Mark 13:24-27

Following The Siege And The Destruction of the Temple Will Come Continuing Tribulation And Political Tumult Until Finally The Son Of Man Will Be Revealed In Glory In Order To Gather In His Elect (13:24-27).

The tribulation of the Jews would continue on during the times of the Gentiles, eventually leading up to periods of political disturbance and unrest which He describes in apocalyptic language taken from the Scriptures. The darkening of sun and moon, and disappearance from the heavens of the stars are symbolic of the awfulness of what is being described, although whether the heavenly bodies will actually be affected is open to question. It may just be that they will seem to be affected as a result of savage warfare causing atmospheric effects, earthquakes and volcanic action. But it would be foolish to exclude the possibility of the effects of climatic changes resulting from such things as global warming. All this, however, will be preliminary, leading up to the glorious appearing of the Son of Man, with His angels, to gather His elect.

Analysis.

a “But in those days, after that tribulation, the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give her light”

b “And the stars will be falling from heaven and the powers that are in the heavens will be shaken”

c “And then will they see the Son of Man coming in clouds with power and great glory”

b “And then will he send forth the angels and will gather together his elect from the four winds”

a “From the uttermost part of the earth to the uttermost part of heaven”

Note that in ‘a' there will be both earthly and heavenly effects, and in the parallel reference is made to both earth and heaven. In ‘b' there are strange happenings in the heavens, which may include the supernatural activity of angels (compare Revelation 12:4; Revelation 12:9), while in the parallel we have the supernatural activity of Christ's angels fulfilling His purpose of gathering the elect. Centrally in ‘c' we have the picture of the Son of Man coming in the clouds of Heaven with power and great glory.