The correct understanding of the Bible and of Shinchonji – The New
Heaven and New Earth
This site and all of its content has been written according to the
Bible. Our purpose is to instruct all Christians in a deeper knowledge of God’s
word and to lead them to a deeper faith.
What is the true meaning of Rv 1:7?
As the prologue to
Revelation, Rv 1:1-8 is a highly condensed summary of all the chapters of
Revelation. Before we discuss Rv 1:7, we should remind ourselves that Rv 1:7 is
also part of that summary.
The fact that
Jesus returns with the clouds means that he is coming in spirit. Clouds are
capable of hiding things from view. In Acts 1:9-11, Jesus’ disciples were
staring into the sky after Jesus’ ascension, and a cloud hid Jesus from their
sight. Some angels told the disciples, “This same Jesus who has been taken up
from you into heaven will come back in the same way you saw him go into heaven,”
(Acts 1:11b). Matthew 24:31 says that Jesus will return with his angels, while
Mt 24:27 says the coming of the son of man will be like lightning. Luke 17:22-24
says, “The days are coming when you will desire to see one of the days of the
son of man, and you will not see it. For just like the lightning flashes and
lights up the sky from one side to the other, so will the son of man be in his
day.” Jesus also says in Jn 16:10, “Concerning righteousness, because I am going
to the Father and you will see me no longer.” Apostle John saw the spirit of
Jesus in Rv 1. As a matter of fact, the one who comes with the clouds is
actually referring to the angel in Rv 10—the angel who comes in the name of the
Lord.
In Mt 23:39 Jesus said, “You will not see me from now until you say,
‘Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord!’” The one who comes in the name of the Lord is the Advocate—the
spirit of truth mentioned in Jn 14:26—which dwells within a person (Jn 14:17).
The one in whom the Advocate—the one who comes in the name of the Lord—dwells
also becomes “the one who comes in the name of the Lord.” Seeing the person in
whom the spirit of the Advocate dwells is the same as seeing the spirit of the
Advocate, who is the one who comes in the name of the Lord. If Mt 17:10-13 and
Mt 11:14 are taken together, seeing John the Baptist, who came in the name of
Elijah, was the same as seeing Elijah. According to Jn 5:43, Jn 14:8-11, and Jn
12:44-46, Jesus came in the name of the Father, and the Father dwelled in Jesus.
Seeing Jesus, therefore, was the same as seeing the Father, and believing in
Jesus was the same as believing in the Father. Similarly, God, Jesus, and heaven
come down to the one who overcomes (Rv 3:12), and the one who overcomes sits on
Jesus’ throne with him (Rv 3:21) at the time of the second coming. Hence, saying
that Jesus comes with the clouds means that he is coming in the spirit. It is
just like a cloud that hides things from people’s
sight.
The fact that
every eye will see him means, as discussed above, that people will see the
person with whom the spirit of the Advocate has united. Seeing that person is
the same as seeing the Lord. It is true that the spirits of those who pierced
Jesus at the time of the first coming will see the spirit of Jesus when he
returns at the time of the second coming, but the eyes of those who pierced
Jesus (Rv 1:7) do not refer to those physically dead people. Because God was one
with Jesus at the time of the first coming, those who pierced Jesus pierced God
as well (Jn 15:23). In the same way, those who pierce the witnesses standing
before the Lord in Rv 11 pierce Jesus at the time of the second
coming.
The earth in Rv
1:7 is the same as the earth in Rv 13:8-10. It symbolizes God’s chosen people
(the sun, moon, and stars mentioned in Gn 37:9-11) who are destroyed and return
to being mere flesh when they fall from heaven. The destruction of the chosen
people occurred in Adam’s time, Noah’s time, and Jesus’ first coming. What does
it mean for all the tribes on the earth to mourn because of him? Just like the
song of Moses in Dt 32 and the Lamentations of Jeremiah, the capture and
destruction of God’s chosen people by the figurative nation of Babylon is a sign
of the second coming. These chosen people will mourn because of their
destruction. This is what it means for all the tribes on the earth to mourn.
Although the two witnesses before the Lord put on sackcloth and work to help
these formerly chosen people to repent, can the people understand if their
spirits are dead? Anyone who is not harvested to receive salvation at the
figurative Mt. Zion (Rv 14) will mourn. They are not morning the death of the
two witnesses; they are mourning those who fell from heaven and were captured by
the gentiles as a result of their betrayal in the end times. They also mourn the
death of the spirits of those who were captured by the gentiles and refused to
believe in the one who comes in the name of the
Lord.