Coming on the Clouds

The whole earth will see the Son of Man arriving on the clouds of Heaven, and he will send his angels to gather his elect –Mark 13:21-27.

After describing the destruction of the Temple, Jesus turns to the subject of his return. How much time will pass between the Temple’s demise and his arrival, he does not say, but in the intervening period, his disciples must beware of deceivers and “false prophets” who spread false information about his coming.

[Clouds Photo by Dương Trần Quốc (Viet Nam) on Unsplash]

When the Son of Man arrives, there will be no mistaking the event. It will be accompanied by celestial and terrestrial upheaval, the gathering of his people, and the entire world will witness his appearance.

• (Mark 13:21-27) - “And then, if any man will say to you, behold, here is the Christ; or, behold, there; believe it not, for there will arise false anointed ones and false prophets, and they will show signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, the elect. But take heed. Behold, I have told you all things beforehand. But in those days, after that tribulation, the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give her light, and the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers that are in the heavens will be shaken. And then will they see the Son of Man coming on the clouds with great power and glory. And then will he send forth the angels and will gather his elect from the four winds, from the uttermost part of the earth to the uttermost part of heaven.”

In the ‘Olivet Discourse’, the Greek adverb commonly translated in English as “then” marks a change in the subject matter (“And then…” – ‘kai tote’). The discussion now moves to the subject of what will occur after the events connected to the “Abomination of Desolation”- (Mark 13:14).

Before the arrival of Jesus, “there will arise false Christs and false prophets who will show signs and wonders.” The reference to “signs and wonders” echoes the instructions of Moses to Israel concerning false prophets:

• (Deuteronomy 13:1-3) – “If there arise among you a prophet, or a dreamer of dreams, and he gives you a sign or a wonder, and the sign or the wonder comes to pass of which he spoke to you, saying, Let us go after other gods, which you have not known, and let us serve them; you will not hearken to the words of that prophet.”

In the Septuagint version of Deuteronomy, the two Greek words translated as “signs and wonders” match those found on the lips of Jesus (‘semeia kai terata’). Like Moses, Christ forewarned his disciples (“I have told you all things beforehand”). The goal of the “false prophets” is to mislead the “elect,” the people of God.

Similarly, Paul warned that the “Man of Lawlessness” will use miraculous signs to cause many believers to abandon the faith in the coming “apostasy”:

• “And then will be revealed the lawless one, whom the Lord Jesus will slay with the breath of his mouth, and bring to nought by the manifestation of his arrival. Even he whose arrival is according to the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders” - (2 Thessalonians 2:8-9).

Christ’s warning to “take heed” found in Mark 13:23 is the same clause found at the start of the ‘Olivet Discourse’ when Jesus warned of deceivers who will come in his name and propagate false information about his return.

• “Take heed that no man deceives you. Many will come in my name, saying, I am he and deceive many. And when you will hear of wars and reports of wars, be not troubled. These things must come to pass, but the end is not yet” – (Mark 13:5-7).

When the Son of Man appears, “the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give her light.” This description echoes several Old Testament passages about the “Day of Yahweh.” Connecting Christ’s return to that Day is common in the New Testament - (e.g., 1 Corinthians 1:18, 2 Peter 3:3-12).

• “The Day of Yahweh is coming, cruel, with wrath and fierce anger, to make the land a desolation, and to destroy the sinners thereof out of it. For the stars of heaven and the constellations will not give their light. The sun will be darkened in its going forth, and the moon will not cause its light to shine” – (Isaiah 13:10).

• “Now we implore you, brethren, concerning the arrival of our Lord Jesus Christ, and our gathering together to him; to the end, that you not be shaken from your mind, nor yet be troubled, either by spirit, or by word, or by epistle as from us, as that the Day of the Lord is just at hand” – (2 Thessalonians 2:1-2).

• “And I saw when he opened the sixth seal, and there was a great earthquake. And the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the whole moon became as blood, and the stars of the heaven fell to the earth, as a fig tree casts her unripe figs when she is shaken of a great wind. And the heavens were removed as a scroll when it is rolled up, and every mountain and island were moved out of their places. <…> For the Great Day of their Wrath is come, and who is able to stand?” – (Revelation 6:12-17).

The element of judgment is present in Christ’s description of his arrival, but his priority in the ‘Olivet Discourse’ is the salvation of the “elect” – “He will gather together his elect.” Elsewhere, the term “elect” is applied to the faithful followers of Jesus – (Colossians 3:12, 2 Timothy 2:10, 1 Peter 1:1, 2:4-9).

