73. That in Matt. 24, Mark 13, and Luke 21, where similar passages occur, the destruction of the temple and Jerusalem is not described, but the successive changes of the state of the Christian church are foretold, in regular order, even to its last state, when its end is, will be shown in the work itself, where those chapters will be explained; and in the meantime, it may appear from these words in those evangelists:
Then shall appear the sign of the Son of man, and then shall all the tribes of the earth wail; and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and glory. And He shall send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together His elect from one end of the heavens to the other end thereof (Matt. 24:30, 31; Mark 13:26, 27; Luke 21:27). It is known that these things were neither seen nor heard at the destruction of Jerusalem, and that it is believed at this day, that they will come to pass at the time of the Last Judgment. We likewise read of similar things in Revelation, which from beginning to end treats solely of the last state of the church, where are these words:
Behold, Jesus Christ cometh in the clouds, and all the tribes of the earth shall wail because of Him (1:5, 7). The particular explanation of these words may be seen in The Apocalypse Revealed (n. 24-28); also what is signified by "the tribes of the earth," and their "wailing" (n. 27, 348, 349).
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