REVELATION 1:7, 8

(7) Behold, He is coming with clouds, and every eye will see Him, even they who pierced Him. And all the tribes of the earth will mourn because of Him. Even so, Amen. "(8) I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End," says the Lord, "who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty."

Although the Second Advent (coming) of Christ following the Tribulation is forecast here (Jude 14, 15; Revelation 19:11-16), it should be noted that verse seven also portends His return in the clouds (not to the earth) to retrieve the “body of Christ” prior to the Tribulation. This will involve what is often called “the Rapture,” a designation given to the Greek word harpazo, “to catch or snatch up” (1 Thessalonians 4:13-17). In reality, Christ’s “second coming” involves both events (to deal with the Church prior to the Tribulation and to deal with Israel and the nations subsequent to the Tribulation).

As in most, if not all of God’s activities, angels will be involved in Christ’s return, whether it is prior or subsequent to the Tribulation. Throughout the Old Testament, but especially in the book of Revelation, angelic involvement is prolific. Scripture often subscribes an event in one place to God and in another to angels (e.g., the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah [Genesis 13, 24], and the giving of the law [Exodus 31:18; Acts 7:53; Galatians 3:19]). God has established fixed laws, and the actions of angels under these laws become God’s actions.

Prior to the Tribulation, Christ will come in the air accompanied by angelic activity (Matthew 16:27; 1 Thessalonians 4:16); and, subsequent to the Tribulation He will come to the earth with a mighty army of angels (Matthew 25:31; 2 Thessalonians 1:7; Jude 14, 15 [the Greek word translated “saints” in verse fourteen is hagios, which should be translated “holy ones,” a word used 229 times in the New Testament for God, men, and angels]); Revelation 19:11-14.

Christians will not accompany Christ back to earth, even though many expositors interpret such from the army’s attire (“fine linen, white and clean”) mentioned in Revelation 19:14. Biblical typology precludes this. Just as Joseph’s wife did not accompany him when he dealt with his brethren (Genesis 45:1ff) and Moses’ wife going only part way with him when he returned to Egypt to deal with his brethren (Exodus 4:20-31; 18:2), Christ’s wife (formally the bride of Christ) will not accompany Him back to deal with His brethren (Israel). Also, Christ’s wife in that day would not be described as “the armies in heaven” (Revelation 19:14). This is a description used of angels, not of a bride or wife (2 Kings 6:17; Joel 2:11).

Verse seven specifically targets the second advent of Christ to earth, but this time He will not come as a servant or sacrificial lamb. This time He will come as a conquering king. And eventually everyone upon earth will become acutely aware of Him; and in particular, the Israelites will realize that He is the promised Messiah, the one they crucified. And all will mourn knowing that they had rejected the Christ.

And I will pour on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the Spirit of grace and supplication; then they will look on Me whom they pierced. Yes, they will mourn for Him as one mourns for his only son, and grieve for Him as one grieves for a firstborn. In that day there shall be a great mourning in Jerusalem, like the mourning at Hadad Rimmon in the plain of Megiddo. (Zechariah 12:10, 11)

Part of the description of the one for whom Israel will mourn is the same as the one used to refer to the Father in verse four: “who is and who was and who is to come.” This designation speaks to the eternal nature of God, which applies to all three persons of the Trinity. In this chapter only the Father and the Son are so classified, indicating that the Father and the Son are One — indivisible in nature, yet separate in function.

The first additional element in this description, “Alpha and the Omega [first and last letters in the Greek alphabet], the Beginning and the End [and its equivalent, “First and the Last”], appears to be a designation primarily of Christ, with one possible exception in chapter twenty-one, verse six. It is used five times in the New Testament, all in the book of Revelation — 1:8, 11; 17; 21:6; 22:13), and speaks of completion in all matters relating to God’s creation. Although all three Persons of the Trinity were involved in creation, Christ is featured in Scripture as the conduit and sustainer of it (Psalm 33:6; John 1:3, 10; Ephesians 3:9; Colossians 1:16, 17; Hebrews 1:2, 3); and He will continue it, although in a new fashion, throughout the ages to come (2 Peter 3:10-13; Revelation 21:1-22:5).

The second addition to this description, “the Almighty,” speaks of the omnipotence of God, i.e., His all powerful nature.

The confirmation that this description refers to Christ and not the Father is threefold: (1) it refers to the One who is to come in verse seven, which alone is the Son, (2) in verse thirteen, after repeating the designation in verse eleven, He is recognized by John as the “Son of Man,” a Messianic title for Christ (first seen in Scripture in Psalm 8:4, then in Daniel 7:13), and (3) after again repeating the designation in verse seventeen, He then proclaims, “I am He who lives, and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore.” This admission can only apply to Christ, who allowed Himself to die upon the cross and then come back to life.