Revelation 1:7-8

Introduction

English Standard Version Chapter 1

7 Behold, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him, and all tribes of the earth will wail on account of him. Even so. Amen.

8 “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.”

In our last time together we looked closely at verses 1-6 of chapter 1. I noted that this letter was an occasional letter, like many of the other letters in the NT, written on a certain occasion in history, to a specific people, within certain circumstances. John’s Apocalypse is addressed to seven churches that existed in the first century that no longer exist today, churches that were under immense persecution by unbelieving Jews and the Roman Empire.

This book was probably written in the mid 60’s of the first century, at the onset of Nero’s persecution against Christians, yet before Rome had turned against the Jews in the Jewish-Roman war of 66 AD, which would ultimately result in the destruction of Jerusalem and the Jewish Temple.

While John’s letter is occasional and written to certain churches, it’s filled, in large part, with a prophetic vision that John is given while in the Spirit on the Lord’s day, a vision given to him by Jesus himself. And like the many of the prophets before him, such as Ezekiel and Daniel, John is given a highly symbolic vision, using an apocalyptic literary style. Hence the reason the book is often referred to has John’s Apocalypse, or the Revelation.

If you read the visions given to the likes of Isaiah, Ezekiel and Daniel you find much of the same imagery recapitulated. For instance, Ezekiel sees a vision of a temple much like what John sees in Revelation 21. And all three prophets see a vision of cherubim and seraphim, described using very similar terms. They all see visions of one who sits on a throne in heaven, rainbows, and flashes of lightning around the throne. Daniel and John both see visions of beasts, describing kings and kingdoms. Therefore, much of the symbolism found in Revelation is derived from the OT.

We also saw in the opening verses that the events described in John’s Apocalypse are soon to take place, and that the churches must hear and keep what is written in it. That the vision is given for the church’s benefit, that it’s given for both their encouragement and warning. John tells the churches blessed is the one who hears and heeds this prophecy.

And so he begins by reminding them who this letter is from, from him who is and who was and who is to come, the same God who appeared to Moses at the burning bush, Yahweh, I am who I am. That it’s the Spirit of God who indwells them, who pours the love of God into them, and sustains them. And finally from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, their example to follow amidst tribulation, Jesus Christ, who is supreme and preeminent, the firstborn from the dead, and who is ultimately the ruler of all kings on earth - not Caesar, but Jesus.

Theme verse

And it’s at this point we reach what may be the most important verse of the entire book. It’s what many have described as the theme of John’s Apocalypse. Verse 7 is central to understanding the book, and in many respects it outlines the circumstances of the narrative, and it explains the purpose of the events described in John’s vision. The Book of Revelation portrays judgement, and verse 7 describes the context of that judgment, the timing of that judgement, and to whom that judgement is directed. We read there in verse 7,

English Standard Version Chapter 1

7 Behold, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him, and all tribes of the earth will wail on account of him. Even so. Amen.

Now, to our modern ears this sounds immediately as though John’s describing Jesus’ second coming, it’s what most of us have been trained to hear. However, the context that comes before it in this chapter indicates that this event was soon to take place in John’s own day, that the time was near. That events described in this book and in this vision would impact the seven churches that John was writing to.

Coming with the clouds

So, what then are we to make of verse 7 when it describes Jesus as coming with the clouds? If this isn’t describing Jesus’ second coming, then what is it describing? Well, if you were here when we walked through Jesus’ Olivet Discourse in Matthew chapter 24, when Jesus described the future destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple, you probably already know how to interpret this kind of language. This is apocalyptic language, a language of vivid imagery used to communicate spiritual realities, often coupled with prophetic literature.

This is why we see this “coming on the clouds” imagery in more places than just the Book of Revelation, because it’s an apocalyptic metaphor for judgement and deliverance. It wasn’t too long ago that we preached through Psalm 18, a psalm of David that’s also recorded in 2 Samuel 22 near the end of David’s life. This is a psalm of deliverance, a psalm where David’s praises God for delivering him from the hands of his enemies. And what’s particularly unique about this psalm is that David describes his deliverance in apocalyptic terms. Listen to how David describes his deliverance in verses 6-11,

English Standard Version Psalm 18

6  In my distress I called upon the LORD;

to my God I cried for help.

From his temple he heard my voice,

and my cry to him reached his ears.

7  Then the earth reeled and rocked;

the foundations also of the mountains trembled

and quaked, because he was angry.

8  Smoke went up from his nostrils,

and devouring fire from his mouth;

glowing coals flamed forth from him.

9  He bowed the heavens and came down;

thick darkness was under his feet.

