Isaiah:19.1—“The burden against Egypt. Behold, the LORD rides on a swift cloud, And will come into Egypt; The idols of Egypt will totter at His presence, And the heart of Egypt will melt in its midst.”
Isaiah:13.10—“For the stars of heaven and their constellations Will not give their light; The sun will be darkened in its going forth, And the moon will not cause its light to shine.”
Matthew:24.29-30—“Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.”
1 Thessalonians:4.16—“For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first.”
A great mistake many Biblical believers make is misunderstanding the “coming(s)” of the Lord. The above passages illustrate.
In Isaiah 19:1, God obviously did not literally “ride on a swift cloud” into Egypt. This coming of the Lord was in judgment against that nation. They were to be punished. Notice the language of Isaiah 13:10, a judgment against Babylon. The stars didn’t literally fall and the sun and moon didn’t literally cease to shine. This is apocalyptic language describe the judgment of God against that nation. The same type of language is found in Ezekiel 32:7-8 against Egypt. This “coming” of God was figurative, in judgment, against the wickedness of those nations.
In Matthew 24:29-30, Jesus borrows that language (which His listeners would have been familiar with) in describing the coming destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans later in the first century. This is NOT describing the 2nd coming of Jesus; His “coming” here is the same as Isaiah 13 and 19, and Ezekiel 32. It was a figurative coming in judgment against Israel. God used this language against Egypt and Babylon in the Old Testament, Jesus uses it in Matthew 24 against the Jews who had rejected Him. It is CRUCIAL to understand that the “coming” of Jesus in Matthew 24:29-30 is not literal; it was figurative, a coming in judgment against a nation that deserved punishment. So, so many people have been fooled by this and thus tragically misinterpret Matthew 24. Up to verse 36 of that chapter, the Lord is describing the coming destruction of Jerusalem (“those days”). From verse 36 through Matthew 25, He describes His literal 2nd coming (“that day”). That literal 2nd coming WILL happen. It is what Paul is describing in I Thessalonians 4. But unless we understand the different kinds of “comings” of the Lord (figurative and literal), we will be confused by these passages.
God didn’t literally ride on a cloud into Egypt in judgment against that nation (Isaiah 19:1). And Jesus didn’t come with clouds to judge Israel in 70 A.D., either. The figurative language must be understood.
Jesus is coming back. We have no idea when. There are no signs of His coming. Matthew 24 speaks of the events before the destruction of Jerusalem, not the literal 2nd coming of Jesus. As one has well said, “We are not looking for the signs, we are listening for the shout (I Thess. 4:16). Don’t be deceived.