Apocalipse 1

Apocalipse 1

Phillips - One of the most stirring pages in English history tells of the conquests and crusades of Richard I, the Lionhearted. While Richard was away trouncing Saladin, his kingdom fell on bad times. His sly and graceless brother, John, usurped all the prerogatives of the king and misruled the realm. The people of England suffered, longing for the return of the king, and praying that it might be soon. Then one day Richard came. He landed in England and marched straight for his throne. Around that glittering coming, many tales are told, woven into the legends of England. (One of them is the story of Robin Hood.) John’s castles tumbled like ninepins. Great Richard laid claim to his throne, and none dared stand in his path. The people shouted their delight. They rang peal after peal on the bells. The Lion was back! Long live the king! One day a King greater than Richard will lay claim to a realm greater than England. Those who have abused the earth in His absence, seized His domains, and mismanaged His world will all be swept aside. (Exploring Revelation - BORROW) Mourn (wail)(2875) kopto means literally (in the active voice) to cut off (as when Messiah entered Jerusalem to begin His final week on earth = Mt 21:8 = "cutting branches from the trees," Mk 11:8 = "leafy branches which they had cut from the fields"; this same sense in Lxx = Nu 13:24; Jdg 9:48). The more common usage is figurative = In the middle voice (as here in Revelation 1:7) kopto means to beat one's body with the hands (especially one's breast) as a strong expression of grief or remorse, an act of mourning or lamentation (Mt 24:30, Mt 11:17, Lk 23:27; Lxx - 1Ki 13:28, 2Ki 1:12, 11:26, Zech 7:5, Ge 23:2, 1Ki 25:1). Kopto is used 2x in the Revelation - Matt. 11:17; Matt. 21:8; Matt. 24:30; Mk. 11:8; Lk. 8:52; Lk. 23:27; Rev. 1:7; Rev. 18:9 = "And the kings of the earth, who committed acts of immorality and lived sensuously with her, will weep and lament (kopto) over her (BABYLON FALLEN) when they see the smoke of her burning," Clouds (3507) nephele is a diminutive of nephos and thus refers to a small cloud. (Luke 12:54 [cf. 1 Ki 18:44). Nephos is repeatedly associated with appearances of God -- God the Father spoke from a cloud (Mt 17:5, Mark 9:7. Lk 9:35), the Son departed in a cloud (Acts 1:9) and will return in a cloud (Mt 24:30, 26:64, Mk 13:26, 14:62, Lk 21:27, Rev 1:7, cf Rev 14:14-16+), the Son was transfigured in a cloud (Lk 9:34-35), saints will meet the Son in the clouds (1 Th 4:17). The cloud in Hebrew thought is commonly associated w. the divine presence (Ex 13:21; 16:10; Mt. 17:5; Acts 1:9) Nephele is used 6x in the Revelation out of 21v - Matt. 17:5; Matt. 24:30; Matt. 26:64; Mk. 9:7; Mk. 13:26; Mk. 14:62; Lk. 9:34; Lk. 9:35; Lk. 12:54; Lk. 21:27; Acts 1:9; 1 Co. 10:1; 1 Co. 10:2; 1 Thess. 4:17; Jude 1:12; Rev. 1:7; Rev. 10:1; Rev. 11:12; Rev. 14:14; Rev. 14:15; Rev. 14:16 QUESTION - What does it mean that every eye will see Him when Jesus returns (Revelation 1:7)? ANSWER - Scripture promises that Christ will return to earth, yet the various passages predicting that event seem to indicate two separate returns. Revelation 1:7 describes a return in which every eye will see Him. First Thessalonians 4 describes a return in which not everyone will see Christ. As John introduces the book of Revelation, he alludes to Zechariah 12:10 and asserts that Jesus Christ is coming with the clouds and that “every eye will see Him” (Revelation 1:7). Roughly five centuries earlier, Daniel recorded a similar scene in which he observes that a Son of Man will be coming with the clouds of heaven (Daniel 7:13) to begin an eternal kingdom over the earth (Daniel 7:14). Paul describes the Lord descending from heaven with a shout, the dead in Christ rising from the dead, and then those who are in Christ and still alive being caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air (1 Thessalonians 4:17). John, Daniel, and Paul all mention clouds associated with the coming of the Lord, but, despite the similar terminology, there are differences in the prophecies. Daniel says that Jesus will immediately begin His kingdom upon His return. In the coming that Paul prophesies, Jesus doesn’t actually come to the earth; rather, those who are caught up to Him remain in heaven with Him (1 Thessalonians 4:13), after which Paul describes the day of the Lord taking place (1 Thessalonians 5:2ff). This does not seem to be the coming of Jesus when every eye will see Him; instead, this is more like what Jesus said in John 14:2, when He said He would go to prepare a place for His followers, come again, and receive them to Himself so that where He is they would be also. In John 14:2, Jesus describes His going from earth to heaven (going to prepare a place), then coming from heaven but not all the way to earth (receiving them to Himself), then remaining in heaven (where He is they would be also) for a time. Similarly, Paul describes the event of saints joining Jesus in 1 Thessalonians 4:13–17 and in 1 Corinthians 15:51–52. In the latter passage, Paul describes believers changing and being with Christ in the “twinkling of an eye”—a sudden event that is perhaps so quick as to be visually imperceptible. This does not seem to describe something that every eye will see—something so vivid and broad that everyone on earth will witness at the same time. In Revelation 19:11–14, John describes Jesus coming to earth with armies of saints and then reigning on earth with them (Revelation 20:4). As those saints are already physically with Christ, the event that brings them together has already happened (ED: SUPPORT FOR THE RAPTURE). The chronology indicates that the event Jesus and Paul describe involving the “catching up” of believers to Jesus will have already happened before the return of Christ in Revelation 19—also referred to in Revelation 