Feast of Trumpets 2018 –
Glory of God September 10, 2018
The Feast of Trumpets represents the return of Jesus Christ to the earth as
King of Kings and Lord of Lords and to establish the Kingdom of God forever.
We find that
a very small number of scriptures describe the actual return and appearing of Jesus Christ.
Jesus’
well-known Olivet Prophecy contains probably the most familiar description of
Christ’s return: Jesus spoke of how He will be returning to the earth
with the clouds of heaven or the clouds of the sky.
When Jesus
spoke to His disciples of the day of His return He said that His sign will
appear in the sky, on the Clouds of Heaven.
Matthew 24:30 "Then will appear the sign of
the Son of Man
in heaven. And then all the peoples of the earth will mourn when they see the Son of
Man coming on the clouds of heaven, with power and great glory.
Other Scriptures
describing this event
After He
had been arrested Jesus was brought before the high priest to be charged and
the high priest asked Him if He was the Christ, the Son of God. Jesus
responded,
Matthew 26:64 "You have
said so," Jesus replied. "But I say to all of you: 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."
As if to
make sure that we heard the message, Mark and Luke recorded Jesus making those
same statements about those clouds in his gospel.
Mark 13:26 "At that time people will see the Son of Man coming in clouds
with great power
and glory.
*Mark 14:62 "I am," said Jesus. "And you will see
the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One and coming on the clouds of heaven."
*Luke 21:27 At that time they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory.
John did
not mention Jesus coming with the clouds in his gospel but he made that
statement in his book of Revelation. He said,
Revelation 1:7 "Look, he is coming with the clouds," and "every
eye will see him, even those who pierced him"; and all peoples on earth
"will mourn because of him." So shall it be! Amen.
Those
clouds are also mentioned in the Old Testament scriptures. Daniel
mentioned them, saying,
Daniel 7:13-14 "In my vision at night I looked, and there
before me was one like a son of man, coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached
the Ancient of Days and was led into his presence. (14) He was
given authority,
glory
and sovereign
power; all nations and peoples of every language worshiped him. His
dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and his kingdom is
one that will never be destroyed.
Ezekiel wrote:
Ezekiel 30:3 For the day is near, the day of the LORD is near— a day of clouds,
a time of doom for the nations.
Zephaniah wrote:
Zephaniah 1:15-16 That day will be a day of wrath— a day of
distress and anguish, a day of trouble and ruin, a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and
blackness— (16) a day of trumpet and battle cry against the
fortified cities and against the corner towers.
A cloud is mentioned at His ascension, and the clouds are
mentioned at His return. What was the common element in these verses, the
mention of clouds.
The “clouds
of heaven” was a phrase often used when referring to the appearance
or intervention of Jesus on behalf of his people or in judgment.
For example
Psalms 78:14 He guided them with the cloud by day
and with light from the fire all night.
The cloud in which Jesus descended or hovered over the tabernacle, When Moses erected the tabernacle
Exodus 40:34-35 Then the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory
of the LORD filled the tabernacle. (35) Moses could not enter the
tent of meeting because the cloud had settled on it, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle.
Exodus 40:38 So the cloud of the LORD was
over the tabernacle by day, and fire was in the cloud by night, in the sight of all
the Israelites during all their travels.
(Num. 9:15-22; Deut. 31:15, Exo 19:9);
1 Kings 8:10-11 When the priests withdrew from the Holy Place, the cloud filled the
temple of the LORD. (11) And the priests could not
perform their service because of the cloud, for the glory of the LORD filled his temple.
{enter once a year}
The cloud in Ezekiel’s vision;
Ezekiel 1:4 I looked, and I saw a windstorm coming out of the
north—an immense cloud
with flashing lightning and
surrounded by brilliant
light. The center of the fire looked like glowing metal,
It’s important to remember that “coming with/on the clouds of heaven” was not an
ancient form of space travel but a powerfully, symbolic way of referring to
divine intervention, judgment, or preservation of his people.
When we
look at those scriptures and put them together, we can begin to see some
interesting things. One thing has to do with what happened when Christ ascended
into heaven.
Acts 1:9,11 After he said this, he was taken up before their very
eyes, and a
cloud hid him from their sight. (11) "Men of Galilee," they said,
"why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been
taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go
into heaven."
If a saint
who has died will be returning with Jesus, are brought to life and then changed
to Spirit.
Christ will
send forth His angels
Matthew 24:31 And he will send his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four
winds, from one end of the heavens to the other.
Paul tells
us about how Jesus will be returning. He did not mention Jesus returning
in clouds or with the clouds of heaven but he did say that He would be coming
1 Thessalonians 3:13 May he strengthen your hearts so that you will be
blameless and holy in the presence of our God and Father when our Lord Jesus
comes with all His
holy ones.
