Following is the introduction to my book "THE CLOUDS OF HEAVEN".
It includes a summary of what is in the book. If
you read
the summary in this introduction, you don't need to read my book to get
the message.
What
is this book all about? It's
about listening to Jesus. We
need to listen to His every word because
Jesus never wasted His words. He
never
made casual remarks about anything and that includes the weather and He
was not
just predicting a stormy day when He returns with the clouds of heaven.
If He thought it was
important enough to
mention His coming in or on clouds several different times, they are
not just
normal water vapor clouds. There
is
something special about those clouds of heaven.
The
gospels record Him saying how He will be
coming on the clouds or with the clouds of heaven five or six different
times.
John did not mention
it in his gospel but he
did in his book of Revelation. Why
all
the clouds? What have clouds got to do with anything? Why
are they also mentioned in the Old
Testament scriptures? Even
Daniel
mentioned them, saying, "And
behold, with the clouds of heaven One like a Son
of Man was coming , And He came up to the Ancient of Days And was
presented
before Him"
(Daniel 7:13).
Do
the scriptures say something that might
help us understand what Jesus is telling us? When
we look at those scriptures and put them
together, we can begin to see some interesting things. Why does the scripture
include that statement
about a cloud receiving Jesus when He ascended? If
it was just a normal cloud, He would have
ascended "into a cloud". Scripture says that cloud "received
Him"
(Acts 1:9).
Would a cloud
receiving Him indicate that the
cloud had some ability to accept Him?
Paul
tells us about how Jesus will be
returning. He did
not mention Jesus
returning in clouds or with the clouds of heaven but he did say how He
would be coming with all His
saints (1 Thessalonians
The saints will be coming back with
Jesus and their
bodies will be resurrected. Jesus
will
resurrect their bodies and they will ascend together with the faithful
who are
still living at that time. They
will be
"caught
up together
with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air".
Paul did not mention
Him coming with clouds
but he does say that He will be coming with the saints and they will be
caught
up in the clouds.
Is Paul saying the same thing that Jesus said when He said that He would be returning with the clouds of heaven? Are they both saying that Jesus will be returning with the spirits of the saints? Are they speaking of the same returning?
Some
Christians believe that Paul is speaking
of an event (The caught up) that will take place long before Jesus
returns with
the clouds of heaven to judge the nations. From the
prospective
of our lesson it does not matter. We will see that a little
later.
In
chapter 11, when the Hebrew writer spoke of
the departed faithful, he ended the chapter saying that they could not
have
been made perfect apart from us. He
continued his discussion about them in chapter 12. Remember,
he said, "since
we have so
great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us".
The Greek wording
says cloud, not crowd. The
departed faithful are a cloud around us.
Is
he saying that cloud is made up of the
spirits of the departed faithful? When
he wrote those verses, the faithful of old had long since died and
their bodies
were sleeping in the ground. Was
he not
speaking of a cloud of spirits of those made perfect, surrounding the
brotherhood
of the church? Do
they surround us as a
cloud, cheering us on to victory? Did
they first see Paradise and know by sight the great prize that is
waiting for the faithful. Would
that
make them cheer all the more for
us?
John
wrote of the death of Jesus, saying, "Jesus
knowing that
His hour had come that He would depart out of this world to the Father" (John
13:1). Just
before He died, Jesus said,
"Father,
INTO YOUR
HANDS I COMMIT MY SPIRIT" (Luke
Did
other
spirits also go to the Father that day? Jesus
told the confessing thief on the cross that he would be with Him in
Jesus
told the thief that they were going to
Some
scholars say no. Based
on what Peter said
about Christ’s soul
not having been abandoned to Hades (Acts
Paul spoke of the time
when he was “caught
up into
God’s home is up in the third heaven.
It sounds like Paradise is in the third heaven. The
tree of life grows in
How could Christ be in two different
places
between the time of His death and His resurrection?
We will see how Christ was actually in three
different places after He died.
There
is no doubt about the fact that Jesus
went to
Paul seems to be saying that in chapter 5, of his first letter to the Thessalonians. He speaks of being hopeful that God will sanctify them entirely and then he says, "may your spirit and soul and body be preserved complete, without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ".
Paul said that our being
consists of our, “spirit
and soul and
body”. We
hope to be
preserved complete in all three when He comes.
Regarding
the resurrection of Jesus from the
dead, Paul says, “But
now Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of
those who are asleep.”
