Mark 13:24-27--The Coming of the Son of Man

Mark 13:24-27
English Standard Version
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The Coming of the Son of Man
24 “But in those days, after that tribulation, the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, 25 and the stars will be falling from heaven, and the powers in the heavens will be shaken. 26 And then they will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory. 27 And then he will send out the angels and gather his elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of heaven.

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Jesus points to some things that will happen at the very end, right before He returns to gather His elect (what we would call the Rapture of the Church).  Why do I say that?  Because it says that He is seen coming on the clouds with great power and glory, but it doesn't speak of Him returning to the earth as a conquering king.  My best guess is that what Jesus is talking about here takes place in Revelation 14:14-16.  I know there is much debate on the timing of these events, but to my best reading of the Olivet Discourse and the book of Revelation, I cannot agree with a pre-tribulation rapture viewpoint (though that is what I was taught growing up and what many in my local church today still believe), because Jesus is telling His disciples (the Church) to look for events described as part of the Tribulation as signs of His coming on the clouds to gather the elect from the four winds--from the ends of the earth to the ends of heaven.  Why are we supposed to look for signs during the Tribulation if we're already gone in a pre-Tribulation Rapture?  What is the purpose of sending the prophets and the 144,000 during this time as evangelists if the door has already been closed and no one can be saved during that time (this is what many pre-tribulation teachers say).  If no one can be saved during this time, how were the 144,000 saved? Why does God need to send out His angels to put His mark on His people before He starts to send the plagues of the Tribulation if they aren't going to go through the Tribulation too?  Isn't the mark to show they belong to Him and are exempt from the plagues like those that were in the houses marked by the blood of the Passover Lamb during the tenth plague, and hasn't the LORD always worked in this way to keep a remnant safe?  I forgot to mention Rahab being kept safe during the destruction of Jericho when I talked about the Flood, Sodom and Gomorrah, and the Passover as examples of this the other day.

We are told to watch out for antichrist and that he will desire to deceive even the Elect (to me, that means we must still be around if he is going to try to deceive us).  There will be a point at which Jesus is going to come back for us, but to my best understanding (I believe with the help of the Holy Spirit, though I admit that I am human, and my understanding is not infallible).  So, as we see events unfolding exactly as Jesus said they would, we should be sharing the gospel with our friends and family members with even more urgency because we want our friends and family members to be sealed by God and not receive the mark of the beast during the Tribulation (for all those that had the mark of the beast were thrown into the lake of fire--they made their choice to associate themselves with the world, the antichrist, the false prophet, and the devil).  My last word here is to be careful to always first search the Scriptures for answers to hard passages--compare Scripture with Scripture.  Don't immediately look to your footnotes or commentary (though both of these can sometimes be useful, they can also sometimes lead us in the wrong direction because there were men that sometimes tried to superimpose their message on top of the plain meaning of the text).  Also, don't believe the message that all prophecy is confusing, and no one can understand it.  That's a lie.  Jesus spoke to the disciples in a way that was meant to be understood here (even if it wasn't completely clear to them until after they received the Holy Spirit).  His purpose is clear from verse 23 that He is telling them ahead of time so that they will be ready for it when it comes--"But be on guard; I have told you all things beforehand."  He intended them (and us) to be able to understand what He was saying and teaching.  Remember that God is not the author of confusion.  So, read passages like these with the expectancy that God wants you to understand it and ask Him to show you from His Word what the answers are to the questions you have, and also to help you be content with the fact that there are some questions that we are not meant to have answers to (such as "What is the exact day and hour when Jesus will return?").  Don't get upset that you don't know the answer to that as the text clearly tells us that no one knows that--not even Jesus.  Be content to know and understand what God has told us and be obedient to all He has commanded us.

With that said, an understanding of all this should drive us to have an urgency about sharing the gospel with everyone that we know.  We should be like the Sower in the parable that is just spreading seed everywhere.  Time is short and we never know exactly how much time we have left--we just see that the season appears to be right (the signs are there that the time of harvest is close), so we need to work with all diligence to be about the business of being laborers in His vineyard, declaring the Word of the Lord.