In Like Manner? Will Christ Come in the Exact Same Way

"Now when He had spoken these things, while they watched, He was taken up, and a cloud received Him out of their sight......

This same Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will so come in like manner as you saw Him go into heaven.”"

Let's discuss "in Like Manner" and see its usage in Scripture:

Example 1:
"I will therefore put you in remembrance, though ye once knew this, how that the Lord, having saved the people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed them that believed not. 6 And the angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day. 7Even as Sodom and Gomorrha, and the cities about them in like manner, giving themselves over to fornication, and going after strange flesh, are set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire." [Jude 1:5-7]

Question:
- what was the like manner that connecting Israel, the Angels and Sodom and Gomorrah?

Answer:
In similar fashion. Even though very visible, it was not emphasizing that Sodom did EXACTLY as Israel and the Angels... it is the Greek "Tropon" that emphasizes similarity in behavior, the attributes are similar, not that it would happen exactly the same way.


So in this case, the similarity is FORNICATION.
Israel fornicated, Angels did also, so did Sodom

They did not fornicated the exact same way.

Israel danced on a Golden Calf... but that was fornication.
Angels left their abode... that was fornication.
Sodom had homosexulaity... that was in like manner

Example 2:
"O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as [or IN THE SAME WAY i.e. TROPON] a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not! " [Matt 23:37]
 
Christ wanted to gather Jerusalem in the same manner... obviously Christ does not have physical wings like a hen. That would be in Exact Manner.

Summary:

That is how "in like manner" is used. It is not meant to denote the Exact way but to highlight that there is a similar overriding principle, and overriding attribute where the two things compared LOOKS VERY DIFFERENT, but have a similar attribute.

That is the Key. Two VERY DIFFERENT things... occurring but there was a Like Manner principle

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So back to Acts...
The Angels told them in Like Manner he would return... Which meant it would look different but it is in Like manner... the like manner is the cloud hiding Christ.. because the Angel saw them trying to find Christ after the cloud hid Him

The angel told them in like manner, like that he would come, the commonality is Clouds... it would look different, it would not be Exact.. But it would be in Like Manner

And they should know what Coming in a Cloud that HID Him looks like. He talked about it all the time.

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Here is a different word for "In Like Manner" that means exactly the same.... and it is not Tropon as is used in Acts 1:9-11John 5:19

19 Then Jesus answered and said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He sees the Father do; for whatever He does, the Son also does in LIKE MANNER

Actually the word there is "homoiōs" and in that case it means "Exactly like"

Another example of homoiōs...
"Now there were seven brothers among us. The first married and died, and having no offspring left his wife to his brother. 26So too [LIKEWISE] the second and third, down to the seventh" [Matt 22:24-26]

Does that make Sense?