Revelation 1:7, commentary and pictures

He will return in person as the same Jesus who ascended, coming openly with clouds in power and great glory with His Father and multitudes of holy angels, not secretly or only at death. Every living person, saved and lost, will see Him as He is and be convicted, with no one able to hide from Him. Those who pierced Him — the rulers and people who condemned, mocked, scourged and crucified Him, with Pilate and Caiaphas at their head, and all who pierce Him still by rejecting and dishonoring Him — will be raised to look upon Him as Judge with the nail prints still in His hands and feet. All the peoples of earth who have cast Him aside for the world will then wail in despair and terror, calling on rocks and mountains to hide them from His face and acknowledging too late the One they mocked and crucified. Because His appearing ends probation and rewards every person according to works, the warning must now be proclaimed everywhere and met with watchfulness, repentance, holiness and readiness to meet Him in peace.

Place in Revelation's Message

The verse stands in the opening revelation of Jesus Christ which God gave to show His servants the things which must shortly come to pass, set within the message to the seven churches in Asia. It follows grace and peace and praise to Jesus as the faithful witness and prince of the kings of the earth who loved His people and washed them and made them kings and priests, and it comes before His declaration as Alpha and Omega. It belongs to the holy vision on Patmos of Christ presented in glorified humanity, the One honored and loved above all others.

That vision and its words were given not for John alone on Patmos nor for the seven churches in Asia alone, but through those churches as an inspired message for the people to make a powerful impression in every age to the close of this earth's history. It gives instruction about events leading up to the close of world history, among the solemn lessons and warnings of the book to be read, understood, remembered, and practiced. The symbols in Revelation will be fulfilled.

It belongs to the testimony from Patmos as brother and companion in tribulation for the word of God and the testimony of Jesus, recording what Christ gave about the last days of this earth's history. The entire revelation was already rehearsed by Moses in the Exodus and in the plagues brought upon Egypt, and Scripture tested by Scripture contains no contradiction, so the verse stands in harmony with that earlier account. Joined to the blessing on those who read, hear, and keep the words of prophecy because the time is at hand, it shows the solemn importance of becoming not only readers but doers of the Word, having a living connection with God and consecrating body, soul, and spirit without reserve to Him who gave His life, since every soul is bought with a price. It is truth to be heeded together with its neighboring verses and with the calls to put on the armor of God in Ephesians 6:11-18 and to use money wisely and unselfishly to God's glory for the saving of souls in 1 Timothy 6:9-12.

Manner of Christ's Coming

The verse promises that the same Jesus who ascended in human form will return literally, personally and visibly as the Lord Himself. His coming is not merely His coming to an individual at death, but His promised coming again to receive His disciples to Himself. That return brings comfort in sorrow over separation, fulfills His promise to come again, and brings the resurrection of the dead in Christ in glory with the holy angels and the Father's glory. It was presented as a distinct doctrine of a personal, visible return, seen with one's own eyes with majesty and power.

His coming is public and universally known, not hidden, secret, or confined to one place. Every eye seeing Him proves the event cannot be imitated, mistaken for a local event, or counterfeited by Satan's appearances in different places or by a false christ. The whole world will witness and know when the Saviour comes, while all peoples of the earth mourn because of Him, including those who pierced Him.

He comes with clouds, on a great white cloud, with the sign of the Son of Man in the clouds in power and great glory. The verse affirms the certainty and solemnity of that promise as a message to be proclaimed while Christ is away and the Holy Spirit represents Him in the world. The sight of immense white clouds rolling over the mountains recalls that promised coming, and clouds can also serve as shelter for God's people, hiding them from persecutors.

He comes with power and great glory, in His own glory and His Father's glory with the holy angels, an immense multitude of ten thousand times ten thousand and thousands of thousands. He returns not as a prisoner but as heaven's King, King of kings and Lord of lords, still clothed with and wearing His humanity. At the sound of the last great trumpet, heard from the highest mountains to the deepest mines, those who rejected, scourged, crucified, mocked and despised Him are raised to behold Him and recognize Him as Judge of all the earth, while the righteous dead are raised immortal and clothed with immortality to be caught up to meet the Lord in the air, untouched by cleansing fire.

