Revelation 1:7-8 Verse By Verse Bible Study

*Revelation 1:7-8–

“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. I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty.”

“Behold, He is coming with the clouds, and will see Him every eye, and those who Him pierced, and will wail because of Him all the tribes of the earth. Yes, Amen! I am the Alpha and the Omega, [the] Beginning and [the] End, says the Lord God, the [One] being, and who was, and who is coming, the Almighty.”
(Greek-English interlinear)

➡In context:

“The revelation from Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show his servants what must soon take place. He made it known by sending his angel to his servant John,² who testifies to everything he saw—that is, the word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ. ³ Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear it and take to heart what is written in it, because the time is near.

⁴ John,
To the seven churches in the province of Asia:
Grace and peace to you from him who is, and who was, and who is to come, and from the seven spirits before his throne, ⁵ and from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth.
To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood,⁶ and has made us to be a kingdom and priests to serve his God and Father—to him be glory and power for ever and ever! Amen.

⁷ “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.

⁸ “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty.”

“LOOK!  He’s coming with the clouds!”
When is the last time you looked up into the clouds and thought about what it will look like to return WITH Christ?
I did not know this, but I read that 1 out of every 30 verses in the New Testament refer to the 2nd Coming of Christ?
I had to stop and ask myself if this is true, had this truth really taken root in my heart?
Am I really living like I believe this?
MORE revelation!
MORE encouragement!

John finishes up his PRAISE outburst with this-
Hey!  Persecuted brothers and sisters in the Lord!  LOOK UP!  BEHOLD!  He’s coming back!

Before we jump into today’s study, I thought it would be a good review to define clearly what these “comings” of Christ mentioned in Scripture are.
The First Coming (Isaiah 7:14; Luke 1:26-56) refers to Christ’s coming in bodily form to the earth, born to Mary in Bethlehem.  The Second Coming (Revelation 1:7;  Revelation 19:11-15) refers to the time when He will again return in bodily form to the earth to rule for 1,000 years (the Millennial Reign).
There is a third “coming” of Christ that is known as the Rapture (1 Thessalonians 4:17; 1 Corinthians 15:50-55).  This is when Jesus will appear in the sky and snatch up to Himself all those who have put their faith in Him.

You can read more details below, if you want to know more.
The Rapture and the Second Coming can sometimes be confusing, and there is debate among Christians as to how and when these 2 comings will take place.
In a nutshell, the event known as the Rapture is when Christ comes in the clouds FOR His Church, and the event known as the Second Coming is when Christ returns to the earth WITH His people just prior to the Millennial Reign.

+The First Coming Of Jesus Christ
+The Rapture
(This article describes the differences of belief about this event, and how we should handle that between believers!)
+The Second Coming of Jesus Christ

READY TO GET STARTED NOW?!?   😀

-Look, he is coming with the clouds,

Behold!  Pay attention and LOOK!  SEE what is going to be happening!
When a sentence starts with this word, GET READY, something major is about to be revealed!
For example-
*John 1:29– “The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!”

+WHO is coming?
He, Jesus is COMING (appearing; coming forth).

+WHEN is He coming?
The verb used here for “is coming” is the present indicative middle (yeah, I had to Google that too).
John didn’t say, Jesus WILL come.  John tells the reader that Jesus IS coming.
This is why it is so importhat to SLOW DOWN when we are reading the Bible.  And so the verb tense here tells us clearly that Jesus is in the process of coming right now!

+WHERE/HOW is He coming?
He is coming WITH (among) the clouds!
Do you imagine a sudden drawing of the clouds all together into one spot, making a huge shadow, with Jesus SHINING in the midst of them all?!  
*Note: If you believe that there is a pre-tribulation or mid-tribulation rapture, this verse is not talking about the Rapture, but about the physical second coming of Christ.  When Jesus returns at the Second Coming, every eye will SEE Him and know.  This is not the case with the Rapture.

*Matthew 24:30– “Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.”

+WHAT is the significance of clouds? 
The use of clouds to describe Jesus coming again may sound strange, but the mention of clouds is actually a very common occurrence in Scriptures.  As we talked about at the beginning of this study, the best and first way to interpret all the symbolism in this Book is to use the Scripture itself.  
So, if you look up this word used in all it’s cross references, clouds means…. clouds.
See how easy that was?  lol

HOWEVER, the significance that tends to be clear when there are mentions of these clouds, is that there is the glory, nearness and covering of God!!

