Revelation 1:7

Revelation 1:7: “Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. Even so, Amen.”

Some people claim that the phrase “with clouds” is symbolic of the church. I don’t really know if that is the case or not. While it is possible that there is some kind of symbolism going on here, it is also possible that the passage is talking about actual clouds. After all, when Jesus ascended after the Resurrection He was taken up into a real, actual cloud. My guess is that He will return in the same kind of clouds that accompanied Him when He left.

The point is that when Jesus returns “every eye shall see him”. This is critical. There are many people today who teach that Jesus will never return at all. Some say that Jesus has already come back (in a secret way that went unnoticed by everyone), while others say that His coming is purely symbolic (He comes “into our hearts”). Both of these points of view are wrong, as this verse so clearly demonstrates. When the Lord Jesus Christ returns no one will miss it. It will not be secret, symbolic, or hidden. In fact, it will be so attention-grabbing that the entire world will go into a panic. As the verse says, “all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him”. Everyone will be affected by this! Why? Because the King will have returned, and men were not prepared to meet Him.

And what a return it will be! Revelation describes the scene in much more detail later on in the book:

Revelation 19:11: “And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war.
12 His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns; and he had a name written, that no man knew, but he himself.
13 And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God.
14 And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean.
15 And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God.
16 And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, King Of Kings, And Lord Of Lords.
17 And I saw an angel standing in the sun; and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all the fowls that fly in the midst of heaven, Come and gather yourselves together unto the supper of the great God;
18 That ye may eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of captains, and the flesh of mighty men, and the flesh of horses, and of them that sit on them, and the flesh of all men, both free and bond, both small and great.
19 And I saw the beast, and the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against him that sat on the horse, and against his army.
20 And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone.
21 And the remnant were slain with the sword of him that sat upon the horse, which sword proceeded out of his mouth: and all the fowls were filled with their flesh.”

His Return will spark a series of events. This is what Zechariah has to say about that momentous day:

Zechariah 14:1: “Behold, the day of the Lord cometh, and thy spoil shall be divided in the midst of thee.
2 For I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle; and the city shall be taken, and the houses rifled, and the women ravished; and half of the city shall go forth into captivity, and the residue of the people shall not be cut off from the city.
3 Then shall the Lord go forth, and fight against those nations, as when he fought in the day of battle.
4 And his feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east, and the mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof toward the east and toward the west, and there shall be a very great valley; and half of the mountain shall remove toward the north, and half of it toward the south.
5 And ye shall flee to the valley of the mountains; for the valley of the mountains shall reach unto Azal: yea, ye shall flee, like as ye fled from before the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah: and the Lord my God shall come, and all the saints with thee.
6 And it shall come to pass in that day, that the light shall not be clear, nor dark:
7 But it shall be one day which shall be known to the Lord, not day, nor night: but it shall come to pass, that at evening time it shall be light.
8 And it shall be in that day, that living waters shall go out from Jerusalem; half of them toward the former sea, and half of them toward the hinder sea: in summer and in winter shall it be.
9 And the Lord shall be king over all the earth: in that day shall there be one Lord, and his name one.
10 All the land shall be turned as a plain from Geba to Rimmon south of Jerusalem: and it shall be lifted up, and inhabited in her place, from Benjamin’s gate unto the place of the first gate, unto the corner gate, and from the tower of Hananeel unto the king’s winepresses.
11 And men shall dwell in it, and there shall be no more utter destruction; but Jerusalem shall be safely inhabited.
12 And this shall be the plague wherewith the Lord will smite all the people that have fought against Jerusalem; Their flesh shall consume away while they stand upon their feet, and their eyes shall consume away in their holes, and their tongue shall consume away in their mouth.”

As we can see, this event is not the Rapture, where Jesus comes to raise the righteous dead and take them back with Him to Heaven (something that happens before the Tribulation even begins). No, this is the Second Coming that happens at the end of the Tribulation, where Jesus returns in person with the armies of Heaven to wage war against those who are attacking Israel.

This is not a fantasy or a fairy tale; it is a real event that will one day shake the world. When it does, no one will miss it; the entire world will know that the King of Kings has returned. This time, though, He will actually stay, and set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed. After conquering the world Jesus will rule over it – and we will reign with Him.