In this article, we will examine the word “cloud”. As with every word study, my hope is that the understanding of how God utilizes this word will aid in our personal bible studies, as we seek to understand and draw near to him.
Apart from the natural understanding of what a cloud is, the spiritual application centers on ‘man’, that is, cloud = man/men. Jude speaking in reference to men says “…clouds they are….”, he then goes on to describe the clouds.
Jude 1:12 KJV These are spots in your feasts of charity, when they feast with you, feeding themselves without fear: clouds they are without water, carried about of winds; trees whose fruit withereth, without fruit, twice dead, plucked up by the roots;
2 Peter 2:17 KJV These are wells without water, clouds that are carried with a tempest; to whom the mist of darkness is reserved for ever.
Now both Jude and Peter speak of clouds in reference to man, but what is clear from both passages and the verses that precede them, is that a specific type of man/cloud is being referred to, that is, the cloud of an ungodly man. Notice, in both verses, clouds are carried/moved about with winds/tempest. This speaks to men who are moved by the winds of contrary doctrine, the lies of the enemy:
That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive;
Ephesians 4:14 KJV
Jude also mentions the following of the ungodly men: “clouds they are without water“. A cloud filled with ‘water’ is a man filled with Christ – the living water, therefore, the cloud without water is a man without Christ.
With the understanding, based on the words of Jude, that clouds refer to man, let’s examine some examples of this:
Bright clouds that rain
Ask ye of the LORD rain in the time of the latter rain; so the LORD shall make bright clouds, and give them showers of rain, to every one grass in the field.
Zechariah 10:1 KJV
There are two things God promises to do here with the clouds and he tells us the reason for doing so. He promised to:
- Make the clouds bright
- Give them “showers of rain”
The reason for doing this is so he can water the grass of the field.
Bright clouds
So what does it mean to make the clouds bright? A cloud becomes bright when the light of the sun enters the cloud.
And now men see not the bright light which is in the clouds: but the wind passeth, and cleanseth them.
Job 37:21 KJV
When the light of the God – The Risen Sun (Jesus), enters a cloud (a man), the cloud becomes bright. To become bright is to be filled with the knowledge of God’s glory:
For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
2 Corinthians 4:6 KJV
Showers of rain
How does God give the clouds showers of rain? What is rain?
Sow to yourselves in righteousness, reap in mercy; break up your fallow ground: for it is time to seek the LORD, till he come and rain righteousness upon you.
Hosea 10:12 KJV
To rains righteousness is to rain Jesus Christ – The Word of God, because Jesus is the righteousness of God.
But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption:
1 Corinthians 1:30 KJV
When we receive the Word/Spirit of God (Jesus), that’s how God gives man/clouds showers of rain.
Purpose
The final issue to be addressed is the question of why? What is the intent or purpose of God behind making the clouds bright (filling them with light)? And why give them showers of rain? The reason given: “….to every one grass in the field.”
Grass is used in reference to flesh:
….. All flesh is grass, and all the goodliness thereof is as the flower of the field:
Isaiah 40:6 KJV
Field is the world:
Matthew 13:38 KJV The field is the world…..
Grass of the field is a worldly man. The bright clouds (men filled with the light of Christ) are given showers of rain (the word of God) to pour out upon the grass of the field.
Plainly said, this is God giving the truth of Christ, first, to those who follow and serve him, so they can in turn pour it out to those who don’t know God, to the end that they too can come to know him.
Voice out of a dark cloud
These words the LORD spake unto all your assembly in the mount out of the midst of the fire, of the cloud, and of the thick darkness, with a great voice: and he added no more. And he wrote them in two tables of stone, and delivered them unto me.
Deuteronomy 5:22 KJV
God speaking out of a dark cloud from the mount is an allegory. To appreciate its significance, we must also consider this:
While he yet spake, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them: and behold a voice out of the cloud, which said, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye him.
Matthew 17:5 KJV
When Moses was on the mount and God spoke out of the cloud, the cloud was dark. When Jesus is on the mount and the voice of God is heard, it’s from a bright cloud.
God speaking from “the cloud” in both instances point to the fact that God speaks (often not always) through men, then and now. But under Moses (the law), the clouds were dark because the light of Jesus had not yet come to fill them with the knowledge of the LORD. So though the prophets of the old testament spoke the word of the LORD, the revelation of said word was made manifest with the coming of Jesus.
For I tell you, that many prophets and kings have desired to see those things which ye see, and have not seen them ; and to hear those things which ye hear, and have not heard them.
KJV Luke 10:24
Any cloud/man, speaking on God’s behalf, will be filled with light i.e. will have the revelatory light of Christ with them, which allows them to see. (Bright cloud)
The cloud cover in the wilderness
He spread a cloud for a covering; and fire to give light in the night.