10  He rode on a cherub and flew;

he came swiftly on the wings of the wind.

11  He made darkness his covering, his canopy around him,

thick clouds dark with water.

David’s deliverance is portrayed here as God hearing from heaven and coming down on a cherub, on the wings of the wind, on thick clouds dark with water. David describes his deliverance as God coming with the clouds of heaven to deliver and vindicate him.

Later in Psalm 104, verse 3, we read a similar description of God, that,

English Standard Version Psalm 104

3  He lays the beams of his chambers on the waters;

he makes the clouds his chariot;

he rides on the wings of the wind;

And when we read the OT prophets we find this kind of language again. When the prophet Isaiah describes God’s judgement against Egypt in Isaiah 19:1, we read,

English Standard Version Chapter 19

19 An oracle concerning Egypt.

Behold, the LORD is riding on a swift cloud

and comes to Egypt;

and the idols of Egypt will tremble at his presence,

and the heart of the Egyptians will melt within them.

It’s obvious that we’re not meant to understand that God literally rode upon a swift cloud, but rather than this imagery is meant to portray God’s judgement against Egypt.

Jesus himself even uses this kind of language when he describes the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple in his Olivet discourse. We read in Matthew 24:30,

English Standard Version Chapter 24

30 Then will appear in heaven the sign of the Son of Man, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.

The idea here is that Jesus would come in judgement against Jerusalem, just like God had come in judgement against other nations in the past. And notice how closely aligned the language of this verse is with Revelation 1:7 in its description of the Jesus’ coming on the clouds, and causing all of the tribes of the land to mourn.

Then later in Matthew 26:64 when the high priest and the Jewish Sanhedrin have brought in false witnesses against him, Jesus tells the high priest, “… I tell you from now on you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of Power and coming on the clouds of heaven.” In other words, while you may falsely condemn me here, soon you will see me coming on the clouds of heaven in judgement against you.

So, it’s important for us to recognize that the language of Jesus’ “coming with the clouds” found here in Revelation 1:7 is not without precedent. There are many “comings” and “days” of the Lord all throughout the Bible, but unfortunately, we tend to associate any mention of Christ’s coming exclusively with Jesus’ second coming. And when we do so, we risk missing any passages that may pertain to other related judgments, like here in John’s Apocalypse.

So, whenever we read passages like Revelation 1:7, our minds ought to immediately think in categories of judgement and deliverance, and then we can ask ourselves what judgement or deliverance is the author referring to? Is this referring to Christ’s final judgement at the end of the age, or some other intervening judgement? And in this case I believe it’s clear that John is referring to a judgement that is particularly near in his day, events that he says “must soon take place.” It’s a letter and prophecy that these churches of Asia Minor are intended to hear and to heed.

Those who pierced him

Moreover, look at what else it says there in verse 7,

English Standard Version Chapter 1

7 Behold, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him,

Notice the audience of this judgment, and to whom this judgment is directed, John says, “every eye will see him, even those who pierced him.” In one sense everyone will perceive this judgement, but in a more pointed sense especially “those who pierced him”. This statement not only tells us who the judgement is directed at, but, again, helps us to determine the timing of these events.

So, who are “those who pierced him”? Well, in one sense we could easily conclude that it was the Romans, for it was Pilate who had Jesus crucified and nailed to a cross, and it was one of his own soldiers who pierced Jesus’ side with a spear. However, we know that it wasn’t by Pilate’s own initiative that Jesus was condemned to death, he certainly carried it out, but he was pressured to do so by the Jews. He was concerned that if he didn’t put Jesus to death, that he would have an even larger problem on his hands, potentially a riot.

Judas had delivered Jesus over to the Jewish Council the night before in exchange for 30 pieces of silver. And in a sham trial that took place in the middle of the night, without all of the council members present, and with false witnesses brought in, the Jews condemned Jesus. However, since they didn’t have the authority to put him to death, they brought him before Pilate to have him crucified. And while Pilate found not fault in him, the Jews pitted the crowds against Pilate, and used the threat of an uprising to force his hand.

And so we read in Matthew 27:24-25,

English Standard Version Chapter 27

24 So when Pilate saw that he was gaining nothing, but rather that a riot was beginning, he took water and washed his hands before the crowd, saying, “I am innocent of this man’s blood; see to it yourselves.” 25 And all the people answered, “His blood be on us and on our children!”

Take a moment to notice the gravity of what the Jews said, “His blood be on us and on our children!” They’re so adamant to have Jesus killed that they foolishly cry out, “His blood be on us and on our children!” They’re pleased to take responsibility for the death of Christ! And this fact wouldn’t go unnoticed or be ignored by the church in the years that followed.

