Welcome to EBible Fellowship's Bible study in the Book of Revelation. This is study #21 of Revelation, chapter 1, and we are going to be reading from verse 7:
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.
We started to look at the first part of this verse in our last Bible study, and we are going to continue looking at the word 'clouds:' "Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him."
And, of course, in order to understand what God means by 'clouds,' we do not look up into the sky, or we do not check the weather bureau; we turn to the Bible, because God will define His own terms. And when we do go to the Bible, we find some interesting things. In Hebrews, chapter 12, it says in verse 1:
Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,
And this is a wonderful verse, coming at the beginning of chapter 12, following the "Faith Chapter," Hebrews chapter 11, where God went through the Old Testament and mentioned great people of faith, that is, great people of Christ, as saving faith is the faith of Christ. So it was, by faith, that these men and women of God did various exploits, that is, by or through, the Lord Jesus Christ, and then Hebrews 12 opens up, "Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses." Now this statement is following what God had just been speaking about - all of the people of faith: He told us of Abel and Enoch and Noah and Abraham and Sarah and Moses, and so on; wonderful people of faith, and they are called 'a cloud of witnesses.'
Well, does that mean that the 'cloud' is referring to these true believers, these people who exhibited wonderful faith in their lives? No, no. The 'cloud' is referring to where we read about these people. Where do we find information about Noah? Only in the Bible. Where do we find information concerning Moses and Joseph and these others? In the Bible, as we read the Bible, so the Bible itself is a 'cloud of witnesses.' All sixty-six Books are a witness and a testimony to the LORD God Himself, and so God speaks of the Scriptures as a 'cloud of witnesses.'
Well, that is one verse that is helpful, but we want to keep searching, and see if there is anything else that can confirm that idea, and we do find in the Book of Proverbs, in chapter 16, another interesting statement in verse 15:
In the light of the king's countenance is life; and his favour is as a cloud of the latter rain.
Now that is interesting to us because we know that the latter rain is a way of speaking that God uses to identify the outpouring of His great blessing during the time of the great tribulation, when He saved a number of people that cannot be counted - a great multitude, the Bible calls it - from all over the Earth.
How were those people saved? By the latter rain, and what does that mean? Was there some special, miraculous rain that fell all over the world? No, not literally; no rain could bring the blessing of God; no physical water falling from the sky could produce 'precious fruit,' spiritually, speaking of God's elect. But, it was 'rain' that fell across the Earth, as the word of God was proclaimed, as the Scriptures went forth, and as they were faithfully declared and taught. God blessed this action and, spiritually, the 'rain' fell and produced a good crop of fruitfulness - many became saved.
Well, if the word of God falling is likened to the rain, and the rain comes from the 'clouds,' well, since the 'latter rain' comes from the Bible and, here again, the last part of verse 15 of Proverbs, chapter 16, says "his favour is as a cloud of the latter rain," so the 'cloud' must also identify with the word of God, the Bible. That is where the 'rain' falls from, from the Scriptures, and, so, that is another piece of evidence.
But we have an excellent place to turn that really gives us solid confirmation of what the 'clouds' are referring to. We find this in Numbers, chapter 9, and I am going to read a passage beginning in verse 17 through the end of the chapter in verse 23:
And when the cloud was taken up from the tabernacle, then after that the children of Israel journeyed: and in the place where the cloud abode, there the children of Israel pitched their tents. At the commandment of JEHOVAH the children of Israel journeyed, and at the commandment of JEHOVAH they pitched: as long as the cloud abode upon the tabernacle they rested in their tents. And when the cloud tarried long upon the tabernacle many days, then the children of Israel kept the charge of JEHOVAH, and journeyed not. And so it was, when the cloud was a few days upon the tabernacle; according to the commandment of JEHOVAH they abode in their tents, and according to the commandment of JEHOVAH they journeyed. And so it was, when the cloud abode from even unto the morning, and that the cloud was taken up in the morning, then they journeyed: whether it was by day or by night that the cloud was taken up, they journeyed. Or whether it were two days, or a month, or a year, that the cloud tarried upon the tabernacle, remaining thereon, the children of Israel abode in their tents, and journeyed not: but when it was taken up, they journeyed. At the commandment of JEHOVAH they rested in the tents, and at the commandment of JEHOVAH they journeyed: they kept the charge of JEHOVAH, at the commandment of JEHOVAH by the hand of Moses.