Here are just a few of the MANY examples in Scripture-
+His covenant rainbow was set in a cloud
+Cloud by day in the wilderness (This is so good! The Egyptians even saw this!  Exodus 13:21-22; 14:19-20 and 24-25)
+Cloud covered Mt. Sinai while giving Moses the 10 Commandments, and also while speaking to him in the midst of the Tabernacle
+He comes riding on the clouds
+When Jesus was baptized the Father spoke from a bright cloud, and also did the same on the Mount of Transfiguration
+Daniel had a vision of the second coming of Christ in clouds  (Daniel 7:13– written ~164 BC!!)

–and “every eye will see him, even those who pierced him”

As I mentioned in the introduction, about one out of every 30 versus in the New Testament speaks of Christ’s second coming!  Seems like it’s something we should know about.  But even if we’ve never thought too much about it, we won’t miss this event!  Whether it happens after the Rapture or at the same time (doesn’t matter, cause it’s going to happen!) or whether we are alive or have died already, we will NOT MISS this event when it happens!
Whenever this event of Jesus coming in the clouds happens, it won’t be something that only a few people will notice.  If you’re inside your house, or if you’re asleep in the middle of the night, or if you are DEAD… you will not miss it!  EVERY eye will SEE HIM!!!

+WHO are “even those who pierced Him”?
This one sentence covers a LOT of people!
EVERY eye… even those… whosoever have pierced Him.

∆ those- hoitines–   whosoever, whichsoever, whatsoever.

SO, WHO is it that pierced Jesus?

First, we should think literally.
There was the specific one Roman soldier we read about in the book of John, who physically pierced Jesus’ side with a spear (John 19:31-37). 
This would also include the Jews who conspired to have Jesus killed even knowing He was innocent of any crime punishable by death  (the Jews seeing Jesus’ coming is prophesied in Zechariah 12:10 ). 

Then, we should step back to see the big picture.  Letting Scripture interpret Scripture.
It is quite clear that we ALL have pierced Jesus!

*Isaiah 53:5–  “But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed.”

*Romans 3:23– “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God”

And over 1,000 years before the words in this verse, Revelation 1:7, were written down by John, Zechariah prophesied the same event!
*Zechariah 12:10–  “And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and supplication. They will look on me, the one they have pierced, and they will mourn for him as one mourns for an only child, and grieve bitterly for him as one grieves for a firstborn son.”

–and all peoples on earth “will mourn because of him.”

As we just read a little further back up, Matthew also speaks of this very event.

*Matthew 24:30– “Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.”

+WHO will mourn?  Which people?
ALL the peoples who are on the earth will mourn. Some translations use the words “nations” or “tribes”.  Whichever word is appropriate here, it seems that ALL covers it.
Some scholars believe that the word “peoples” used here (phulé) is a specific reference to the 12 Tribes of Israel.

What do you think?

+WHO will be left on the earth at His second coming? 
These will be the people (from all parts of the world) who in spite of the crushing of the Tribulation, have hardened their hearts and refused to turn to Christ.   This may also include whoever has put their faith in Jesus (both Jews and Gentiles) during this time and survived the Tribulation until the end.

∆ mourn- kóptō–  to wail;  properly, to cut…resulting in severance (“being cut off”); (figuratively) to mourn (lament) with a cutting sense of personal, tragic loss, i.e. “cut to the heart.”

+WHY will the peoples mourn [wail] because of Him?
You would think that all the peoples of the earth should be REJOICING that someone has come to SAVE them from the horrors of the Tribulation (that’s coming ahead in our study- but not for quite awhile still!)

➡ There will be two groups of people mourning on this day-

#1- The previously UNBELIEVING-
Instead of RELIEF, these people will RECOIL at the coming of Christ!!!   They will mourn because they will SEE Him and KNOW Him!  There will be no more opportunity to BELIEVE.  They will understand WHOM they have pierced AND they will REALIZE their end.  All of their own doing.  The “cut” they feel will result in severance eternally from God.  I cannot even fathom what this revelation would be like.