Every Eye Shall See

Every eye will see Him as He is, whether saved or lost, and will understand His character, and conviction will be brought to every heart. No one can hide from God, for turning away may keep a person from seeing God, but it cannot keep God from seeing that person or knowing every secret. The pure in heart will behold Him as Judge yet as friend and elder brother. Those who cast Him aside for trivial earthly things and sought their own interests, glory and worldly honor will then acknowledge their mistake and wail because of Him, and these are all the kindreds of the earth, so no one should be content to be numbered among those earthly kindreds but should hold heavenly citizenship and lay hold on the hope set before all in the gospel.

The coming is certain, solemn and universally visible, witnessed by every eye including those who pierced Him, while all peoples of the earth mourn because of Him. It is a warning and proclamation of Christ's return to be heralded throughout every land. It is a message to be proclaimed while Christ is away and the Holy Spirit represents Him in the world. It stands joined to John's place as brother and companion in tribulation and in the kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ on Patmos for the word of God and for the testimony of Jesus, showing that trials will soon be known and requiring a living experience in and through the sanctification of the truth, oneness with Christ's little ones whose slights fall on Him, and daily putting on the whole armor with feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace, with the charge to remain faithful until Christ appears.

At that sight people divide into those who meet Him with joy and those who wail because of Him. The righteous desire to behold the King in His beauty with power and great glory, trust His sufficient grace, stand with clean hands and pure hearts, and meet Him in peace instead of perishing finally with the wicked. They desire to overcome in every trial and to live a life that measures with the life of God. That wailing is avoided by making redemption certain through listening to and obeying the messages Christ addresses to His church, allowing Him to impress the mind and work through them. His coming brings awe and searching judgment in which those who are rejected lose their color, while He comes visibly in glory with clouds accompanied by angels, raises the sleeping saints, the dead rise immortal, and the living saints are changed, and together they are caught up to meet Him.

The unsaved behold Him in trembling agony as the one object from which they try in vain to escape, at the great day of the Lord when the earth reels to and fro like a drunkard and the heavens shake and no wicked person can stand. They cry to mountains and rocks to fall on them and hide them from His face and wrath, and lament that the harvest is past and they are not saved. Sinners are compelled to look upon Him who clothed His divinity with humanity and still wears that humanity, to their indescribable confusion. The scales fall from their eyes and they see what before they would not see, realizing what they might have been had they received Christ and improved the opportunities granted them, seeing the law they spurned exalted even as God's throne is exalted, with God Himself giving reverence to His law.

Those who pierced Him will remember how they slighted His love and abused His compassion, how they chose Barabbas a robber and murderer in His stead, how they crowned the Saviour with thorns and caused Him to be scourged and crucified, how in the agony of His death on the cross they taunted Him to come down from the cross and they would believe and that He saved others but Himself He cannot save, seeming to hear again His voice of entreaty with every tone of solicitude distinct and with every act of insult and mockery as fresh as when done. With the accumulated guilt of the world laid bare they will call on the rocks and mountains to fall on them and hide them from the face of Him that sitteth on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb, One ever full of tenderness, patience and long-suffering, who gave Himself as the sacrificial offering led to the slaughter to save sinners from the doom now falling on them because they would not allow Him to take away their guilt. Their distress comes because they refused to let Him remove their guilt, and His appearing makes them realize what they might have become had they received Him and used the opportunities they were given.

His appearing in the clouds occurs after His work as mediator for sinners has ended and probation has closed, when characters and choices are already settled. Those who have neglected salvation will then have no later opportunity to repent or accept the truth. The impenitent receive no further probation. The wicked will acknowledge Him as the One who comes in the Lord's name, but their words will be forced by the truth, not spoken from love, and they remain rebellious. This is seen even when He returns after the thousand years and every eye, even the wicked raised from the dead, will see His glory. Adventists in 1844 believed probation would close shortly before that coming, though they mistakenly concluded that it had already ended.

The universal visible coming calls for readiness to be found in peace at His appearing, in connection with judgment upon all who do not obey the gospel. He is Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, the Lord which is and which was and which is to come, the Almighty, coming with clouds with every eye seeing Him, even those who pierced Him, and all kindreds of the earth wailing because of Him. Every person is in great peril without straight paths and deep Christian experience, and now is the time and opportunity to make thorough work for eternity and to consider how he would stand before the throne of God if life should close now. It is to be sounded as a clear and distinct solemn note of warning in cities and villages everywhere to those still in darkness and error, urging ministers and all who know the truth to leave labor for those already enlightened and go out to save the lost. Soon everyone, including those who have not wanted to know Christ, will know Him, for the opportunity to accept salvation is nearing its end as mercy is almost ready to depart.

