Revelation 1:7 says, “Behold, He comes with the clouds, and every eye will see Him, even those who pierced Him; and all the tribes of the land will mourn over Him.” In Revelation Christ’s coming back is revealed in two aspects. In one aspect Christ will come secretly as a thief (3:3; 16:15), and in another aspect He will come openly on the cloud (1:7; 14:14). This corresponds with Matthew 24:30 and 43. The day and hour of His coming in the first aspect are unknown (v. 36), whereas the day of His coming in the second aspect is clearly revealed—it will be at the last trumpet (the seventh trumpet) at the end of the great tribulation (1 Thes. 4:16; 1 Cor. 15:52; 2 Thes. 2:1-3).
Christ went to heaven on a cloud. He will come back to earth in the same way (Acts 1:9, 11; Matt. 26:64; Rev. 14:14). At the close of the great tribulation Christ will come on the cloud with power and great glory to be seen by all the tribes of the land. When Christ comes on the cloud, the earth will see Him. The Lord will appear as lightning, which flashes across the sky from east to west.
Revelation 1:7 mentions “all the tribes of the land.” Here the land refers to the Holy Land. All the tribes of the Holy Land will see Him. The basis for saying this is Zechariah 12:10-14, which says that they will look upon Him whom they have pierced and that the land will mourn for Him. The tribes mentioned in Revelation 1:7 are the tribes of those who have pierced Him. Revelation 1:7 surely is a reference to Zechariah 12. According to the context of Zechariah 12, the tribes are not all the nations of the earth but the twelve tribes in the Holy Land. Based upon this, we may say that the tribes in Revelation 1:7 are the twelve tribes in the Holy Land. When the Lord appears as lightning, coming with power and glory to be seen by all in the Holy Land, the twelve tribes will behold Him and will weep.
When Christ comes to the earth at the end of the war at Armageddon, the remnant of Israel will see Him whom they have pierced, will repent and wail, and will believe in Christ and receive Him (Zech. 12:10). In this way all Israel will be saved. This will be the household salvation rendered to Israel by God. The repentant Jews will look upon the One whom they have pierced. This means that they will look upon the Christ who was pierced by them. Although it was the repentant Jews’ forefathers who pierced the Lord Jesus, God counts that as something done by these repentant ones. The reason for this is that in the sight of God the entire people of Israel are one person.
Christ is the pierced One with whom there is the opened fountain. The piercing of Christ has opened a fountain for sin and impurity (John 19:34, 37; Zech. 13:1). This fountain is the flow of His precious blood from His hands and His side for the cleansing of sins; it was opened for the accomplishing of redemption. The piercing of Christ is the foundation of redemption. Apart from Christ’s being pierced, there would be no base for our redemption.
Zechariah 12:10 says, “They will wail over Him with wailing as for an only son and cry bitterly over Him with bitter crying as for a firstborn son.” An only son is most dear to his parents, and a firstborn son has honor among the many sons. Repentant Israel will wail over Christ as the only Son of God and will cry bitterly over Him as the firstborn Son of God. They will mourn not for their sins but for their rejection of the Lord in the past.
In the New Testament Christ is revealed first as the only begotten Son of God and then as the firstborn Son of God. John 1:18 says that the only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, has declared Him. John 3:16 tells us that God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son. Through His death and resurrection, the only begotten Son became the firstborn Son (Rom. 8:29; Heb. 1:6a). According to the New Testament, Christ’s being the only begotten Son is for us to be redeemed and to receive eternal life. Christ’s becoming the firstborn Son through death and resurrection is for us to become sons of God as heirs to inherit all the riches of what God is, that is, to receive, participate in, and enjoy all the riches of the Triune God. In their repentance Israel will recognize Christ both as the only begotten Son of God and as the firstborn Son of God. They will realize that Christ, as the only begotten Son, has redeemed them and brought them eternal life and that He, as the firstborn Son, has made them heirs to inherit the riches of the Triune God as their enjoyment.