The CLOUDS of Heaven

If you would like to hear this unveiling rather than read it click on the YouTube link here –

There are many, many references to cloud/clouds in the Bible and in this teaching, this unveiling, we are going to set forth the significance of some of these references to help us better understand the importance of “the clouds of heaven” (Daniel 7:13).  We will start where we see it written in:

Revelation 1:7 – Behold, he comes 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.

“Behold, he comes with clouds” As the whole Book of Revelation is written using symbols, clouds, as a symbol, has to be understood. So, we will start with, “I (Daniel) saw in the night vision, and, behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and they brought him near before him” (Daniel 7:13). The Hebrew word, im, interpreted with in this verse, means together with or in conjunction with. Hold that thought.

It says the, “Son of man (the Lord Jesus) came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of Days, and they brought him (the Lord Jesus) near before him.” The question then becomes, “Who are they?” The only things that we see in the scene which we have before us other than the Ancient of Days and the Son of man are the clouds. Are there literal clouds, like the ones we see in the sky, in the heavenly realm where the Ancient of Days is? Have we ever seen a cloud bring anyone anywhere? Let us look and see if the Lord, by the Spirit, has at anytime used the word cloud or clouds symbolically in Scripture.

We read, “A day of darkness and of gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness” (Joel 2:2). We see clouds here used symbolically as that which blocks out or obscures light and causes darkness. (You can also see a 2^nd witness to this in Zephaniah 1:15).

Again, “These men are those…who are clouds without water” (Jude 12 NASB). And, “those (men) that walk after the flesh in the lust of uncleanness, and despise government…these are wells without water, clouds” (2Peter 2:17). Here we have individual ungodly men, tares, who are spoken of symbolically by the Spirit as clouds. If false brethren are classified by the Lord as, “clouds without water”, we can rest assured that the true children of God are seen by the Lord as, “clouds with water”.

Once more, “Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses” (Hebrew 12:1). The saints that have gone on before are said to encircle us in a grouping that is classified by the Lord as a cloud. Therefore, we can clearly see, by these referenced verses, that the word cloud or clouds, in Scripture, does not always have to be a puffy white thing. Also, we need to take a more detailed look at the ascension of the Lord Jesus to see what we see.

It is written,“You have ascended on high, you have led captivity captive: you have received gifts for men” (Psalms 68:18). Rather than take us through a boring word study here let us just restate this Scripture after having done the study. “You have ascended on high, you have led forth the prisoners that were taken (into captivity) leading them captive: you have received gifts for men”. This is again brought out by the Apostle Paul in Ephesians 4:8 as we read, “Therefore he says, “When he ascended on high he led captive a host of captives, and gave gifts unto men” (NASB). Vines Expository Dictionary says, “(margin reading, ‘…led a multitude of captives…’) seems to allude to a triumphal procession by which a victory was celebrated, the ‘captives’ taken forming part of the procession”. So, seeing these things, we ask the questions, “who are these prisoners, these captives, how did they get to be prisoners or captives, and where were they being held captive”?

We see, “Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned: (for until the law sin was in the world: but sin is not imputed when there is no law. Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam’s transgression, who is the figure of him that was to come. But not as the offense, so also is the free gift. For if through the offense of one many be dead, much more the grace of God, and the gift by grace, which is by one man, Jesus Christ, has abounded unto many. And not as it was by one that sinned, so is the gift: for the judgment was by one to condemnation, but the free gift is of many offenses unto justification. For if by one man’s offense death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ). Therefore as by the offense of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life. For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous. Moreover the law entered, that the offense might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound: that as sin has reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord” (Romans 5:12-21).

There were Old Testament saints who became prisoners, as had we all, due to Adam’s transgression. However, having been, “justified by faith” (Romans 3:28) they had right standing (righteousness) before God, and when they died they were held in a place of comfort. This place of holding was a place called Paradise. “And Jesus said unto him (one of the thieves beside him on the cross) “Truly, I say unto you, To day shall you be with me in paradise” (Luke 23:43). This one, and all those who had died in faith, went to Paradise, but they were still prisoners none the less as they were still separated from God. They were unable to go into the presence of God until after the death, burial and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ for, “without the shedding of blood there is no remission (of sins)” (Hebrews 9:22). But, we see, “the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints which slept arose, and came out of the graves after his resurrection” (Matthew 27:52, 53).

What is being revealed to us in Psalms 68 and Ephesians 4 is that a host, a multitude of resurrected saints, ascended with our Lord “when he ascended” (Ephesians 4:8). This statement of “When he ascended” tells us that this multitude of resurrected captives, these resurrected saints, went with the Lord Jesus when, at the same time as, he ascended from his place of ascension, which was the Mount of Olives, as the disciples looked on.

Can we discover the appearance of these resurrected saints and can we see them on the day of ascension? “And entering into the sepulchre, they saw a young man sitting on the right side, clothed in a long white garment; and they were frighted” (Mark 16:5). The term used here, young man is, in the Greek, neaniskos, which means a youth under forty; no angel (Greek, angelos) here. And we see that the young man is clothed in a long white garment. Again we read, “And while they (the disciples) looked steadfastly toward heaven as he (Jesus) went up, behold, two men (Greek, aner, not angels, angelos) stood by them in white apparel” (Acts 1:10). You can also see two men (aner) in Luke 24:4.

Therefore, with scriptural certainty, we conclude that the saints, which were resurrected at the time of the Lord Jesus’ resurrection, were clothed in long white apparel, and we have discovered so far that at least two of them were on the Mount of Olives at the very moment our Lord ascended. There still remains some unanswered questions though. And those questions are, “what happened to all the host of resurrected saints, and where did they go”?

