Who Is To Come - Revelation 1:4-8

Revelation 1:4-8 ESV
John to the seven churches that are in Asia:
Grace to you and peace from him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven spirits who are before his throne, and from Jesus Christ the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of kings on earth.
To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood and made us a kingdom, priests to his God and Father, to him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. Behold, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him, and all tribes of the earth will wail on account of him. Even so. Amen.
“I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.”

John brings greetings from The Lord. He reminds the church of Who Jesus is and what He has done. That same Jesus will return, though not in the same manner. The next time He will appear as He is, in His full glory and majesty as King of Kings.

At that time the earth "will wail on account of him". The eyes of the unbelievers will at last behold their creator. There will be no doubt that this is the Son of God. To wail is to mourn with an intensity which includes the idea of striking one's self in grief and crying out. One might be reminded of the demon possessed man wandering in the tombs tearing at himself while shouting in the anguish of his misery. He was living in the throes of death, the home of a legion of demons. Jesus commanded those demons to leave. This took place on Satan's turf, for so it is in the world. But a new thing has begun. God has redeemed and reclaimed a fallen world. The kingdom of God was initiated and will conquer the world. The God Who is, was, and is to come will create a new earth out of the one that is that will be like the one it was, but better. It will be at rest.

κοπτω G3164 (koptō), strike; κοπτομαι G3164 (koptomai), beat the breast; κοπετοσ G3157 (kopetos), mourning, lamentation. (NIDNTT)

Daniel 7:13-14
“I saw in the night visions,
and behold, with the clouds of heaven
there came one like a son of man,
and he came to the Ancient of Days
and was presented before him.
And to him was given dominion
and glory and a kingdom,
that all peoples, nations, and languages
should serve him;
his dominion is an everlasting dominion,
which shall not pass away,
and his kingdom one
that shall not be destroyed.

Psalms 68:1-3
To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David. A Song.
God shall arise, his enemies shall be scattered;
and those who hate him shall flee before him!
As smoke is driven away, so you shall drive them away;
as wax melts before fire,
so the wicked shall perish before God!
But the righteous shall be glad;
they shall exult before God;
they shall be jubilant with joy!

Matthew 24:30-31
Then will appear in heaven the sign of the Son of Man, 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. And he will send out his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.