Matthew 24:31, commentary and pictures

He will come back Himself, seen by all in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory, attended by shining multitudes of holy angels. He will send those angels with a loud trumpet blast heard over the whole earth to gather His chosen faithful people from every direction and every part of earth to Himself into His kingdom. At that trumpet the dead saints will be raised immortal and incorruptible, the living saints will be changed in a moment, and together they will be caught up to meet the Lord in the air, reunited, crowned with glory, and taken to the home He prepared. At the same time those who rejected and crucified Him will be raised to see Him as Judge, and the wicked will mourn, be separated from His presence, and be destroyed, while the righteous escape unharmed. Because no one knows the hour, all must constantly watch and be ready by faithful service, putting away sin and completing the work of sanctification now, and by warning others and proclaiming the last message of mercy.

Discourse Words and Setting

Matthew 24:31 belongs to the discourse given shortly before entering Gethsemane, in which the destruction of Jerusalem and the coming of Christ at the end of the world are described together with predictions and warnings. The prophecy has a twofold meaning reaching beyond Jerusalem to the final judgment and the last scenes of earth's history, and was given for the disciples and for those living in the last days as well as for later believers. The gathering of the elect by angels with the trumpet belongs to the second coming and the coming to judgment in the last day when all nations are gathered before Him, not to a coming fulfilled at the destruction of Jerusalem. That destruction was only a faint shadow, type and foreshadowing of the final destruction of the world by fire and of the terrors of the last great day, not the fulfillment of the gathering.

The prophecy spans the history of the world and the church from Christ's first advent and departure onward through warfare, suffering and persecution until His return in power and glory to deliver His people and bring promised redemption and final triumph. Its closing account of His coming in His kingdom leads into the parable of the ten virgins portraying the last-days church awaiting Him, and presents the two classes of servants looking for His appearing. These prophecies of the second coming are sure to come to pass, their unmistakable fulfillment is taking place today and serves as a waymark showing that His coming is at hand. They are to be studied and presented by ministers and teachers to believers and unbelievers above matters of lesser consequence, because they call for discernment of the signs and a higher standard and decide the eternal destiny of souls.

In the wording of Matthew 24:29-31 heaven means heaven and earth means earth. The powers of heaven are the sun, moon and stars that rule in the heavens, and the powers of earth are those who bear rule on earth. From the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other, means from every direction and every part of earth and heaven, gathering His faithful people from every part of the earth to Him. The shaking comes in order: war and rumors of war, sword, famine and pestilence first shake the powers of earth, which are now being shaken in the nations, including the shaking of nations in Europe, and then the voice of God shakes both heaven and earth. At that heavenly shaking the sun, moon and stars are moved out of their places without falling or passing away, dark heavy clouds clash, the atmosphere parts and rolls back, the open space in Orion is seen from whence comes the voice of God, and the Holy City comes down through that open space.

Matthew 24 warns that judgments came upon Jerusalem and its temple despite its apparent permanence because its people rejected Christ's calls to repent. It outlines events to come upon the world and describes the perils of the last days, when God is about to punish cities and people that dishonor Him and reject His commandments, warnings and messages of reproof. Therefore those perishing must be warned that the end is near.

Manner of Christ's Coming

The verse describes the personal, visible second coming of Christ to this world in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. After the tribulation and the signs in the heavens the sign of the Son of man appears in heaven, all the tribes of the earth mourn, and the Son of man is seen coming. He comes attended by a multitude of shining holy angels, legions and ten thousand times ten thousand and thousands of thousands in exceeding brightness, in His own glory and the glory of the Father. Though the world is plunged in darkness, light shines in every dwelling of the saints at His coming in majesty as the final great event in earth's history.

He sends His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, the last great trump, to gather His elect and chosen people from the four winds, from every direction and every part, from one end of heaven to the other. It is not a still, small voice bringing hope and peace and joy only to the faithful, but a loud blast heard by the whole earth from the loftiest mountains to the deepest mines. It comes with power like a flash of lightning that shakes the earth, with a terrible shaking of earth and heaven, and with fire that penetrates everything and cleanses the tainted atmosphere.

