Morning Sermon

October 21, 2007

Coming with the Clouds

Text

Perhaps the most comprehensive question regarding the understanding of this book of Revelation is the question of focus. Does it, or does it not, focus upon the triumphant return of Jesus Christ at the last day? Does this book focus upon the physical, bodily return of Jesus to this earth in judgment at the end of this age? Or does it focus upon an event that would take place within the generation of those who actively lived on earth when John wrote the book?

My challenge this morning is to remain simple and clear, and the simplest and clearest way I can propose that question is this, does this book of the revelation of Jesus Christ have primary reference to events that brought about the end of the age past, the end of the age of the Old Covenant, or does it have primary reference to the events that are still future with regard to the end of this current age, the events concerning the final judgment and the final resurrection of the dead?

As I have studied the book with that question in mind, I have come to believe that the focus of the book is upon the first of those possibilities, the end of the previous age, the end of the age of the nation of Israel as the people of God, the end of the age of the Old Covenant. And while I am not at all alone in that understanding, I also recognize that it is probably not the understanding that you have been previously taught about this book, nor the view held by most Christians today.

And so my purpose this morning is not to declare to you that my understanding is the only interpretation that you could possibly embrace if you really believe the Bible is true, but rather to seek to give you a clear and understandable context for understanding the whole book as it is given to us under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. The key words are in verse 7, "Behold, He is coming with clouds."

The whole idea of the "coming" of Jesus is a very, very important concept in the teaching of Scripture. And the Scripture is abundantly clear that Jesus will come again, at the end of this age. He will usher in the final judgment and the final resurrection. It will be a grand and glorious triumph. Thus we read,

1 Cor. 15:20 "But now Christ is risen from the dead, and has become the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. 21 For since by man came death, by Man also came the resurrection of the dead. 22 For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive. 23 But each one in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, afterward those who are Christ's at His coming. 24 Then comes the end, when He delivers the kingdom to God the Father, when He puts an end to all rule and all authority and power."

First, the reference to Christ's "coming." "Then comes the end." That's what we are waiting for. That's what is next in the future of this world, and the timing of exactly when it shall be it is explicitly withheld from us. But it will come. Jesus will come.

That is quite the emphasis in Paul's letters to the church of the Thessalonians.

1 Thes. 2:19 "For what is our hope, or joy, or crown of rejoicing? Is it not even you in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ at His coming?"

1 Thes. 3:12 "And may the Lord make you increase and abound in love to one another and to all, just as we do to you, 13 so that He may establish your hearts blameless in holiness before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all His saints."

And most emphatically, 1 Thes. 4:15 "For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep. 16 For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord."

That day is surely and certainly coming. The question is, is that the same day of which John writes in our text, v.7

Many Christians would say yes. Perhaps most. So I won't be the least bit offended if you disagree with me, or if I fail to convince you from Scripture about a different view. I believe a different interpretation makes even more sense. I do not deny the reality of the future coming of Jesus Christ, which is why I read all those verses to you just a minute ago, but as I have studied this book over the years I've come to the conclusion that the reference here in these words of prophecy is,

I. THE COMING OF JESUS IN JUDGEMENT UPON JERUSALEM. In other words, the destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70 is identified as this coming of Jesus. The emphasis of Jesus' coming is upon judgment. The vengeance of God being enacted against the final vestige and remnant of the Old Covenant nation of God's people.

The single, clearest rationale for that understanding is the emphasis of Scripture, both here in the book of Revelation and in Jesus' own words that,

A. Jesus would come within that first generation. Turn with me to, Mat. 16:27 "For the Son of Man will come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and then He will reward each according to his works. 28 "Assuredly, I say to you, there are some standing here who shall not taste death till they see the Son of Man coming in His kingdom."

Now, there are perhaps three possible interpretations of that. First, that Jesus was wrong. That he expected the end of the world to come within that generation, and he was simply mistaken. Second, that the "Son of Man coming in His kingdom" means that Jesus would be raised from the dead and ascend to the right hand of the throne of his father in heaven within that generation, and that the reference is not to any additional coming or return of Jesus. Or third, that Jesus would, indeed, come again in reality within that first generation. In judgment.

Turn also to, Mat. 24:34 "Assuredly, I say to you, this generation will by no means pass away till all these things take place."

