A small group, in a small village, meets once a week to walk (perhaps, more like crawl) through the revelations of Revelation.
You're welcome to join us.
The following is a written format of our last study.
It's just one verse, written about 1,900 years ago, but speaks volumes to us today...and tomorrow.
Behold HE IS coming.
Singer, Bill Gaither, says it like this:
The
marketplace is empty,
No
more traffic in the streets,
All
the builders' tools are silent,
No
more time to harvest wheat;
Busy
housewives cease their labors,
In
the courtroom no debate,
Work
on earth is all suspended
As
the King comes thro' the gate.
O
the King is coming,
The
King is coming!
I
just heard the trumpets sounding,
And
now His face I see;
O
the King is coming,
The
King is coming!
Praise
God, He's coming for me!
Happy
faces line the hallways,
Those
whose lives have been redeemed,
Broken
homes that He has mended,
Those
from prison He has freed;
Little
children and the aged
Hand
in hand stand all aglow,
Who
were crippled, broken, ruined,
Clad
in garments white as snow.
O
the King is coming,
The
King is coming!
I
just heard the trumpets sounding,
And
now His face I see;
O
the King is coming,
The
King is coming!
Praise
God, He's coming for me!
I
can hear the chariots rumble,
I
can see the marching throng,
The
flurry of God's trumpets
Spells
the end of sin and wrong:
Regal
robes are now unfolding,
Heaven's
grandstand's all in place,
Heaven's
choir now assembled,
Start
to sing "Amazing Grace!"
O
the King is coming,
The
King is coming!
I
just heard the trumpets sounding,
And
now His face I see;
O
the King is coming,
The
King is coming!
Praise God, He's coming for me!
Our current headlines reflect it, just as Jesus said it.
And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. Jesus – Matthew 24:6
…And there will be famines, pestilences,
...and earthquakes in various
places. Matthew 24:7
“Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and kill you, and you
will be hated by all nations for My name’s sake. And then many will be
offended, will betray one another, and will hate one another.
Jesus - Matthew 24:9-10
Men's hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those
things which are coming on the earth…Luke 21:26
But let’s be perfectly clear, Jesus didn’t tell us these
things to scare us, but to prepare us.
These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.” John 16:33.
Great
peace have they which love thy law: and nothing shall offend them. Psalm
119:165
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. Revelation 1:7.
Coming with clouds, has a deeper meaning than to simply say, He’s coming with the white fluffy things we see floating around in the sky.
You'll love the answer. It's awesome.
Revelation references Old Testament scripture, often; over
three hundred times. However, John does it on the fly, without providing a
footnote. He was probably too busy—and too awestruck by what he was seeing—to pause
and say, “Oh yeah, this is that which was spoken by the prophet…”
Revelation 1:7, references Daniel 7:13-14:
I was watching in the night visions,
And behold, One like the Son of Man,
Coming with the clouds of
heaven!
Daniel saw the same vision as John. Jesus coming with clouds.
The best commentary on the Bible is the Bible and as we look
at the whole counsel of the Word, we see a deeper meaning to what is meant by, coming
with clouds.
Hebrews 12:1 tells us, we are surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses. The cloud, isn’t referring to white fluffy things, but people; the faith giants listed in the Faith Hall of Fame, of Hebrews eleven.
1 Thessalonians 3:13 makes it clear that Jesus is not simply coming
with clouds, but with people.
…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.
John was given a glimpse of when Jesus comes back, on a white
horse, to the mount of Olives, with all His Saints to win the battle of
Armageddon.
To me, this is awesome. I’ve always wanted to go to Israel and I love horseback riding. Can
you imagine the thrill? Dropping out of the eastern sky, riding in a heavenly posse, with Jesus in the lead?
Giddy up!
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. Revelation 1:7.
Every eye will see Him. That
means, it won’t be a secret.
Jesus may have come, the first time, meek and mild, through
the womb of a virgin, on a silent night, with very few who even knew. He may
even come, like a thief in the night, when He draws near to meet His Bride,
caught up, in the air.
But not so, when He returns to the earth. Every eye will see
Him, every heart will know Him.
Jesus sums it all up like this:
For as the lightning comes from
the east and flashes to the west, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be…Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, 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. Matthew24:27, 30.
every eye
will see Him, even they who pierced Him
Those who pierced Him, is reference to Israel. But not
only them. Us too. We’re all guilty. I hold the hammer. My bloody hands clutch
the nails. So do yours. We all pierced Him…by our sin.
This refers to the words of the prophet, Zechariah.
They will recognize HIM…with regret.