His coming is public, unmistakable and witnessed throughout the world, not secret, local, invisible, or a coming to each person individually at death. It cannot be counterfeited by Satan's appearance as a false Christ in a limited number of places, whose secret appearances believers are warned not to believe. This stands in contrast to the belief that Christ will come invisibly and take the saints without anyone knowing.

The prophecy of the second advent in which the verse stands was proclaimed by William Miller and those with him, just as John the Baptist proclaimed Christ's first advent. That proclamation makes the coming sudden and unannounced in its hour, as in the days of Noah before the flood, demanding constant watchfulness and readiness. Those who mocked mercy will be terrified, but those who believed the warning and prepared will be waiting and will not be taken by surprise.

Gathering of the Elect

At His return He commissions and sends His angels with the trumpet to gather together His elect, chosen and faithful people from the four winds, from every direction and every part of the earth to heaven, to Himself, into the kingdom prepared for them and into His joy, and this gathering is their deliverance, salvation, triumph and final reunion after conflict. The gathering belongs to the final fulfillment of the prophecy, for Jerusalem's destruction was only a faint shadow of it, and it marks the culmination of the signs showing His coming is near, though the exact day and hour remain unrevealed, with the faithful separated from the wicked and delivered as the wicked face judgment.

The elect so gathered include the most depraved poor outcasts of society, publicans and sinners, wrenched from Satan's hand and from the depths of hell through human workers cooperating with divine angels, restored to the moral image of God and made precious to stand next to the throne. Many of them will grasp the hope of the gospel with moral courage to war against appetite and passion and will enter the kingdom before ministers and others who had great opportunities and great light but walked in darkness, smote fellow servants and said the Lord delays His coming, while many drawn to Christ will be lost for lacking that courage and will knock in vain after the door is shut. The elect include people rescued from sin who respond to Christ and become precious to God.

Those gathered are those who have received Christ as Saviour, shaped their characters after His likeness, loved Him and kept His commandments, with honest souls who know true Christian experience, walk according to the best light they have, and desire better knowledge of God's will to obey it at any sacrifice. In that day those counted lowly will be truly lofty and the earth will know that the heavens rule, for while the world is plunged in darkness there will be light in every dwelling of the saints who catch the first light of His appearing and the undimmed rays of the King in His majesty. The right way to prepare for that gathering is putting away sin and putting on the white robes of character that give entrance to the mansions He went away to prepare.

The gathered are those who take refuge in the place of safety, come before the mangled and bleeding Lamb, confess their sins, are pardoned, and wait in glad, joyful expectation with praise and thanksgiving. At the trumpet sound with heavenly brightness and shouts of triumph they disappear with the brightness, the place shaking and awful brightness illuminating, presenting the decisive end-time moment and close of time. One who delays humbling and confessing is left alone in silent horror and intense darkness with fixed doom and the Spirit gone, contrasting joyful expectation with being left behind at the close of time.

At the trumpet as He descends the sleeping saints are raised immortal, incorruptible and ransomed from their graves, the living saints are changed in a moment in the twinkling of an eye and made immortal, and together they are caught up to meet the Lord in the air and ascend to the city of God and the courts above to the heavenly home He prepared. Children are reunited with mothers, friends separated by death meet again, the family chain broken by death is re-linked, all tears are wiped away, they see the King in His beauty, are crowned with glory and honor, and are presented faultless before God's glory with exceeding joy. That day will not remove sins or defects of character, so the work of sanctification and preparation in holiness belongs to the present time of probation.

At that time those who acted the most prominent part in rejecting, scourging and crucifying Christ, who put the purple robe, crown of thorns and nails upon Him, are raised to see Him as He is in the clouds attended by the heavenly host and to recognize Him as Judge, look upon Him and bewail, while the wicked are separated from the Lord's presence, consumed with fire and destroyed. Some come forth to the resurrection of life to be caught up to meet their Lord in the air in peace, and some, including those who rejected Him, to behold His coming and recognize Him as judge of all the earth. Until that trumpet call the dead apostles and saints lie in their prison-house graves and are not in heaven, and Mary the mother of the Lord has not been raised and waits with them with ears not yet pierced by the trump, so all prayers offered to Mary and to dead saints fall to the ground because they cannot hear or grant favors.

