- The sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven.
When Jesus comes back to Earth,
there are signs that we will be warned
to keep an eye out for in the Bible.
The Bible is a history book,
but it is unlike any other history book available
in any public library.
The Bible's history starts with the Earth's creation
and ends with the world's end.
Jesus told us to watch and pray.
What do we watch?
We cannot stand still
and watch the clouds wait for him to appear.
That is not what he meant.
He meant keep an eye on what's going in the world
and see what signs I gave you to help you prepare.
Signals are signs.
So let's look at Matthew chapter 24
where the disciples asked him what will be the signs
or signals of your return?
What would we do if we don't know
when it's going to happen?
To their inquiry,
Jesus gave a direct and unambiguous answer.
We can thank God that he responded
in such a straightforward manner.
Matthew 24:3-5.
"While Jesus was seated on the Mount of Olives,
the disciples came to Him privately, and said,
"Tell us, when will this destruction
of the Temple take place,
and what will be the sign of Your coming,
and of the end, completion, consummation of the age?"
Jesus answered, "Be careful that no one misleads you,
deceiving you and leading you into error.
For many will come in My name misusing it,
and appropriating the strength of the name which belongs
to Me, saying, 'I am the Christ, the Messiah,
the Anointed,' and they will mislead many."
In the book of Revelation,
he gives a much more detailed and comprehensive response
but here he gives a rundown of the signs
that will precede his arrival.
The disciples approached Jesus secretly
as he was seated on the Mount of Olives.
This converse takes place
in Matthew 24:3-36.
Now, in that passage, he gave four distinct signs
of his coming.
The first sign is disasters in the world,
and he notes, for example,
wars, famines and earthquakes.
The church, not the world,
is the second sign of his coming.
That takes us to the third sign of the end times.
Jerusalem's distress.
Then Jesus says that the fourth sign
of his coming will come instantly after that.
So we shall know when he is coming
and we shall be ready.
There will be no risk of false prophets or messiahs
when that sign comes.
There will be no deception and it will be too quick.
What will happen is that all natural light
will be switched off.
The sun will go dark, and the stars will fall.
Matthew 24:29-31.
Amplified Bible.
"Immediately after the tribulation of those days
the sun will be darkened,
and the moon will not provide its light,
and the stars will fall
from the sky, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken.
And at that time the sign of the son of man
coming in his glory will appear in the sky,
and then all the tribes of the Earth and especially Israel
will mourn regretting their rebellion
and rejection of the messiah,
and they will see the Son of Man coming
on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory,
in brilliance and splendor.
And he will send his angels with a loud trumpet
and they will gather together his elect,
God's chosen ones from the four winds,
from one end of the heavens to the other."
There are many predictions of this through the Bible.
Isaiah predicts it.
The heavens will be rolled up like a carpet.
Isaiah 34:4, Amplified Bible.
"All the host of heaven will be dissolved,
And the skies will be rolled up like a scroll.
All their hosts, the stars and the planets
will also wither away
as a leaf withers from the vine,
and as a fig withers from the fig tree."
The natural light will be gone,
leaving only artificial light illuminating the Earth.
"What is happening?
What is going on?" people may ask.
"This is it," Christians will exclaim.
The sun, stars and moon stop shining
right before that happens.
God turns off the lights of heaven
to prepare for the blaze of light
from the lightning that will mark his return.
Then he comes on the clouds back to planet Earth
and we meet him.
We are not meeting in an earthly stadium
because there isn't one large enough
to accommodate such a large crowd.
We'll reach him in the air and that'll suffice.
Isn't that a fantastic prospect?
When you see all these things,
you know he is at the gates,
just about to walk through, he says.
The Son of Man will come after that time of tribulation.
Here distress connects with Matthew 24 to 21
to point to a specific period of great tribulation.
The adverbial expression immediately after
emphasizes that these celestial signs
and the coming of Jesus will occur
after the time of great distress,
just described in Mark 24:15-28.
Heavenly disturbances.
The end of the age will come
with great disturbances in the heavens,
with darkened skies, falling stars,
the disruption of the forces of this age
and finally, the coming of Jesus.
At his coming, he will gather the elect
from the ends of heaven.
These events most likely refer to his coming
at the end of the time of tribulation,
which would correspond with the time
of judgment of the nations.
Several prophetic passages describe the cosmic disturbances
that will precede and surround the glorious return of Jesus.
Joel 2:10. Amplified Bible.
"The Earth quakes before them;
the heavens tremble.
The sun and the moon grow dark
and the stars lose their brightness."
Revelation 6:12-14.
Amplified Bible.
"I looked when He, the Lamb, broke open the sixth seal,
and there was a great earthquake;
and the sun became black as sackcloth made of hair,
and the whole moon became like blood;
and the stars of the sky fell to the Earth,
like a fig tree shedding its late Summer figs
when shaken by a strong wind.
The sky was split, separated from the Land,
and rolled up like a scroll, and every mountain
and island were dislodged and moved out of their places."
The sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven.
It is difficult to say exactly what this sign is.
It seems to precede his return
as described in Revelation 19:11.
Perhaps this sign is somehow related
to the incredible cosmic disturbances
that will precede the great event.
Revelation 19:11.
"And I saw heaven opened, and behold,
a white horse, and He who was riding it
is called Faithful and True,
trustworthy, loyal, incorruptible, steady,
and in righteousness He judges and wages war
on the rebellious nations."
Aside from the signs in the skies,
there are other signs of the return of the Lord.
To find out more on that topic, click here.