The Sign in the Sky
"Immediately after the distress of those days the sun will be darkened, the moon will lose its brightness, the stars will fall from the sky and the powers of heaven will be shaken. And then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven..."
Matthew 24:30

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In the darkness of the last days, just before he returns, a crack will suddenly appear in the curtain of the sky and the sign of Jesus Christ will shine through it behind the clouds. (Mt.24:30).

All the peoples of the earth will beat their breasts in fear when they see it happen because it will prove that the entire earth is about to be consumed by the flames of God.

"Oh, that you would tear the heavens open and come down -- at your Presence the mountains would melt, as fire sets brushwood alight, as fire causes water to boil -- to make known your name to your enemies, and make the nations tremble at your Presence..." (Is.63:19).

Exactly what this sign is, the apostles have not revealed, but the scriptures give us a clue.

Jesus will reappear just as he left, but in reverse.

That means he will first be manifested hidden behind a cloud. "...he was lifted up while they looked on, and a cloud took him from their sight...he will come back in the same way as you have seen him go." (Acts 1:9-11).

The clouds of the end will be dark: "He bent the heavens and came down, a dark cloud under his feet." (Ps.18:9).

"Darkness he made a veil to surround him, his tent a watery darkness, dense cloud..." (Ps.18:12).

Within this cloud a sheen of bronze will radiate, and along its edges will be a halo of brilliant light. "I looked; a stormy wind blew from the north, a great cloud with light around it, a fire inside it from which flashes of lighting darted, and in the center a sheen like bronze at the heart of the fire." (Ez.1:4).

The sign of the everlasting covenant is a rainbow. (Gen.9:12-13).

Whenever a rainbow appears in the sky scripture tells us that we are to remember that this is the sign of the Covenant that God made between Himself and every living creature on the face of the earth.

"Whenever you see a rainbow in the clouds, you will remember the everlasting covenant..." (Gen.9:16).

Since Jesus is the everlasting Covenant, his sign in the heavens at the end will almost certainly involve a rainbow which appears in the clouds. "...I saw what looked like fire, and a light all round like a rainbow in the clouds on rainy days; that is how the surrounding light appeared." (Ez.1:28).

The powerful angel that stood before John in his vision of the world's final days came wrapped in a cloud with a rainbow over his head. (Rev.10:1).

When Daniel saw the glorified Christ materialize before him at the Tigris river, he wrote that his body was like beryl and his face shone like lightning and that his arms were fiery torches. (Dn.10:5-6).

In this same vision, Daniel said that his arms and legs had the gleam of burnished bronze.

Ezekiel saw the glorified Christ appear to him in much the same manner: "I looked and saw something like a man. Downwards from what seemed to be his loins was fire, and upwards from his loins he seemed to shine like polished bronze." (Ez.8:2).

When the sign of Jesus becomes visible in the clouds of the end, this same bronze-like figure surrounded in fire will manifest itself before the sight of the whole world.

The glory of the Lord has always been associated with a cloud. (Ex.16:10, 2 Ch.6:1).
The cloud which hides God from men's view comes to the earth in two forms:"Whether for punishing earth's peoples or for a work of mercy, he despatches his clouds." (Job.37:13).

Everywhere we look in these visions we can see the dualism that is always manifest in scripture.

When He first appeared on earth Jesus was a dark cloud as far as the Jews were concerned, but out of that cloud came a gentle rain -- the living water of heaven which saved the pagans. Thus he was a cloud of mercy.

At the end, the cloud's appearance will be terrifying to the wicked, because for them it will be a cloud of punishment -- a cloud of judgment and wrath. (Is.30:27-28).

In the darkness of these terminal clouds will appear flashes of God's lightning and out of them, great hailstones will come hurtling down onto the earth.

"Before him a flash enkindled hail and fiery embers". (Ps.18:12-14).

When this cosmic fusillade strikes the planet, the Bible says that it will lay the foundations of the sea bare. (2 Sam.22:16).

Science has discovered that meteoric bombardments of the planet from space have occurred frequently in the past and many have produced catastrophic effects.

In its history, the earth has taken many hits from interplanetary debris; the last one of significance, the comet which struck Russia when this century began -- a fireball that may have occurred in association with Satan's return from the Abyss.

