Coming in the Clouds

When we read about Christ “coming in the clouds,” we should first ask how the Bible had already used that language.

Jesus did not introduce cloud imagery for the first time in Matthew 24. The prophets had used it for centuries to describe the presence, power, and judgment of God upon nations.

So before interpreting Jesus’ words, let’s travel back and allow the prophets to establish the language.

THE PROPHETS DEFINED THE LANGUAGE

The burden of Egypt. Behold, the LORD rideth upon a swift cloud, and shall come into Egypt: and the idols of Egypt shall be moved at his presence, and the heart of Egypt shall melt in the midst of it.

Isaiah 19:1

God said He was coming into Egypt riding upon a swift cloud. Yet this was prophetic language describing divine judgment upon Egypt. God did not have to physically descend from the sky for the prophecy to be fulfilled. His judgment upon the nation was described as His coming.

Behold, he shall come up as clouds, and his chariots shall be as a whirlwind: his horses are swifter than eagles. Woe unto us! for we are spoiled.

Jeremiah 4:13

Again, clouds are connected with approaching judgment. Jeremiah was describing destruction coming upon Judah, and he pictured that judgment as clouds sweeping across the land.

A day of darkness and of gloominess, a day of clouds and of thick darkness, as the morning spread upon the mountains: a great people and a strong; there hath not been ever the like, neither shall be any more after it, even to the years of many generations.

Joel 2:2

Joel uses the same imagery. Darkness, clouds, armies, fire, and judgment all belong to the prophetic vocabulary of the Day of the LORD.

That day is a day of wrath, a day of trouble and distress, a day of wasteness and desolation, a day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness,

Zephaniah 1:15

Once again, the Day of the LORD is described as a day of clouds and darkness. The language communicates divine judgment.

The LORD is slow to anger, and great in power, and will not at all acquit the wicked: the LORD hath his way in the whirlwind and in the storm, and the clouds are the dust of his feet.

Nahum 1:3

By the time we reach the New Testament, cloud-coming language already has a long biblical history.

That becomes extremely important when we hear Jesus use the same imagery.

JESUS COMING IN THE CLOUDS

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.

Matthew 24:30

Jesus was speaking the language of the prophets.

His Jewish audience already had a biblical framework for clouds, divine judgment, and the Day of the LORD. And Jesus gave His disciples the timing of these events only four verses later.

Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled.

Matthew 24:34

The cloud-coming language belongs within the same prophecy that Jesus said would be fulfilled within that generation.

JESUS SAID IT TO CAIAPHAS

Jesus used this same imagery while standing before Caiaphas and the Jewish council.

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.

Matthew 26:64

Notice the audience.

Jesus said, “Ye shall see.”

The very leadership that rejected Him would witness His vindication and the judgment He had pronounced.

JERUSALEM SURROUNDED BY ARMIES

Luke gives us an important historical marker.

And when ye shall see Jerusalem compassed with armies, then know that the desolation thereof is nigh.

Luke 21:20

Jesus did not leave His disciples guessing about the approaching crisis.

Jerusalem would be surrounded by armies.

Rome became the instrument of judgment in that generation, just as pagan nations had been used by God in the Old Testament to execute judgment.

For these be the days of vengeance, that all things which are written may be fulfilled.

Luke 21:22

That is a powerful statement.

These were the days of vengeance. The judgment written in the prophets was reaching its covenantal climax.

The Old Covenant age was coming to its final close.

REVELATION USES THE SAME LANGUAGE

Revelation opens with the same cloud-coming imagery.

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.

Revelation 1:7

And the book immediately gives its time frame.

The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, to shew unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass; and he sent and signified it by his angel unto his servant John:

Revelation 1:1

The coming in the clouds was connected with judgment upon those who had rejected and pierced Christ, and John was told these things were shortly to take place.

WHAT ABOUT 1 THESSALONIANS 4?

This prophetic background also helps us understand Paul’s words to the Thessalonians.

These verses are commonly used today to support a future rapture doctrine, but we should first allow the language of Scripture to interpret itself.

For 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:

1 Thessalonians 4:16

Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.

1 Thessalonians 4:17

Paul’s language of clouds, trumpet, gathering, and the coming of the Lord belongs to the same prophetic world we have already seen throughout Scripture.

Paul did not invent a completely new vocabulary.

He was writing to believers living during the closing years of the Old Covenant age, while persecution was intensifying and judgment was approaching.

VINDICATION FOR THE PERSECUTED CHURCH

Paul says something similar in his second letter.

Seeing it is a righteous thing with God to recompense tribulation to them that trouble you;

2 Thessalonians 1:6

And to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels,

2 Thessalonians 1:7

In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ:

2 Thessalonians 1:8

The persecutors would not escape forever. Christ would be revealed in judgment, and His suffering people would be vindicated. This is an important part of the coming of Christ that is often overlooked. The destruction of Jerusalem was not only judgment because of covenant disobedience. It was also vindication for the prophets, apostles, and believers who had been persecuted and killed.

Revelation 6 presents the martyrs crying out for judgment and vindication.

So when Rome surrounded Jerusalem and destroyed the city and temple in the first century, Rome was not the true sovereign actor in the story. Rome was the instrument. Christ was the Judge. This was the wrath of the Lamb.

FILLING UP THE MEASURE

Jesus had already warned that the generation before Him would fill up the measure of their fathers.

Wherefore ye be witnesses unto yourselves, that ye are the children of them which killed the prophets. Fill ye up then the measure of your fathers.

Matthew 23:31-32

In other words, they would finish what their fathers had begun.

Then Jesus gave the time statement.

Verily I say unto you, All these things shall come upon this generation.

Matthew 23:36

The destruction of Jerusalem was therefore not merely Rome defeating another city.

It was covenant judgment.

Rome was the instrument.

Jerusalem was the object of judgment.

Christ was the One coming in the clouds with power and great glory.

LET THE PROPHETS DEFINE THE LANGUAGE

When we allow the prophets to define the imagery, the picture becomes remarkably consistent. God came in the clouds against nations in the Old Testament.

Jesus used that same prophetic language when speaking of judgment upon apostate Jerusalem.

And He placed that judgment within the lifetime of the generation standing before Him.

The events of that generation brought the Old Covenant age to its prophesied conclusion and publicly vindicated the enthroned Son of Man.

Before we decide what “coming in the clouds” must mean, we should first ask what the Bible had already taught its original audience that those words meant.