That is the conclusion of the chapter. Now God set up a picture - a vivid illustration - that He wanted His people, Israel, to follow. He gave them an outward, visible indicator of when they were to journey, and when they were to remain and not journey, and it had to do with the 'cloud' upon the tabernacle: as long as the cloud remained upon the tabernacle, they were to remain in that place where they were; if the 'cloud' was taken up and began to move, then the Israelites were to pack their tents and their belongings, and follow; they were to move along with it, and to break camp. When the cloud settled back down and rested, and journeyed not, Israel was to stop their movement and, likewise, to pitch camp, to pitch their tents, and to settle and not move.
God used the cloud as a means of commanding Israel and directing their movements, and notice that it is almost interchangeable in the passage we read, "when the cloud was taken up from the tabernacle," it said in verse 17, "then after that the children of Israel journeyed." Notice at the beginning of verse 18,"At the commandment of JEHOVAH the children of Israel journeyed," so the cloud's movement is likened to the commandment of JEHOVAH, and what is the commandment of JEHOVAH? It is the word of God. All the Bible is basically a Law Book. It is full of the commandments of God and, here, the 'cloud' is likened, repeatedly in these verses, to God's commandment.
So we have Hebrews 12, verse 1, and its reference to a "great cloud of witnesses," and that 'cloud' is found in the Bible only. We have the 'cloud' of the "latter rain," and that has to point to the Bible only, and we have God identifying the 'cloud' with the commandment of JEHOVAH, again and again, in Numbers, chapter 9. So we can see that this is God's way of defining what He means by the 'clouds.'
Well, now let us think about our verse in Revelation 1, verse 7: "Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him." Now we just cannot jump to a natural conclusion, which is very easy to do. We are trained, we are conditioned, by this world to just accept and take the "plain literal meaning," and, actually, many of the churches of our day teach that in their seminaries, and they teach their pastors, "look for the plain, literal meaning of Scripture, and not for any other."
The churches today despise the idea of looking for a spiritual meaning and, yet, in doing so, they are despising the truth of the Bible - they are despising God's methodology. This is what God has established; it is why Christ spoke in parables; it is why God has given us a Book called Proverbs; it is why it says that "Job continued his parable;" it is why we read so many things in the history of the Bible, in the Old Testament, and then in the New Testament God fills us in on the spiritual meaning of them: that Sarah and Hagar (the Egyptian) are likened to Covenants, and their children are one of the bond woman and one of the free. You do not read that in the history, but we read that in the interpretation that God gives us, because He is trying to teach us, again and again and again, and, yet, the natural-minded man is so hard and so dense, for that idea to penetrate and get through into our minds; we are so stubborn and rebellious against God. And, really, it is a result of being so dead in sin that we have no spiritual life. The natural man has no spiritual eyes to 'see' these things, or 'ears' to hear them, so he just naturally goes in the direction that his heart lies, and he does not look for deeper, spiritual things.
Well, the Book of Revelation is full of parabolic statements and, here, we find one: "Behold, he cometh with clouds." We are not to think that this is a literal reference, at this point. "Why not? You cannot be serious," someone is saying, "you are just confusing things. The Bible made a plain statement. How can you say it is not literal clouds that Christ is coming in?"
Well, let us look at a couple of verses. In Matthew 26 (and this is when the Lord Jesus went before the Jewish council, right before they turned Him over to Pilot), and it says in Matthew, chapter 26, verse 62:
And the high priest arose, and said unto him, Answerest thou nothing? what is it which these witness against thee? But Jesus held his peace. And the high priest answered and said unto him, I adjure thee by the living God, that thou tell us whether thou be the Christ, the Son of God. Jesus saith unto him, Thou hast said: nevertheless I say unto you, Hereafter shall ye see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven. Then the high priest rent his clothes, saying, He hath spoken blasphemy; what further need have we of witnesses? behold, now ye have heard his blasphemy.
Well, let us stop a second, and let us consider what we just read, especially in verse 64: "Hereafter," Jesus says to the high priest, who really is a representative of Israel, "shall ye see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven." Did the high priest, or Israel, from that point on (as "hereafter" means 'from now,' 'from this point'), did they see the Son of man sitting, literally, on the right hand of power, and coming, literally, in the clouds of heaven?
And notice the great similarity with that statement in our verse in Revelation 1, verse 7, that "Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him." Well, here, Jesus is saying you will "see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven," a very similar statement. Did Israel, did the high priest and the people of Israel, see this, literally, with their eyes? And the answer is, "No, no, they did not."
But what did Christ mean? Well, we actually have a way, I think, of understanding this when we follow this wording, "the right hand of power," or "the right hand." For instance, we read in Acts, chapter 2, in verse 32:
This Jesus hath God raised up, whereof we all are witnesses. Therefore being by the right hand of God exalted...
There is the reference to the 'right hand.'