As knowledge of these past catastrophe's unfolds, the probability of future bombardments has become a statistical certainty.

That is why the appearance of the sign of Christ in the clouds of the end will cause such consternation among the people still left alive on earth.

Matthew indicates that the Lord's sign will appear in the sky "immediately after the distress" caused by the beast and his armies.

This means that the world will already have passed through an intense rain of unrestrained military fire -- nuclear as well as conventional -- a cannonade of such ferocity scripture says, that it will leave the skies shrouded in darkness across the entire earth. (Mt.24:29-30).

The thought of a rain of cosmic fire that is even worse and more widespread will terrify all who still survive. Especially those who know what it means -- that the doors to heaven have been locked, and that the Tribunal of God lies immediately beyond the fiery hailstones.

This is the reason Jesus predicted that everyone will cry in anguish and beat their breasts when this sign appears (Mt.24:30).

It will be a profound signal for all to see -- a signal that announces once and for all the inevitable and final consequence of unrepentant sin -- God's heaven-sent proclamation that the destruction of the earth predicted by the scriptures is now at hand.

It will signal divine Judgment and with it, a cataclysmic and fiery bombardment that will ravage the earth beyond repair, breaking it into thousands of scattered fragments. (Is.24:19).

"You will make them like a blazing furnace on the day that you appear." (Ps.21:9).

Since the world and its people are destined for such an end, what reason is there for ignoring the salvation Jesus has sent in advance of it? Escape from this inevitable disaster -- one so clearly documented in the Old Testament -- is the very meaning of Christ.

The world will discover Christ too late.

It is the sign in the sky that will convince them of the truth of the Bible.
It will prove the truth of the fiery bombardment about to descend on the world and the Judgment that stands just behind it.

That is why all the people of the world beat their breasts in fear when they see His sign appear in the heavens. (Mt.24:30).

Scripture indicates that when the clouds that hide this sign arrive, they will first appear in the northern sky.

"Howl, gate; cry, City; shudder whole country of Palestine!
For a cloud of smoke comes out of the north..." (Is.14:31).

When Jesus bursts through the cloud, he will flash across the earth from east to west: "For the coming of the Son of Man will be like lightning striking in the east and flashing far into the west." (Mt.24:27).

In the last days, just before these terminal events, there will be little faith left anywhere on the globe. (Luke 18:8).

This suggests that few believers will be left alive at the end to witness the planet's final terrifying days, and, until it is too late, those who do see what is happening will have little faith that God is directing the world's events.

But they will know the predictions, because when they see the sign of Jesus in the sky, the people who do exist during these times will fully understand that the image which appears in the clouds above them is God's Only Son returning in judgment.

That is why Jesus said that they will be engulfed in fear when the spectacle of His apparition suddenly materializes before them.

"Jesus said to his disciples: 'During that period after trials of every sort, the sun will be darkened, the moon will not shed its light, stars will fall out of the skies, and the heavenly hosts will be shaken."

"Then men will see the Son of Man coming in the clouds with great power and glory. He will dispatch his messengers and assemble his chosen from the four winds, from the farthest bounds of earth and sky."

"Learn a lesson from the fig tree. Once the sap of its branches runs high and it begins to sprout leaves, you know that summer is near.

In the same way, when you see these things happening, you will know that he is near, even at the door." (Mk.13:24-30).

Psalm 21 KJV

1 The king shall have joy in Your strength, O LORD;
And in Your salvation how greatly shall he rejoice!
2 You have given him his heart’s desire,
And have not withheld the request of his lips. Selah

3 For You meet him with the blessings of goodness;
You set a crown of pure gold upon his head.
4 He asked life from You, and You gave it to him—
Length of days forever and ever.
5 His glory is great in Your salvation;
Honor and majesty You have placed upon him.
6 For You have made him most blessed forever;
You have made him exceedingly glad with Your presence.
7 For the king trusts in the LORD,
And through the mercy of the Most High he shall not be moved.

