What does it mean that every eye will see Him when Jesus returns (Revelation 1:7)?

The Coming of the Lord to break the manifested power of evil on earth, to scatter the combined forces marshalled under the leadership of Satan, to grind to atoms every hostile power, will be an event of so public and overwhelming a character that it is added, “Every eye shall see Him.” What a sight in the heavens! The descending Lord with many diadems on His head, clad in the insignia of royalty, saints and angels swelling His triumph, clouds around and beneath, will then appear in a manner befitting His majesty.

— But while the statement, “Every eye shall see Him,” must be accepted in its literality — need one add, not at the same moment — yet one class is singled out from the mass of mankind then in open revolt against God and His Anointed (Ps. 2), namely, “they which pierced Him.” The Gentile spear which pierced the Saviour’s side is a fact alone recorded by “the disciple whom Jesus loved” (John 19:33-37). The weak and vacillating representative of Rome in her imperial greatness, sullied her vaunted reputation for inflexible justice by basely ordering his august Prisoner whom he thrice declared innocent to be scourged and crucified. But the Jews behaved even worse by clamouring aloud for His death, the death of their Messiah, and provoking the unhappy governor to pronounce the fatal sentence. Their children, who have inherited their guilt, and who refuse the shed blood of Christ as God’s answer to their sin, shall see Him Whom they pierced, while Zechariah 12:10 shows how grace will use it. The special class referred to as those “who pierced Him” are the Jews.

His words "they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven" (Matthew 24:30) teach His visible coming again beyond the shadow of a doubt. So does Rev. 1:7, "Every eye shall see Him." Scoffers sometimes say, How is this possible? But every eye on earth every twenty-four hours sees the sun in the heavens. Thus in that day when He descends in the cloud every eye will behold Him. His return will be in great power and glory

"And then shall they see the Son of Man coming in the clouds with great power and glory" (Mark 13:26). The Epistles speak of His glorious appearing [with power] (Titus 2:13; 2 Thess. 1:9). This power and glory is prominently revealed in the Apocalypse. The Angels of God will accompany Him in His return

At his coming in grace, Christ been baptized in river Jordan. Stephen had seen Him glorified in heaven. And Peter was allowed to learn something from the consequences of this glory. Christ has been hidden from the eyes of the world for about two millennia and is only seen in faith – we have dealt with this in detail. Now the moment comes when heaven will open once more – not for the eye of a martyr, nor for the eye of faith, but this time "every eye" will see Him (Rev. 1:7). He appears in power and glory, followed by a huge crowd of people (heavenly saints) and angels (Mk. 8:38).

(V. 7) There follows a statement which sums up the great subject of the Revelation — the judgment of both Jews and Gentiles by which the earth will be prepared for the glorious reign of Christ. When He comes to act in judgment it will not be as with the rapture of the church, to be seen only by those who are caught up to meet Him in the air. It will be a public coming — "every eye shall see Him." Believers and unbelievers, Jews and Gentiles will know that He has come, and that His coming will mean judgment for all the wicked. Hence we read "all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of Him."

As to Rev. 1:7, it is in no way to be limited to Jews, whatever the resemblance to the Septuagint version of the words in Zech. 12. Indeed this is but one case of the general principle, that the Revelation, like the New Testament as a whole (save in application of fulfilled prophecy) enlarges the sphere, and deepens the character, of what is borrowed from the older oracles of God. But allowing that "all the tribes of the earth" should be here meant, rather than "of the land" merely, and as distinguished from "those who pierced Him," it seems strange that the bearing of "every eye shall see Him" should be overlooked. For if the object had been to guard the reader from the vague providential line of interpretation, and to fix our attention on the Lord's coming again to the earth, it could hardly be secured more plainly than by such a text. There is a larger and more comprehensive scope than in Old Testament prophecy; but it is in relation to the world, not to the church, and to the visible display of glory, not to the kingdom of God viewed spiritually. We walk by faith, not by sight. The book is for, but not all about, the church.

