“BEHOLD, HE IS COMING WITH THE CLOUDS, and every eye will see Him, even those who pierced Him; and all the tribes of the earth will mourn over Him. So it is to be. Amen.”
(Revelation 1:7)
This is not the central theme of the book. Yet it constitutes a real source of comfort for afflicted believers. It is the hope of believers and the consternation of the enemies of the Church. He comes (with the clouds) that is with glory (Dan. 7:13; Mark 14:62; Ezk. 1:4-28), and with anguish, wrath, judgment (Zp. 1:16; Ps. 97:2). The Bible knows nothing about an invisible or secret second coming. Nowhere is this taught. On the contrary, "every eye shall see Him". Those who pierced His side shall also see Him. It is possible that the expression "and they that pierced Him" also indicates all others who have pierced the Christ by means of their disobedient lives. The expression is taken from Zechariah 12:10. The Jews who rejected Him are then going to see that Jesus of Nazareth, whom they crucified, is, indeed, the Christ!
(And all the tribes of the earth shall mourn for Him). This is not the mourning of repentance but that of hopelessness: the expression refers to beating the breast and morning and despair. Unbelievers will hide themselves in the caves and in the rocks of the mountains and will say, " Fall on us and hide us from the face of Him that sits on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb...(Rev. 6:16)
(William Hendriksen)
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