Revelation Begins With the End in Sight

In the introduction of the book of Revelation, 1:1 – 8, you see the ending of the book with the return of the Lord Jesus Christ, coming in the clouds, “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 wail on account of him. Even so, Amen.” Revelation 1:7.

         When Jesus ascended to heaven in Acts 1:9 – 11, His disciples watched as, “…he was lifted up, and a cloud took him from their sight…and behold, two men stood by them in white robes, and said, ‘Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken who was taken up from you to heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.” Jesus is coming back the same way He left, in the clouds; the clouds took Him from their sight, and the clouds will reveal Him when He returns. The difference is that when He left, only His disciples saw Him, and when He returns, everyone will see Him.

         The phrase “all the tribes of the earth” in Revelation 1:7, is the Greek word phuley, which describes a large group of related people. The relation could be biological, or geographical or cultural or all three. There are several words in the Greek language to describe people groups. The word phuley is one of those words. But the key word in that phrase is the little word “all,” which in Greek means “all.” In other words, every eye on earth will see Jesus Christ when He returns.

         The disturbing thing to see in this verse is that from every tribe there will be people who will “wail” when Jesus returns. The Greek word is kopto, which means loud weeping and lamentation. It was used to describe the mournful sounds of a funeral procession in ancient times. In those settings, people would beat themselves, and even cut themselves to inflict pain to express the pain of regret, remorse, grief, and loss for the person who had died. For that reason, the word took on the meaning of cutting and separation, as well as the sound of pitiful grief.

         This verse reveals that there will not be a single people group on the earth that will have been totally reached and born again when Jesus returns. In every cultural, geographic, and biological group of people, there will be souls who will not be ready for the promised return of Christ. The work of sharing the gospel and spreading the Kingdom of God will still be in full swing and spreading when Jesus comes back. Later in the book you will see a picture of the redeemed with people from every tribe, Revelation 7:9. We will still be working and sharing the gospel of Christ in the fields of the world, with success, when our Savior and King returns! The question is: will you?

         Today and everyday, begin your day with the end is sight. Jesus Christ is coming back! Hallelujah!!!