This is the tribute of the redeemed to their Redeemer, and now we have their testimony also: "Behold, He cometh with clouds, and every eye shall see Him, and such as pierced Him; and all the tribes of the earth shall wail because of Him." This, it is plain, is not the coming of the Lord to take us to Himself. It is a coming to the earth when the heavens give back Him whom they have so long concealed, except to faith — when "every eye shall see Him." And here we are carried back at once to Zechariah to find Israel brought fully to repentance at the sight of Him who was wounded in the house of His friends. "They shall look upon Me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for Him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for Him, as one that is in bitterness for his first-born. In that day there shall be a great mourning in Jerusalem" and "in that day there shall be a fountain opened to the house of David and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem for sin and for uncleanness." Thus early the Jew takes his place in the prophecy of Revelation, while it is true that what is here may contemplate a wail wider than that of Israel's repentance. The word both in Greek and Hebrew for "earth" is the same as "land," and "all the tribes of the earth" (or land) make us necessarily find Israel here as in Zechariah. Nevertheless, the outlook in Revelation is naturally wider here, and there may be a wail, too, which is not that of repentance, but the wail of awful fear, when men cry to the rocks to fall on them and the mountains to cover them, to hide them from the face of the Lamb they have despised. Here is the Christian's testimony, and it has naturally to do not with Israel only, but with all the earth.

That when the Lord comes again in the clouds of heaven it will be in visible glory, so that "every eye shall see him," is pressed too far when it is taken to mean that He will then be visible to all the world. This the Lord Himself, by Isaiah, assures us: for after He has said that "the Lord will come with fire, and with his chariots like a whirlwind, to render his anger with fury, and his rebuke with flames of fire," and "it shall come that I will gather all nations and tongues; and they shall come and see my glory"; yet the prophecy goes on immediately to add, "And I will set a sign among them, and I will send those that escape of them unto the nations, … to the isles afar off that have not heard my fame, neither have seen my glory; and they shall declare my glory among the Gentiles." (Isa. 66:15-19.) Thus we find that "every eye shall see Him" only intimates (what in connection with any other event it would be taken to intimate) a visible personal appearing of Christ, and not that the whole world will at that time see Him.

I do not doubt that, while the words in Revelation repeat the very language of the older prophets, — for "kindreds" in the common version is literally "tribes," and "earth" and "land" are, both in Hebrew and Greek, but the same word, — yet that in the passage before us a wider application is to be made than this. Not only shall they see who have pierced Him, but "every eye." Naturally, therefore, not the tribes of the land only, but of the earth at large, shall wail on account of Him. The testimony is neither to nor of Israel only, though including these. And while the mourning in Zechariah is unto repentance, the word here is large enough to admit of the wail of despair as well as of repentance.

— “All the tribes of the earth shall wail because of Him,” more especially in the land and amongst the people where His grace has been so conspicuously displayed. The wailing, however, is not confined to the two tribes then in the land, Judah and Benjamin; nor to the ten tribes on the confines of Palestine ere entering it (Ezek. 20), but embrace the Gentiles also. “All the tribes of the earth.” The substitution of “land” for “earth” is simply a question of interpretation, and not of translation. “Kindreds” or “tribes” in Revelation 7:9 undoubtedly designates Gentiles. Compare with Matthew 24:30, which fixes the moment of the general wail of anguish, viz., the Coming of the Son of Man.

— The double affirmation, “Even so, Amen,” is the Spirit’s seal to this striking prophetic testimony. The “Even so” is Greek, the “Amen” is Hebrew. To both Gentiles and Jews His Word is unchangeable.

The apocalyptic testimony, “Behold He cometh with the clouds,” coalesces with that of the Hebrew prophet, “I saw in the night visions, and behold one like the Son of Man came with the clouds of Heaven” (Dan. 7:13); and also with the prophetic utterance of our Lord on Olivet, “They shall see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of Heaven with power and great glory” (Matt. 24:30). All refer to the same time and event. The epiphany of the Son of Man in such majesty as has never been seen by mortal eye will strike terror to the hearts of all on earth save those of His own people.