Those Who Pierced Him

Those who pierced Him are the Jewish people and especially the ruling powers at Jerusalem who condemned Him to death. Notwithstanding the evidence of His pure life, which stood in sharp contrast to their selfishness and iniquity and condemned it, they did not repent of their treatment of the Son of God. In jealousy and hatred they hired false witnesses, stirred the mob, chose Barabbas the thief and murderer over the sinless Son of God, and cried for Him to be crucified, led by unseen evil angels under Satan. The same spirit that worked in them in Christ's day kept working against His followers, exiling John for the faith.

They include those who mocked and derided Him as He died, and the most violent opponents of His truth and His people. They include those who have made void the law of God that Christ came to magnify and make honorable. At the judgment, when the books are opened and people are judged by their recorded works, they will see the full consequence of their opposition to God's law and be seized with terror.

Pilate, Caiaphas, the priests and rulers, and all who mocked, scourged, spat upon and rejected Him will stand before Him with positions reversed from His trial. They will look upon Him as Judge, coming in the clouds of heaven clothed with power and seated at the right hand of God, with His face shining brighter than the sun. They will know Him then as the Son of God, while the whole world is cited before Him and sentence is passed on all who have not received Him.

Those who pierced Him are not only the people who watched Him hang on the cross at Calvary but also people today who pierce Him by wrong words and actions. By piercing His servants with words and deeds that cut off their hope and courage, by evil-speaking and wrong-doing, by dishonoring Him and by refusing to do His will, they cause Him to suffer the agonies of crucifixion daily, which profits nothing and shows an unconverted heart. He was even pierced before He came as a man, when the nation He purposed to lead from Egypt to Canaan rejected Him more than once during the forty years of wilderness wandering. Resisting His evidences of truth, failing to recognize His light and power, forgetting His miracles despite being fed with manna and protected from harm, they fell in the wilderness without entering the promised land because they kept their childhood ways and failed to overcome wrong traits of character into full manhood and womanhood.

At His coming in the clouds with the heavenly host, at the sound of the last trumpet heard from the highest mountains to the deepest mines, those who pierced, scourged, crucified, mocked and despised Him are raised from the dead to behold Him. They recognize the One they despised as the Judge of all the earth and understand what they fought against. Before the priests and rulers will rise the scene in the judgment-hall, every circumstance appearing as if written in letters of fire. Those who prayed His blood be upon them and their children will then receive the answer to their prayer. At that same coming the righteous dead are raised clothed with immortality to meet their Lord in the air, untouched by the fire that penetrates and cleanses the earth.

At the close of the thousand years, while Jesus is descending with the holy angels and all the saints, the wicked dead including the very men who pierced Jesus are raised in the second resurrection. They see Him afar off in all His glory with the angels and saints, and witness the honor given to the loyal and obedient. When Christ is revealed in kingly majesty and kingly glory, even those who pierced and mocked Him recognize Him as the one they crucified, mocked and killed. They acknowledge Him with the words, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord, and flee and seek to hide from Him.

They see the lasting prints of the nails in His hands and in His feet and where the spear was thrust into His side, which bear witness to the cost of human redemption and are then His glory. His wounded hands testify to the price paid for redemption. His former persecutors see Him honored as King of kings and Lord of lords and are compelled to acknowledge His majesty. Every insult, act of cruelty, and pang of anguish has been recorded for the very ones who put the purple robe on Him and the crown of thorns on His brow and the nails through His hands and feet to look upon Him and bewail in vivid detail.

Amid the final convulsions of the earth, the great earthquake and upheaval accompany the deliverance of God's people, and those who pierced Christ are raised to see Him in glory. His coming does not take place until after the mighty earthquake shakes the earth, after darkness and a time of unprecedented trouble and despair such as never was since there was a nation, after the voice of God is heard, with clashing clouds of heaven and darkness, then a voice from heaven and the clouds rolling back like a scroll. It comes with the sound of music, the opening of graves and raising of the dead, and thousands of thousands and ten thousand times ten thousand angels encircling the Son of man. Those who acted the most prominent part in the rejection and crucifixion of Christ come forth to see Him as He is, and those who rejected Him come up and see the saints glorified, changed in a moment in the twinkling of an eye and caught up to meet their Lord in the air.