(1 Corinthians 15:20)
Paul
says that Jesus had been asleep but He
was then raised up. His
body slept but
not His Soul and Spirit. Christ’s
Body,
Soul and Spirit were separated when He died.
His body was placed in the tomb but His Spirit ascended to
the Father
when His Soul descended into Hades.
The
Father, however, did not abandon His Soul to Hades.
He brought it up when Christ’s Spirit
returned at the resurrection.
Should not the same thing happen for the brothers of Christ? If Jesus was raised as the first fruits of those who are asleep, then, there are later fruits. Christians are the later fruits. They have also become sons of God. Will they not be made complete in spirit and soul and body when He returns?
Between
the
time of their death and His coming their bodies will be
asleep in the
tomb and their souls will be in Hades. Will their spirits not have seen
Did it not happen to Stephen when he died? He was brought before the council to answer for preaching against Moses (Acts, chapter 6). When he spoke of seeing the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God, they drug him out and stoned him. Just before his body fell asleep, he called on the Lord and said, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit!" His spirit went to be with Jesus when his body fell asleep. Will it not happen for all of the faithful?
If
Christ's Spirit and Soul and Body were separated
at His death, but were reunited at His resurrection, will not the same
thing
happen with the later fruits, the other sons of God?
If so, they will be made complete when He
comes. Our goal is
to be made complete
and without blame, in spirit and soul and body, when He comes.
The perfect Spirit of Christ went to
the Father when He died. He had paid the price of man’s sins and redeemed
the faithful of all time. Were the
ancient faithful, who had died previously, not made perfect by His sacrifice
and were their spirits allowed to go with Jesus into Paradise to be brought
before the Father when He went in (As Daniel foretold) with the clouds of
heaven?
Remember, Daniel had written, "And behold, with the clouds of heaven One like a Son of Man was coming, And He came up to the Ancient of Days And was presented before Him” (Daniel 7:13).
Daniel
then wrote, "And to Him was given dominion, Glory and a kingdom, That all
the peoples, nations and men of every language Might serve Him. His dominion is
an everlasting dominion Which will not pass away; And His kingdom is one Which
will not be destroyed.”
That is not something that is yet to
come. It is something that has already
happened. Christ is now LORD and
King. That is why, when Peter preached
that first gospel sermon on the Day of Pentecost, he told those Jews, "Therefore let all
the house of
The Hebrew writer says, “But we do see Him who
was made for a little while lower than the angels, namely, Jesus, because of
the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor, so that by the grace of
God He might taste death for everyone.” (Hebrews 2:9) Jesus has been crowned with glory and
honor. He is now Lord of lords and King
of kings. It happened after He suffered
and died for us. It appears that it may have
happened on the day that He died.
Remember, Jesus told the thief on the
cross (The one who had confessed Him and asked Him to remember him when He came
in His kingdom) "Truly I say to you, today you shall be with Me in
Jesus said those words in response to that man’s request to
remember him when He came in His kingdom.
If the thief was speaking of the day
when Christ would come in His kingdom and if Jesus was responding directly to that
request, was He saying that He would be given His kingdom in Paradise that
day? Was it the day when He came before the
ancient of days with the clouds of heaven to receive His kingdom. If He had purchased those faithful ones with
His blood, did He begin to reign as their king that day?
In chapter 10, the Hebrew writer will say how, "the Law, since it has only a shadow of the good things to come and not the very form of things, can never, by the same sacrifices which they offer continually year by year, make perfect those who draw near".
God demands
perfection (without blame). Those ancient faithful ones could not be made
perfect by those old Law sacrifices. At the cross, they have been made perfect
with us by His blood.
Jesus suffered and died for the faithful of all time, including those who died before Christ came to earth. He paid their debt for sins and made them perfect.
That means the
ancient faithful were made perfect the moment that Jesus died. Had not the thief also been made perfect by
Christ’s blood and was he also qualified to draw near into the presence of the
Father?
Did he not go in with the clouds
of heaven to see Jesus crowned King of kings and Lord of lords?
The Psalmist spoke of his being allowed
to see God’s face when he is raised. He said, "As for me, I shall
behold Your face in righteousness; I will be satisfied with Your likeness when
I awake" (Psalms
If we have been made perfect and blameless by
faith in Jesus, we will be allowed to draw near into the Father's home and we
will be allowed to see His face when our spirits depart this earth but our resurrected bodies will also see Him.
