If only You would rend the heavens and come down, so that mountains would quake at Your presence, ―Isaiah 64:1
Jesus Christ will return in the glory of the Father:
For the Son of Man will come in His Father’s glory with His angels, and then He will repay each one according to what he has done. (Matthew 16:27)
Now let’s look at the appearing and coming of Jesus Christ:
And now, little children, remain in Christ, so that when He appears, we may be confident and unashamed before Him at His coming. (1 John 2:28)
The apostle John says when he “appears” we may be confident and unashamed at his “coming.” In the Olivet discourse, it says the “sign” of the Son of Man will “appear” in heaven, and then we’ll see the Son of Man “coming” on the clouds with power and great glory. Here’s the scripture:
And then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming upon the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. (Matthew 24:30)
What is the sign of the Son of Man that will appear? This event happens after the signs in the sun, moon, and stars in both the Olivet discourses and in Revelation 6. This sign is most likely the face of Jesus Christ.
And they said to the mountains and the rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of the One seated on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb. (Revelation 6:16)
Let’s go to chapter 1:
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 because of Him. So shall it be! Amen. (Revelation 1:7)
We also see the word mourn in this scripture:
At that time the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and all the tribes of the earth will mourn. (Matthew 24:30)
Jesus will appear to the world on the day of the Lord. It will be a time of great tribulation, especially for Christians. Let’s look a little closer at this moment:
The sky receded like a scroll being rolled up, and every mountain and island was moved from its place. (Revelation 6:14)
In this scripture, most Bible translations use the word receded. The word receded doesn’t do this event justice. It makes it sound slow and gradual. This isn’t the best translation of the Greek word apechoristhe. This word is from apo and chorizo which means “to rend apart; reflexively, to separate.” So, apechoristhe means to rend apart like a reflex action, maybe like the Jews used to rend their garments. The moment Jesus died on the cross, when he gave up his spirit, the temple veil was torn in two from top to bottom. Here’s the scripture:
At that moment the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth quaked and the rocks were split. (Matthew 27:51)
God tore this huge, four-inch-thick curtain like he was rending a garment, from top to bottom. At the appointed time, God will rend the heavens, spacetime itself, like a garment, on the day of the Lord. Let’s read Revelation 6:14 again, this time from the NABRE, which has the most accurate translation:
Then the sky was divided like a torn scroll curling up, and every mountain and island was moved from its place. (Revelation 6:14)
This scripture says, “Like a torn scroll curling up.”
As the power of darkness grows, God’s anger on this world is going to keep building and building until he rends heaven, revealing himself from another dimension. Heaven will roll up like a scroll, and everyone will see Jesus Christ in the glory of the Father.
And the glory of the LORD will be revealed, and all humanity together will see it. For the mouth of the LORD has spoken.” (Isaiah 40:5)
Let’s see what happens after this:
15 Then the kings of the earth, the nobles, the commanders, the rich, the mighty, and every slave and free man, hid in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains. 16 And they said to the mountains and the rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of the One seated on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb. 17 For the great day of Their wrath has come, and who is able to withstand it?” (Revelation 6:15-17)
This is the day of the Lord. On this day, Jesus appears, the rapture happens, and God’s wrath begins. But let’s look at the “Father’s glory” a little closer:
If anyone is ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will also be ashamed of him when He comes in His Father’s glory with the holy angels.” (Mark 8:38)
Jesus says that he will come in his Father’s glory. Let’s go to the transfiguration of Jesus:
And as He was praying, the appearance of His face changed, and His clothes became radiantly white. (Luke 9:29)
This scripture says that Jesus’s face changed. At that moment, he was no longer in his early 30’s. He was in his Father’s glory. Let’s go back to Revelation 1 in which we get a description of Jesus in his glory:
14 The hair of His head was white like wool, as white as snow, and His eyes were like a blazing fire. 15 His feet were like polished bronze refined in a furnace, and His voice was like the roar of many waters. 16 He held in His right hand seven stars, and a sharp double-edged sword came from His mouth. His face was like the sun shining at its brightest. (Revelation 1:14-16)
Now let’s go to Matthew 17:
There He was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and His clothes became as white as the light. (Matthew 17:2)
In Revelation 1:15, it says that Jesus’s voice was “like the roar of many waters.” Let’s go to Ezekiel:
and I saw the glory of the God of Israel coming from the east. His voice was like the roar of many waters, and the earth shone with His glory. (Ezekiel 43:2; see also Daniel 10:5-6 and 7:9)
When the heavens rend apart, the world will see the face of Jesus in the glory of the Father. Jesus will have short white hair. Jesus didn’t have long hair:
Doesn’t nature itself teach you that if a man has long hair, it is a disgrace to him, (1 Corinthians 11:14)
Jesus will have a neat, short white beard. The piece of beard under his mouth will look like the point of a sword. He will appear to be about 70 years old, like God in the Old Testament, the ancient of days God, when he would come down and talk to Moses and many others. Jesus died and was raised to life at the peak of manhood. There was no need for him to just keep growing old like we do.
In these last days, let’s keep Jesus’s message of faithful endurance from Revelation 3:10. Let’s rejoice in the blessed hope, the appearing of our great God and savior.
For the LORD will rebuild Zion; He has appeared in His glory. (Psalm 102:16)
Futile World 