Again, essentially those same basic options. Either Jesus was wrong. Or "this generation" doesn't really mean "this generation," and some Bibles translate it "this race," such that the idea would be that there will still be Jews living when Jerusalem is destroyed. Verse 34 would then be applied to that destruction while the rest of the chapter focuses upon the final judgment at the end of the age. The idea for "this race" could also mean that there will be Jews living when Jesus returns at the end of the age. Or, the clearest option, in my opinion, the words are quite literally true. Jesus would come within that very generation.

I was fascinated by reading R.C. Sproul's book on all of this, in which his primary concern in interpreting these prophecies as applying to the destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70 is the concern of the authority of Scripture. His final words of conclusion are these: "As I have indicated throughout this book one of my overarching concerns regarding the points in dispute is the authority of Scripture. As the inerrant Word of God, it precludes all efforts to ignore or downplay any aspect of its teaching. The evangelical world cannot afford to turn a deaf ear to the railing voices of skepticism that gut Scripture of its divine authority, that assault the credibility of the apostolic witness and even of Christ himself. We must take seriously the skeptics critique of the time-frame-references of the New Testament prophecy, and we must answer them convincingly."

Sproul has interacted with skeptics, and wrote of his experience in seminary level classes at a non-evangelical seminary, in which "the heavy emphasis on biblical texts regarding the return of Christ, which were constantly cited as examples of errors in the New Testament and proof that the text had been edited to accommodate the crisis in the early church caused by the so-called [delay of Jesus' coming.]" In other words the skeptics and critics look at these texts and conclude the obvious, that they have reference to Jesus' coming in clouds of glory before the death of all the people who were living at that time.

Mat. 24:34 "Assuredly, I say to you, this generation will by no means pass away till all these things take place."

The critics conclude Jesus was wrong, and they conclude that the Bible is wrong. But what are we to conclude, for surely, none of us is willing to conclude those things. The important question becomes, what do we find in the book of Revelation itself about a timeframe for the fulfillment of these prophecies? I touched upon this a couple weeks ago. Look at,

1:1 "The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave Him to show His servants--things which must shortly take place."

1:3 "Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written in it; for the time is near."

Near, imminent. Close at hand. And then at the end of the book,

22:6 And the Lord God of the holy prophets sent His angel to show His servants the things which must shortly take place. 7 "Behold, I am coming quickly!"

22:10 And he said to me, "Do not seal the words of the prophecy of this book, for the time is at hand...12 "And behold, I am coming quickly."

22:20 "He who testifies to these things says, "Surely I am coming quickly." Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus!"

Thus the clearest impression of these words is that what John prophecies, the vision which he received by the Holy Spirit, is a description of events that will take place within that generation. But if that is the case, then what is it that is described by those words,

v.7 "Behold, He is coming with clouds, and every eye will see Him, even they who pierced Him. And all the tribes of the earth will mourn because of Him. Even so, Amen."

What is the nature of that coming? What is the nature of that judgment upon the world? And I believe it is simply this,

B. Jesus would come to bring an end to the age of the Old Covenant. One particularly fascinating commentary written by David Chilton, puts it this way: "The ancient world would soon be in an uproar as kingdoms shook and crumbled to their foundations, and the Christians needed the Revelation as a stable guide during the period of dramatic change which was to come. The end of the world was approaching - not the destruction of the physical universe, but the passing away of the old world-order, the governing of the world around the central sanctuary in Jerusalem. God had established a new nation, a new priesthood, a new humanity worshiping in a new sanctuary. God's House was nearing completion, and the old, provisional dwelling, like scaffolding, was about to be torn away."

There is a great crisis, a great tribulation. The world order as it had been known among the people of the kingdom of God, was coming to an end. A cataclysmic end. The Old Covenant was being fully and finally ended, not merely by the theological doctrine that came with the person and teaching of Jesus Christ, but by the physical and literal destruction of the nation of Israel, the destruction of the holy city Jerusalem and the temple itself.

The coming of Jesus in the form of judgment upon Jerusalem is aptly described as "the end of the ages," a phrase from 1 Corinthians 10:11 that describes that apostolic day. And that judgment upon Jerusalem is rightly identified as the day of the Lord, the day of the Lord's judgment. Judgment upon the nation of God's Old Covenant people.

Just consider how the Old Testament itself ended,

Mal. 4:1 "For behold, the day is coming, Burning like an oven, And all the proud, yes, all who do wickedly will be stubble. And the day which is coming shall burn them up," Says the LORD of hosts, "That will leave them neither root nor branch. 2 But to you who fear My name The Sun of Righteousness shall arise With healing in His wings; And you shall go out And grow fat like stall-fed calves. 3 You shall trample the wicked, For they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet On the day that I do this," Says the LORD of hosts. 4 "Remember the Law of Moses, My servant, Which I commanded him in Horeb for all Israel, With the statutes and judgments. 5 Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet Before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD."