The old covenant and its Law could
never provide perfection. The Law of Moses only had the shadow; it did
not have the true form of reality. Their
old covenant tabernacle worship was a part of the shadow. The Hebrew
writer tells us how those priests were serving a copy and shadow of the
heavenly (Hebrews 8:5). They worshipped at a tabernacle that was the
copy. We worship at the true tabernacle.
The body of Christ is the church and it
is God's new covenant dwelling place. The Hebrew writer tells us (chapter
9) that Christ entered through a more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands
and not of this creation. He will also say how the old tabernacle
holy place made with hands was a "mere copy" of the true one
(Hebrews
Christ is our High Priest and He is now
seated at the right hand of the Father in the true tabernacle Holy of Holies
(Hebrews 8:1). Jesus is seated by the Father, serving as High Priest in
the inner room Holy of Holies as we serve in the outer room holy place of the
church.
The church on earth is the true
tabernacle outer room. Christ went through the outer tabernacle room of
His flesh on earth and now serves in the inner room by the Father.
If the old covenant house of God was
only a copy did the glory cloud on that old tabernacle foretell a glory cloud
on our tabernacle? The Spirit of the LORD was in that old covenant cloud.
His Spirit has now been poured out on those in our tabernacle outer
room.
If the old
house of God had His cloud of glory on it then the true house of God has God’s
glory cloud on it. The true tabernacle
was raised up when Jesus came forth from the tomb. All of His people of faith from all time have
been brought into that house. Those who
are alive today are the serving priesthood in that house but all of the
faithful of all time are also in that house.
When Moses erected the
tabernacle, scripture says, “Then the cloud covered
the tent of meeting, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle. Moses was not able to enter the tent of meeting
because the cloud had settled on it, and the glory of the LORD filled the
tabernacle.” (Exodus 40:34-35) Moses
said of that "throughout all their journeys, the cloud of the LORD was on
the tabernacle by day, and there was fire in it by night, in the sight of all
the house of
We read from Hebrews 12:1, how the departed faithful are a cloud of witnesses around us (the church). When we look at what the Hebrew writer says later (In that chapter), he will speak of those who are present in our church assembly. He tells us that we have come "to the general assembly and church of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven".
He listed those who are present and they include
God, the Judge, and Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant and angels and "the spirits of the
righteous made perfect".
The spirits of the righteous made perfect are now present with us in the assembly of the church. Would it not include the spirits of those departed faithful that he wrote of as not having been made perfect apart from us (chapter 11)? They were made perfect with us by the blood of Christ. Are they not the same ones who are in the cloud of witnesses that now surround us (Hebrews 12:1)?
Are not all of the departed faithful with us in the
assembly of the church as the cloud of glory on the house of God? Would that cloud not include the Spirits of
the departed faithful of the new covenant?
The Spirit of the LORD is in His glory
cloud. All of the faithful have become
one spirit with Him (“the one who joins himself to the Lord is one spirit with
Him” - 1 Corinthians
The old covenant story had God's people
being brought out of slavery to be led to their land of promise. They
were led through that wilderness with the Spirit of the LORD in His cloud of
glory leading them. We have been brought out of slavery (to sin) to be
led to our spiritual land. The Spirit of
the LORD is leading us. Is He not in our glory cloud?
When we die, will our spirit see
Remember, "throughout all
their journeys, the cloud of the LORD was on the tabernacle by day, and there
was fire in it by night, in the sight of all the house of
The ones who fell in the wilderness
never arrived at their land because they were not faithful. If we are not
faithful, will we be left behind in our wilderness? If we remain
faithful, will we not continue to travel along with our tabernacle toward our
land?
Jesus will be revealed to the world when He comes in clouds of glory. Will the departed faithful be revealed with Him in those clouds? Paul spoke of that day when Christ will return and said that, "when the Lord Jesus will be revealed from heaven with His mighty angels in flaming fire" (2 Thessalonians 1:7).
In another place Paul spoke of that day, saying, "When Christ, who
is our life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in
glory" (Colossians 3:4). We will be revealed when He is revealed
in glory. Will it take place when He comes with the clouds of heaven?
Will those who have been born again of water and the Spirit be set free to blow where they wish after their departure? From what Jesus told the thief on the cross, our departed spirits will go to Paradise when we die. We will see Paradise but we are also in the assembly of the church on earth. Can the departed spirits of the faithful go back and forth?
