Revelation Chapter 1 - Behold He Cometh with Clouds

Revelation Chapter 1:7&8 “Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. Even so, Amen. 8 I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty.” 

 

If I had grown up through Judaism or under the law how would I look at the above verses related to Jesus coming in clouds?  Would I believe all the scriptures referencing cloud comings were speaking of Jesus coming out of literal clouds in the sky?  As we get into this study these are questions that we may want to ask ourselves.  Also, we should consider cloud comings in the Bible.  Were there cloud comings in the Old Testament?  What were they and what did they represent?

 

Looking at the scripture God came to Israel in the clouds throughout the Old Testament writings.  There are two main themes in these cloud comings of the Lord that I see.  His coming in clouds represents His Glory and Presence, and His Coming in Clouds represents His Judgement.  First, I see the cloud comings of the Lord representing His Glory, His Presence, and His Infilling.  In Exodus 16:10, the scripture reads, “And it came to pass, as Aaron spake unto the whole congregation of the children of Israel, that they looked toward the wilderness, and, behold, the glory of the LORD appeared in the cloud.” 

 

“Behold the glory of the LORD appeared in the cloud.”  If we look closely at the scripture, this becomes a common occurrence as God deals with the nation of Israel.  God leads the nation of Israel out of Egypt by a pillar of a cloud and fire.  God covers Mount Sinai, in a cloud and a fire when Israel comes to the Mountain.  Moses goes into the cloud to receive the instructions for the Tabernacle, the Priesthood, the Law, and the Tablets of the Covenant.  All of this happened in the cloud that covered Mount Sinai.  Read closely Exodus 19 through Exodus 31.

 

Exodus 24:16-18  “And the glory of the LORD abode upon mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it six days: and the seventh day he called unto Moses out of the midst of the cloud. 17 And the sight of the glory of the LORD was like devouring fire on the top of the mount in the eyes of the children of Israel. 18 And Moses went into the midst of the cloud, and gat him up into the mount: and Moses was in the mount forty days and forty nights.” 

 

Exodus 34:5  “And the LORD descended in the cloud, and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the LORD.”

 

Somehow this vision of the cloud has gotten lost in much of our teaching in the church.  Many do not associate the cloud comings of Jesus with the cloud comings of the Old Testament.  In fact, many may not regard the Old Testament at all when they read the writings of the gospels.  When Jesus came, He came to Israel.  He was born of the tribe of Judah.  He is “the Lion of the tribe of Judah.”  He was born under the law.  So, the law was still in motion when Jesus came. 

 

The people of that time would have associated cloud comings with the writings of Moses and the prophets under the law.  When Jesus declares, in Mathew 16, “the

Son of Man shall come in the glory of his Father,” what does this mean?  Do we associate it all with the Old Testament?  If we do not associate it with the Old Testament then how doe we understand it? 

 

The prophet Ezekiel has an encounter with a Cloud Coming of the LORD.  This is one of the most vivid pictures of the Glory of the LORD we may see in our Bible.  If Jesus is the Son of God, and He is coming in the Glory of His Father.  May He be referencing the Glory of the LORD that is throughout the Old Testament scripture.  In the cloud coming in Ezekiel Chapter 1, a vision of a Son of Man with a body with the likeness of fire is seen.  There is a strong parallel from Ezekiel Chapter 1 to Revelation Chapter 1.

 

Ezekiel 1:26-28  “And above the firmament that was over their heads was the likeness of a throne, as the appearance of a sapphire stone: and upon the likeness of the throne was the likeness as the appearance of a man above upon it. 27 And I saw as the colour of amber, as the appearance of fire round about within it, from the appearance of his loins even upward, and from the appearance of his loins even downward, I saw as it were the appearance of fire, and it had brightness round about. 28 As the appearance of the bow that is in the cloud in the day of rain, so was the appearance of the brightness round about. This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the LORD. And when I saw it, I fell upon my face, and I heard a voice of one that spake.”

 

In this cloud was the vision of the Glory of the LORD.  This cloud appeared throughout the Old Testament over and over and over again.  This cloud filled the Tabernacle of Moses.  This cloud filled the Temple of Solomon.  This cloud was known by the Israelites as the very Presence and Glory of the living God.  When Jesus said He was coming in the clouds, could He have been saying He would be coming in the very Presence and the Glory of God? 

 

In Matthew 26 Jesus tells the High Priest that the Son of Man would be at His Father’s right hand and coming in the clouds of heaven.  Then the Bible says this the High Priest rent his garment.  As the High Priest of the Temple of God, would he not have heard of the Glory of God covering the Temple and filling the Holy of Holies in the Glory Cloud of God?  Certainly, he would.  Then would it be possible that he perceived Jesus was saying He would come in this great Glory Cloud and Fill the Temple of Israel? 

 

I believe that is what Jesus did.  He came in the Glory Cloud of God, God’s presence and filled the Temple of the Living God.  You are the Temple of the Living God, as God said, He would walk in us and live in us and we would be His people.  This is part of the very vision the Apostle John is seeing in the Book of Revelation.  The Son of Man walking in the midst of the church, the seven candlesticks.  He is in you and I today who have received Him, ready to be revealed in His Coming to be glorified in the saints.