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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.com | DownloadBob Utley You Can Understand the Bible - Mark 13:24 - 13:27
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This Chapter Verse Commentaries:
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Mar_13:24-27
24"But in those days, after that tribulation, the sun will be darkened and the moon will not give its light, 25and the stars will be falling from heaven, and the powers that are in the heavens will be shaken. 26Then they will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory. 27And then He will send forth the angels, and will gather together His elect from the four winds, from the farthest end of the earth to the farthest end of heaven."
Mar_13:24 "'But'" This is a strong adversative that shows a break in context. A new time segment is being revealed.
Mar_13:24 "'the sun will be darkened'" This is the OT apocalyptic language of the end-time (cf. Eze_32:7-8; Joe_2:10; Joe_3:15; 28:3-4; Amo_8:9; also see 2Es_5:5; Assumption of Moses Mar_10:5; and I Enoch 80:4-7). This is a series of OT quotes:
1. Mar_13:24 is from Isa_13:10
2. Mar_13:25 is from Isa_34:3
3. Mar_13:26 is from Dan_7:13
Yet this may refer to upheavals in nature as the Creator approaches (cf. 2Pe_3:7; 2Pe_3:10-12; Rom_8:18-22). Often these apocalyptic cosmic events are used to describe the fall of governments.
Mar_13:25 This is a quote from Isa_34:4. It reflects the belief that stars are heavenly powers (cf. Jdg_5:20; Job_38:7). In apocalyptic literature falling stars often refer to angels (cf. Rev_8:10; Rev_9:1; Rev_12:4). In the Bible angels are God's servants, but in Mesopotamian idolatry they refer to gods who control human destiny (i.e., twelve signs of the Zodiac or planet movements).
Mar_13:26 "'the Son of Man coming in clouds'" Jesus' humanity and deity are emphasized by the term "Son of Man" as it is used in Psa_8:4; in its regular Jewish idiomatic sense as human being in Eze_2:1; and in its divine sense in Dan_7:13 (cf. Mar_8:38; Mar_13:26; Mar_14:62 all use Dan_7:13). The fact that this "Son of Man" rides on the clouds of heaven shows His deity (cf. Psa_68:4; Psa_104:3). The clouds are the transportation and covering of YHWH (the Shekinah Cloud of Glory during the wilderness wandering period of Exodus and Numbers. Jesus leaves on a cloud [cf. Act_1:9] and returns on the clouds [cf. 1Th_4:17]).
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▣ "'great power and glory'" This shows the drastic contrast between His first coming (cf. Zec_9:9; Isaiah 53) and the Second Coming (cf. Revelation 19). This is paralleled, but in different terms, in Mat_24:30.
Mar_13:27 "'the angels'" In 2Th_1:7 the angels are called Jesus' angels. Usually they are called YHWH's angels (cf. Jud_1:14).
▣ "'gather together His elect'" This is OT prophetic language (cf. Deut. 30:35; Isa_43:6; and Psa_50:5). The exact order of these specific end-time events is uncertain. Paul taught that at death the believer is already with Christ (cf. 2Co_5:6; 2Co_5:8). 1Th_4:13-18 teaches that apparently something of our physical bodies, which were left here, will be united with our spirits at the Lord's coming. This implies a disembodied state between death and resurrection day. There is so much about the end-time events and afterlife experience that is not recorded in the Bible.
▣ "'from the four winds, from the farthest end of the earth to the farthest end of heaven'" This implies a world-wide following of Jesus! It also implies a long period of time for the gospel to spread.
The number four in the Bible is symbolic of the world. It referred to the four corners of the world (Isa_11:12), the four winds of heaven (Dan_7:2; Zec_2:6), and the four ends of heaven (Jer_49:36). The elect will be gathered from wherever they are scattered.
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