These verses read: “Immediately after the tribulation of those days
shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and
the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be
shaken. And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and
then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the
Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.
And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they
shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of
heaven to the other.”
In the last forum article, I discussed the signs that take place in the
sky: the darkening of the sun and moon, the falling of the stars and
the disruption of the movement of heavenly bodies. This, in itself, will be an astounding sign that will fill the wicked with dread.
When I was a child of about 12 or 13, I, my brother and sisters, and
some children of people that were visiting at our house, were playing
outside in the dark. Suddenly the whole sky from east to west and from
north to south, from the center of the sky above us to the four
horizons, was filled with glorious waves of color, constantly moving
towards the apex of the sky. We had no idea of what was happening, and
so we rushed into the house to tell our parents. After coming outside,
my father explained that this was a remarkable display of northern
lights, something you never see in Singapore. I have seen many later
displays of northern lights, but never anything like that display.
The next morning, the glorious phenomenon was reported in the news of
the Chicago area, and the report was that the phone lines of government
offices, police stations and newspaper offices were flooded with calls
by frantic people who were terrified that the end of the world had come.
Imagine then what people will think when the sun and moon do not shine
and the stars fall.
As I recall, we children were not exactly frightened, because we knew
that God was doing this, but we were overcome with awe and wonderment.
When we were told what it was, we enjoyed it immensely.
Now we must consider another aspect of these verses. If you read verse
30 carefully, you will discover that the text makes a distinction
between “the sign of the Son of man in heaven” and “the Son of man
coming with the clouds and great glory.” So the text makes a distinction
between the sign of Christ’s coming and the coming itself.
If we think about it a minute or two, we can see why a sign is
necessary. We cannot here on earth, with our earthly eyes, see Christ as
He now is in all the glory of heaven. We cannot see anything of heaven,
for, as Paul says in I Corinthians 15, we are of the earth, earthy.
Christ’s body was transfigured at the time of His resurrection – just as
our bodies will be changed when our bodies are raised. That is what
Paul so emphatically teaches in I Corinthians 15:42-54. If then Christ
would come, in all the heavenly glory He now has in heaven, no one on
earth with earthly eyes, could see Him.
You must remember that Jesus arose in His heavenly body, and no one
could see Him then either. He had to “appear” to them, by taking on an
earthly form. He Himself could pass without difficulty through locked
doors and windows – as He did. He even appeared in different forms. Mark
says this literally in 16:12. He appeared as a gardener to Mary
Magdalene. He showed Thomas the nail prints in His hands and feet, nail
prints which were not visible to the travelers to Emmaus. His
appearances were necessary because, apart from an appearance, the
disciples, with earthly eyes, could not see Him.
When angels appeared in the old dispensation and the Angel of Jehovah
appeared, these too were emphatically “appearances.” Earthly eyes cannot
see heavenly things – unless they take on a visible form.
So, there is first a sign of the Son of man, which everyone can see. I
do not know with certainty what that sign is, but from other events in
the Lord’s ministry and the many “appearances” to His people after His
resurrection, the sign might very well be another appearance. It is
perhaps to this that the angels refer at the time of Christ’s ascension.
Angels appeared after the Lord was taken up into heaven and told the
disciples that Jesus would return “in like manner as ye have seen him go
into heaven.”
At any rate, whatever the sign of Christ’s coming may be, it will be a
sign visible to everyone in the whole world – on both sides of the earth
and in the entire northern and southern hemispheres. And it will be a
sign that will make known to every single individual that Christ has
returned. It might be an appearance, but it is Christ Himself Who comes,
but in a form in which all men can see Him.
Everyone knows with absolute certainty that Christ is coming again.
Wicked men deny it and act as if it will never happen; but the terror of
millions when we saw northern lights over Chicago proves that everyone
knows Christ is coming again.
Years ago, I visited a parishioner who was in a semi-private room in
the hospital. His room partner was a young man, probably in his forties,
who had had a severe heart attack that had put him on the edge of the
grave. Although he was over it, the doctor told him that his life was in
constant danger, for his heart was very weak.
As I was reading Scripture with my parishioner and explaining it to
him, this room-mate cursed at us and blasphemed in such a hideous
fashion that I couldn’t go on. He literally drowned us out.
I couldn’t believe that a man who stood on the edge of the grave could
be so blasphemous. And so I went over to his bed and began talking with
him in a quiet way. I talked about the righteousness of God and His
holiness. I talked about His hatred of sin and His coming in judgment in
Christ to send all evil-doers to hell.
While I was talking he cursed me and shouted at me things like, “Get
out of here you **** fool with your **** talk. But I kept talking, until
suddenly without warning he began to cry, in sobs that shook his whole
body and even frightened me because of his heart condition. I stood
silently watching him and was on the verge of fetching a nurse, when he
got control of himself and said to me: “You got what you wanted; get out
of here now.” I went away.
What struck me deeply was that he knew he was going to have to give an
account of himself before Christ on the judgment day. He was terrified
by the thought. Did he repent? No! Not then, at least. God did not work
graciously in his heart; not then, at least. But it was proof positive
that everyone knows that he must give account of his deeds before Christ
some day.
We will have to discuss this sign more.
Prof. H. Hanko
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