After the great tribulation there will be signs in the sun, moon and stars and the Lord will set His feet on the Mount of Olives. He will come for His people and we find that described in the next verse in Matthew 24.
30 And then will appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn deeply, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven…
the sign
The Lord will come on the clouds of heaven and in heaven will appear the sign of the Son of Man. What is that sign? In any case, it refers to the question of the disciples, at the very beginning of the chapter: “when will these things be, and what will be the sign of your presence (Greek: parousia), and of the close of the age” (:3). In His parousia, usually translated as coming, a sign is spoken of.
symbol?
Some interpreters explain that the sign is a symbol that appears in the sky. There are those who think of a cross, others of a Star of David. But the sign does not necessarily have to be a symbol and could also point to His appearance, just as the sign of circumcision (Rom. 4:11) is nothing other than circumcision itself.
the cloud
Yet I believe that if the sign were to point to something other than His appearance itself, there is a much more logical explanation than those previously mentioned. It is said that He comes on the clouds (plural). In the previous blogs we saw that the ascension of the two witnesses (Rev.11:12) involves the cloud (singular). In the Hebrew Bible, the cloud is the cloud in which the Lord appeared: the glory of YAHWEH, usually rendered as the glory of the Lord (Ex. 16:10, 24:16; 2 Chron. 5:14, 7:1).
The glory of the Lord once left the city of Jerusalem and placed itself above the Mount of Olives. We saw earlier that this is a demonstration of how God would hide His face from Israel. The Jewish people were set aside and the Kingdom would be hidden from them. The departure of the cloud from Jerusalem symbolizes the absence of God.
absence and presence
When the Lord returns after His absence and reveals Himself to Israel, this will be at the same location where the cloud once left the city, the Mount of Olives! Then He will come on the clouds and the sign of His presence (>parousia) will be visible: the cloud, which is a representation of the glory and presence of the Lord. His absence was symbolized by the cloud that disappeared, in His presence the cloud will appear again. In the parallel passage in Luke it is also stated:
Luke 21
27 And then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory.
the tribes of the land
All the tribes of the land will mourn. The Statenvertaling and NBG have in Matthew 24:30: of the earth. Both Hebrew and Greek do not know the distinction between land and earth, as we use it in our language. God called the dry: land (Gen. 1:10). The context must make clear what is meant by this. In Matthew 24:30 it is clear, because it concerns the tribes of the land, of Israel. Those who are in Judea (:16).
The speech of the Lord is a series of quotes and references to the Hebrew prophets. This verse is also a reference to the Tenach.
Zechariah 12
9 And it will come to pass in that day that I will seek to cut off all nations that come against Jerusalem.
10 And I will pour out upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced,
and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for an only son,
and they shall be in bitterness of sorrow for him, as one that is in bitterness of sorrow for a firstborn.
Revelation
The same applies to the book of Revelation as to this speech of Jesus. It is a series of references to the Hebrew prophets. And there too we find this described.
Revelation 1
7 Behold! He is coming with clouds, and every eye will see Him, and they also who pierced Him; and all the tribes of the land will mourn greatly because of Him. Yes, amen!
the Son of Man
The Son of Man is the Ben Adam (Ps.8:5), an honorary title. Adam was told that he would subdue the earth and rule over creation (Gen.1:28), but this was not fulfilled by Adam, but will be realized by the Ben Adam, the last Adam (1 Cor.15:45). Christ will rule over the works of God’s hands and all things will be put under His feet (Ps.8:7).
The Ben Adam, who comes here for Israel, is not only the Messiah of Israel, but is placed over all creation. This is the one who is coming here in great power and glory to establish His Kingdom!