1:7. "Coming": “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.”
This verse has two direct referents; (a) the phrase “coming with clouds” is found in Daniel 7:13 and (b) the phrase “look on him whom they have pierced” is from Zechariah 12:10. Other passages
in the Scriptures also give us more context for interpreting Christ’s coming.[i]
Coming With Clouds
Daniel 7:13 speaks of the “Son of Man… coming with the clouds of
heaven.” Jesus spoke of Himself as the “Son of Man,” a title used of the Messiah, (Luke 19:10).[ii] In the
context of His predictions of the destruction of Jerusalem, He clearly foretells that the Son of Man will be seen “coming in a cloud with power and great glory,”
(Luke 21:27; Matthew 24:30). The use of
the terms Son of Man and coming with clouds brings to mind Daniel
chapter 7, which so often serves as a referent to passages throughout the Book
of Revelation.[iii] The Revelation, meaning “coming, appearance,” of
Jesus Christ in Revelation 1:7, is a record of the
fulfillment of Daniel’s vision, and the establishment of Christ’s kingdom, as
foretold in Daniel 7:13-27.[iv]
When Jerusalem was destroyed in 70 AD, the old,
fallen kingdom of Israel ceased to exist and the kingdom was given to “the people of the saints of the Most High;
their kingdom shall be an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve
and obey them,” fulfilling Daniel 7:27. This completed the
translation of the kingdom from an earthly kingdom to a heavenly one as
foretold by Daniel.
Revelation 1:7 refers directly to the words
of Christ in Matthew 26:64, during the trial of Jesus:
Jesus saith unto him, Thou [the High Priest, singular] hast
said: nevertheless I say unto you [plural, the chief priests and scribes], Hereafter shall ye [plural] see the Son of man sitting on the right hand
of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven.
“Shall Look On Me Whom They Have Pierced”
And I will pour upon the house
of David, and upon the inhabitants of
Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of
supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they
shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in
bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn, (Zech. 12:10).
Here, when Jesus says “ye shall see,” He is referring to Zechariah 12:10, “They shall look on Me.” This
latter prophecy has been literally fulfilled according to John 19:37; it does not await a future fulfillment:
36 For these things were done,
that the Scripture should be fulfilled, A bone of him shall not be broken. 37
And again another Scripture saith, They shall look on him whom they pierced, (John 19).
The phrase “they shall look upon me whom they have pierced”
refers directly to the men who crucified Him, especially the chief priests and
scribes to whom Jesus was speaking in Matthew 26:64. This verse
requires that Christ’s coming
in the clouds be fulfilled in the generation which crucified Him. It requires
that some of these men should be alive when He “comes with clouds” in order to witness, in the flesh, His
appearance or revelation. As Jesus had said: “This generation shall not pass till all these things be fulfilled,”
Matthew 24:34.
The referent
scripture in Zechariah 12:10 foretells that “they shall mourn for him, as one mourns for
an only child, and weep bitterly over him, as one weeps over a first-born,”
RSV. These are the ones who grieved for the demise of their fleshly kingship
and priesthood. The slaughter of the babes of Bethlehem: “Rachel weeping for her children and would not be
comforted, for they were not,” (Matthew 2:18),
marked the end of the fleshly lineage of David’s heirs to the throne. Jesus’ miraculous escape marked Him as the last and only survivor for
David’s dynasty, an only child, a “first-born.” When He was pierced, “crucified,” those who hoped for the fleshly fulfillment
of the promises mourned “for Him as one
mourns for an only Son, and were in bitterness for Him as one that is in
bitterness for his Firstborn, [or Heir].”
The people mourned
not only their kingship but also their priesthood. The legitimate priesthood,
descended from Aaron, had ceased to exist because the office had become merely
a political appointment by foreign powers instead of the God ordained line of
succession. The change of person in the pronouns in Zechariah 12:10, “look upon me” and “mourn for
him,” may indicate that they looked upon Christ, the One Who was pierced, and mourned for David whose dynasty and promises
seemed to be ending in defeat.
In one sense of
the word, the entire nation participated in and was judged for the crime of
their leaders, for the nation ceased to exist as a fleshly nation. In this
sense, they were all guilty of having pierced
Him, for they had demanded His crucifixion. Yet, those who would accept His
grace were forgiven, even as He prayed for them while on the cross. His shed
blood became the genetic blood of the New Israel.
[ii]
Also at Matt. 10:23; 24:27, 30, 37, 44; 25:31; Luke 12:40; 17:26; 21:27.
[iii] See G.K. Beale, The Use of Daniel in Jewish Apocalyptic Literature and in the Revelation of Saint John, (Lanham, New York, London, University Press of America,
1984).
This lesson is an edited excerpt from my book Revelation In Context.
My Book is available at the Living Word Bookstore in Shawnee, Oklahoma and is also available online at www.amazon.com or www.xulonpress.com
Free downloads are available at www.revelationincontext.sermon.net .
No comments:
Post a Comment