The Scriptures says that, “When he ascended on high he led captive a host of captives” (Ephesians 4:8). Let us therefore take a look at Acts 1:9 where we read, “And when he (Jesus) had spoken these things, while they ( the disciples) beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight”.

We need to define two items here:

1. Taken up – in the Greek epairō, meaning to lift, to raise (Vine’s Expository Dictionary).

2. Received – in the Greek is, hupolambanō, meaning to take from below, that is, carry upward

(Strong’s Concordance). To take or bear up (hupo, “under”). Vine’s Expository Dictionary.

Here, in Acts 1:9, is the only place in the New Testament where the Greek word hupolambanō is translated received. Walter Bauer’s A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Christian Literature translates thus: “a cloud took him up, out of their sight”. Now, using the proper definitions, let us look at this verse again and see if we can see what it really says.

“While they beheld, he was lifted, he was raised up, and a cloud carried him, a cloud took him upward from beneath out of their sight” (Acts 1:9). All right, lets put this together with the things we have just learned from Psalms and Ephesians and see what we have.

We see the Old Testament saints being resurrected and set free from the place in which they were held in captivity (Paradise) by the sacrifice of the Lord. We see them appearing all over the place clothed in long white apparel. On the day of ascension we see this cloud of white robed saints, for they were most certainly there in accordance with the Scriptures, carry the Lord Jesus upward from beneath and out of the disciples sight.

Remember, we asked you to hold the thought of the meaning of the word with in, “came with the clouds of heaven” (Daniel 7:13). We just saw a cloud of white robed saints carrying the Lord Jesus “upward from beneath”. And now we see the Lord Jesus, “one like unto the Son of man coming with, together with, in conjunction with, at the same time as the clouds of heaven, the resurrected white robed saints, and they, the saints, brought him, the Lord Jesus, in a triumphal procession near before him (the Ancient of Days)” (Daniel 7:13 amplified).

We return to the Mount of Olives, the disciples, and the two men who stood by them in white apparel, “Which also said, You men of Galilee, why stand you gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as you have seen him go into heaven” (Acts 1:10, 11). Let us now return to Revelation 1:7, which we have before us, and see if we can discover what is in like manner.

“Behold, he comes with clouds”. When the trump of God (1Thessalonians 4:16), the last trump (1Corinthians 15:52) shall sound, “Behold, he comes with clouds, the resurrected, glorified saints of the Most High God; and every eye shall see him; and they also which pierced him; and all kindred of the earth shall wail because of him. Even so, Amen”. This is in like manner, as he left with clouds and he comes with clouds.

For it is written, “the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord” (1Thessalonians 4:16, 17). In the Greek text there is no “the” before the word clouds and we have removed it.

There is a distinction that needs to be brought out here with respect to the terms, with clouds (Revelation 1:7) and upon the cloud (Revelation 14:14). Here, in Revelation 1:7, where it says with clouds, the Greek word metah, interpreted with, means literally, to accompany, with. And, as we have discovered, each of us individually is a cloud.

In Revelation 14:13, the Apostle John hears, “And I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Write, Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth: Yes, says the Spirit, that they may rest from their labors; and their works do follow them”; which hearing, at this juncture, is not essential to our understanding of the term cloud or clouds as used symbolically. What we need to see at this point is what John beheld in Revelation 14:14 after he heard the words of Revelation 14:13, and what John beheld was, “a white cloud and upon the cloud sat one like unto the Son of man”. Here we see John say, like unto, and also we note that the word one, in the text, is an added word and we will take it out. The Greek word epi, here interpreted upon, is a primary preposition properly meaning superimposition. Also, the Greek word kathēmai, here interpreted sat, means sitting, residing. Further, the Greek word homoios, does mean like unto, that is similar in appearance or character.

A white cloud points to the Church, the body of Christ, as a singular entity. As it is written, “For as the body is one, and has many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ” (1Corinthians 12:12). Understanding these matters more clearly let us now see what we find.

Properly Revelation 14:14 reads as follows, “And I looked, and behold a white cloud, and superimposed upon the cloud resided a similarity to the Son of man”. Now, that we can see it clearly, we discover that what John sees is a white cloud, the body of Christ, and superimposed, imprinted upon this cloud is the character, the attributes, the Person of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Head. We do know that if John were seeing the actual Person of the Lord Jesus he would not have used a descriptive word that means similar in appearance. For John, of all people, would certainly have recognized the Lord Jesus if he saw Him.

Thus we have arrived at a clear understanding of the symbolic use of cloud or clouds in Scripture and can readily see that this revelatory knowledge is absolutely necessary to our understanding many prophetic utterances where the word cloud or clouds are used.

Saints of God there are many, many fables in this system called the “church”.  We need to come out of her my people and touch not the unclean thing.  Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen; that is the mother and her two daughters, (catholicism, eastern orthodoxism and protestantism) the entire ecumenical system is fallen, is fallen.

The Lord Jesus is not the Head of this three pronged ecumenical system.  This darkened system has no ability to see what I have just revealed unto you here.  It does not know what the cloud or clouds represent symbolically, it has no skill in understanding or ability to discern what the stars of heaven stand for.  It does not even know what white stands for scripturally, for the most part it is blind, naked and in need of all things.  Its head is the Devil, Satan, that old Dragon; come out of her my people, oh children of God come out, come out, come out!!  For judgment is coming upon Babylon the Great.

THIS IS THE VOICE OF ONE CRYING IN THE WILDERNESS, PREPARE YOU THE WAY OF THE LORD, MAKE STRAIGHT HIS PATHS.  Amen.