• “He who spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how will he not also with him freely give us all things? Who will lay anything to the charge of God's elect?” – (Romans 8:33).

• “Paul, a servant of God, and an apostle of Jesus Christ, according to the faith of God's elect, and the knowledge of the truth which is according to godliness” – (Titus 1:1).

COSMIC CHAOS AND CLOUDS

On that day, “the stars will fall from heaven.” Celestial upheaval is a common theme in prophecies about the “Day of the Lord.” Whether this is literal or metaphorical, it points to chaotic events that accompany rather than precede the Son of Man’s arrival.

According to Jesus, “they will then see the Son of Man coming on clouds with great power and glory.” This statement alludes to a passage in the Book of Daniel applied frequently in the New Testament to the return of Jesus:

• “I saw in the night visions, and behold, there came with the clouds of heaven one like unto a son of man, and he came even to the ancient of days, and they brought him near before him. And dominion and glory were given to him, and a kingdom, that all the peoples, nations, and tongues should serve him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion, which will not pass away, and his kingdom that which will not be destroyed” - (Daniel 7:13-14).

• “Then we that are alive, that are left, will together with them be caught up in the clouds for a meeting with the Lord in the air. And so, we will be with the Lord forevermore” - (1 Thessalonians 4:17).

• “Behold, he is coming with the clouds! And every eye will see him, and they that pierced him. And all the tribes of the earth will mourn over him. Even so, Amen” - (Revelation 1:7).

The “Son of Man” was approaching the “Ancient of Days” in Daniel to receive his “everlasting kingdom,” a realm that includes men from “all the nations.”  In the passage from the ‘Olivet Discourse,’ Jesus is the “Son of Man” arriving “on the clouds” to gather his “elect” from the “uttermost parts of the Earth.” Every tribe and nation will witness this event.

What is the identity of the “they” who will “see the Son of Man coming” as described by Jesus in Mark? Previously in his Discourse, Christ warned how “they will deliver you up to councils, and in synagogues you will be beaten,” “they will deliver you up” for trial and judgment, and “they will deceive, if possible, the elect.”

The pronoun “they” refers to the opponents of the “elect,” including the “false prophets” and “false anointed ones” who attempted to deceive them. To their dismay, they will witness the arrival of the Son of Man to save his people but also to punish his enemies - (Isaiah 60:1-3, 14):

• “Behold, I give of the synagogue of Satan, of them who say they are Jews, and they are not, but do lie; behold, I will make them to come and pay homage before your feet, and to know that I have loved you. Because you kept the word of my patience, I also will keep you from the hour of trial, which is to come upon the whole habitable earth, to try the Inhabitants of the Earth” – (Revelation 3:9-10).

• “And all the tribes of the earth will mourn over him. Even so, Amen” - (Revelation 1:7).

The description of Christ gathering “his elect from the uttermost part of the earth” echoes a Messianic prophecy from the Book of Isaiah. The gathering of the elect from every nation is described elsewhere in the New Testament. For example:

• “And there will come forth a shoot out of the stock of Jesse, and a branch out of his roots will bear fruit <…> And he will set up an ensign for the nations, and will assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth” - (Isaiah 11:1, 10-12).

• “Now we implore you, brethren, concerning the arrival of our Lord Jesus Christ, and our gathering together to him” - (2 Thessalonians 2:1).

And so, Jesus applies the language of gathering the remnant of Israel to his disciples or “elect.” He will gather them from every inhabited corner of the Earth when he arrives in power and glory “on the clouds of Heaven.” As to “where” he will gather them, the immediate passage in the Gospel of Mark does not say. Suffice it to say, it will be wherever Jesus of Nazareth is.

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SEE ALSO:

• The Son of Man - (The figure of the Son of Man in the Book of Daniel is the source of Christ’s self-designation, the Son of Man)

• Day of Christ - (The return of Jesus will be the “Day of the Lord” when the dead are raised, the wicked are judged, and death will cease)

• Final Events - (In explaining the future resurrection, Paul lists key events that will precede or coincide with the arrival of Jesus at the end of the age)

• The Ruler of the Kings - (Jesus, the Faithful Witness, now reigns supreme over the Kings of the Earth, and he is shepherding the nations to the Holy City of New Jerusalem)