8 Your hand will find all Your enemies;
Your right hand will find those who hate You.
9 You shall make them as a fiery oven in the time of Your anger;
The LORD shall swallow them up in His wrath,
And the fire shall devour them.
10 Their offspring You shall destroy from the earth,
And their descendants from among the sons of men.
11 For they intended evil against You;
They devised a plot which they are not able to perform.
12 Therefore You will make them turn their back;
You will make ready Your arrows on Your string toward their faces.

13 Be exalted, O LORD, in Your own strength!
We will sing and praise Your power.

Psalm 18
To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David the servant of the LORD, who spoke to the LORD the words of this song on the day that the LORD delivered him from the hand of all his enemies and from the hand of Saul. And he said:
1 I will love You, O LORD, my strength.
2 The LORD is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer;
My God, my strength, in whom I will trust;
My shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.
3 I will call upon the LORD, who is worthy to be praised;
So shall I be saved from my enemies.

4 The pangs of death surrounded me,
And the floods of ungodliness made me afraid.
5 The sorrows of Sheol surrounded me;
The snares of death confronted me.
6 In my distress I called upon the LORD,
And cried out to my God;
He heard my voice from His temple,
And my cry came before Him, even to His ears.

7 Then the earth shook and trembled;
The foundations of the hills also quaked and were shaken,
Because He was angry.
8 Smoke went up from His nostrils,
And devouring fire from His mouth;
Coals were kindled by it.
9 He bowed the heavens also, and came down
With darkness under His feet.
10 And He rode upon a cherub, and flew;
He flew upon the wings of the wind.
11 He made darkness His secret place;
His canopy around Him was dark waters
And thick clouds of the skies.
12 From the brightness before Him,
His thick clouds passed with hailstones and coals of fire.

13 The LORD thundered from heaven,
And the Most High uttered His voice,
Hailstones and coals of fire.[a]
14 He sent out His arrows and scattered the foe,
Lightnings in abundance, and He vanquished them.
15 Then the channels of the sea were seen,
The foundations of the world were uncovered
At Your rebuke, O LORD,
At the blast of the breath of Your nostrils.

16 He sent from above, He took me;
He drew me out of many waters.
17 He delivered me from my strong enemy,
From those who hated me,
For they were too strong for me.
18 They confronted me in the day of my calamity,
But the LORD was my support.
19 He also brought me out into a broad place;
He delivered me because He delighted in me.

20 The LORD rewarded me according to my righteousness;
According to the cleanness of my hands
He has recompensed me.
21 For I have kept the ways of the LORD,
And have not wickedly departed from my God.
22 For all His judgments were before me,
And I did not put away His statutes from me.
23 I was also blameless before Him,
And I kept myself from my iniquity.
24 Therefore the LORD has recompensed me according to my righteousness,
According to the cleanness of my hands in His sight.

25 With the merciful You will show Yourself merciful;
With a blameless man You will show Yourself blameless;
26 With the pure You will show Yourself pure;
And with the devious You will show Yourself shrewd.
27 For You will save the humble people,
But will bring down haughty looks.

28 For You will light my lamp;
The LORD my God will enlighten my darkness.
29 For by You I can run against a troop,
By my God I can leap over a wall.
30 As for God, His way is perfect;
The word of the LORD is proven;
He is a shield to all who trust in Him.

31 For who is God, except the LORD?
And who is a rock, except our God?
32 It is God who arms me with strength,
And makes my way perfect.
33 He makes my feet like the feet of deer,
And sets me on my high places.
34 He teaches my hands to make war,
So that my arms can bend a bow of bronze.

35 You have also given me the shield of Your salvation;
Your right hand has held me up,
Your gentleness has made me great.
36 You enlarged my path under me,
So my feet did not slip.

37 I have pursued my enemies and overtaken them;
Neither did I turn back again till they were destroyed.
38 I have wounded them,
So that they could not rise;
They have fallen under my feet.
39 For You have armed me with strength for the battle;
You have subdued under me those who rose up against me.
40 You have also given me the necks of my enemies,
So that I destroyed those who hated me.
41 They cried out, but there was none to save;
Even to the LORD, but He did not answer them.
42 Then I beat them as fine as the dust before the wind;
I cast them out like dirt in the streets.

43 You have delivered me from the strivings of the people;