*Jude 14-15- “ Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied about them: “See, the Lord is coming with thousands upon thousands of his holy ones  to judge everyone, and to convict all of them of all the ungodly acts they have committed in their ungodliness, and of all the defiant words ungodly sinners have spoken against him.”

#2- Those who have become BELIEVERS prior to this day and have survived the Tribulation.
They will wail too.  Perhaps out of sheer RELIEF after what they have endured, at the sight of their SALVATION!  Or maybe  they will mourn in the face of HIS HOLINESS and the knowledge of what they have just escaped and been “cut off from”… namely the final judgement of God!   Their end will NOT be severance from God, but eternal life WITH Him.

*Hebrews 9:26-28–  “But he has appeared once for all at the culmination of the ages to do away with sin by the sacrifice of himself.  Just as people are destined to die once, and after that to face judgment,  so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him.”

*2 Corinthians 7:10–  “Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death.”

*Matthew 24: 30-31– “Then will appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven. And then all the peoples of the earth will mourn when they see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven, with power and great glory. And he will send his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other.”

–So shall it be! Amen

➡  Amen!
The Greek to English reads- “Even so, Amen.”
This is a double AMEN!
Whether we understand all the details of what this day will be like, certainly, truly, without any doubt… it is sealed and it WILL BE!  

-“I am the Alpha and the Omega,”
Greek to English-  [the] Beginning and [the] End,
➡ Another Name to add to your list!

THIS is a perfect reminder that this book, though penned by John, is SPOKEN by the LORD GOD!  Revealed by the Father to the Son!  You’re going to see the 3 OMNIs of God in this next sentence!
His omnipresence.  His omniscience.   His omnipotence.
Here we see the OMNISCIENCE of God!

*Revelation 22:13– “Look, I am coming soon! My reward is with me, and I will give to each person according to what they have done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.”

Up until this point we have been reading basically a mini introduction to the Book,  a typical opening greeting and blessing of a letter written during that time period. 
BUT NOW… there are RED letters!
The LORD GOD speaks directly to John!  It has been since the ascension (Acts 1 first few verses) that we have any SPOKEN words of Jesus (red letters in many Bibles).  And NOW all of a sudden, in the very last book in our Bibles… the RED LETTERS appear again!
Can you even image John, the one whom Jesus loved, hearing Jesus speaking to him again in person?!

There is some debate whether this verse is the God, the Father, speaking or Jesus, but since we know that they are One, I’m not certain either interpretation is wrong.  We know that this title belongs to BOTH the Father and the Son. You can scroll back up and see in Revelation 22:13, that this title most definitely applies to Jesus too!

God who was in the beginning… is now… and will be in the end is speaking!
Regardless, without a single doubt, it is HE!  The same yesterday, today, and forever!
This is the SAME God that led the people Israel out of Egypt, through the Red Sea, providing a shadow by day and fire by night in the wilderness, and then finally into the Promised Land!This is the SAME God that miraculously routed foreign armies, and proved Himself powerful over and over again on the part of His children.  This is the same Christ who walked along the shores of Galilee, the One whom John rested his head at dinner, the same One who was crucified, dead, and buried, then rose again, and even called to His friends to have fish on the beach with Him after that!  
He is the I AM!

*Isaiah 44: 8-13– “This is what the Lord says— Israel’s King and Redeemer, the Lord Almighty: I am the first and I am the last;  apart from me there is no God.  Who then is like me? Let him proclaim it.  Let him declare and lay out before me what has happened since I established my ancient people, and what is yet to come—  yes, let them foretell what will come.   Do not tremble, do not be afraid.  Did I not proclaim this and foretell it long ago.  You are my witnesses. Is there any God besides me?  No, there is no other Rock; I know not one.”

This is who will be speaking throughout this entire REVELATION!
We don’t need to fear some frightening and vengeful God has now come on the scene to unleash hell!
At the BEGINNING of this book of Revelation is Jesus… and in the middle ?  Jesus.  And in the last letters of it?  Jesus. 

+WHAT is the Alpha and the Omega?

➡ Alpha is the first letter of the Greek alphabet, and Omega is the last.
It was a common practice of Jewish rabbis to use this phrase to denote the totality of EVERYTHING-NESS.  And that is who is speaking this account!
The early Church would have understood that EVERYTHING created in the beginning was created by Jesus… they knew Him as Creator…BUT did they know how He would move in the END?!?