Remember, Jesus spoke of those born of the Spirit, saying, "The wind blows where
it wishes and you hear the sound of it, but do not know where it comes from and
where it is going; so is everyone who is born of the Spirit" (John 3:8).
What did Jesus mean by that? Those who are born of the Spirit will somehow be hearing a sound like the wind blowing. Could it be like what happened on the Day of Pentecost? Remember what happened that day? It had not been long since Jesus had ascended back to the Father and the disciples were together in one place that day. That was when the Spirit came upon them.
Scripture says, “- suddenly there
came from heaven a noise like a violent rushing wind, and it filled the whole
house where they were sitting. And there appeared to them tongues as of
fire distributing themselves, and they rested on each one of them. And
they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other
tongues, as the Spirit was giving them utterance.” (Acts 2:2-4)
We
remember what happened next. The Jews
that were gathered for the feast heard the sound and came to see what was
happening. By the power of the Spirit, the
apostles preached the first gospel message to the crowd of Jews that had
gathered and they preached it in the different languages of all of those who
were there. Each one heard the message
in his language.
Those
Jews were amazed and wondered what was happening. Peter stood up and told them that what was
happening was what had been foretold by the prophet, Joel. Joel had foretold how that in the “Last Days”
God would pour out His Spirit on all mankind and how they would prophesy and
have visions and dreams.
The Last Days had come and God’s Spirit was poured out on man that day and it come with a loud noise like the sound of a violent wind. Was that what Jesus was referring to? He said that the wind blows where it wants to blow and you can hear the sound of it but you don’t know where it is coming from or where it is going and “so is everyone who is born of the Spirit"?
Everyone who has
obeyed the gospel message has been born of the Spirit and they have been given
that same Spirit of God. That includes all
of the saved today. It came like the
sound of a rushing wind for those back then but it is not happening to us today. We can’t hear the sound of it. Why not?
Jesus said “so is everyone who is born of the Spirit".
We who have been born again of the Spirit
have entered the
We can't blow where we wish; at least not while in the flesh. Is He speaking of the departed spirits that are in the cloud around us blowing where we wish? Can they blow like the wind where ever they wish?
Have
the spirits of the departed faithful been
blowing about to the four winds and surrounding God's people wherever
they have
been scattered over this earth? Are
they
blowing around among the scattered assembly of the church?
Some day, Christ will send forth His angels "with A GREAT TRUMPET and THEY WILL GATHER TOGETHER His elect from the four winds, "from one end of the sky to the other" (Matthew 24:31). Was He not speaking of those born of the Spirit? Will they have been blowing about like the wind?
Was Jesus saying the same thing through Ezekiel when he had seen that valley of dry bones become assembled into dead bodies? He was commanded to prophesy to the breath and tell the breath to "Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe on these slain, that they come to life" (Ezekiel 37:9). He went on to say "I will put My Spirit within you and you will come to life, and I will place you on your own land".
When
we look at the
Hebrew wording and Strongs Definitions, we see the Hebrew word for
breath is
the same word as the word for Spirit. There
is something else to remember. The
one
who has been joined to the Lord is one Spirit with Him (1 Corinthians
Did
not the Old Testament prophets show us the
same picture that we read about in the New Testament?
Does
not Jesus speak to us from the Old
Testament scriptures, telling us of the cross and its resulting glory? Peter said,
"the
prophets who
prophesied of the grace that would come to you made careful searches
and
inquiries, seeking to know what person or time the Spirit of Christ
within them
was indicating as He predicted the sufferings of Christ and the glories
to
follow"
(1
Peter 1:10-11).
When
the
prophets spoke of the cross and the glory to follow, it was really
Christ
speaking. When
Ezekiel spoke of that
valley of bodies being raised up and of God calling the breath from the
four
winds to breathe life into them and then of His bringing them into the
land of
promise, Christ was speaking and He is telling us about the glories to
come. He spoke
through the prophets what He would
later speak in the flesh and through the inspired writers of the New
Testament.
When Ezekiel spoke of how he was commanded to prophesy to the breath and tell the breath to "Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe on these slain, that they come to life", was he saying the same thing that Paul said when he spoke of Jesus returning (In 1 Thessalonians, chapter 4)?
