Stephen Jones — Doctrine of God
b4 — The Laws of the Second Coming
God’s Face as God’s Presence
Passage 1 — Peniel: God’s face and presence are one (ch. 9):
“Peniel means ‘God’s face’ or ‘God’s presence.’ The story of Jacob wrestling with the angel indicates that this was prophetically Jacob’s day of decision to see if he really wanted to see God face to face.”
Source: Jones, The Laws of the Second Coming, ch. 9 (“God’s Face is God’s Presence”).
Interpretation: Jones establishes the Hebrew equivalence between God’s face (paniym) and God’s presence not as metaphor but as theological principle. To encounter God’s presence is a transformative, identity-altering meeting.
Passage 2 — Bible translation conceals the doctrine of God’s glory (ch. 9):
“To stand before God means to ‘face’ him. Even so, the translation hides a very important truth regarding the manifestation of the glory of God in one’s face.”
Source: Jones, The Laws of the Second Coming, ch. 9.
Interpretation: Jones argues that conventional English translations spatially neutralize the Hebrew paniym (“before”), thereby obscuring the doctrine that God’s glory manifests visibly in the human countenance.
Passage 3 — Moses and the radiance of God’s presence (ch. 9):
“When he came down off the mount after his eighth trip, his face was glowing with the presence of God. This was an early pattern of the Feast of Tabernacles.”
Source: Jones, The Laws of the Second Coming, ch. 9.
Interpretation: Moses’ radiant face is for Jones not symbolic but a physical consequence of direct communion with God. He reads this as a prefiguration of God’s ultimate purpose: the indwelling of His presence in humanity (Feast of Tabernacles).
Passage 4 — God’s sovereignty as the goal of the encounter (ch. 9):
“He would either continue as Jacob, the usurper, or as Israel, giving testimony that God ruled his body, soul, and spirit in the fullest sense.”
Source: Jones, The Laws of the Second Coming, ch. 9.
Interpretation: Encountering God’s face demands total ontological transformation — body, soul, and spirit under God’s rule. God’s sovereignty is not abstract but requires the complete surrender of one’s entire being.
God’s Purpose in Creation
Passage 5 — God’s redemptive plan encoded in the feast calendar (ch. 10):
“In His first appearance, Jesus fulfilled the spring feasts. The autumn feasts, which have yet to be fulfilled, give us the timing and purpose of His second appearance.”
Source: Jones, The Laws of the Second Coming, ch. 10 (“The Two Works of Christ”).
Interpretation: God’s redemptive purpose is not ad hoc but systematically encoded in the covenant feast calendar. God’s purpose for creation unfolds in two planned phases embedded in the structure of creation’s ordinances.
God’s Justice
Passage 6 — Two works of Christ as expression of God’s justice (ch. 10):
“Though we are unrighteous in ourselves, God has made provision by His first work on the Cross to cover our unrighteousness by His blood, so that legally speaking God could call us righteous. … There is, however, a second work to come, wherein Christ is sent into the world to remove sin from us, making us actually righteous.”
Source: Jones, The Laws of the Second Coming, ch. 10.
Interpretation: Jones distinguishes two aspects of God’s justice: (1) imputed righteousness (first work: legal covering) and (2) constituted righteousness (second work: actual transformation). God’s justice ultimately demands not the appearance but the reality of holiness.
God’s Sovereignty
Passage 7 — God’s sovereignty over redemptive-historical timing (ch. 10):
“Jesus Christ did not immediately fulfill the work of the second dove or the second goat. Instead, He sat down at the right hand of the Father to make intercession for us for the Pentecostal Age. … During the past 2,000 years, He has awaited the day when His enemies are put under His feet.”
Source: Jones, The Laws of the Second Coming, ch. 10.
Interpretation: God’s absolute sovereignty controls the temporal unfolding of redemption. The voluntary delay of the second work demonstrates God’s omnipotence over history: the entire Pentecostal Age (2,000 years) serves God’s eternal purpose.