*John 1: 1-4– “In [ the ] beginning (arché) was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  He was with God in the beginning.  Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.  In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind.”

➡From Genesis where He spoke the world into existence to the last word of Revelation He IS Beginning and He IS End.
Before time began He WAS… and from then till now, He IS…. and when the New Jerusalem descends and life with Him is eternally happening, He WILL BE!
Though it is not in the NIV translation, the Greek to English includes a further emphasis-
Jesus declares Himself  A and  Z, not  “the” Beginning, but just BEGINNING (arché)… and ENDING!  

*Isaiah 41:4– “Who has done this and carried it through, calling forth the generations from the beginning?   I, the Lord—with the first of them and with the last—I am he.”

➡Here is another REVELATION to write down!   

God will not leave us somewhere in the middle of A and Z. 
Jesus (or the Father if that is the interpretation here) is in TOTAL control… in the Beginning… and in the middle… all the way to the END!!!  All those who belong to Him can REST in this truth, and HOPE in this truth, and TRUST in Him just as much during the Tribulation as they have at any time in history! 
In all things He is the FIRST (Author) and the the LAST (Perfecter)!!

*Hebrews 12:2– “Looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God”

–says the Lord God

Says the person exercising ABSOLUTE ownership rights and authority… says the person who is the Creator SUSTAINER, and OWNER of all things!!

∆ Lord-  kýrios– a person exercising absolute ownership rights; lord; supreme in authority
∆ God-  theós– God, the Creator and owner of all things (Jn 1:3; Genesis 1 – 3).  [Long before the NT was written,  (theós) referred to the supreme being who owns and sustains all things.]

–“who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty!

➡ More names!  Write them down!

➡Is, Was, Is to come!  Our God is outside of time!
This is the OMNIPRESENCE of God!

In verse 4, we see that John has used these very words himself in the opening greeting he is writing to the 7 Churches!
Jesus is- the eternally self exsistent One
Jesus was- was in the beginning, He was with God, and was God
Jesus is to come-  He is coming AGAIN which this book describes in detail

∆  Almighty- pantokrátōr– (from pás, “all” and kratéō, “prevail”) – almighty; unrestricted power exercising absolute dominion.
Absolute and universal sovereign.

➡Jesus is UNIVERSALLY, SUPREMELY POWERFUL! 
This is Yahweh Sabaoth!   God, the OMNIPOTENT One!
Not only has He KNOWN all of the things that we will be hearing/reading about in John’s vision, but He has ABSOLUTE DOMINION and POWER over them ALL!  
Once again, not one of the events in this Book will unfold outside of HIS control !

Did you know that this NAME of Jesus is not used anywhere else in the New Testament except in 2 Corinthians 6:18 which is a quote from the Old Testament?
However, this Name would have been very familiar to any Jewish believer. 
This Jesus is THE GOD THEY KNOW!!!

In the Old Testament you might read Jehovah/Yahweh Sabaoth, or “The Lord of Hosts” or “The “God of the armies of heaven.”  This Name of God is used over 300 times!  David calls on this name when he is facing Goliath! 

*1 Samuel 17:45– “David said to the Philistine, “You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the Lord Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. “

*Psalm 80:19– “Restore us, Lord God Almighty; make your face shine on us, that we may be saved.”

+What stands out to you most in Revelation 1:7–8, and why do you think that particular phrase or idea caught your attention?

+What significance do you see in the fact that Christ’s second  coming will be visible?

+What new or deeper revelation about Jesus Christ did you gain from studying Revelation 1:7–8 today?

+What challenged you in studying these Scriptures today?

+How does seeing Jesus as the One who “is and was and is to come” affect the way you think about His authority, His promises, and His relationship to history?

+What part of the study left you with a question ?

PLEASE join our Gather Around The Table Facebook group page! 
Leave your comments to each week’s study there too if you want.  It’s an easier way to share if you like that platform.
I’m learning how to take my notes and put them into bite size studies.  It’s more challenging than I thought it would be.
I really would love to hear your ideas of any ways you can think of to make this study more concise or engaging!

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