This is the last message on Christ’s person in the fulfillment of the Old Testament prophecies.
In the Old Testament there are prophecies of four matters related to Christ’s coming back. The first is that He will come as the Son of Man on the cloud. Concerning this, Daniel 7:13 says, “I saw in the night visions, and, behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and they brought him near before him.” This prophecy is fulfilled in Matthew 26:64 and Revelation 14:14.
In Matthew 26:64 the Lord Jesus said to the high priest, “Henceforth you shall see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of power and coming on the clouds of heaven.” The Lord was the Son of Man on earth before His crucifixion, He is now the Son of Man in the heavens at the right hand of God after His resurrection (Acts 7:56), and He will still be the Son of Man even at His coming back on the clouds. To accomplish God’s purpose and to establish the kingdom of the heavens, it was necessary for the Lord to be a man. Without man, God’s purpose cannot be carried out and the kingdom of the heavens cannot be constituted on earth.
Revelation 14:14 says, “I saw, and behold, a white cloud, and on the cloud One sitting like the Son of Man, having a golden crown on His head and a sharp sickle in His hand.” This is a vision of Christ’s coming as the Son of Man to reap God’s harvest. He came as the Son of Man to sow the seed, and He will come again as the Son of Man to reap what He has sown. As the Son of Man, He is qualified to execute God’s judgment on everyone (John 5:27). Therefore, at His coming back on the cloud, the Lord Jesus will still be the Son of Man.
In Revelation 14:14 we see that Christ is sitting on the cloud. This means that he is no longer hidden, that His coming is now public. Prior to this, Christ’s coming will be hidden, but now it will be open and visible. In Revelation 10:1 Christ is clothed with the cloud, but in 14:14 He is on the cloud. This corresponds to 1 Thessalonians 4:17 and indicates that Christ’s coming back is now made public.
When Christ comes back, He will set His feet upon the Mount of Olives. Zechariah 14:4 prophesies of this: “His feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east, and the mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof toward the east and toward the west, and there shall be a very great valley; and half of the mountain shall remove toward the north, and half of it toward the south.” Because the Lord Jesus ascended from the Mount of Olives, He will also return to the Mount of Olives. When the Lord Jesus stands with His feet on the Mount of Olives, the mountain will be cleft, and a highway will be opened for the besieged Jewish people to escape.
Concerning Christ’s setting His feet upon the Mount of Olives, Acts 1:10-12 says, “As they were looking intently into heaven as He went, behold, two men in white clothing stood beside them, who also said, Men, Galileans, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you beheld Him going into heaven. Then they returned to Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a Sabbath day’s journey away.” As the disciples were looking intently into heaven, two men in white clothing, who were actually angels, stood beside them and asked the disciples why they were standing looking into heaven. Then they went on to say that the very Jesus who was taken up from them into heaven would come in the same way as they had seen Him going into heaven. This indicates that just as the Lord Jesus ascended physically, He will also come back physically. Christ ascended into heaven by way of a cloud, visible to human sight, and He will come back on the cloud (Matt. 24:30). Furthermore, He ascended from the top of Mount Olivet (Acts 1:12), and He will come back to the same mount. We definitely believe that in His coming back the Lord Jesus will set His feet on Mount Olivet.