Did Every Eye See Jesus Coming On The Clouds?

Revelation 1:7 says (Literal Standard Version),

“Behold, He comes with the clouds, and every eye will see Him, even those who pierced Him, and all the tribes of the land will wail because of Him. Yes! Amen!”

How are we to understand this verse?

One of the most important methods to implement when studying the Bible is the principle of first-mention.

The principle of first-mention means to find the first time a word, phrase, or topic is used in the Bible.

This will help to determine the meaning of the verse or verses being studied, such as Revelation 1:7.

Jesus first mentioned his coming on the clouds in Matthew 24:30 (International Standard Version) when pronouncing judgment on the tribes of the land of Israel.

“Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and all 'the tribes of the land will mourn' when they see 'the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven' with power and great glory.”

Notice those seeing the Son of Man coming on the clouds are all the tribes of the land, meaning the twelve tribes of the land of Israel.

In Matthew 26:64 (International Standard Bible), Jesus also mentioned coming on the clouds when he pronounced judgment on the leadership of first-century Israel.

“You have said so,” Jesus replied. “But I say to all of you [the Sanhedrin, the ruling assembly of Israel located in Jerusalem]: From now on you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One and coming on the clouds of heaven.”

Coming on the clouds in judgment would have been a very familiar phrase to Jewish people in the first century because in the Hebrew Bible God used cloud imagery when describing his coming in judgment of nations.

For example, Jeremiah 4:13 describes God advancing like swift clouds as he comes in judgment of Judah (the southern kingdom of Israel after the reign of Solomon) and Jerusalem.

Look! He advances like the clouds, his chariots come like a whirlwind, his horses are swifter than eagles. Woe to us! We are ruined!

God came in judgment upon them through the Babylonian armies.

In Isaiah 19:1, God rode on a swift cloud when judging Egypt.

This is the burden against Egypt: Behold, the LORD rides on a swift cloud; He is coming to Egypt. The idols of Egypt will tremble before Him, and the hearts of the Egyptians will melt within them.

God used the Assyrian army to bring judgment on Egypt.

Jesus coming on the clouds to judge first-century Israel is to be understood the same way.

Jesus would come on the clouds in judgment upon first-century Israel.

However, just as with God in Jeremiah 4:13 and Isaiah 19:1, coming on the clouds is not to be taken literally but figuratively.

Advancing on the clouds, riding on a cloud, and coming on a cloud are all God’s way of communicating judgment on a nation by an army.

Jesus coming on the clouds was God bringing judgment on first-century Israel using the armies of the Roman Empire.

Every eye seeing Jesus coming in judgment is referring to the tribes of the land of Israel.

These tribes were being judged by Jesus.

Not only would the tribes of Israel see Jesus coming on the clouds, the Romans would also see Jesus coming on the clouds because they would be the army carrying out the judgment.

Again, seeing Jesus come on the clouds is figurative language for judgment of a nation.

The nation being judged by Jesus was Israel.

The army bringing the judgment for Jesus was Rome.

In this way, the tribes of Israel and the Roman armies saw Jesus coming in judgment.

John quotes part of Revelation 1:7 when he writes in John 19:36-37 (NIV).

These things happened so that the scripture would be fulfilled: “Not one of his bones will be broken,” and, as another scripture says, “They will look on the one they have pierced.”

They will look on the one they have pierced is a direct statement concerning the Roman soldiers who pierced Jesus in the side (John 19:34).

Let’s read Revelation 1:7 once again,

“Behold, He comes with the clouds, and every eye will see Him, even those who pierced Him, and all the tribes of the land will wail because of Him. Yes! Amen!”

Every eye will see Jesus is specifically describing the twelve tribes of Israel experiencing the judgment brought upon them by the Roman armies.

So the tribes of Israel and the Roman armies saw Jesus coming in judgment in the first century when the land, people, and cities of Israel were judged.

The culmination of this judgment was the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple in AD 70.

Is it possible Jesus was seen by the tribes of Israel and the Roman soldiers?

Yes, the historical accounts below indicate something was being seen at the time of the judgment on Jerusalem and the temple in AD 70.

“Not many days after that feast, on the twenty-first day of the month Artemisius, a certain prodigious and incredible phenomenon appeared . . . related by those that saw it . . . for, before sunsetting, chariots and troops of soldiers in their armor were seen running about among the clouds, and surrounding of cities” [Josephus, Wars 6.296-299 (6.5.3)].