Wailing of Earth's Kindreds

All the kindreds of the earth who wail are those who cast Christ aside and turned to the trivial things of earth, seeking their own interests and worldly honor and glory, and when He comes with clouds in all His glory they will see Him as He is, understand His character, receive conviction in every heart, and acknowledge their mistake. They are a rebellious, self-willed generation that rejects God's law, tramples Christ's blood, and despises His atonement, while the righteous dead are given life and ransomed from their graves to be crowned with glory and honor and the wicked are separated from the Lord's presence and consumed with fire. Their lament is the despair and agony of the unprepared at Christ's second coming to judgment and vengeance, when the same Jesus whose promise is mocked, whose atonement is rejected, and whose followers are despised and reviled is revealed in glory to take vengeance, and those who now think lightly of Him will know what to expect. It includes deluded professed Christians and those who taught human commandments and led souls into error, upon whom everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord comes. It comes on the great day of the Lord when the earth reels to and fro like a drunkard and the heavens shake and no wicked person can stand, when every eye sees Him and the unsaved behold Him in trembling agony as the one object from which they try in vain to escape, crying to mountains and rocks to fall on them and hide them from His face and wrath, and lamenting that the harvest is past and they are not saved.

In agony and horror they wail by crying to the mountains and rocks to fall on them and hide them from the face of Him that sitteth on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb. He is One ever full of tenderness, patience and long-suffering, who clothed His divinity with humanity and still wears it, and who gave Himself as the sacrificial offering led to the slaughter to save sinners from the doom now falling on them because they would not allow Him to take away their guilt. The scales fall from their eyes and they see what before they would not see, realizing what they might have been had they received Christ and improved their opportunities, seeing the law they spurned exalted even as God's throne is exalted, with the accumulated guilt of the world laid bare. They remember how they slighted His love and abused His compassion, how they chose Barabbas a robber and murderer in His stead, how they crowned the Saviour with thorns and caused Him to be scourged and crucified, how in the agony of His death they taunted Him to come down from the cross and they would believe and said He saved others but Himself He cannot save, seeming to hear again His voice of entreaty with every tone of solicitude distinct and every act of insult and mockery as fresh as when done.

When Christ is revealed in heavenly glory and kingly power attended by the heavenly host, those who mocked, rejected, killed and crucified Him recognize Him and behold the marks of His crucifixion and lasting prints of His wounds, which bear witness to the cost of human redemption and testify to the price paid. His former persecutors see Him honored as King of kings and Lord of lords and are compelled and overwhelmed by His majesty to acknowledge Him, fleeing and seeking to hide yet confessing, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord. That acknowledgment, given both at His return and by the wicked dead beholding Him with the marks of His crucifixion at the second resurrection after the thousand years, brings a great wail of terror and anguish over their part in His death, but their words are forced by truth and not spoken from love, and they remain rebellious and receive no further probation. The great events of the future surrounding that wailing will shake the thrones of kings and cause all earthly powers to tremble, marking the close of all earthly scenes and the ushering in of Christ's reign as King of kings whose kingdom shall endure forever, when Christ receives the adoration of all the hosts of heaven. For God's people this carries promise that whatever tribulation comes, if they patiently endure they will be more than conquerors through Him who loved them.

Events Surrounding His Coming

After the faithful are delivered from their distress, he is seen coming in heaven's clouds. At that coming the faithful are changed, the dead saints rise immortal, and the living together with the resurrected saints are caught up to meet him. It is his second coming with the angelic host, when he gives life to the righteous dead and ransoms them from their graves. Then the righteous are crowned with glory and honor, while the wicked are separated from the Lord's presence and consumed with fire. Those who are ready will meet him in peace, having cast the love of the world from their hearts and lived in fellowship with him, and the redeemed will share the glory of the Father and the Son and accompany him as witnesses that his suffering and sacrifice were not in vain.