1:7—Jesus’ coming in the clouds. The first of these two events is often referred to as the rapture, because of the Latin word for “caught up” (ED: "RAPTURO" in Latin Vulgate, Greek = harpazo) (in 1 Thessalonians 4:17). The second of these events is typically referenced simply as Jesus’ Second Coming, because it is the second time recorded that He actually comes to the earth (unlike the rapture, in which He only comes in the clouds to meet His believers in the air). At the rapture, only believers will see Jesus. At the second coming, every eye will see Him—the whole world will behold Him. It is this second event to which John refers in Revelation 1:7.GotQuestions.org QUESTION - What does it mean that Jesus will come in the clouds (Revelation 1:7)? ANSWER - Revelation 1:7 says, “‘Look, he is coming with the clouds,’ and ‘every eye will see him, even those who pierced him’; and all peoples on earth ‘will mourn because of him.’ So shall it be! Amen.” This verse brings together two other passages: Matthew 26:64, in which Jesus tells the Sanhedrin they will see the Son “coming on the clouds of heaven”; and Zechariah 12:10, which says that Jerusalem’s inhabitants will mourn when they see “the one they have pierced.” Some have tried to allegorize Revelation 1:7 by assigning various figurative meanings to the “clouds.” But there is no need to look for hidden meanings here, for the passage means just what it says, as do the two passages it quotes. There is nothing more to make of the statement that “He comes with the clouds.” It simply means that Jesus will appear to all people as He comes to earth out of the heavens. After Jesus gave His disciples the Great Commission, “he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight” (Acts 1:9). As the disciples stood there, gazing after the Lord, two angels appeared and told them, “This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven” (verse 11). A cloud is mentioned at His ascension, and the clouds are mentioned at His return. GotQuestions.org QUESTION - What does it mean that every eye will see Him when Jesus returns? ANSWER - Scripture promises that Christ will return to earth, yet the various passages predicting that event seem to indicate two separate returns. Revelation 1:7 describes a return in which every eye will see Him. First Thessalonians 4 describes a return in which not everyone will see Christ. As John introduces the book of Revelation, he alludes to Zechariah 12:10 and asserts that Jesus Christ is coming with the clouds and that “every eye will see Him” (Revelation 1:7). Roughly five centuries earlier, Daniel recorded a similar scene in which he observes that a Son of Man will be coming with the clouds of heaven (Daniel 7:13) to begin an eternal kingdom over the earth (Daniel 7:14). Paul describes the Lord descending from heaven with a shout, the dead in Christ rising from the dead, and then those who are in Christ and still alive being caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air (1 Thessalonians 4:17). John, Daniel, and Paul all mention clouds associated with the coming of the Lord, but, despite the similar terminology, there are differences in the prophecies. Daniel says that Jesus will immediately begin His kingdom upon His return. In the coming that Paul prophesies, Jesus doesn’t actually come to the earth; rather, those who are caught up to Him remain in heaven with Him (1 Thessalonians 4:13), after which Paul describes the day of the Lord taking place (1 Thessalonians 5:2ff). This does not seem to be the coming of Jesus when every eye will see Him; instead, this is more like what Jesus said in John 14:2, when He said He would go to prepare a place for His followers, come again, and receive them to Himself so that where He is they would be also. In John 14:2, Jesus describes His going from earth to heaven (going to prepare a place), then coming from heaven but not all the way to earth (receiving them to Himself), then remaining in heaven (where He is they would be also) for a time. Similarly, Paul describes the event of saints joining Jesus in 1 Thessalonians 4:13–17 and in 1 Corinthians 15:51–52. In the latter passage, Paul describes believers changing and being with Christ in the “twinkling of an eye”—a sudden event that is perhaps so quick as to be visually imperceptible. This does not seem to describe something that every eye will see—something so vivid and broad that everyone on earth will witness at the same time. In Revelation 19:11–14, John describes Jesus coming to earth with armies of saints and then reigning on earth with them (Revelation 20:4). As those saints are already physically with Christ, the event that brings them together has already happened. The chronology indicates that the event Jesus and Paul describe involving the “catching up” of believers to Jesus will have already happened before the return of Christ in Revelation 19—also referred to in Revelation 1:7—Jesus’ coming in the clouds. The first of these two events is often referred to as the rapture, because of the Latin word for “caught up” (in 1 Thessalonians 4:17). The second of these events is typically referenced simply as Jesus’ second coming, because it is the second time recorded that He actually comes to the earth (unlike the rapture, in which He only comes in the clouds to meet His believers in the air). At the rapture, only believers will see Jesus. At the second coming, every eye will see Him—the whole world will behold Him. It is this second event to which John refers in Revelation 1:7. Behold(2400)(idou) is the second person singular aorist middle imperative of eidon which means to see, perceive, look at. In the NT idou is used as a demonstrative particle that draws attention to what follows. Idou in the middle voice means "you yourself look, see, perceive!" The aorist imperative is a command emphasizing "Do it now! Don't delay!"