Psalm 105:39 KJV
Here is God leading his people (Israel) through the wilderness and providing them with the protection they need from the elements. This is a shadow of Christ and what he does for those who trust in him.
The cloud and the fire do more than just lead the people, the cloud “cover” by day protects the people from the heat of the sun and the fire by night provides warmth in the coldness of the night.
How does this shadow Jesus you ask? The sun is sometimes used symbolically of the devil, the heat of that sun is a symbol of death the devil brings, hence God’s promise of protection from that heat:
They shall not hunger nor thirst; neither shall the heat nor sun smite them: for he that hath mercy on them shall lead them, even by the springs of water shall he guide them.
KJV Isaiah 49:10
Recommended read: Heat of the suns
He also told us how he would do it:
And when I shall put thee out, I will cover the heaven, and make the stars thereof dark; I will cover the sun with a cloud, and the moon shall not give her light.
Ezekiel 32:7 KJV
The wilderness is used symbolically to refer to what the world became when Adam fell: Isaiah 14:17 KJV That made the world as a wilderness…..
Jesus is the cloud that “covers” us from the heat of that sun:
They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more; neither shall the sun light on them, nor any heat.
KJV Revelation 7:16
The children of Israel having the cloud cover to protect them from the heat of the sun as they journeyed through the wilderness, is a shadow of how the cloud/man Jesus Christ, will cover from death (heat of the devil) those who trust in him.
Strength in the clouds
Ascribe ye strength unto God: his excellency is over Israel, and his strength is in the clouds.
Psalm 68:34 KJV
Man obtains the strength of God via his Word and his Word is Jesus:
I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.
Philippians 4:13 KJV
Therefore, God’s strength being in the clouds equates to Jesus, the Word of God, being in man.
The bow in the cloud
I do set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a token of a covenant between me and the earth. [14] And it shall come to pass, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the bow shall be seen in the cloud:
Genesis 9:13-14 KJV
The bow is described as being the likeness of glory of God:
As the appearance of the bow that is in the cloud in the day of rain, so was the appearance of the brightness round about. This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the LORD. And when I saw it, I fell upon my face, and I heard a voice of one that spake.
Ezekiel 1:28 KJV
So God setting his bow in the cloud is a shadow of how the light of his glory (bow) would be placed in man (cloud). This is the light of Christ filling us with the knowledge of God’s glory (2 Cor 4:6). We see the same shadow here:
And it came to pass, as Aaron spake unto the whole congregation of the children of Israel, that they looked toward the wilderness, and, behold, the glory of the LORD appeared in the cloud.
Exodus 16:10 KJV
When he said “it shall be for a token of a covenant between me and the earth”, the earth is used to reference the earthen vessel i.e. man. God doesn’t make covenants with things, he makes covenants with people and the covenant he promised to make:
But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the LORD, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people.
Jeremiah 31:33 KJV
He puts his laws/his light/ his glory in us. That’s consistently the theme.
God also says that when “he brings a cloud over the earth, the bow would be seen in the cloud”. God’s people, who are sent to rain and provide cloud cover to “the earth” will be easily identified by the bow that is God’s glory/light/love/fruit will be seen in them i.e. the bow will be seen in the cloud.
Coming in the clouds
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 KJV
The above is Jesus’s response to the question of the high priest. Notice the word “hereafter”. Hereafter is the equivalent to “henceforth” or “from now on”. So Jesus says to the high priest and those with him: from now on you all (ye) shall see… the Son of man… coming in the clouds of heaven. From this, “his coming” is positioned as something that will be taking place (continuously) from that point forward (hereafter) and not a one time event. Revelation confirms this to be the case:
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. [8] I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty.
Revelation 1:7-8 KJV
We are told above that “he cometh with clouds”, then Jesus goes on to break down his coming by saying: “….. the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come,…”
Which is come… (present)
Which was come… (past)
Which is to come… (future)
This is why Jesus could say to the religious leaders of his day, that from now on he would be seen sitting on the right hand of power and coming “in the clouds of heaven”. Because, beginning in his era (since the time of the apostles) and continuing down to where we are, “he has continuously been seen coming in/with the clouds of heaven.”
The clouds of heaven are those who trust in Jesus. He comes in us, he’s always with us.
I will not leave you comfortless: I (Jesus) will come to you. [20] At that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you.
John 14:18,20 KJV
When he comes in “the clouds of heaven” then can he bring the latter rain upon earthy men, then he can fill us with the light of the Spirit, which transforms us from dark clouds to bright clouds.
We’ve come to the end of this word study, as always, I pray that this would have blessed you and equipped you to better understand and appreciate how God speaks and thus deepen your relationship with him.
