Coming on the Clouds of Heaven

COMING ON THE CLOUDS OF HEAVEN

Revelation 1:7 NET Look! He is returning (coming) with (on) the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him, and all the tribes on the earth will mourn (wail) because of him. This will certainly come to pass! Amen.

The return of Christ or coming with the clouds is a reference to Daniel 7:13-14.

Daniel 7:13-14 Greens LT (13) I was looking in the night visions. And behold! One like the Son of Man came with the clouds of the heavens. And He came to the Ancient of Days. And they brought Him near before Him. (14) And dominion was given to Him, and glory, and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion which shall not pass away, and His kingdom that which shall not be destroyed.

At His trial before the Council, Jesus also applied Daniel’s prophecy to Himself saying they would see Him, “coming on the clouds of heaven”.

Matthew 26:64 NET Jesus said to him, "You have said it yourself. But I tell you, from now on you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Power and coming on the clouds of heaven."

This prophecy has been partial fulfilled with Jesus sitting at the right hand of God, but returning or coming on the clouds of heaven remains for the immediate future.  In my opinion, the clouds of heaven would be an angelic multitude and not water vapor.

The parable of Jesus found in Luke 19:12 metaphorically implies that Jesus would go to heaven and receive a kingdom, but that he would later return to rule over that kingdom.

Luke 19:12 NET Therefore he said, "A nobleman went to a distant country to receive for himself a kingdom and then return.

This was in response to an inquiry concerning whether the Kingdom of Heaven (or of God) would appear immediately.  First the authority must be granted and later the kingdom would be received.  Thus, a return or second coming of Jesus was required to extract it from the hijackers and physically take possession of it. 

Every eye will see Him, even those who pierced Him

John was employing a paraphrase (a rewording) of Zechariah 12:10.

Zechariah 12:10 NET "I will pour out on the kingship (house) of David and the population of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and supplication so that they will look to me, the one they have pierced. They will lament for him as one laments for an only son, and there will be a bitter cry for him like the bitter cry for a firstborn.

Zechariah uses the phrase “they will look to (on) me” whereas John says “every eye will see Him”.  Although it is possible, it is not certain if any eye will actually view Him as a man but all will certainly look to Him or remember Him in some manner.

Even though the Romans physically drove spikes through His hands and feet and pierced His side with a spear, it is the Jews (religious leaders) who are given scriptural credit for these actions.

John 19:37 NET And again another scripture says, "They will look on the one whom they have pierced."

Acts 4:10 NET let it be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel that by the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead, this man stands before you healthy.

Acts 7:52 NET Which of the prophets did your ancestors not persecute? They killed those who foretold long ago the coming of the Righteous One, whose betrayers and murderers you have now become!

All Tribes Will Mourn

All tribes includes the entire populations of the earth.  No specific tribes are separated from the others such as “all the tribes of Israel”.  Could this possibly be a fulfillment of Genesis 12:3 where all the families of the earth will bless you.

Genesis 12:3 NET I will bless those who bless you, but the one who treats you lightly I must curse, and all the families of the earth will bless one another by your name."

The Jews claim this promise for themselves as do the Christian Zionists.  The current nation of Israel may have some from the tribe of Judah but the majority are mixed breed Edomites and Khazarians descended from Japheth.  The ten northern tribes of the original nation of Israel were conquered and deported by the Assyrians to a location between the Black and Caspian seas.  It has been proved that the Israel nation then migrated north and west to the countries which is now known as Europe.

Zechariah prophesies that, “They will lament for him as one laments for an only son, and there will be a bitter cry for him like the bitter cry for a firstborn” when the spirit of grace and supplication is poured out.  The people will finally see Jesus Christ for Who He truly is.

The ones who pierced Him will also be included within the “all tribes” statement.  The Jews who refuse to accept Jesus as their Messiah will realize they had been lied to by the religious leaders.  This “lie” which began during the earthly life of Jesus will come to an end.

Matthew 28:12-13, 15 NET After they had assembled with the elders and formed a plan, they gave a large sum of money to the soldiers, (13) telling them, "You are to say, 'His disciples came at night and stole his body while we were asleep.'  (15) So they took the money and did as they were instructed. And this story is told among the Jews to this day.

When the Jews finally acknowledge the lie concerning Jesus there will be lamentations and bitter weeping.  However, many others have also been lied to or perhaps they have lied to themselves.

This second lie would include resentment and aggression against Jesus and God. It also concerns denial of both Jesus and God.  The knees of abortionists will shake.  The evolutionists will be extremely perplexed.