Matthew 24:29-31 29“And Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. 30And then will appear in heaven the sign of the Son of Man, 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. 31And he will send out his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his chosen ones from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to their other end.
The obvious nature of Jesus’ second coming is emphasized in the next passage and builds on the previous warnings to watch out for the claims of false messiahs and prophets. There is a basic sequence to what Jesus describes. Although we cannot know exactly when he will come (verse 36), we can know that it is soon by the signs he gives. The next events come immediately after the times of tribulation and suffering mentioned in the previous sections. Tribulation will be the first sign that Jesus’ coming will be soon. A second significant sign will occur in the cosmos with darkness over the sun and moon, falling stars, and significant change in the skies. Basically, the light will not be visible from all these light-emitting entities and the earth will be covered in darkness. The tribulation shifts from human affairs to the cosmic level as nature itself proclaims the soon coming of the king. The Old Testament speaks about similar signs in Ezekiel 32:7 and Joel 2:10.
After the darkness will come Jesus who describes himself as the Son of Man, his favorite self-designation in fulfillment of Daniel 7:13. While on earth as the Son of Man, he came as one of as in incarnation. When he comes again as the Son of Man, he will be the sovereign judge of all humanity. Those who have not put their faith in him will realize that it is too late and so will mourn. The text does not say exactly why they will mourn, but their game will be up, and they will be caught naked and bare with nothing to hide anymore. Every tongue will confess and knee bow that Jesus Christ is Lord. Jesus will come on the clouds of heaven in such a way that everyone will see his great power and glory.
His coming will be announced with a loud trumpet blown by the Lord’s angels (2 Thessalonians 1:7). Paul write in 1 Corinthians 15:52 and 1 Thessalonians 4:16 that the coming of the Lord Jesus will be after the blowing of a trumpet. The angels will gather together all who have trusted in Jesus as their Savior, from every part of the earth (under “heaven” or the sky), from every tribe, language, and people. This great gathering is something to be anticipated. Believers should not fear when we see these things happening because God is in control of them all. He is sovereign and is writing the pages of history. If we are sure in our faith in Jesus Christ, we should forward to the end with hope and not doubt or fear, even if there are great times of suffering.
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