Revelation 1:7 The third announcement—behold, Christ comes. This is the main theme of Revelation, the coming again of Jesus and the justice and judgment which He will bring to the earth. When He comes, this verse says two things will happen.
1) “Every eye shall see Him.” The glory of God is so bright and so full of light that it actually shines brighter than the sun (Revelation 21:23). When Jesus returns the Lord’s glory will be seen by every eye. This reminds us of the Transfiguration of Matthew 17. There will be an innumerable host of angels and believers who accompany Messiah back to earth.
Clouds in Scripture frequently symbolize God’s presence. A cloud was used as the visible manifestation of God’s presence with Israel during the wilderness wandering (Exodus 13:21-22;16:10;Numbers 10:34). At the giving of the Law at Mount Sinai, ” a thick cloud upon the mountain ” symbolized God’s presence (Exodus 19:16; cf. 20:21;24:15-18).
When the Lord communicated with Moses at the Tent of Meeting (the tabernacle), ” the pillar of cloud would descend and stand at the entrance of the tent; and the Lord would speak with Moses ” (Exodus 33:9; 34:5). Both the tabernacle (Exodus 40:34-38) and the temple (1 Kings 8:10-12) were filled with a cloud symbolizing God’s glory at their dedications. Jesus ascended to heaven on a cloud (Matthew 24:30; Acts 1:9-11); believers will ascend with clouds at the Rapture (1 Thessalonians 4:17), and, as the present verse indicates, Christ will return with clouds (Daniel 7:13;Matthew 24:30).
2) “even those who pierced Him; and all the tribes of the earth will mourn over Him.”
John divides those who will see the Second Coming into two groups Jew and Gentile. Those who pierced Him does not refer to the Roman soldiers involved in Christ’s crucifixion but to the unbelieving Jewish people who called for His death. This is seen in Zechariah 12:10, and underscored by Peter in Acts 2:22-23;3:14-15 .
Israel’s mourning in Zechariah 12:10 , will be that of genuine repentance. Many Jewish people will be saved during the Tribulation, both the 144,000 and their converts. But for many others, the Second Coming will be the time of their salvation. It will be “in that day [that] a fountain will be opened for the house of David and for the inhabitants of Jerusalem, for sin and for impurity ” (Zechariah 13:1).
The second group, Gentiles, are described as all the tribes of the earth. Like the Jewish people, they too will mourn over Messiah. Some of that mourning may relate to the repentance of those who are saved at that time (Revelation 7:9-10,14) while this is a scene in heaven it is the expression of those martyred during the Tribulation). But unlike the Jewish nation, the Gentiles’ mourning will not be from genuine repentance.
The Gentiles’ mourning, for the most part, will be prompted by terror, not repentance. They will mourn not for the Messiah they rejected, but over their impending judgment because the vast majority will not repent (Revelation 9:21).These are people who have rejected His claim to be the Son of God who He came from God out of heaven to save the world.
Most persons accept that Jesus was a great man and one of the greatest religious teachers of all time, but they reject His deity. They believe that man can be good enough to become acceptable to God on their own. Therefore, they reject the fact that Jesus Christ had to die for the sins of the world. When men see Jesus return to earth, they will then know that He is exactly who He claimed to be: the Messiah, the Anointed One of God, the Savior of the world.
They will know that God does love the world, loves it so much that He actually sent His Son to die for the sins of man. But when Messiah returns, the idea is not that of salvation. It is that of wailing, of mourning and crying out, because of the judgment that Jesus is bringing with Him upon all who have rejected Him and worked evil upon the earth.
4. The fourth announcement —Jesus Christ is the Almighty God.– Three divine attributes here guarantee the certainty of the promise of Messiah’s return.
1). He is the “Alpha and Omega.” The expression the Alpha and the Omega speaks of God’s omniscience. Alpha is the first letter of the Greek alphabet, and Omega is the last. All knowledge communicated through words come through the alphabet hence God is the source of all knowledge. Yeshua is the beginning and the ending of all there is. He began all things and He shall end all things. All things find their purpose, meaning, and significance in Him. Man, the world, history, no matter how chaotic and disjointed life may seem, all things are under the control of Yeshua (John 10:28-29; 14:27;16:33).
A Thought . The exhortation is clear: we must put our trust in Jesus Christ and cast our lives upon Him. When we do, we receive the great gift of God spoken about in verse four. We receive the grace of God’s care and provision and the great gift of peace, and we become safe and secure for eternity
2). He is also described as “the one who is and who was and who is to come.” God’s presence is not confined by time or space or any event in them. He is also described as God Almighty the word in the Greek means the All-Controller, the All-Ruler. He is the One who controls all things and rules over all things in the whole universe which speaks of His omnipotence. Since He is all powerful, nothing can hinder Him from carrying out His sovereign will. Nothing will hinder our Messiah from returning in glory as described in Revelation 1:7.
A Thought . This is a great message for man. Jesus Christ loves us all; He loves us as much as He loved those who lived when He first came to earth. His love is unchangeable. But remember: so are His justice and judgment. If we trust Him, we shall know His love; if we reject Him, we shall know His wrath.
3). Jesus Christ is the Almighty (pantokratoôr). The word means the All-Controller, the All-Ruler. He is the One who controls all things and rules over all things in the whole universe. This means that Jesus Christ possesses all power: He is omnipotent, able to do anything. He controls everything: the universe and every being within the universe. He controls the atoms, protons, neutrons, and electrons of space and matter. He even controls every circumstance, event, and happening throughout the universe.
Jesus Christ is the Almighty. This means a most wonderful thing: no matter what a person goes through, if he belongs to Jesus Christ, all things will be worked out for his good. Jesus Christ will control the circumstances and twist them to the good of the believer. Nothing can snatch the believer out from under the control of Jesus Christ.
Our Messiah is not the one so often depicted in paintings as the One who walked the earth humble and lowly, but the Glorified Risen Messiah who has been given all authority and all power. His first coming was as a Lamb but His return and His present state is as the Lion of the Tribe of Judah, King of Kings and Lord of Lords.
