The Coming King—The Book of Revelation
We continue our study with Revelation1:7:
Behold, 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 it is to be. Amen.
Just as the Lord ascended into the
clouds, He will return through the clouds. No doubt these clouds are literal,
but as with virtually everything literal in Scripture, there is also a spiritual
significance and message.
Many biblical symbols have different
meanings in different situations. This is not meant to confuse seekers of God’s
truth, but rather to keep us dependent on His Holy Spirit to lead us into all
truth. Principles and formulas can be helpful, but they can mislead us if we
start to depend on them in place of the Holy Spirit.
A key to understanding the manner in
which the Lord will return is found in Acts 1:9-11, when He ascended:
After He had said these
things, He was lifted up while they were looking on, and a cloud received Him
out of their sight.
And as they were gazing intently into the sky while He was going, behold, two
men in white clothing stood beside them.
They also said, "Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into the sky?
This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in just the
same way as you have watched Him go into heaven."
Just as a cloud received
Him as He ascended, He will come “the
same way” through the clouds when He returns. Again, this is literal but
also a revelation of the times He will return in. Since clouds often speak of
confusion in Scripture, especially the confusion of nations, we can expect this
to be in a similar time. Other prophecies of Scripture corroborate this. Here
are just a few:
“Clouds are a hiding place for Him…” (see Job 22:14).
“He made
darkness His hiding place, His canopy around Him,
darkness of waters, thick clouds of the skies” (Psalm 18:11).
“Clouds and
thick darkness surround Him...” (see Psalm 97:2).
"For the day is near, even the day of the Lord
is near; it will be a day of clouds, a time for the nations” (Ezekiel
30:3).
“I kept looking in the night visions, and behold, with the clouds of heaven One
like a Son of Man was coming…” (see Daniel 7:13).
“Hereafter
you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of power, and coming
on the clouds of heaven” (see Matthew 26:64).
As we will see, there is a difference between the “clouds of heaven” and the clouds of the earth. His coming will
have both, but we will go deeper into understanding the clouds of heaven later,
as these are the ones He has now hidden Himself in.
We should also learn to look for Him in the clouds, or confusion, of nations.
There is much more behind the chaos and confusion of nations than earthly
politics. Often this is the result of powers of darkness being stirred by what
God is doing. They seek to obscure or drown it out, such as the devil’s tactic
to drown the church in Revelation 12 with a flood. The point is that when there
is a great stirring of nations, we must learn to look for what God is doing.
Another important factor when
He ascended was that His faithful followers were “gazing intently” after Him. The same will be true when He
returns—His faithful followers will be “gazing
intently” at Him. His people have been busy with many things during this
age, the good things that He gave His people to do, but at the end it will be
all about Jesus.
The focus of His followers’ discussion just before He ascended was the coming
of His kingdom, and this will be a focus of His faithful ones when He returns.
This message will lead up to the end of the age, just as we will see
corroborated in other places in Revelation.
The comment of the two angelic messengers to the disciples is also important, “Why do you stand looking into the sky?”
They assure the disciples that He will return again just like they saw Him go,
but the implication is, “Don’t you have something else to do now?” They did.
Their work was just beginning. It had to begin on the most important
foundation—so they returned to Jerusalem where they dedicated themselves to
prayer.
This is how He left, and it will be how He returns. The great work of this age
began with His people dwelling together in unity as they devoted themselves to
prayer, and this is how it will end—His people in unity, praying. Why not get
started?