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Coming in the Clouds
This term is used four times in the New Testament:
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 saith unto them, 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)
And then shall they see the Son of man coming in the clouds with great power and glory. (Mark 13:26)
And Jesus said, I am: and ye shall see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven. (Mark 14:62)
G3507
This word is used 26 times in 22 verses of the New Testament and is translated as cloud or clouds. My question is: Why is it translated as cloud or clouds when it is G3509 that has the definition of "a cloud" (of which G3507 originated from). The original meaning of G3507 means "cloudiness", which I believe should be understood as: a condition caused by the cloud, not the cloud itself. So, if we are to understand it as "cloud" or "clouds" why wasn't G3509 (the word that means cloud) used instead of G3507 (the word that means cloudiness)?
It is my belief that it is God’s Spirit in us that will reveal little things like this to get us to think about what we are reading. What I found was: that “cloudiness” can be understood in different ways.
First, that it can be understood as “a grey area”, a place in between light and darkness. What I mean by that in physical examples is: you are not in direct sunlight and you are not in complete darkness; it is a condition caused by a cloud.
Second, that it can be understood as “a shadow”, what we are in when the cloud comes between us and the sun. In other words, we are in the shadow of the cloud.
Third, that it can be understood as “confusion”, the inability to see clearly. We know that if a cloud comes between us and the sun, we can no longer see the sun clearly. Also, if a cloud is at ground level, we use the word “fog” to describe it, which is just another example of not being able to see clearly.
It is my belief that even all of what I am writing about can be understood in two different ways.
First, since one thing can be understood in different ways, it can cause confusion.
Second, since one thing can be understood in different ways, it expands our understanding of that one thing.
It is this second example, that I believe, is how God’s Spirit works in us. Why do I believe this? I believe this because I believe the words of the apostle Paul when he writes, “For God is not the author of confusion,” (1 Corinthians 14:33).
Another reason I believe it to be true is because I have found that the first example can cause separation of two people whereas the second example can cause unity between two people. What I mean by this with the first example is; if two people are trying to understand one example, and they see this one example differently and they both believe it can only be understood in one way; (the way each of them see it), it will cause a separation between these two people.
But in the second example, if two people are trying to understand one example, and they see this one example differently and they both believe that it can be understood in more than one way, it expands both of their understandings of the one example at the same time, causing unity between these two people.
The main reason I am writing about this is because, understanding the term “coming in the clouds” as “coming in the cloudiness”, we can see two different understandings. One, that when we understand that the Son of man must be crucified, that this can be a reference to “the man of confusion” that is birthed by the flesh (the first Adam). And second, that when we understand that the Son of man will rise from the dead, that this is a reference to “the man of clarity” that is birthed by the Spirit (the last Adam), of who Christ is, in that He comes as a light in the shadow, the cloudiness. He comes into our place of not knowing and brings us into His place of knowing, He brings us into the light, the light of understanding.
When we view things in different ways, it expands our understanding of those things. Because when we read the rest of the term “coming in the cloudiness of heaven”, how many ways did Jesus describe the kingdom of heaven?
“The kingdom of heaven is like to a grain of mustard seed” (Matthew 13:31)
“The kingdom of heaven is like unto leaven” (Matthew 13:33)
“The kingdom of heaven is like unto treasure” (Matthew 13:44)
“The kingdom of heaven is like unto a merchant man” (Matthew 13:45)
“The kingdom of heaven is like unto a net” (Matthew 13:47)
“The kingdom of heaven is like unto a man that is a householder” (Matthew 13:52)
“The kingdom of heaven is like unto a certain king” (Matthew 22:2)
In all these examples, was Jesus trying to confuse us or expand our understanding of the kingdom of heaven? And if we can understand the kingdom of heaven in different ways, should we not be able to understand everything else that belongs to God in different ways? Do we even understand that we limit our understanding when we only see things a certain way?
Seeing beyond a single word. The Spirit of God opens up a whole new world of understanding.