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COMING ON CLOUDS

“For as the lightning comes from the east and flashes to the west, so also will be the COMING of the Son of Man. . . . the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. . . . and they will see the Son of Man COMING on the CLOUDS of heaven with power and great glory. . . . Truly, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place.” (Matthew 24:27-34)

Matthew 24 is packed with prophetic imagery. Included in this imagery are CLOUDS and cosmic disturbances. People who are not familiar with biblical imagery assume that such language is literal. When Jesus comes again He will literally appear riding a cloud (on a white horse per Revelation 19).

I dare say that not one Christian in a hundred understands the Old Testament context of New Testament prophecy. While this is startling to most evangelicals, there is overwhelming evidence that this happened at the destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70—in a non-literal way. This is the preterist view of eschatology.

The nature of the Second Coming is in part determined by its timing. Jesus promised that all such prophecies would happen in his generation (Matthew 24:34; Luke 21:22). There are over 100 passages in the New Testament that affirm this time constraint (“must shortly take place,” “about to happen,” “before some standing here taste death,” “soon,” etc.) Consider Matthew 10:23; 16:27-28; 23:29-39; 26:64; Revelation 1:1-3; 22:6-10; etc.

In the Old Testament, CLOUDS are used symbolically to portray God’s presence, judgment, or proclamation. People did not see God literally, but saw what He did or perceived his presence in other ways. Consider the following passage excerpts, where clouds are God’s FIGURATIVE abode or mode of travel. Often this is about God’s judgment on groups of people:

“The Lord descended in a CLOUD and stood with him there . . .” (Exodus 34:5-7)

“He made darkness his covering, his canopy around him, thick CLOUDS dark with water. . . and the foundations of the world were laid bare.” (Psalm 18:4-15, judgment against David’s enemies)

“And the Lord is riding on a swift CLOUD and comes to Egypt, and the idols of Egypt will tremble at his presence. . . .” (Isaiah 19:1-15, judgment against Egypt)

Now take a minute to look up these additional passages: Exodus 13:21; 16:10; 19:9; 33:9; Leviticus 16:2; Numbers 9:15-22; 11:25; Deuteronomy 4:11; 5:22; 31:15; 2 Samuel 22:8-15; 1 Kings 8:10-11; 2 Chronicles 5:14; Psalm 97:2-5; 104:3; Jeremiah 4:13; Ezekiel 1:4, 27-28; 10:3-4, 18-19; 30:3, 18-19; Daniel 7:13-14; Joel 2:1-2; Nahum 1:2-6; Zephaniah 1:14-15.

Jesus in the Olivet Discourse was claiming equality with Yahweh when He spoke of himself as “coming on clouds.” So, when we read Matthew 24, in light of this Old Testament language, we understand that Jesus’ Second Coming was a “coming in judgment” upon Israel, expressed in highly figurative, but common Hebraic apocalyptic language. His Second Coming is specifically tied to the destruction of the temple in Matthew 24:2-3.

In addition to the cloud language we see other astronomical perturbations associated with Jesus’ presence in judgment—sun darkened, stars falling, heaven shaken. This too is Old Testament imagery describing God’s “coming” in judgment. No one actually saw God, but certainly saw the EFFECTS of his judgment.

In AD 70, God used the Roman army as his instrument to punish apostate Israel. This coming/presence in judgment of Jesus in AD 70 was similar to Yahweh’s previous judgments against his enemies on multiple occasions in the Old Testament, most of which are accepted by scholars as having been fulfilled in the past.

Compare the similar language of cosmic disturbances in Matthew 24:27-31 with these Old Testament judgment passages: Isaiah 13:10-13 (against Babylon), Isaiah 34:4-10 (against Edom), Jeremiah 4:23-31 (against Judah and Jerusalem), Ezekiel 32:7-8 (against Pharaoh and Egypt), Joel 3:15-16 (against the nations), Amos 5:20, 8:9 (against Israel), Micah 1:2-16 (against Israel and Judah), Zephaniah 1:14-18 (against Judah, Jerusalem, and Judah’s enemies).

The New Testament writers emphatically taught that Jesus would return while many of his contemporaries were still alive (2 Thessalonians 1:6-8; Hebrews 1:2; 10:37; James 5:7-9; 1 Peter 1:13-20; 2 Peter 3:9-12; 1 John 1:18; etc.). Where did they get this? From Jesus himself, of course. I, for one, believe that Jesus fulfilled his promises in exactly the time and nature that He predicted. If He did not, He was a false prophet.

https://prophecyquestions.com/2014/02/01/articles-by-charles-meek