A feast for “We are in the end times” prophesiers and time line enthusiasts

St Matthew, Chapter 24 and 25 are known as the Olivet Discourse where Jesus went from the Temple to the Mount of Olives Wednesday and prophesied. He disclosed certain signs of the end times and, in verses 24:29-31 He revealed His second coming:

“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 with 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.”

Get your mind around that!

Jesus does not say what the sign of the Son of man is but I have never heard anyone dispute that it is the cross. I believe all on earth will see that sign. It is hard to imagine the image He vividly paints. How can we see the glory of “the clouds of heaven.” Notice this Twenty First Century King James version (which I use) capitalizes Heaven whenever the context is that realm where we will dwell forever with God. The context, in these verses, for heaven, is created universes, galaxies, and this solar system.

Somehow we simply lack the power of mind see His great Glory. What do we make of “[S]ent angels with a great sound of a trumpet?” It seems there are to be uncountable angels available everywhere. He doesn’t say they are all blowing trumpets. He simply says, “[W]ith a great sound of a trumpet.” It is clear we (all His elect) shall hear the trumpet and shall be “gathered” by angels from the “four winds.”

Perhaps you are not certain you are His elect. Clear that up now. In prayer receive His forgiveness for your sin and confess Him as your savior.

Are you like me? I can’t imagine that level of glory. No one seems to have created an adequate image for us. While these images are totally inadequate, I have found none better: