part 5: Every eye will see Him
Puzzled About Revelation, March 10 2021
“Look, He is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see Him, even those who pierced Him. And all the tribes of the earth will mourn over Him. So shall it be. Amen.”
Introduction
The BLESSED HOPE that Christians have been looking toward with expectation for nearly 2,000 years—the GLORIOUS APPEARING of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ—is coming under increasing attack and skepticism from both OUTSIDE and INSIDE the church.
This teaching seeks to follow Scriptures’ commands to expose and tear down every stronghold and lofty thing that exalts itself against the truth of God’s Word and make it obedient to Christ (2 Cor. 10:4-5).
1) Look! He is Coming with the Clouds…
John was one of the four disciples with Jesus on the Mount of Olives when Jesus talked about the signs of His coming. In Matthew 24:30, Jesus said that you will see the sign of the Son of Man; He will come with the clouds of heaven, and at that point He will send forth His angels to gather His elect from the four corners of the earth. John would have understood that this was the key sign of Jesus’ coming - that He comes on the clouds. Furthermore, John says that every eye will see Him, even those who pierced Him. This will be a visible, unmistakable event. There will be no ambiguity about whether or not Jesus has “already” returned. Tonight we will examine three claims that are being made against the literal interpretation of Revelation 1:7.
Claim #1 (Liberal Theology): Liberal thinking rejects the literal interpretation of Jesus returning “on the clouds” in favor of a “figurative” interpretation. This is happening even within the church. One example comes from New Testament Scholar N.T. Wright, who says that nothing in the OT Scriptures or Judaism would have led the disciples to expect Jesus floating down on a cloud ‘like a spaceman’. He asserts that Jesus never intended for us to take His words literally about His coming on the clouds of heaven; this was simply symbolic language.
Q: Will Jesus literally return with the clouds of heaven? Or is it meant to be taken figuratively, as some (such as NT Wright) suggest?
CLAIM #1 IS FALSE: The Scriptures are clear: Jesus will literally come on/with literal clouds of glory to establish a literal kingdom with a literal throne in a literal city—New Jerusalem—where He will literally rule and reign over a literal earth with literal saints made up of literal people with literal, glorified bodies…literally forever and ever. Amen!
2) Every Eye Will See Him, Even Those Who Pierced Him.
Claim #2 (Pretribulationism): Jesus will first come “like a thief in the night” and catch up the church to heaven in a “secret rapture” that only Spirit-filled believers will see.
Q: Will Jesus come secretly and invisibly for His church before the tribulation?
See Matt. 24:26-30; also 1 Thess. 4:15-17; 2 Thess. 1:6-10; Rev. 19:11-21. For greater detail on this point, watch the four-part “Puzzled About the End of the Age” series.
CLAIM #2 IS FALSE: The Scriptures are clear: Our blessed hope is His glorious appearing, when every eye will see Him when He comes to destroy the wicked and deliver the saints—it will not be a secret!
3) And All the Tribes of the Earth (Land) Will Mourn Over Him.
Claim #3 (Preterism & Replacement Theology): The Son of Man coming on the clouds (Dan. 7:13) was fulfilled in Jesus’ first coming and His ascension with the clouds back to heaven. Jesus’ words in Matt. 24:30 referred to His going on the clouds into heaven to receive a spiritual kingdom & His (invisible) coming in clouds of judgment on the Jewish nation in 70 A.D. A growing number of Christian theologians and scholars, such as Hank Hanegraaff (Bible Answer Man) and the late Dr. RC Sproul (Ligonier Ministries), teach this.
Q: Were Daniel 7:13/Matt. 24:30/Rev. 1:7 fulfilled historically when Jesus ascended into heaven, and when he “came in judgment” on the Jewish nation in 70AD, as preterists (Hanegraaff, Sproul) suggest? Or does it await a future fulfillment?