Zechariah continues. In that day there shall be a great
mourning in Jerusalem, like
the mourning at
Hadad Rimmon in the plain of Megiddo. (Zechariah 12:11)
What’s Hadad Rimmon, in Megiddo?
The bitter mourning of that day is compared to the mourning for
righteous king Josiah, after he was killed just northwest of Jerusalem, at
Hadad Rimmon in the plain of Megiddo. (2
Chron. 35:20–24).
Does Megiddo sound familiar?
Watch how intricately the Word is woven.
The Lord, through John, refers to the words of Zechariah,
about the One they pierced. Zechariah explains how they will mourn like they
did when king Josiah was killed in the valley of Megiddo; which just happens to
be the place where Jesus is headed in Revelation 1:7; Armageddon.
Then, the prophet Zechariah loops you and I into the story by
going into great detail about the mourning that will take place when every eye
will see the One whom they pierced. Pay close attention to this great and
precious treasure, hidden for us, not from us; for such a time as this.
Zechariah
12:12 And the land shall mourn, every
family by itself: the family of the house of David by itself, and
their wives by themselves; the family of the house of Nathan by itself,
and their wives by themselves; 13 the family of the house of Levi by itself,
and their wives by themselves; the family of Shimei by itself,
and their wives by themselves; 14 all the families that remain, every
family by itself, and their wives by themselves.
If God says something once, pay attention. If He says it twice,
sit up and take notice, it’s really important. If He says it three times, take
it to heart, it’s vital. Here He repeats, eleven times, about getting
away, alone, to mourn.
Whoever has ears, let them hear, what the Spirit says to the
Church, here and now, today.
Perhaps, at long last, this will be the moment of surrender, as
they get alone to mourn for the One, they pierced. The moment they work out
their own salvation with fear and trembling (Philippians 2:12-13). When the
prodigal comes home. When God finally gets to gather His people back to Him.
Something He’s longed to do since that day, that mournful day, He waved goodbye
to the first couple as they walked out of the Garden. Finally, that day, when
He wipes every tear from their eyes. When blinders are removed, scriptures are fulfilled,
and all Israel will be saved.
You can be sure, after this moment, God will win the battle of
Armageddon. There will be much bloodshed, much death, but make no mistake, God takes
no pleasure in it; even the death of the wicked.
For it’s not His will that any should perish (2
Peter 3:9) but wants everyone to be saved and to come to the knowledge of
the Truth (1
Timothy 2:4).
For I take no pleasure in
anyone’s death, declares the Lord GOD. So repent and live! Ezekiel 18:32.
But that message isn’t only for those people, at that time,
but for us, here and now.
The Word of God is alive, powerful and still speaks—even today. Especially today.
Consider those words we just read. Over and over and over
again, eleven times it said, every family got alone, and in that day,
there shall be great mourning.
Sit up, take note of the time in which we live. Never before
in the history of mankind, has all the world, all at once, gone away by itself.
Every family, by themselves. This worldwide quarantine is an echo of Zechariah,
announcing loud and clear, Behold, the King is coming. Turn! Turn!
Furthermore, never before has all the world gone into such worldwide
mourning. Only God knows the oceans of tears
that flow from those in nursing homes, hospitals and alone in homes. The cure, has become the broken heart that kills.
James speaks of this great mourning and adds yet another
revelation to how relevant the Bible really is to the time in which we live. He
says it like this
Draw
near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify
your hearts, you double-minded. Lament and mourn and weep! Let your laughter be
turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. (James 4:8-9).
What does that have to do with us, here and now?
Well, the mourning, is obvious, as mentioned before. But James
adds one more thing by stating, “Cleanse your hands…”
Never before has the entire world, with one voice shouted: WASH YOUR HANDS. That is Bible speak for: REPENT, Ezekiel used the word, Turn!
What the enemy meant for evil; God
has used as a megaphone to shout His message.
Behold, He is coming. Return to Me. Repent.
One last note. This verse says “all tribes” will mourn. That
means folks from every walk of life, every location on the planet, will be of
those who have rejected Him and therefore mourn, when they see Him.
But, there’s another group of people Revelation talks about in
chapter seven. They are also from every tribe and nation of the earth. They are
those who’ve repented (turned) from sin to Savior. They are those in bright white
robes (cleansed from sin) and are overjoyed to see Jesus their Lord. They will
be invited into His Kingdom to live with Him…happily ever after.
The other group, will stand before the Great White Throne, judged
guilty, and cast, into the Lake of Fire, with the devil and his demons, forever
and ever.
The divide is taking place right now. Folks are drawing lines,
taking sides.
The choice is yours.
Bright White Robe or Great White Throne.
Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.
You're in my prayers.
I love you.
Most importantly,
Jesus loves you.
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