So, if you would, turn with me to the book of Acts. In Peter’s famous sermon recorded in Acts chapter 2, on the day of Pentecost, he told the Jews who were there, in verse 23, “...this Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men,” and then again in verse 26, “let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified.”

Then one chapter later in Acts 3:13, after Peter had healed a man at the Temple, a great crowd surrounded him, and when Peter saw it he addressed the people and said, "The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, the God of our fathers, glorified his servant Jesus, whom you delivered over and denied in the presence of Pilate, when he had decided to release him. But you denied the Holy and Righteous One, and asked for a murderer to be granted to you, and you killed the Author of life...”

Then two chapters later in Acts 5:30 when questioned by the high priest before the Jewish Council, Peter said to them, “The God of our fathers raised Jesus, whom you killed by hanging him on a tree.”

Then in Acts 7:51-52, at the conclusion of Stephen’s famous sermon, before he was stoned to death, he said to the high priest and council,

English Standard Version Chapter 7

51 “You stiff-necked people, uncircumcised in heart and ears, you always resist the Holy Spirit. As your fathers did, so do you. 52 Which of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? And they killed those who announced beforehand the coming of the Righteous One, whom you have now betrayed and murdered,

Then in verse 54 it says that when they heard these things they were enraged, and they ground their teeth at him; but Stephen wasn’t finished. We’re told there in verse 55 that Stephen,

English Standard Version Chapter 7

full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. 56 And he said, “Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.”

Now, notice the provocative nature of Stephen’s vision, notice how it fits with what he’s already said. He told the high priest and the council that they were stiff-necked, uncircumcised in heart and ears, always resisting the Holy Spirit. That just as their fathers, who persecuted the prophets, so they killed the Righteous One, they murdered Jesus, the Son of Man. Stephen accuses them of murdering the Messiah, an accusation that provoked them to anger, but an accusation they could ignore, however, Stephen’s vision they could not. In Stephen’s vision of heaven what does he see? He sees the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.

Now, most of the time whenever the Bible portrays Jesus at the right hand of God in heaven, he’s sitting at the Father’s right hand. Hebrews 1:3 says that “when he had made purification for sins, he sat down at the right had of the Majesty.” The idea here is not only that Jesus sits in a position of authority, but also that he is at rest, because his redemptive work has been accomplished, that it is finished. However, in Stephen’s vision Jesus is seen standing, which is a position of action. For instance, In Isaiah 3:13 when God pronounced judgement upon Judah and Jerusalem we read, “The LORD has taken his place to contend; he stands to judge the people. The LORD will enter into judgement with the elders and princes of his people.” Jesus not only sits at the right of God as a result of his finished work at the cross, but he also stands ready to vindicate his saints and to judge those who crucified him. Therefore, Stephen’s vision not only communicates Jesus'authority and his heavenly vindication, that he sits at the right of God, but that he also stands ready to judge his enemies. This is why we read that they “stopped their ears and rushed together at him,” casting him out of the city and stoning him.

Wrath has come upon them at last

We also read that the Apostle Paul, at the time, “approved of his execution.” However, many years after his conversion Paul would write this in 1 Thessalonians 2:14-16,

English Standard Version Chapter 2

14 For you, brothers, became imitators of the churches of God in Christ Jesus that are in Judea. For you suffered the same things from your own countrymen as they did from the Jews, 15 who killed both the Lord Jesus and the prophets, and drove us out, and displease God and oppose all mankind 16 by hindering us from speaking to the Gentiles that they might be saved—so as always to fill up the measure of their sins. But wrath has come upon them at last!

You see, the Apostle Paul not only says that the Jews were responsible for Jesus’ death, but notice what he says at the end, they “always fill up the measure of their sins, but wrath has come upon them at last!” In other words, there is an expectation that judgment had come and would come upon apostate Israel. This judgement included a judicial hardening of their hearts that would culminate in the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple itself. And it’s this judgment that John is referring to in Revelation 1:7, when he writes,

English Standard Version Chapter 1

7 Behold, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him, and all tribes of the earth will wail on account of him. Even so. Amen.

Tribes of the land will mourn

John says that Jesus is coming to judge those who pierced him, and that it’ll be a public spectacle, every eye will witness his judgement, especially those who pierced him, they’ll experience it first hand. And as a result, John says “the tribes of the land will wail on account of him.” There is going to be unprecedented wailing, or mourning, on account of this judgment.

