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29 Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. 30 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. 31 And He will send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other. ~ Matthew 24:29-31
Today, we continue our study of Matthew 24 where the Lord Jesus is on the Mount of Olives with His disciples. In that context He was teaching in response to their question about when He was to return to this earth. The reality that He was about to leave had started to set in for these twelve followers. It was Wednesday evening of the passion week before the Friday when the Lord Jesus was crucified.
In v.29 of today's passage we read, "Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken."
As the Seventieth Seven of Daniel 9:27 comes to its end, abnormalities in the sun, moon and stars will occur. They will 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 and lowliness. This will not be the case the second time He returns. Previous to His second appearing, volcanoes will erupt and tidal waves will arise. The havoc on the earth at that time will be the result of the heavens being shaken and the lights will be turned off. The Lord Jesus will appear in the sky for all on earth to see.
In v.30-31 of today's passage we read, "30 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. 31 And He will send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other."
The climax of all of human history will be the appearing of the Lord Jesus Christ as Lord, with great power and great glory. At the Second Coming, the angels will be engaged in the gathering of God's people to Himself. The sign of the end will be return of the Son. This will be the fulfillment of Daniel 7:13-14 which reads, "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."
In the Book of Daniel, the title "Son of Man" describes the coming Messiah who will appear in the sky for all on earth to see. The designation "Ancient of Days" provides a description of God the Father. The Lord Jesus will come as the conquering Messiah approved of by His Father who is in heaven. The Lord Jesus is referred to as the "Son of Man" 82 times in the New Testament. It was the primary title the Lord Jesus used when referring to Himself. The only use of "Son of Man" in a clear reference to the Lord Jesus, spoken by someone other than the Lord Jesus, came from the lips of Stephen as he was being martyred in the Book of Acts.
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."
The Lord Jesus Christ will come in flaming fire, accompanied by His mighty angels. He will return to deal out judgment on those who proudly resisted His grace. But He will also come 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." 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 will come out of seven seals, seven seals that stretch across the seven years. When we get toward the end of the Tribulation and we come to the sixth and seventh seals, 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 one third of Israel repent, Gentiles from every tongue and tribe and people and nation will 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, there will be those who will still blaspheme 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 the Lord now if you haven't already.