In the next
chapter Paul says that when Christ returns, "God will bring with Him those who have
fallen asleep in Jesus."
1 Thessalonians 4:14 For we believe that Jesus died and rose again, and so
we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him.
Paul is saying
the same thing that Jesus said when He said that He would be returning with the
clouds of heaven and returning with the Saints.
He says the Lord will descend and the dead in Christ will rise
first.
1 Thessalonians 4:16 For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with
a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of
God, and the
dead in Christ will rise first.
1 Thessalonians 4:17 After that, we who are still alive and are left will
be caught up together with them in the clouds to
meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever
It would
seem reasonable that if Christ will be returning in His glory, and we will be with Him and be like Him in
the clouds,
Colossians 3:4 When Christ, who is your life, appears, and then you
also will appear with him in glory.
Matthew 17:5 While he was still speaking, a bright cloud covered them, and a
voice from the cloud said, "This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am
well pleased. Listen to him!"
The Shekinah Glory (Glory
of God) used to dwell in the physical Temple of Solomon in Jerusalem. But God’s
Holy Spirit now dwells in “temples made without hands.” You and me.
Ezekiel 10:4 Then the glory of the LORD rose from above the
cherubim and moved to the threshold of the temple. The cloud filled the temple, and the
court was full of the radiance of the glory of the LORD. {Rev 15:8,
21:23 – Glory of God}
Romans 8:10-11 But if Christ is in you, then even though your body
is subject to death because of sin, the Spirit gives life because of
righteousness. (11) And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from
the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your
mortal bodies because of his Spirit who lives in you.
1 Corinthians 3:16 Don't you know that you yourselves are God's temple and that
God's Spirit
dwells in your midst?
The cloud is used as a symbol of the Holy Spirit because clouds
provide life-giving water.
To understand the significance of clouds, consider what a cloud is and
does. By way of definition, a cloud is “a visible mass of droplets of water or
frozen crystals, suspended in the atmosphere.”
Sometimes clouds bring rain, which can be either a blessing or a curse
depending on the circumstances, but other times they pass by without sharing a
drop. Nevertheless, there is one thing a cloud will always do, if it has any
size at all: It will blocks light,
such as the light of the sun or the moon. Since it is clothing Jesus Christ,
this cloud filters some of His breathtaking glorious radiance. Even angels face can shine.
Revelation 10:1 Then I saw another mighty angel coming down from
heaven. He was
robed in a cloud, with a rainbow above his head; his face was like the
sun, and his legs were like fiery pillars.
Job 38:9 when I made the clouds its garment and
wrapped it in thick darkness,
Luke 9:34-35 While he was saying this, a cloud came and overshadowed them; and they were fearful as they entered the cloud. (35) And a voice came out of the cloud, saying,
"This is My beloved Son. Hear Him!"
{the cloud came around them?} John 5:37
We can thus see why Jesus being surrounded by clouds is an act of mercy
on God’s part: Mere men cannot see the Jesus so pure, holy and Glory.
Jesus dwells in “unapproachable light” and that no man can see Him. He
implies that no man can see Him and live, not just that He is invisible
1 Timothy 6:16 who alone is immortal and who lives in unapproachable light, whom no one has seen or can see. To
him be honor and might forever. Amen. {Cannot look on His true self - Glory}
Remember Moses
Exodus 33:20,
22-23
But," he said, "you cannot see my face, for no one may see me and
live." (22) When my glory
passes by, I will put you in a cleft in the rock and cover you with my hand until I have passed by. (23) Then I will
remove my hand and you will see my back; but my face must not be seen."
Exodus 34:35 they saw that his face was
radiant. Then Moses would put the veil back over his face until he went in to speak
with the LORD.
So, when Jesus deals with human beings, He clothes Himself with the
clouds, allowing mankind to continue existing.
Zechariah 14:12 This is the plague with which the LORD will strike
all the nations that fought against Jerusalem: Their flesh will rot while they are still
standing on their feet, their eyes will rot in their sockets, and their tongues
will rot in their mouths. {rot – consumed
away}
Most prophecy buffs says
this will be a nuclear war in the future.
But what if Jesus removes the cloud from Himself to destroy those who decided
to fight against Jerusalem, to see His face.
The Glory of God. Would this statement explain what happens. Just wondering.
Finally, Again, as I said
at the first, The Feast of Trumpets represents the return of Jesus Christ to the earth as
King of Kings and Lord of Lords and to establish the Kingdom of God forever and
we will be with Jesus when He returns.
No comments:
Post a Comment