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To: P-Marlowe; TomSmedley
Did Jesus return with clouds and did every eye see him in 70 AD? I can't seem to find any eyewitness accounts of that event in any scriptural or historical documents. Perhaps I missed something.

If you are expecting me to answer according to your literalist presuppositions, then I'm afraid I'm going to disappoint.

Christ told the high priest, "It is as you said. Nevertheless, I say to you, hereafter you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Power, and coming on the clouds of heaven." (Matt. 26:64). Jesus spoke those words personally and directly to the high priest and the other priestly leadership of Israel. The phrase "coming in clouds" was understood by the Hebrew people as an identification with divine power and glory. The "clouds" in this passage and the OT allusion was never to be taken "literally". E.g., "Sing to God, sing praises to His name; Extol Him who rides on the clouds, By His name Yah, And rejoice before Him." (Psalm 68:34), and "Clouds and darkness surround Him; Righteousness and justice are the foundation of His throne." (Psalm 97:2)

Notice also Daniel 7:

I was watching in the night visions, And behold, One like the Son of Man, Coming with the clouds of heaven! He came to the Ancient of Days, And they brought Him near before Him. Then 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 the one Which shall not be destroyed.
Note in this vision of the triumph of Messiah that He is coming up to God the father, the Ancient of Days, in this imagery. There is no reason to take "clouds" in the literal sense of suspended atmospheric water droplets.

If your reference is to Rev. 1:7, notice the context is as a witness to the "tribes who dwell in the land", an obvious reference to ancient, national Israel. They did witness Christ's coming in judgment when the power of God was poured out upon unrepentant Israel in AD70 at the hands of the Roman armies. The "tribes of the land" do not exist today, nor have they existed for the last 2000 years.

Again, you cannot see these things with literalist glasses, but they are clearly there.

102 posted on 07/25/2006 8:06:30 AM PDT by topcat54
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To: topcat54; TomSmedley; Alex Murphy
If you are expecting me to answer according to your literalist presuppositions, then I'm afraid I'm going to disappoint.

There was no presupposition. I was just asking a yes or no question. Did Jesus return with clouds and did every eye see him in 70AD? Simple yes or no question. Requires nothing more than a simple yes or no answer. You can take 10000 words to explain your yes or no answer. That's fine. Just start your essay with a yes or a no.

Again, you cannot see these things with literalist glasses, but they are clearly there.

Perhaps I need the Urim and Thummim? Or maybe if I stuck my head in a hat then the spiritual light would shine?

109 posted on 07/25/2006 11:17:38 AM PDT by P-Marlowe (((172 * 3.141592653589793238462) / 180) * 10 = 30.0196631)
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