...and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost, he hath shed forth this, which ye now see and hear. For David is not ascended into the heavens: but he saith himself, JEHOVAH said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, Until I make thy foes thy footstool. Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ. Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do?
You see, Christ said, "hereafter shall ye see," and that is not with their physical eyes, but we will look at that word, and also the idea that "every eye shall see him" in our verse in Revelation a little later, but Jesus said, "hereafter ye shall ye see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven." That is, Israel (as the high priest was the representative of the people of Israel of God's word), would have it proved to them, from the word of God, from the Scriptures, as God's people would witness, and they would see the testimony of what happened to Christ, and His rising from the dead, and the witness of His disciples, from that point forward, and they would understand, as it says in Acts 2:36:
Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ.
Now, not only in Acts 2, but look at Acts, chapter 5, in verses 29 through 33:
Then Peter and the other apostles answered and said, We ought to obey God rather than men.
Remember, they had been stopped by the Jewish authorities from preaching Jesus and, as it said in a previous verse, "filling Jerusalem with their doctrine." And then in verse 30:The God of our fathers raised up Jesus, whom ye slew and hanged on a tree.
Notice, again, the declaration - the witness - which will convict Israel. Then verse 31:
Him hath God exalted with his right hand to be a Prince and a Saviour, for to give repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins. And we are his witnesses of these things; and so is also the Holy Ghost, whom God hath given to them that obey him. When they heard that, they were cut to the heart, and took council to slay them.
Now, with the one group of Jews back in Acts 2, "they were pricked in their heart," and God was drawing them to salvation, or in this case, with these Jews, "they were cut to the heart," and it indicated they were not God's elect. Yet, whether 'pricked' and drawn to the LORD, or 'cut,' and not chosen to be drawn, both (groups) were being convicted by the fact that Christ was raised to the 'right hand' of God; and Israel could not get away from it, from the declaration of the testimony of Christ and His people, and the word of God itself, that they had done this.
Now let us go to one more place in Acts; in Acts, chapter 7, when Stephen is also before a Jewish council, and he is declaring the word of God to them, recounting Israel's history, and then it says in verse 55:
But he, being full of the Holy Ghost, looked up stedfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God,
There it is again: the 'right hand' of God. And then verse 56:
And said, Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God. Then they cried out with a loud voice, and stopped their ears, and ran upon him with one accord,
Then, of course, finally they stone him, so, again, they were convicted, as Christ testified to Caiaphas, the high priest of Israel, at the time the Lord Jesus stood before him: "Hereafter shall ye see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven." Not with their physical eyes, but they would 'see,' as the Scriptures would be declared, and God would convict them by His word.
Now it is important to realize that even though they resisted the Holy Ghost - they put their hands to their ears - nonetheless, they 'saw' the Lord Jesus coming in the 'clouds' of heaven, and that can only be a reference to the word of God. They 'saw' Him - Israel did, whether saved or unsaved, they saw Him coming as the Scriptures presented what He had done, that He was the Messiah. Some reacted quite angrily to that and gnashed with their teeth, and so on, yet they, nonetheless, 'saw' Him as the Lord Jesus had prophesied and declared.
So the coming in the 'clouds,' once again, is pointing to the word of God, and it can also mean coming in judgment, as Israel was judged by God when Christ went to the cross and the veil of the temple was rent in twain - no longer were they His holy people; no longer were they His representatives upon Earth; they no longer pictured the kingdom of Heaven to the world. God had forsaken them, and the word of God was declaring this judgment upon them, so Christ was coming in the 'clouds,' again and again, as these things were declared to the people of Israel.
It did not mean that they had to literally 'see' Him. As a matter of fact, it could not have meant that in any way, so what are we to do with Revelation 1, verse 7, "Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him?" This is a way of God stating that the Lord Jesus comes in His word. Now this is very important. It is very significant for us today because Matthew 24, and I will read from verse 29 and following, says:
Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken: And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.
That is, "after the tribulation," and just to remind us all, the tribulation ended on May 21, 2011, after a complete and exact twenty three years, and immediately after, we have learned, was judgment day, and God removed the light of the Gospel and he 'darkened the sun,' spiritually speaking, and that is the sign in the spiritual heaven that the word of God establishes; as a scroll is rolled out, God places these lights in the spiritual heavenly bodies, and God has rolled up that scroll, and He has put out the lights of the Gospel to this world and, in so doing, they shall 'see' the Son of man coming in the 'clouds' of heaven - in the word of God, the Bible, in the commandment of JEHOVAH - in the 'clouds.'
The Bible will testify, the Bible will witness, to the truth that God has brought about the day of judgment with power and great glory. This is what Matthew 24:30 is declaring, and it is what Revelation 1, verse 7, is picking up on.