While he was still speaking, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them; and behold, a voice out of the cloud, said, This is My beloved Son, with whom I am well-pleased; listen to Him! Matthew 17:5 Then a cloud formed, overshadowing them, and a voice came out of the cloud, This is My beloved Son, listen to Him! Mark 9:7 While he was saying this, a cloud formed and began to overshadow them; and they were afraid as they entered the cloud. Then a voice came out of the cloud, saying, This is My Son, My Chosen One; listen to Him! Luke 9:34-35 There is probably no more dramatic moment of Yeshuas presence with His disciples than this. It is comparable to Moses meeting the LORD in the cloud. This is as impactful as when, following His crucifixion, Yeshua departed from them and ascended into the cloud. And after He [Yeshua] had said these things, He was lifted up while they were looking on, and a cloud received Him out of their sight. Acts 1:9 It is clear from the testimony of the Tanach that the appearance of the cloud by day and the fire by night is the very presence of God—His glory, His power, and His majesty. But it is also clear that this very cloud was part of Yeshuas presence with us when He came to do the work of redemption. The cloud is not just a thing of the past. The cloud has a future and it involves us as the final generation. The Apostle Paul refers to this future by reminding us of the lessons of the cloud in the past. For I do not want you to be unaware, brethren, that our fathers were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea; and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea; I Corinthians 10:1-2 Paul recounts how the children of Israel, despite the presence of the cloud and the incredible events that God brought about, continued to grumble, craved the wrong things, rose up to play (with the golden calf), and were immoral. He then relates that we should learn from their misdeeds and mistakes. He concludes that we will be tested at the end of the ages. Now these things happened to them as an example, and they were written for our instruction, upon whom the ends of the ages have come. I Corinthians 10:11 When the great tribulation comes and many brethren escape to the camp of the righteous as part of the greater exodus, I am not sure that our generation will do much better than our forefathers did. I believe we too will have a cloud by day and a fire by night in our camps. I base this on Pauls reference to the end and the prophet Isaiah referring to the tribulation saints who escape, survive, and endure. In that day the Branch of the LORD will be beautiful and glorious, and the fruit of the earth will be the pride and the adornment of the survivors of Israel. It will come about that he who is left in Zion and remains in Jerusalem will be called holy—everyone who is recorded for life in Jerusalem. When the Lord has washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion, and purged the bloodshed of Jerusalem from her midst, by the spirit of judgment and the spirit of burning, then the LORD will create over the whole area of Mount Zion and over her assemblies [the camps of the righteous in the greater exodus] a cloud by day, even smoke, and the brightness of a flaming fire by night; for over all the glory will be a canopy. There will be a shelter [a sukkah] to give shade from the heat by day, and refuge and protection from the storm and the rain. Isaiah 4:2-6 This is clearly a future prophecy. It is not talking about the exodus of Egypt; it is talking about the events at the end of the age as part of the great tribulation. Consider this thought and our future as the final generation. We escape from our homes and cities, joining other brethren in our sukkahs (booths, huts, tabernacles, and tents). God leads us from camping location to camping location with a cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night. In our day, to what extent will we recognize Gods power and presence in the camp with us by the witness of the cloud? Will we learn the lessons of the past and not make the same kinds of mistakes that our ancestors made? Will we understand the meaning of the cloud and recognize Gods presence with us? I hope that we will, but given that we are sons and daughters of the ancients, we will have to learn quickly. I fear that our life in the nations, with its pleasures and comforts, has pre-conditioned us to make the same mistakes of the past. Will we hold the presence of the cloud in awe and respect of God? I believe I know the answer to this and the answer is YES. I dont know about the cloud that will be seen in the camp as we travel. We will probably have to deal with a lot of rebels and those who wont trust the LORD, but I believe we will do the right thing when the LORD comes down from heaven in a cloud. And then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. Luke 21:27 On that day, everyone (believer and unbeliever) will be compelled to take note of that cloud and the presence of God. That will be a glorious day because the cloud will shine very brightly! Let me conclude with these thoughts. The Messiah was in the cloud; He led the children of Israel out of Egypt. He is the One who leads us to the Father and His Instruction (the Torah). He is the One who builds the tabernacle in our hearts and inhabits it. He is the One who takes us to the Promised Land. The same cloud was there when the disciples heard the voice of the Father say, This is my beloved Son… It is the same cloud that Yeshua ascended to heaven in. It is the same cloud that we should expect to see in the camps when we escape the great tribulation. It will be the same cloud that will bring Him back to rule and reign from Jerusalem.
Posted on: Mon, 24 Mar 2014 09:15:36 +0000
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