This week we need to consider the sixth feature of the Second Coming of Christ: its unwavering purpose. Revelation 1:7–8 says: “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 over Him. So it is to be. Amen. ‘I am the Alpha and the Omega,’ says the Lord God, ‘who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.’”
Scripture records several purposes for the Second Coming of Christ, but in verse 7, there are three purposes; this post will consider the first one, the salvation of Israel (“even those who pierced Him”). Scholars argue that this portion of verse 7 refers to the Roman soldiers who actually crucified Christ. This position seems seems unlikely. There are others who say: “all those who pierced Him,” refers to all of mankind because, in a sense, every human is responsible for the death of Jesus Christ. Therefore, this is just another way to say, “every eye will see Him.” However, this view seems unlikely as well.
What is far more likely is that John intends this statement to be a reference to the Jewish people. In Revelation 1:7–8, he alludes to Zechariah 12:10, where the Messiah says of the Jewish people, “they will look on Me whom they pierced.” So, the expression in Revelation 1:7 must refer to the Jewish people who are alive at the time of the Second Coming. So, “every eye” is the entire world, the full scope of who will see Him. But, among “every eye,” there is a group he singles out; it’s the Jewish people. John is referring to the Jewish people alive at the time of the Second Coming.
It is important to understand that this expression is not one of judgment, but of grace. Because the Jewish people who are alive at the time of Christ’s return, when they see their Messiah, they will repent and believe.
By alluding to Zechariah 12, John reminds his readers that part of the purpose of the Second Coming is to bring salvation to Israel. Zechariah 12:10 says, “I will pour out on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the Spirit of grace and of supplication, so that they will look on Me whom they have pierced; and they will mourn for Him as one mourns for an only son, and they will weep bitterly over Him like the bitter weeping over a firstborn.” Israel’s mourning at the Second Coming will be genuine repentance.
The book of Revelation reveals that during the seven years of Tribulation, there will be many Jewish people who come to believe in the Messiah (like the 144,000 in Rev. 7). On the day that Jesus returns, there will be a massive conversion of the Jewish people. That’s what Zechariah 12:10 is describing. Zechariah 13:1 reads, “In that day a fountain will be opened for the house of David and for the inhabitants of Jerusalem, for sin and for impurity.” This describes a mourning of repentance that leads to salvation. In Romans 11:26 the apostle Paul writes, “All Israel will be saved; just as it is written, ‘The deliverer will come from Zion, and He will remove ungodliness from Jacob.’”
One purpose for the Second Coming is the salvation of Israel. Such a statement is wonderful because it says that God is, by nature, a savior, a rescuer, and a redeemer; even in the midst of judgment, He is still saving. It also says that He is always faithful. He made promises in the book of Zechariah of what would happen at the Second Coming, and He will fulfill them.
Come back next week to examine the second purpose of Christ’s return, the destruction of His enemies.