Revelation-Part 4

Contents

A PREVIEW OF FINAL DOOM

In June on this page we gave an overview of the Book of Revelation, in July a look at imminence as expressed in the “soon” of Revelation 1:1, and in August we looked at God’s plans through the eyes of “things that must happen” in Revelation 1:1. In future articles we will focus on important data in Revelation 1:2-6, but this month the theme verse of the book, Revelation 1:7, is our point of interest:

“Behold, He comes with clouds,

and every eye will see Him,

even those who pierced Him,

and all the families of the earth will mourn over Him.

Yes, amen.” [all translations are personal unless otherwise indicated]

Following Revelation’s Preface (1:1-3) and Address and Doxology (1:4-6), John, with­out a warning, inserts the words that state the theme of the whole book of Revelation (1:7). Then in the very next verse He reinforces the importance of that theme by quoting God’s affirmation of His own identity:

“I am the Alpha and the Omega, says the Lord God, who is and who was and who is coming, the Almighty” (Rev. 1:8).

Verse 7 plainly expresses the book’s theme by naming THE COMING OF JESUS CHRIST as the subject of the book. The word translated “He comes” (erchetai) is in a form that frequently refers to the personal return of Jesus Christ. A well-known example of such a reference is John 14:3 where Jesus said, “If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come (erchomai) again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, you may be also.” We could legitimately translate Revelation 1:7 futuristically: “he will come.” The return of Jesus Christ and the events associated with that return is what Revelation is all about.

His coming “with clouds” associates the theme of the book with Daniel 7:13: “one like a Son of Man came with the clouds of heaven.” As noted in our August article, Revelation details the fulfilment of prophecies of the end times that Daniel wrote many centuries ago. Those prophecies, of course, revolved around the Second Person of the Trinity who was destined to come into the world at His first advent and subsequently return to earth a sec­ond time. The first time He came, He did so by being born as an infant, but on His second trip to planet earth he will come directly from heaven. The association of that coming with “clouds” signifies that heavenly origin, and Revelation 19:11 and 14 confirm the location from which He will proceed to earth.

The next three lines of verse 7 allude to Zechariah 12:10, 12, 14, part of a prophecy of the future repentance of Israel in connection with the restoration of Jerusalem and of the nation to a place of international supremacy. In adapting Zechariah’s prophecy to Revela­tion, John emphasized the universal interest that will fix itself on the return of Christ. The words “every eye will see Him” require that the whole human race will witness the return of Christ and the events surrounding it.

In particular, the writer John highlighted a special group within the human family when he added, “even those who pierced Him.” That special class within the human family must include the Jewish people. The connection with Zechariah 12:10 indicates such as does the citation of the same Zechariah verse in John 19:37: “They shall look on Him whom they have pierced.” Jewish people were not alone in their participation in the crucifixion of Christ, however. John 19:31 refers to the involvement of Pilate and the Romans in that unjust execution. Obviously the particular group of Jews and Romans who witnessed the crucifixion of Jesus Christ died long ago and will not be living witnesses of His second coming that Revelation 1:7 speaks about. Yet a certain class of Jesus’ opponents among both Jews and Gentiles, people just like that first-century group, will be alive and among the future witnesses of the great event.

Diverse opinions exist about the meaning of the fourth line of the theme verse, whether the mourning is a mourning of repentance or a mourning of despair. If this is a mourning over sins committed and repentance therefrom, the word translated “families” should be rendered “tribes,” and “the earth” should be “the land.” “All the tribes of the land” would refer to the tribes of Israel in the land that God promised to Abraham. Such an explanation fits well with the context of Zechariah 12:10 ff., and coincides with the leading role the Jewish people played in the crucifixion of Christ (see John 19:37; Acts 2:22-23; 3:14-15). It also fits with the well-known theme of Israel’s future repentance and consequent national blessing in conjunction with Christ’s return (see Romans 11:26).

The other explanation sees in verse 7 a mourning of despair by a sinful world because of judgment at Christ’s return. In this instance the key terms in the clause speak of “all the families of the earth” and include all earth’s inhabitants, not just Jews. Mourning of despair is the most probable meaning in Revelation 1:7 because, just as John did here, Jesus combined Daniel 7:13 and Zechariah 12:10 in His words of Matthew 24:30: “And then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the families of the earth will mourn and will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.” In the Matthew passage the Lord does not refer to a mourning of repentance, but to a mourning of despair, a note that suits the broad context of Revelation also. By the time the temporal judgments described later in Revelation have run their course, earth’s inhabit­ants will be crying out in desperation. For instance, later in the book people blaspheme God because of their pains and sores (16:11) and because of the plague of the hail (16:21). Substantial numbers will refuse to repent in response to the outpouring of God’s wrath (9:20-21; 16:9, 11).

In that kind of setting the book’s theme verse can hardly speak of a mourning of repen­tance. Rather, the verse’s fourth line carries the sense, “All the families of the earth will mourn over Him with remorse because of the severity of punishment inflicted upon them in conjunction with His return.” Revelation 1:7 is a grim preview of what lies ahead for a world in rebellion against God, a preview of doom. The prophet follows up that sobering note with a double affirmation of the certainty of the prophecy’s fulfilment. “Yes” and “amen” represent the Greek and Hebrew words for affirmation. The future coming of Christ is absolutely fixed and will, without the least bit of doubt, bring with it the terrible effects noted.

Woven into the fabric of Revelation, however, is the cheering reminder that some will escape the doom previewed here at the beginning of the book. Pronouncements of bless­ing—“beatitudes” they are often called—in the book are seven in number. They favor those who live by the high standards of righteousness upheld in the book: reading and obeying what Revelation says (1:3; 22:7), a willingness to sacrifice one’s life because of loyalty to Christ (14:13), and maintaining a vigil in readiness for Christ’s return (16:15). The pronouncements also reward the faithful with an invitation to the marriage supper of the Lamb (19:9), participation in the first resurrection (20:6), and authority to eat fruit from the tree of life (22:14). Those “who have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb” (Rev. 7:14) have no dread of doom ahead, because they will be full partici­pants in the future-kingdom’s indescribable joys that await sinners forgiven because of their faith in Christ.

Note: For more information on the details of Revelation, you may obtain a somewhat fuller discussion of Revelation in my portion of Four Views on Revelation (Zondervan Pub­lishing House, 1998), pp. 179-229. For a full discussion of Revelation, please consult my Revelation 1–7 (Moody Press, 1992) and Revelation 8–22 (Moody Press, 1995). To order by phone, you may call Grace Book Shack at (800) GRACE15.

Contents
Read Part 5