Click here for the Luke 21:25-28 PODCAST
25 “There will be signs in the sun, moon and stars. On the earth, nations will be in anguish and perplexity at the roaring and tossing of the sea. 26 People will faint from terror, apprehensive of what is coming on the world, for the heavenly bodies will be shaken. 27 At that time they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. 28 When these things begin to take place, stand up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.” ~ Luke 21:25-28
We come back to the tail end of the Lord Jesus' answer to the disciples question about when will we know that we are at the end of time. The Lord Jesus' answer describes what Jeremiah describes as a “time of Jacob’s trouble” in Jeremiah 30:7. Jacob is Israel in unbelief. That is the point of the Seventy Sevens of Daniel 9:24-27: that Israel will come to faith in the Lord Jesus.
As the Seventieth Seven of Daniel 9:27 or the Tribulation as some call it, comes to its end, abnormal occurances in the sun, moon and stars will occur. They come in a flurry just before Christ returns. This will happen after evil has finished its course on the earth.
The coming of the Son of Man in a cloud with power and great glory will be very different than the first time He came in a manger in humility, condescension and lowliness. This will not be the case the next time.
In Matthew 24:29 we learn that at the end the sun and moon will be darkened and the stars will fall. Then the Lord Jesus tells us in Matthew 24:30 “the sign of the Son of man” will appear in heaven. According to Revelation 1:7 every eye will see Him. According to Zechariah 12:10-14 the nation of Israel will at last recognize their Messiah, repent, believe, and be saved.
In Acts 1:9 we read, "After he said this, he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight." The disciples were on the Mount of Olives with the Lord Jesus after His resurrection, all of a sudden the Lord Jesus ascends, physically, literally, bodily He goes up into a cloud and He's gone. And they're gazing intently stunned, two angels appear and say this, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into the sky?” The angels ask this question because the disciples were doing more than just looking, they were losing the One most important to them and their look was a serious intent look.
Then they heard these words from the angels, “This Jesus who has been taken up from you into heaven will come in just the same way as you have watched Him go into heaven.” Christ went up, He will come down. He went up in a cloud, He will come down in a cloud. He went up from the Mount of Olives, He will come down to the Mount of Olives.
In Daniel 7:13-14 we read, "13 In my vision at night I looked, and there before me was one like a son of man, coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days and was led into his presence. 14 He was given authority, glory and sovereign power; all nations and peoples of every language worshiped him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and his kingdom is one that will never be destroyed." Christ’s appearing will be sudden, awesome, and with great power.
In 2 Thessalonians 1:5-10 we read, "5 All this is evidence that God’s judgment is right, and as a result you will be counted worthy of the kingdom of God, for which you are suffering. 6 God is just: He will pay back trouble to those who trouble you 7 and give relief to you who are troubled, and to us as well. This will happen when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven in blazing fire with his powerful angels. 8 He will punish those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. 9 They will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might 10 on the day he comes to be glorified in his holy people and to be marveled at among all those who have believed. This includes you, because you believed our testimony to you."
Christ will come in flaming fire, accompanied by His mighty angels. Christ will return to deal out judgment on those who resisted His grace. But He also comes to be glorified in His followers. And, according to 1 Thessalonians 1:10, "We wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead—Jesus, who rescues us from the coming wrath."
Clearly the Lord Jesus will return in the same way that He departed the earth after His resurrection. There are at least 300 plus Old Testament prophecies fulfilled in the first coming of the Lord Jesus. In Revelation 6:12-14 we read, "12 I watched as he opened the sixth seal. There was a great earthquake. The sun turned black like sackcloth made of goat hair, the whole moon turned blood red, 13 and the stars in the sky fell to earth, as figs drop from a fig tree when shaken by a strong wind. 14 The heavens receded like a scroll being rolled up, and every mountain and island was removed from its place."
In the seven year Tribulation, judgments come out of seven seals, seven seals that stretch across the seven years. When we get toward the end and we come to the sixth and seventh seal, the judgments intensify. The sun will go out. The whole moon will become like blood which hardens into blackness. The stars of the sky will fall to the earth as a fig tree casts its ripened figs when shaken by a great wind. And the sky will split apart like a scroll when it is rolled up. The sky will roll up like a scroll. Every mountain and island will be moved out of their places. This describes the awful end.
The sad part of this is that there will be people who lived through the Tribulation, who heard the gospel preached all over the world. These will have seen Israel repent, Gentiles from every tongue and tribe and people and nation repent, and come to faith in the Lord Jesus. They had been warned again and again that the Lord Jesus was coming in judgment. And even when it comes down to the end, they are still blaspheming the God of heaven. If you think that somehow you can just kind of wait around until all that starts and come to Christ at the end, you may end up with them. Today is the day of salvation. Cry out to Him now if you haven't already.
