29"Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. 30Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, 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. 31And He will send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.
Deceivers, wars, famines, pestilence, and earthquakes. Hate, betrayal, deception, lawlessness, love grown cold. A great tribulation, greater than had been since the beginning of time and greater than there ever shall be. A tribulation so great that unless the days were shortened, no flesh would be saved. This is what will lead up to the coming of the Son of Man.
Then one day, the sun and moon will darken -- will the sun actually die out? Or will the earth’s atmosphere be filled with so much dust that the sun’s rays can no longer penetrate? The stars will fall from heaven. Will the stars disappear? Or is Jesus referring to meteors? The powers of the heavens will be shaken. Is Jesus referring to the power of God and the angels in heaven? What would it mean for those powers to be shaken? Or is he referring to the weather, great storms appearing in the skies?
Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven. I had wondered if Jesus meant here that His sign would appear in heaven for all the angels to see. But because of the way He was just talking about the stars in heaven, and the powers of the heavens, and the way He just talked about the tribes on earth mourning after this sign appears, I wonder if he really means that His sign will appear in the sky for the people on earth to see.
Now, imagine living through all this chaos, then finally seeing the sign of the Son of Man in the skies. Wouldn’t there be relief that the tribulation was finally coming to an end? But all the tribes of the earth will mourn. Wouldn’t there be rejoicing to see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory?
Mourning is an expression of a great loss. It is interesting that those who were lead astray by the great deceivers, at this point would suddenly, finally, realize the desolation they have achieved. They were pulled in by the abomination of desolation, and now would mourn at their loss. So even though they were deceived by others, they would now recognize the sign of the true Son of Man.
And what of the elect? The ones that the angels will gather? For them will it be a time of great rejoicing, or would they too be among the mourning? Jesus mentions no one rejoicing, so I believe they would be mourning too. Why would they mourn? I would expect there would be much mourning for those who would be left behind, for no more chances to help those who were deceived, who they hadn’t been able to prepare for Jesus’ coming. But knowing their own undeservedness, they may also be mourning thinking they may be passed over with no more time to become right with God.
Usually when I thought if Jesus’ second coming, I thought of a time of great glory and rejoicing. But according to this, it will be a time of great tribulation, followed by a time mourning.
But even though all go through the time of tribulation, the good news is that Jesus will gather up those who love Him and stayed with Him through it all. No matter where you are, Jesus will find you and take you home. For He will gather them from all directions, from one end of heaven to the other. So when the abomination of desolation appears in the holy place, flee as Jesus instructed, for Jesus will find you wherever you go.