Signs Sequence and Nearness

The gathering takes place immediately after the tribulation, at the close of the great papal persecution, when the sun is darkened and the moon withholds its light and the stars fall. Then the sign of the Son of man appears in heaven, and all the tribes of the earth mourn and see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory, attended by a multitude of shining angels. Then with a great sound of a trumpet He sends His angels to gather His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other, from all over the earth. That gathering proves He is near, even at the doors, that those who see the signs will live to the fulfillment, and that heaven and earth will pass away before His words fail. It is Christ coming to raise the dead incorruptible and to change the living saints from glory to glory, to honor those who have loved Him and kept His commandments and to take them to Himself in fulfillment of His promise. The family chain broken by death is re-linked, all tears are wiped away, they see the King in His beauty, and they are presented faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy, so when these things begin to come to pass they are to look up and lift up their heads because their redemption draws nigh.

His coming is preceded by the morally depraved conditions He described and by events spanning world and church history from His first advent onward. At that time the world will be corrupt, with a boastful, presumptuous, self-willed generation arrayed in rebellion against the law of God, denying the only Lord God and the Lord Jesus Christ, trampling upon His blood and despising His atonement. The calamities now befalling immense buildings and large portions of cities are what God is using to show what will come upon the whole earth. The coming judgments that will terribly shake large cities and leave strong buildings in ruins in a few minutes or hours belong to those signs that the end is nigh and that the coming of the Son of man is near, even at the doors.

The coming is at the door but at the very end of a fixed sequence, and it will not take place until after a mighty earthquake shakes the earth and after the people have heard the voice of God. Then comes despair and trouble such as never was since there was a nation, in which the people of God suffer affliction, the clouds of heaven clash, and there is darkness. Then a voice comes from heaven, the clouds roll back like a scroll, and the bright, clear sign of the Son of man appears, which the children of God know and recognize. As He nears with music, with thousands of thousands and ten thousand times ten thousand angels encircling Him, the graves are opened and the dead are raised.

The voice of God from Jerusalem that shakes the heavens and earth is heard before Jesus descends, and it is distinct from His voice commissioning the angels to gather the elect and calling them to meet Him in the air. In order, war and rumors of war, sword, famine and pestilence first shake the powers of earth, which are now being shaken in the nations, and then the voice of God shakes both heaven and earth. Heaven means heaven and earth means earth; the powers of heaven are the sun, moon and stars that rule in the heavens, and the powers of earth are those who bear rule on earth. At the heavenly shaking the sun, moon and stars are moved out of their places without falling or passing away, dark heavy clouds clash, the atmosphere parts and rolls back, and the open space in Orion is seen from whence comes the voice of God and through which the Holy City comes down.

The coming will be sudden, with power and glory like a flash of lightning, shaking the earth, and as unannounced in its hour as in the days of Noah before the flood. Those who have mocked God's offers of mercy will be terrified, but those who have believed the warning and prepared will be waiting and will not be taken by surprise. The trumpet and gathering mark the culmination of the signs that show His coming is near, while the exact day and hour remain unrevealed. The church is to look for Christ's appearing and prepare for that day, while watching, waiting, and faithfully working rather than claiming to know its date or hour.

Judgment and Deliverance

The trumpet gathering is the deliverance of the faithful at the judgment of His coming, when the angels are sent to bring them from across the earth to Himself while those who reject the gospel are destroyed. He who stood silent before the chief priests and council and confessed that He would sit on the right hand of power and come in the clouds of heaven returns as Judge, having received dominion and glory and an everlasting kingdom that shall not pass away. He sits as supreme Judge on the Father's throne with final decisions, pronouncing sentence on His enemies including those who accused Him at His trial, and all nations are gathered before Him. In that light every secret thing is set in the light of God's countenance, and sinners see their sins without veil in all their hideousness and desire to be hidden under the everlasting mountains or in the depths of the ocean to escape the wrath of the Lamb. God's arm that strikes the rebellious rescues those who have kept His commandments, so His followers welcome Him with joy while the wicked flee.