The idea here is that the wailing will be so severe that they will beat their chests out of grief. This is not a mourning coupled with repentance, but a mourning as a result of God’s judgment upon the land. The tribes of the land will mourn because, as Jesus put it in Matthew 24:21, “there will be great tribulation, such as has not been from the beginning of the world until now.” In other words, the tribulation will be unprecedented. The destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple that took place more than 600 years earlier, at the hands of the Babylonians, will pale in comparison.

Matthew 24 connection

And as I’ve mentioned before, the Book of Revelation could be described as an expanded version of Jesus’ Olivet Discourse as recorded for us in Matthew 24, Mark 13, and Luke 21. In the Gospels, while the disciples were admiring the Temple from the Mount of Olives, Jesus told them that not one stone of the Temple would be left upon another. He went on to describe a time of great persecution and tribulation in their generation, what many Christians have called the Great Tribulation. And it’s verse 7 here in Revelation that directly connects John’s Apocalypse with Jesus’ Olivet discourse. Listen to what Jesus says in Matthew 24, verse 30,

English Standard Version Chapter 24

30 Then will appear in heaven the sign of the Son of Man, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.

then read Revelation 1:7 again,

English Standard Version Chapter 1

7 Behold, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him, and all tribes of the earth will wail on account of him. Even so. Amen.

The two texts are unmistakably similar, and therefore appear to describe the same events. And in both places we’re given similar time indicators associated with those events. Jesus says in Matthew 24:34, “Truly, I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place.” And then here in Revelation chapter 1 Johns says that these events are soon to take place, that the time is near, and that Jesus is coming in judgment against those “those who pierced him”. All of these texts point to a first century fulfillment, all of these texts indicate that the events took place within the generation of Jesus’ disciples. It’s also interesting to note that all of the Gospels include Jesus’ Olivet Discourse, except for John’s, possibly because he had already covered the material here in his Apocalypse.

Judgment unto salvation

Now, before we close I want to make a point of application. After walking through texts like these related to judgment we should not be left hopeless. The sin of apostate Israel, as we’ve seen today, was certainly grave, and the judgment that would come upon them as a result of their unbelief would be equally severe, but it’s not as if God’s judgment upon them was a misstep in God’s plan of redemption, but rather it was certainly a part of it.

In fact, the Apostle Paul in his letter to the church in Rome wrote in Romans 11, starting verse 1,

English Standard Version Chapter 11

11 I ask, then, has God rejected his people? By no means! For I myself am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham, a member of the tribe of Benjamin. 2 God has not rejected his people whom he foreknew. Do you not know what the Scripture says of Elijah, how he appeals to God against Israel? 3 “Lord, they have killed your prophets, they have demolished your altars, and I alone am left, and they seek my life.” 4 But what is God’s reply to him? “I have kept for myself seven thousand men who have not bowed the knee to Baal.” 5 So too at the present time there is a remnant, chosen by grace. 6 But if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works; otherwise grace would no longer be grace.

7 What then? Israel failed to obtain what it was seeking. The elect obtained it, but the rest were hardened,

In other words, despite Israel’s unbelief, and despite the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple, God had not rejected those whom he foreknew, the elect, just as in Elijah’s day when all seemed hopeless, God had kept for himself seven thousand men who had not bowed the knee to Baal. And so too at the present time there is a remnant, chosen by grace. In fact, Paul says he’s living proof it!

Paul then goes on in verse 11,

English Standard Version Chapter 11

11 So I ask, did they stumble in order that they might fall? By no means! Rather, through their trespass salvation has come to the Gentiles, so as to make Israel jealous. 12 Now if their trespass means riches for the world, and if their failure means riches for the Gentiles, how much more will their full inclusion mean!

English Standard Version Chapter 11

15 For if their rejection means the reconciliation of the world, what will their acceptance mean but life from the dead?

In other words, Israel’s apostasy is not the end of God’s redemptive plan, but rather through their trespass salvation has come to the Gentiles. Therefore, God comes not simply for judgment, but for judgment unto salvation. Isaiah 26:9 says, “For when your judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world learn righteousness.” And from the beginning, the purpose of Christ’s coming had always been redemptive,

English Standard Version Chapter 3

17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.

While the disciples, throughout the Book of Acts, encountered fierce opposition to the Gospel from their fellow Jews, not all was hopeless. In Peter’s sermon on the day of Pentecost, when he told the Jewish crowds that they had crucified the Christ, we’re told that they were cut to the heart, asking him, “What shall we do?” And Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself.”

The judgement upon apostate Israel, should serve as a warning shot over the bow of our ship, that unless we too repent, that we will likewise perish. And until Christ comes again, today is the day of salvation, for we do not know whether we will have tomorrow.

Prayer