Q: Does God have a plan for the Jewish people in the last days? If God has no future purpose or plan for the Jewish people, then why have they been miraculously preserved as a distinct people group for nearly 2,000 years since their dispersion?
Mark Twain once famously wrote concerning the Jewish people:
“The Egyptian, the Babylonian, and the Persian rose, filled the planet with sound and splendor, then faded to dream-stuff and passed away; the Greek and the Roman followed; and made a vast noise, and they are gone; other people have sprung up and held their torch high for a time, but it burned out, and they sit in twilight now, or have vanished. The Jew saw them all, beat them all, and is now what he always was, exhibiting no decadence, no infirmities of age, no weakening of his parts, no slowing of his energies, no dulling of his alert and aggressive mind. All things are mortal but the Jew; all other forces pass, but he remains. What is the secret of his immortality?”
A: God is preserving a remnant of His chosen people until the Day of the Lord, when they shall be gathered back to the land of Israel in unbelief and see Him—the Son of Man, Yeshu’a—coming on the clouds of heaven in power and great glory to destroy the wicked and deliver Israel. This is what was prophesied in the Law, Prophets, and Psalms:
This is what the Apostle Paul taught the Gentile saints regarding the Jewish people:
“I do not want you to be ignorant of this mystery, brothers and sisters, so that you may not be conceited: Israel has experienced a hardening in part until the full number of the Gentiles has come in, 26 and in this way all Israel will be saved. As it is written: ‘The deliverer will come from Zion; He will turn godlessness away from Jacob.27 And this is My covenant with them when I take away their sins.”
Jesus said to the inhabitants of Jerusalem: “You will not see me again until you say, ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord.” (Matt. 23:39).
This is the answer to the lingering question of the Parable of the Lost Sons: will the elder brother come home to the Father?? YES!! A fountain of grace will be opened and poured out upon this stubborn and obstinate people and the House of David and descendants of Jerusalem. And they will look on the one they have pierced—His nailed pierced hands and feet, and the place where Immanuel’s side was pierced by the spear—and like Thomas, they will fall to their knees trembling and exclaim, “My Lord and my God!” to the glory of God the Father! Hallelujah!
CLAIM #3 IS FALSE: The Scriptures are clear: He comes to judge the nations gathered against Jerusalem and save the saints / the remnant / the elect—Jewish & Gentile believers in Yeshua (Jesus). Jesus did not come in 70 A.D. which was a time of judgment on that generation of Jews who rejected their Messiah. But God has not forever abandoned His chosen people and has a wonderful plan for their final redemption on the last day!
Conclusion
So (in this way) shall it be! Amen!
Scriptures:
Deut. 30:4-6: “ 4 Even if you have been banished to the most distant land under the heavens, from there the Lord your God will gather you and bring you back. 5 He will bring you to the land that belonged to your ancestors, and you will take possession of it. He will make you more prosperous and numerous than your ancestors. 6 The Lord your God will circumcise your hearts and the hearts of your descendants, so that you may love him with all your heart and with all your soul, and live.”
Deut. 33:26: “There is no one like the God of Jeshurun, who rides across the heavens to help you and on the clouds in his majesty.” Psalm 68:4: “ 4 Sing to God, sing praise to his name, extol Him who rides on the clouds; rejoice before him—his name is the Lord.”
Psalm 68:32-33: “ 32 Sing to God, you kingdoms of the earth, sing praise to the Lord, 33 to him who rides across the highest heavens, the ancient heavens, who thunders with mighty voice.”
Psalm 97:1-6: “ 1 The Lord reigns, let the earth be glad; let the distant shores rejoice. 2 Clouds and thick darkness surround him; righteousness and justice are the foundation of his throne. 3 Fire goes before him and consumes his foes on every side. 4 His lightning lights up the world; the earth sees and trembles. 5 The mountains melt like wax before the Lord, before the Lord of all the earth. 6 The heavens proclaim his righteousness, and all peoples (will) see his glory.”
