Look, he is coming with the clouds
Revelation 1:7 - When will the return of Jesus occur? We don’t know, but it will be the most significant event in human history.
Image generated by ChatGPT (OpenAI) using the DALL·E model.
““Look, he is coming with the clouds,” and “every eye will see him, even those who pierced him”; and all peoples on earth “will mourn because of him.” So shall it be! Amen.”
Revelation 1:7 NIV
The first chapter of Revelation takes care of some important business in the first handful of verses. It provides an introduction to the book and its author (John), blesses the reader, and offers a greeting of grace and peace to the “seven churches which are in Asia” that the letter was originally addressed to (Asia is modern-day western Turkiye). After a verse and a half (Revelation 1:5b-6) praising Him, it provides us with an opening description of the return of Jesus. That’s where we are in today’s verse.
There is a lot packed into these words. The verse begins with “Look” (“Behold” in other Bible translations). That’s not a suggestion, it’s a command from John for us to do what Jesus told us to do - watch and wait for His coming as described in Matthew 24:42 “Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come.”
John wasn’t having a vision at this point; he’s simply describing what he knows to be true from the Old Testament prophecies of the Messiah’s return as well as what Jesus told the disciples about His return. John had written about this earlier in his Gospel; John 14:3 - “And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.”
What is all this about “coming with the clouds?” When Jesus left the earth, He was taken up into a cloud and two messengers of God (angels?) said that He would return the same way (Acts 1:9-11):
“After he said this, he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight. They were looking intently up into the sky as he was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them. “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.””
This is the literal meaning of “coming with the clouds”, but there is also a figurative meaning here. In Hebrews 12:1 (be sure to read Barb’s 82-devotional journey through Hebrews), a multitude of believers (the church) is called a “cloud of witnesses”.
Finally, clouds are associated with God’s presence throughout the Book of Exodus, the cloud of glory known as the Shekinah, the dwelling place of God. The Jews saw God’s presence as a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night (Exodus 13:21).
Once again, John didn’t need special knowledge or a vision to know that Jesus will return “with the clouds”. We know from the Gospel of Matthew that Jesus told the Sanhedrin that He would be “coming on the clouds of heaven” (Matthew 26:64), and His words to the Jewish leaders were known by the disciples.
When Jesus returns, “every eye will see Him.” Everyone will know, believer or not. John heard the words of Jesus himself about how He would return: “For as lightning that comes from the east is visible even in the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man.” (Matthew 24:27 NIV)
Who are “even those who pierced him”? John is referring to the Jewish people, who definitely played a part in setting up the events leading to the crucifixion of Jesus. David Guzik explains in this commentary from Enduring Word:
i. When Jesus reveals Himself to His own people, the Jews, it will not be in anger. By that time, the Jewish nation will have turned to Jesus, trusting in Him as their Messiah (Matthew 23:39, Romans 11:25-26). When they see Jesus and His pierced hands and feet, it will be a painful reminder of their previous rejection of Him. It will fulfill the scene of Zechariah 12:10: And I will pour on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the Spirit of grace and supplication; then they will look on Me whom they pierced. Yes, they will mourn for Him as one mourns for his only son, and grieve for Him as one grieves for a firstborn.
ii. John didn’t need a special vision to know even they who pierced Him. He could read it in Zechariah 12:10.
The verse continues with the words “all peoples on earth “will mourn because of him.”” At the second coming of Jesus, it won’t be just the Jewish people who mourn because they previously rejected Jesus. Everyone will take part in this mourning as we look at His scars, knowing that we — and our sin — were responsible.
John was also remembering what Jesus had told the disciples, recounted in Matthew 24:30:
““Then will appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven. And then all the peoples of the earth will mourn when they see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven, with power and great glory.”
In the original Greek, the verse ends with two words: ναί ἀμήν — nai amēn, translated literally as “assuredly so” or “so shall it be”, followed by that most familiar of words to Christians — Amen.
I’ve brought it up before, but will repeat this explanation for our newer subscribers who may not know the meaning of the word Amen. The ancient Hebrew word means “so it is, so be it, may it be fulfilled.” The word was used in the synagogues at the end of a reading or prayer, and by responding Amen, the others in the gathering were basically agreeing wholeheartedly to what was said, and making those words their own.
We are just the latest in a long history of believers who have used this word, which is the same (or similar) in ancient Hebrew and Greek, Latin, and many modern languages including English.
When will the return of Jesus occur? We don’t know, but it will be the most significant event in human history.
Heaven On Wheels Daily Prayer:
Today’s prayer comes from Knowing Jesus:
Heavenly Father, I praise and thank You for Your wonderful plan of redemption. Thank You that I have been saved by grace through faith in Christ and thank You that the wrath of God was poured out on Christ in my stead. I know that a terrible time of trouble is coming on the whole earth when Your righteous wrath will be poured out on a God-hating, Christ-rejecting, sinful world, but I pray that many would come to faith in Jesus during that time of great distress. Thank You that the Millennial reign of Christ is coming soon, when the earth shall be filled with the glory of God as the waters cover the sea. AMEN.
Amen