The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show to his servants the things that must soon take place. He made it known by sending his angel to his servant John, who bore witness to the word of God and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, even to all that he saw. Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear, and who keep what is written in it, for the time is near.
John to the seven churches that are in Asia:
Grace to you and peace from him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven spirits who are before his throne, and from Jesus Christ the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of kings on earth.
To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood and made us a kingdom, priests to his God and Father, to him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. Behold, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him, and all tribes of the earth will wail on account of him. Even so. Amen.
The issue to settle when reading a book of scripture is that of context. Who has written the text, Why has he written it, and to Whom has he written it? are where one must begin. In this section we will find two of our thr33 criteria in accomplishing this.
Here, we find our author. He is John. The only other book in the NT written by this man is the fourth book in the NT. He was a disciple of Jesus.
Our task now is to discover WHY he is writing this book. I believe the last sentence in our text to the right can illuminate us here.
We are told Jesus is coming. One of my favourite investigative approaches to Bible study is to ask the 6 interrogatives. You know them, yes?
Who
What
Where
When
Why and
How
Our verse in question is the last one which reads,
“Behold, he is coming with the clouds! Every eye will see him-those who pierced him and all the tribes of the land will wail on account of him.”
How are we to respond to this information? How do you respond to it? What kind of visceral reaction does this elicit from you? Let’s use our interrogatives here to help us.
Who is coming?
with What is he coming?
to Where is he coming?
When is he coming?
Why is he coming?
How is he coming?
Let us begin.
Who: the one who loves us and delivered us from our sins by his blood making us a kingdom-priests to our God.
with What: we are told he is coming on the clouds but this is not very clear to us. What does this mean, this “coming with the clouds?”
Cloud imagery in the OT:
Three passages (at least) to consult are Daniel 7 and Isaiah 19 and Joel 2 (note particularly the parallel drawn in Joel between YHWH who is “coming” and then the verse which follows immediately after).
to Where is he coming? Note here who it is who will “observe” this coming. “Those who pierced him…[and] the tribes of the land.” Who are these but those who are alive and living in the land of Israel during John’s writing.
When is he coming? John tells us in the beginning of his vision that the “time is near and these things must shortly take place.”
Why is he coming? This can be surmised by considering the What and How of his coming.
How is he coming? With, in, or by the clouds. Based on your previous investigation, of what is a “cloud” a metaphor?