What day was that? The day of Jesus' first coming, for this prophecy of Elijah returning was fulfilled by the presence of John the Baptist announcing the coming of Jesus. And that first coming, beginning with the incarnation, includes all the events and circumstances that Malachi refers to, "the great and dreadful day of the LORD."

In fact, Pentecost ushered in the beginnings of that great and dreadful day of the Lord, for with reference to the prophet Joel,

Acts 2:15 "For these are not drunk, as you suppose, since it is only the third hour of the day. 16 "But this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel: 17 'And it shall come to pass in the last days, says God, That I will pour out of My Spirit on all flesh; Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, Your young men shall see visions, Your old men shall dream dreams. 18 And on My menservants and on My maidservants I will pour out My Spirit in those days; And they shall prophesy. 19 I will show wonders in heaven above And signs in the earth beneath: Blood and fire and vapor of smoke. 20 The sun shall be turned into darkness, And the moon into blood, Before the coming of the great and awesome day of the LORD. 21 And it shall come to pass That whoever calls on the name of the LORD Shall be saved.'

That day is surely already come to pass, "Whoever calls on the name of the LORD Shall be saved." That was the declaration of Pentecost. Whoever calls on the name of the Lord. You didn't have to be an Israelite or become an Israelite! Jesus came and brought a definitive end to the age of the Old Covenant. With reference to the Old Covenant, the end of the ages has come.

What, then, of this coming of Jesus "with the clouds."

II. THE COMING OF JESUS WITH THE CLOUDS. Most distinctly, the clouds are a symbol of two things, I believe. God's glory and his wrathful judgment. They are clearly related, but lets look first at,

A. The presence of God's glory. That's the idea of Jesus coming with the clouds. He would come as the very definition of God's glory, the incarnate manifestation of it. Just consider these references to the glory of God in the clouds,

Ex. 13:21 "And the LORD went before them by day in a pillar of cloud to lead the way, and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, so as to go by day and night. 22 He did not take away the pillar of cloud by day or the pillar of fire by night from before the people."

Ex. 24:15 "Then Moses went up into the mountain, and a cloud covered the mountain. 16 Now the glory of the LORD rested on Mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it six days. And on the seventh day He called to Moses out of the midst of the cloud. 17 The sight of the glory of the LORD was like a consuming fire on the top of the mountain in the eyes of the children of Israel. 18 So Moses went into the midst of the cloud and went up into the mountain. And Moses was on the mountain forty days and forty nights."

And at the completion of the building of the temple,

Ex. 40:34 "Then the cloud covered the tabernacle of meeting, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle. 35 And Moses was not able to enter the tabernacle of meeting, because the cloud rested above it, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle. 36 Whenever the cloud was taken up from above the tabernacle, the children of Israel would go onward in all their journeys. 37 But if the cloud was not taken up, then they did not journey till the day that it was taken up. 38 For the cloud of the LORD was above the tabernacle by day, and fire was over it by night, in the sight of all the house of Israel, throughout all their journeys."

And so we read in Daniel's prophecy of the coming of the Son of Man,

Dan. 7:13 "I was watching in the night visions, And behold, One like the Son of Man, Coming with the clouds of heaven! He came to the Ancient of Days, And they brought Him near before Him. 14 Then to Him was given dominion 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 the one Which shall not be destroyed."

I propose to you that Jesus has already fulfilled that prophecy, at his first coming. He has already been given a dominion and glory and a kingdom. "His dominion is an everlasting dominion." For we read of the power of God in,

Eph. 1:19 "...according to the working of His mighty power 20 which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, 21 far above all principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come. 22 And He put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be head over all things to the church, 23 which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all."

There it is. The son of man has already come. In power and glory. In the clouds. Thus I believe this coming of Jesus in the clouds from Revelation 1:7 is the revelation of the glory of God dwelling in the midst of his people.

John 1:14 "And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth...16 And of His fullness we have all received, and grace for grace. 17 For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. 18 No one has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him."