Ezek. 36:22-28: “ 22 Therefore say to the Israelites, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: It is not for your sake, people of Israel, that I am going to do these things, but for the sake of my holy name, which you have profaned among the nations where you have gone. 23 I will show the holiness of my great name, which has been profaned among the nations, the name you have profaned among them. Then the nations will know that I am the Lord, declares the Sovereign Lord, when I am proved holy through you before their eyes. 24 “‘For I will take you out of the nations; I will gather you from all the countries and bring you back into your own land (in a state of unbelief). 25 (Then) I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols. 26 I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh [new covenant]. 27 And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws. 28 Then you will live in the land I gave your ancestors (i.e. no further threat of exile for breaking the covenant); you will be my people, and I will be your God.”
Ezek. 43:1-7: “Then the man brought me to the gate facing east, 2 and I saw the glory of the God of Israel coming from the east. His voice was like the roar of rushing waters, and the land was radiant with his glory. 3 The vision I saw was like the vision I had seen when He came to destroy the city and like the visions I had seen by the Kebar River, and I fell facedown. 4 The glory of the Lord entered the temple through the gate facing east. 5 Then the Spirit lifted me up and brought me into the inner court, and the glory of the Lord filled the temple. 6 While the man was standing beside me, I heard someone speaking to me from inside the temple. 7 He said: “Son of man, this is the place of my throne and the place for the soles of my feet. This is where I will live among the Israelites forever. The people of Israel will never again defile my holy name…”
Dan. 7:13: “In my vision at night I looked, and there before me was one like a son of man, coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days and was led into his presence.”
Zech. 12:2-3,9-13:1 – “I am going to make Jerusalem a cup that sends all the surrounding peoples reeling. Judah will be besieged as well as Jerusalem. 3 On that day, when all the nations of the earth are gathered against her, I will make Jerusalem an immovable rock for all the nations. All who try to move it will injure themselves… 9 On that day I will set out to destroy all the nations that attack Jerusalem. And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and supplication. They will look on Me, the One they have pierced, and they will mourn for Him as one mourns for an only child and grieve bitterly for Him as one grieves for a firstborn son. 11 On that day the weeping in Jerusalem will be as great as the weeping of Hadad Rimmon in the plain of Megiddo. 12 The land will mourn, each clan by itself, with their wives by themselves: the clan of the house of David and their wives, the clan of the house of Nathan and their wives, 13 the clan of the house of Levi and their wives, the clan of Shimei and their wives, 14 and all the rest of the clans and their wives. On that day, a fountain will be opened to the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, to cleanse them from sin and impurity.”
Matthew 24:26-30 – “ 26 So if anyone tells you, ‘There he is, out in the wilderness,’ do not go out; or, ‘Here he is, in the inner rooms,’ do not believe it (i.e. a “secret” coming). 27 For as lightning that comes from the east is visible even in the west, so (in this way) will be the coming of the Son of Man. 28 Wherever there is a carcass, there the vultures will gather. 29 “Immediately after the distress of those days ‘the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from the sky, and the heavenly bodies will be shaken.’ 30 Then will appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven. And then all the peoples (lit. tribes) of the earth (lit. land, i.e. land of Israel) will mourn when they see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven, with power and great glory.”
Matthew 26:63-65: “The high priest said to him, ‘I charge you under oath by the living God: Tell us if you are the Messiah, the Son of God.’ 64 ‘You have said so,’ Jesus replied. ‘But I say to all of you: From now on you will see the Son of Man [Bar Anasha – Dan. 7:13] sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One and coming on the clouds of heaven.’ 65 Then the high priest tore his clothes and said, ‘He has spoken blasphemy! Why do we need any more witnesses? Look, now you have heard the blasphemy.’”
Acts 1:9-11 – “ 9 After he said this, he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight. 10 They were looking intently up into the sky as he was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them. 11 ‘Men of Galilee,’ they said, ‘why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.’”