“Look, he is coming with the clouds,”
and “every eye will see him,
even those who pierced him”;
and all peoples on earth “will mourn because of him.”
So shall it be! Amen. Revelation 1:7
and “every eye will see him,
even those who pierced him”;
and all peoples on earth “will mourn because of him.”
So shall it be! Amen. Revelation 1:7
“At that time the sign of the Son of Man will
appear in the sky, and all the nations of the earth will mourn. They will see
the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky, with power and great glory.” Matthew 24:30
Jesus doesn’t need
a cloud to provide transportation. If Jesus is in a physically resurrected body,
he’ll find clouds to be an unsteady support.
So the term must
mean something else.
God revealed
himself many times in clouds, especially when leading the Israelites through
the desert. We see other places too.
When
the priests withdrew from the Holy Place, the cloud filled the temple of the
LORD. And the priests could not perform their service because of the cloud, for
the glory of the LORD filled his temple. Then Solomon said, “The LORD has said
that he would dwell in a dark cloud; I have indeed built a magnificent temple
for you, a place for you to dwell forever.” 1 Kings 8:10-13
An oracle concerning Egypt:
See, the LORD rides on a swift cloud
and is coming to Egypt.
The idols of Egypt tremble before him,
and
the hearts of the Egyptians melt within them. Isaiah 19:1
For the day is near,
the day of the LORD is near—
a day of clouds,
a
time of doom for the nations. Ezekiel
30:3
Blow the trumpet in Zion;
sound the alarm on my holy hill.
Let all who live in the land tremble,
for the day of the LORD is coming.
It is close at hand—
a day of darkness and gloom,
a day of clouds and blackness.
Like dawn spreading across the mountains
a large and mighty army comes,
such as never was of old
nor
ever will be in ages to come. Joel 2:1-2
Clouds refer to the
presence of the Lord. God was showing up.
Clouds also refer
to judgment in these passages, the same feeling we get when we see a storm
coming. People then and now believe that storms and devastation came about
because God was angry at them. We see God’s power in clouds, His impending
doom.