Matthew 24:29-30
Immediately after the distress of those days
“‘the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light;
the stars will fall from the sky, and the heavenly bodies will be shaken.’
Then will appear in heaven the sign of the Son of Man, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.
The second coming of Christ will be a spectacular sight to behold. As He died on the cross, we got a glimpse of how nature behaves around Him when there was pitch darkness at noon. Now at His coming, it seems like the heavenly bodies – sun, moon, and stars – are shy to behold His glory, and thus they start to ‘misbehave’. However, all these come after the tribulation that will be upon earth. This tribulation, according to Matthew 24:21, will be unparalleled in all of history – past and future. One can only imagine what this will look like since we have already experienced some pretty heavy tribulations. There have been, in times past, natural calamities like have never been experienced before – plagues that wipe almost a third of the population; great earthquakes, tsunamis and hurricanes; etc. However, according to the Scriptures, we haven’t seen anything yet.
Now, there are different schools of thought when it comes to the tribulation period and the coming of Christ. Some hold to the view that Jesus will come before the tribulation and ransom His people (pre-trib view). Others believe that Jesus will come in the middle of the tribulation (mid-trib view). The last view is that Jesus will come after the tribulation period is over (post-trib view). This short devotion cannot settle this debate as men far smarter than I have tried in vain. However, in my considered opinion, there will be some level of distress experienced by even the believers before Christ comes. Why else would verse 22 say:
And if those days had not been cut short, no human being would be saved. But for the sake of the elect those days will be cut short.
In other words, the saints save the day! In the meantime, the creation together with the sons of God now groan. Then, the groaning will intensify. Thus shall continue the song of the saints in hope and anticipation, ‘Maranatha!’ Come, Lord Jesus.
Reflections
1. What view do you hold when it comes to the tribulation and the coming of Christ?