Dreams and visions may be expected until he appears in the clouds at the end point of the last days. That coming in the clouds was the event believers expected in 1843, and they sought to purify their lives so they would be ready to meet him. In 1844 they believed probation would close shortly before his actual coming in the clouds, though they mistakenly concluded that it had already ended. When the expected time passed without his visible coming in heaven's clouds, their disappointment tested their faith. Some abandoned their belief or joined the scoffers.

His coming is in the clouds with power and great glory, preceded by the solemn events revealed in Revelation. Its truths warn that hidden sin cannot escape God's notice. At his soon return in the clouds he will reward each person according to works. Each will answer for deeds done and for good left undone, which gives urgency to the duty to use means and abilities for good.

Call to Prepare and Proclaim

The coming in clouds with every eye beholding is a warning and proclamation to be heralded throughout every land. It is to be sounded as a clear distinct solemn note in cities and villages everywhere to those still in darkness and error. It is to be preached as a direct and positive discourse, very clear, powerful and convincing, holding all who hear in deep attention, afraid to lose one word, with no sport or laughing. Souls are perishing without Him and must be warned of His soon appearing while there is opportunity. Ministers and all who know the truth are to leave labor for those already enlightened and go out to save the lost.

It is an earnest warning to prepare to meet the Lord. Indifference to the signs foretold ignores the evidence that the end of the world is right upon us and the great day is near at hand. Preparation means advancing and receiving the grace of God so that its effect is saving day by day, not receiving it in vain. It comes through watchfulness and prayer in faith bringing rich blessing through the gift of the Holy Spirit as strength, and calls for earnest united prayer, for the promise of the Spirit does not remove the need to pray. The only safety is through repentance and conversion and the blotting out of sins, with hearts humbled, sins forsaken, and lives fitted through sanctification of the truth to unite with the royal family and see the King in His beauty. Those who have not sought Him with all the heart and those who have allowed themselves to be deceived will surely perish.

To escape the wailing, every soul must be convinced that nothing that defiles enters heaven, but only those without spot or wrinkle or any such thing. Without loss of time each household must be sanctified unto God and taught this truth. Every person is in great peril without straight paths and deep Christian experience, and now is the time to make thorough work for eternity and to consider how he would stand before God's throne if life should close now. Getting ready means coming into close relation with God, walking humbly with Him, wrestling for immortality and eternal life, coming out from the world and remaining separate from uncleanness, casting the love of the world out of the heart, living in fellowship with Christ, putting on the whole armor with feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace, and showing appreciation for the great gift of Christ. Those who are ready will meet Him in peace as those washed clean in the Lamb's blood, welcomed by angels as His victorious companions, to share the glory of the Father and the Son as witnesses that His suffering was not in vain.

No one should be content to be numbered among the earthly kindreds who cast Him aside for trivial earthly things, selfish interests and worldly honor and then acknowledge their mistake and wail, but should hold heavenly citizenship and lay hold on the hope set before all in the gospel. At that sight people divide into those who meet Him with joy and those who wail because of Him, and believers must determine to be among those who meet Him with joy by making redemption certain. This is done by listening to and obeying the messages addressed to His church and by allowing Him to impress the mind and work through them. Those who pierce Him today by evil-speaking and wrongdoing, dishonoring Him and refusing His will so that daily He suffers crucifixion agonies, must have natural dispositions softened and subdued by grace so as not to go on crucifying Him afresh. They are to follow His perfect earthly life as Example, do His will in all things, keep Him constantly in view, make it the life-purpose to glorify Him, and learn rightly to know Him, for rightly knowing Him is peace and joy and everlasting life, makes salvation sure, and leads to living with Him forever, with the righteous desiring to behold the King in His beauty, to overcome in every trial, and to live a life measuring with the life of God instead of perishing with the wicked.

The soon appearing in the clouds is the hope looked for with joy and firm conviction, loved, waited for and longed for, stirring holiness of heart and full acceptance by God. It is the hope Seventh-day Adventists look for and those professing to await His return should keep before them. This expectation should govern faith and conduct so that conduct honors God. It calls for serious thought about the character needed to stand when He is revealed from heaven, and prepares people to accept the special truths that fit them for that coming. It moves them to use means and circulate publications, since hearing of His coming is of greater interest than watching lives risked for amusement.