You have no items in your cart.
Our Blessed Hope – Week 31 / July 30th
“But in those days, after that tribulation, the sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, And the stars of heaven shall fall, and the powers that are in heaven shall be shaken. And then shall they see the Son of man coming in the clouds with great power and glory. And then shall he send his angels, and shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from the uttermost part of the earth to the uttermost part of heaven.”
Mark 13: 24-27
For Mark this is the great climax or high point of Jesus’ Olivet discourse. It is truly an amazing and uplifting passage of scripture in that it sets forth some wonderful truths that we would do well to meditate upon. I therefore wish to point you to these realities:
1. That Tribulation
As God’s plan of restoration, especially in Israel, accelerates the conflict between light and darkness will intensify until it manifests in “that tribulation.” This means that a conflict is looming that will be unique and it will involve much of the world. Events in the Middle East are certainly building to this point and one has to be blind not to see it. The Church of Jesus is now suffering the greatest persecution of its history and this will broaden out into the world. “That Tribulation” is certainly getting nearer.
2. The luminaries will fail
Jesus clearly teaches that the sun and the moon will falter and thereby constitute the “sign of the coming of the Son of Man” in that no part of the world will be exempt from this phenomenon. Even the “stars of heaven” will fall! There is no doubt that God will keep His promise to shake all things so that He will humble the arrogance of humanity that has pushed Him out of its affairs and even claimed that He was never the creator. This is all about to change!
3. The powers in the heavens will be shaken
Here Jesus is referring to the demonic authorities that have dominated humankind from the second heaven. Paul calls the Devil “the prince of the power of the air” in his Ephesian’s Letter and John, in his Revelation, tells us that the Devil and his dark hordes will be thrown down to the earth. All this means that the defeat of the Devil at the cross will be fully implemented and finally, in the days of Jesus second coming, made evident. Praise be to our great God and Saviour Jesus Christ!
4. Then they will see the Son of Man coming in the clouds with great glory
The “they” is a reference to all the peoples of the earth. Every false god will be humiliated, the ungodly will run for cover and cry out, “Mountains cover us” and the enemies of Israel will be destroyed as Jesus sets His course for the Mount of Olives, to the east of His holy city Jerusalem. The clouds of heaven are a vast company of Angels that will descend with Him as He returns with power and glory such as the world has never seen. This day is truly upon us for “behold He is coming quickly and every eye will see Him.”
5. His angels will gather His elect from the farthest part of earth to the farthest part of heaven
When Jesus comes His great cloud of angels will go to every corner of the earth gathering up His faithful, holy and dedicated church. Not one saint will be left behind, they will all be escorted to that glorious place in the sky which marks His steady course to the Mount of Olives. It will be an incredible day filled with light and much glory for them that have faithfully loved and served Him but, for the ungodly, it will be a terrifying day of destruction and removal eternally from the presence of the Lord. Those gathered to Jesus will in the end, be gathered to the farthest part of heaven. That is, they will share in a place of unimaginable beauty and glory for all eternity and they will never exhaust its wonders.
This then is what Jesus wants us to know, meditate upon and prepare for. It is indeed a blessed hope and we should thus look up because our redemption draws nigh. Even so Lord Jesus come!
Malcolm Hedding.
©Malcolm Hedding Ministries
2014Devotional