be the at the close of the tribulation. 2 Thess. 2:8c The secret coming, the revelation, the appearing or His coming at the parousia with the subsequent catching up are all one and the same event. In his first letter to the church at Thessalonica Paul assured them that they were not walking in darkness and that day would not come upon them as a thief in the night for they are children of light and not of the night or darkness. 1 Thess. 5:4-5 It is an absolute impossibility for Jesus to come before the tribulation. This is verified by Peter when he said; that the heavens would pass away and the earth melt with the fervent heat generated by His coming in the flaming brilliancy of the glory of the Lord. 2 Pet. 3:10.