"The sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, all the tribes of the Land will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming in the clouds of heaven with tremendous power and glory" Matthew 24:30. The Hebrew word for glory is "Kavod". In Strong's, it means "to be heavy," and this translation is used in the Bible over two hundred times.
I have been trying to study about the return of Yeshua the Messiah. After all, many missed His first coming because they were not studied up and prepared in the Word. The Tanakh ("Old Testament”) contains hundreds of prophecies about the coming Messiah. Of course, the Bible is layered. So, some of these prophecies speak of his first coming, some of his second coming. Most importantly, we know it is there. Throughout the Bible, there are many prophecies of the Messiah's eternal return.
I want to be prepared. I want to recognize him. In the age of computers and media, we could easily be tricked about his return. With holograms and sophisticated technology, someone or a group could easily prepare and display a false messiah's return to the planet. Even Yeshua says in Matthew 24 to beware of this, that even the elect could be deceived.
We'd better study the Word hard, so we are clear about His return and not deceived.
Recently, I received a little revelation on this. I used to think about the above verse 30 and picture everyone, everywhere, being able to be with Yeshua in the sky at the same time. But I would wonder how this would be possible. Yet in this verse, Yeshua says that they will all see the Son of Man coming in the clouds.
Then I studied it all a little more deeply. A few verses before His coming in the clouds, along with His warning about false messiahs, He says, "For when the Son of Man does come, it will be like lightning that flashes out of the east and fills the sky to the western horizon " Matthew 24:27. I began to ponder, what is it about lightning that He wants us to know? A revelation came. Lightning lights up the entire sky. Sometimes for many, many miles. Have you ever looked up and seen the sky all lit up, even though the storm was actually miles away?
Here is my point. Yeshua will come back to the Mount of Olives, just like the angels reported after His ascension in Acts 1:1: "The men (angels) said, 'You Galileans! Why are you standing, staring into space? This Yeshua, who has been taken away from you into heaven, will come back to you in just the same way as you saw him go into heaven." As he descends to Jerusalem (preparing to enter the Temple), his feet will land in Israel. Upon his arrival from the clouds, this glorious event will be like lightning, and I believe the sky will be super lit up. No matter if we are gazing at his "Kavod" from New York, California, Australia, Africa, England, or Russia, we will see it. We will know it is special. It will be the evidence of the long-awaited and prayed-for Messiah.
The sky will radiate with the Kavod, the glory of Adonai. We will see light for miles and miles and miles. As far as from the east to the west. No matter where we will be standing, we will witness His Kavod in the sky.
Even more. I think the Kavod of Yeshua HaMashiach (Jesus the Messiah) when he returns, will be so heavy, we will be naturally bent over by it, so that we will actually be bowing to the King.
Imagine the weight of the Kavod (glory) of Adonai making every man, woman, and child bend over, bow, and publicly confess that they have seen the glory of Elohim. What an incredible sight that could be. Everyone is coming out of their houses, businesses, cars, trains, and buses, and looking up at the sky. We will see the most magnificent Kavod glory of the King that can only come from the Father. The Messiah will carry the glory of Hashem from heaven to earth.
We need to know what to expect at the return of our wonderful, awesome Messiah. We need to know so that we are not deceived. Let us keep studying and praying to Him for revelation.