“Now it happened after, that there was seen from above over the Holy of Holies for the whole night the outline of a man’s face the like of whose beauty had never been seen in all the land, and his appearance was quite awesome. Moreover, in those days were seen chariots of fire and horsemen, a great force flying across the sky near to the ground coming against Jerusalem and all the land of Judah, all of them horses of fire and riders of fire” [Sepher Yosippon: A Mediaeval History of Ancient Israel. Translated by Steven B. Bowman; Chap. 87 “Burning of the Temple”].

“There had been seen hosts joining battle in the skies, the fiery gleam of arms, the temple illuminated by a sudden radiance from the clouds. The doors of the inner shrine were suddenly thrown open, and a voice of more than mortal tone was heard to cry that the Gods were departing” [Tacitus, Histories, 5.13].

It’s important to understand that when Revelation 1:7 states every eye will see Jesus, it is not referring to every person around the world.

Many people view it this way because most translations have all the tribes of the earth will mourn (Revelation 1:7).

In the Bible, the Greek word gé is translated as earth and land.

In Matthew 2:6, 2:20, and 27:45, gé is translated as land of Judah and land of Israel.

In Luke 21:23, gé is translated as the land of Israel.

Matthew 24:30 (International Standard Version) translates gé as land when referring to the tribes of the land of Israel.

“Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and all 'the tribes of the land will mourn' when they see 'the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven' with power and great glory.”

This connects directly with how the Literal Standard Version translates Revelation 1:7,

“Behold, He comes with the clouds, and every eye will see Him, even those who pierced Him, and all the tribes of the land will wail because of Him. Yes! Amen!”

The tribes of the land of Israel would wail or mourn because of the judgment brought upon Israel when Jesus came on the clouds against them.

Jesus said there would be great distress in the land of Israel because of God’s wrath on the people of Israel (Luke 21:5-27).

This distress occurred from AD 66 to 70 during the Jewish-Roman War.

Jesus coming on the clouds can only be a first-century event not a future event because Jesus would be seen by those who pierced him, and he would be seen by the twelve tribes of the land of Israel.

This piercing was in AD 33 when Jesus was pierced in the side by a Roman soldier in the presence of other Roman soldiers (John 19:31-37).

According to Revelation 1:7, the Roman soldiers, those who pierced him, would see Jesus coming on the clouds in judgment on first-century Israel.

The twelve tribes of Israel would also see Jesus coming on the clouds in judgment.

The twelve tribes ceased to exist after those in the tribes were killed or taken away into captivity by the Roman soldiers.

Because they ceased to exist, Jesus coming on the clouds can’t be in the future.

About these killings and captivity, Jesus said (Luke 21:24),

They [those of the twelve tribes of Israel] will fall by the sword [die by the swords of the Roman armies] and will be taken as prisoners to all the nations [those in the twelve tribes were scattered throughout the nations of the Roman Empire in AD 70].

Another way to view every eye seeing Jesus coming on the clouds of judgment is the idea of understanding.

When communicating with the Jewish people who rejected him as the Christ, Jesus said they did not have eyes to see or ears to hear, meaning they were unwilling to listen to or learn from him (Matthew 13:14-15).

Jeremiah and Ezekiel use similar language when describing the hearts of Israel to the prophets warning of judgment upon them.

Jeremiah 5:21
“Hear this, O foolish and senseless people, who have eyes but do not see, who have ears but do not hear.”

Ezekiel 12:2
“Son of man, you are living in a rebellious house. They have eyes to see but do not see, and ears to hear but do not hear, for they are a rebellious house.”

Just as the people of Israel refused to listen to and understand Jeremiah and Ezekiel, they did not desire to listen to or understand Jesus.

However, when the Roman armies brought judgment on Israel, they would see Jesus coming on the clouds by understanding it was Jesus bringing judgment on them through the Roman armies.

Let’s finish this blog by answering the question: Did Every Eye See Jesus Coming On The Clouds?

The answer is yes.

Every tribe of Israel saw Jesus coming on the clouds in judgment of first-century Israel from AD 66-70.

Those who pierced Jesus, the Roman soldiers, also saw Jesus coming on the clouds in judgment because they were the ones bringing the judgment.

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