Its trumpet points to the solemn events of the judgment when the dead are awakened from death and come forward to receive according to what they have done. At that trumpet the dead laid in the grave come forth, some to the resurrection of life to be caught up to meet their Lord in the air and to meet their Saviour in peace, and some to behold His coming in the clouds attended by the heavenly host and to recognize Him as Judge of all the earth. Smoke and flame will be powerless to harm the righteous, who escape unscathed as Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego walked unharmed with the Son of God in the furnace, so that earthquake, hurricane, flame and flood cannot injure those prepared to meet Him. The judgments upon Jerusalem were a symbol of these events of Christ's coming.

In that day the law of God is revealed in its majesty as God's standard of character still binding on all, so that those who broke it in defiant rebellion understand that the law they despised, discarded and trampled underfoot is still binding. Every commandment-keeper and every transgressor is shown the scene when the Sabbath was first given in Eden when the foundations of the earth were laid. Those who taught that the law is no longer binding and that the Sabbath of the fourth commandment was only for the Jews are shown the scenes of Sinai with God the Father and the holy angels, darkness, lightning, thunder, earthquake, and the trumpet waxing louder and louder with the voice of God proclaiming the law.

Christ's triumphal ride into Jerusalem before His crucifixion was a dim foreshadowing of that final triumph when angels triumph and the saints rejoice in His coming in the clouds with power and glory to take His loved ones to Himself. He now wants to take away sins so the bright rays of His love can enter the heart and to make people complete in Him, and being complete in Him means obeying His law which He left behind. Those who keep His law will at His coming be called to come up higher as sons and daughters of Him who dwells in light unapproachable and lives to all eternity.

Call to Watchful Readiness

Because no one knows what hour the Lord comes, all must constantly watch, look for His appearing, long for it, and be ready at an unthought hour. The gathering with angels and trumpet at the Son of man's glorious return in the clouds with power and great glory, after His sign appears and all tribes mourn, is set alongside this warning to remain watchful and faithful since the coming will be unexpected, sudden and unannounced in its hour as in the days of Noah before the flood. Readiness is proved by being a faithful and wise servant giving meat in due season and made ruler over all goods. The evil servant who says his lord delays his coming, smites fellow servants and eats and drinks with the drunken will be surprised at sudden reckoning, cut asunder, appointed with hypocrites with weeping and gnashing of teeth. In the last day many will plead to enter only to find the door shut and their knocking in vain, while the just will triumph at His advent only if they prepare to meet Him.

Preparation in holiness must be completed beforehand in the present probation, because that day will not remove sins or defects of character. The right way to prepare for the gathering to Himself of those who have received Him as Saviour and shaped character after His likeness is putting away sin and putting on the white robes of character that give entrance to the mansions prepared. Christ now wants to take away sins so His love enters the heart and makes people complete in Him, which means obeying His law, and those who keep it will be called to come up higher as sons and daughters of Him who dwells in light unapproachable. Readiness means putting away criticism, faultfinding, unkindness and discord so as to be fit to unite with the family above, speaking generous, gracious, Christlike words in the home, with parents setting an example in word and deed that helps children prepare for translation into the courts above at the last trump. Those dead to the world with life hid with Christ through experimental knowledge of the Father and Son will appear with Him in glory enshrouded in exceeding brightness of ten thousand times ten thousand angels, greet Him with thanksgiving as long waited for, meet Him with joy and not grief, and enjoy His presence through the ages.

The verse stands amid the perils of the last days now present, when those perishing in sin must be warned with the last message of mercy to prepare men and women for the second coming. Its prophecies are to be studied and presented by ministers and teachers above matters of lesser consequence to believers and unbelievers, because their unmistakable fulfillment taking place today shows Christ's coming is at hand and decides eternal destiny, calling for discernment of the signs and a higher standard to prepare for the great conflict. This urgent work requires investing money lent by the Lord instead of spending it in self-gratification, for seeking earthly riches is a poor investment that will crumble to dust with eternal loss. The eternal inheritance is secured only through self-denial, sacrifice of earthly riches, much tribulation and constant warfare until Christ bids rest, with faithful working rather than claiming to know its date.