One final aspect of this coming with the clouds. One final emphasis in the revelation of God's glory. And that is,

B. The manifestation of God's judgment. That's what the destruction of Jerusalem was in AD 70. God's final and complete judgment upon the nation of Israel. That's what the reference to the clouds refers to. It is the same reference as we find with the prophecy of the destruction of the city of Nineveh in,

Nahum 1:2 "God is jealous, and the LORD avenges; The LORD avenges and is furious. The LORD will take vengeance on His adversaries, And He reserves wrath for His enemies; 3 The LORD is slow to anger and great in power, And will not at all acquit the wicked. The LORD has His way In the whirlwind and in the storm, And the clouds are the dust of His feet. 4 He rebukes the sea and makes it dry, And dries up all the rivers. Bashan and Carmel wither, And the flower of Lebanon wilts. 5 The mountains quake before Him, The hills melt, And the earth heaves at His presence, Yes, the world and all who dwell in it. 6 Who can stand before His indignation? And who can endure the fierceness of His anger? His fury is poured out like fire, And the rocks are thrown down by Him. 7 The LORD is good, A stronghold in the day of trouble; And He knows those who trust in Him. 8 But with an overflowing flood He will make an utter end of its place, And darkness will pursue His enemies."

That's judgment upon Nineveh. "The LORD has His way In the whirlwind and in the storm, And the clouds are the dust of His feet." And this, I believe, is judgment upon Jerusalem,

v.7 "Behold, He is coming with clouds, and every eye will see Him, even they who pierced Him. And all the tribes of the earth will mourn because of Him."

There John also makes reference to a prophecy of Zechariah, chapter 12, and clearly it is a reference to judgment and vengeance. Notice the language, as well. "Every eye will see Him." They would see him coming in judgment. They couldn't miss it. They would experience it themselves, even they who had pierced him! Do you see the reference again to that very generation! John declares that even those who put Jesus to death, his very crucifiers, would see this coming of Jesus in judgment upon Jerusalem.

Indeed, as John writes, v.7 "And all the tribes of the earth will mourn because of Him."

Sadly, no longer is this the mourning of repentance, as was the case for the people of Zechariah's day, but this is now the mourning of judgment, the grief and sorrow of sheer agony and terror. Jerusalem, as the city of God, would be totally, utterly and forever abolished. So great would be God's judgment.

And Christians, John writes, ought to anticipate that day with eagerness, v.7 "Even so, Amen."

Or, as the book ends, Rev. 22:20 "He who testifies to these things says, "Surely I am coming quickly." Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus!"

Now, what of all of that is there for us? First of all, a recognition and appreciation for the doctrine of the judgment of God. And a healthy and holy terror of that judgment that came upon Jerusalem, realizing that the awful and total destruction of the Old Covenant nation of God is a legitimate picture and image, even a typological anticipation, of that judgment that will surely come at the end of the age.

But with that, there is the hope of salvation and the declaration of gospel by which it comes. Because actually, you understand, through the judgment upon Israel, through her excommunication as the nation of God, the world itself shall be saved. And actually, through the salvation of the world, the remnant of Israel will itself turn to the Lord and be saved.

And so we read of the nation of Israel,

Rom. 11:11 "I say then, have they stumbled that they should fall? Certainly not! But through their fall, to provoke them to jealousy, salvation has come to the Gentiles. 12 Now if their fall is riches for the world, and their failure riches for the Gentiles, how much more their fullness!...23 And they also, if they do not continue in unbelief, will be grafted in, for God is able to graft them in again. 24 For if you were cut out of the olive tree which is wild by nature, and were grafted contrary to nature into a cultivated olive tree, how much more will these, who are natural branches, be grafted into their own olive tree? 25 For I do not desire, brethren, that you should be ignorant of this mystery, lest you should be wise in your own opinion, that blindness in part has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in."

So Israel as a nation was cut off. Destroyed. Abolished as the nation of God's people. Thus the gospel went to all the nations. That was the demonstration of Pentecost. That was the gospel proclaimed at Pentecost. Israel's unique place as the nation of God's people would end, and instead the message of the gospel is this,

Rom. 10:8 "But what does it say? "The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart" (that is, the word of faith which we preach): 9 that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. 11 For the Scripture says, "Whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame." 12 For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, for the same Lord over all is rich to all who call upon Him. 13 For "whoever calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved."

Isaiah understood it well. Is. 26:9 "For when Your judgments are in the earth, The inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness."

And so the judgments of God have come upon various nations of the world, and Jesus has come himself to bring that judgment upon the nation of Israel, that through him the whole world might be saved. Jesus Christ has come in the clouds in this historical judgment upon Jerusalem that the whole world might know that he is the only redeemer and the only mediator between God and men, that by believing in him, you might have eternal life.

And it is the revelation of that Jesus that we will study in this great and final book of the Bible.

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