Paul said He will return, bringing with Him those who had fallen asleep (In Jesus) and then He will resurrect their bodies and they will rise to meet Him. Will that not be the day when Jesus will lead them to their own land?
Will
Jesus not
be returning with the clouds of heaven?
Will
He be bringing the breath from the four
winds when He comes? Remember,
Paul said, "may
your spirit and soul and body be preserved
complete, without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ".
Did not Ezekiel, show us the same picture in chapter 1 of his book? Ezekiel saw, a storm wind coming with a great cloud and bright light and continuous flashing fire. Ezekiel will say, "As the appearance of the rainbow in the clouds on a rainy day" and "Such was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the LORD". Was Ezekiel foretelling the Lord's return in His glory clouds?
Could
the appearance
of the likeness of the LORD'S glory that Ezekiel saw be the same as
what Jesus
described about His return? Could
fire
flashing forth be,
"For
just like the lightning, when it flashes out of one part
of the sky, shines to the other part of the sky, so will the Son of Man
be in
His day"
(Luke 17:24). Is
Ezekiel
seeing Jesus sending forth His angels to gather His elect from the four
winds?
Whatever
Ezekiel saw it was not just some
prophet rambling on. This
was not just
Old Testament poetry.
It
was Jesus
speaking and He is telling of that day when He will return in glory. Jesus is speaking through
Ezekiel. Ezekiel
was seeing Jesus coming on the clouds
of the sky.
When He comes He will be coming on the clouds and be
"revealed
from
heaven with His mighty angels in flaming fire" - - "when He comes to
be glorified in His saints on that day, and to be marveled at among all
who
have believed"
(2
Thessalonians
Ezekiel foretold it all again in chapter 34. In verse 12, he said, "I will care for My sheep and will deliver them from all the places to which they were scattered on a cloudy and gloomy day". It will be a cloudy and gloomy day for most but a day of glory for those who are called from the four winds to be revealed in clouds of glory.
Those
departed faithful are
there in the
clouds now but they can only be seen by faith. Some
day they will be revealed with Him in
glory. When it
happens, every eye will
see Him coming with the clouds of heaven ("BEHOLD,
HE IS COMING WITH THE
CLOUDS, and every eye will see Him , even those who pierced Him ; and
all the
tribes of the earth will mourn over Him"
- Revelation 1:7) .
Was that old covenant story of that Hebrew nation telling us about our story and our journey? Is their earthly journey with their tabernacle telling us an earthly copy of our story?
Paul said that whatever was written in earlier times was written for our instruction (Romans 15:4). It was written so that we might have hope. We can have hope to live with Jesus in eternal glory but as our earthly tabernacle is still traveling toward our land can we hope to continue to travel with it after we depart this life? After our bodies fall asleep can we travel along in a spiritual glory cloud on our tabernacle like the old cloud was on their old tabernacle?
The
true house of Israel is the Israel of faith. Those of faith
will
be able to see that cloud and know it is on the LORD'S tabernacle.
We are the LORD'S tabernacle.
The spirits of the
righteous
made perfect are with us in the assembly.
Jesus
will
keep His promise; He truly will be
with us to the end of the age. He will not leave us alone,
even
after
our
bodies fall asleep. He is with those who are serving in the
tabernacle outer room and He is with those departed ones who are in the
cloud around us.
So, how is it that the spirits of the departed saints are now in the clouds around us but Judgment Day is yet to come? How are the departed saints with Jesus, in a cloud of glory if they have not yet been judged? Is it possible that they have been judged?
We don't know all of the answers but everything God wanted us to know is in the scriptures. We do know that all scripture is God breathed and we know that JESUS IS LORD and He is the Word spoken in the Holy Scriptures. We know that all will be judged and we know that when He returns in clouds of glory, all bodies will be raised and the saints will ascend to meet Him in the air.
We also know that Jesus will
judge the
nations when He comes. He will
judge the nations in
body and soul and the bodies and souls of the damned will be condemned
and cast into
hell.
Will
the saints be judged before the
unbelieving nations are judged? Will
it
happen when we depart this life (Except for those who will still be
living when
He returns)? Was
Peter speaking of that
when he wrote, "For
it is time for judgment to begin with the household of
God; and if it begins with us first, what will be the outcome for those
who do
not obey the gospel of God"
(1
Peter
Peter
included himself
and he said that we, who
are of God's household, will be judged first, before unbelievers are
judged. He also
said the time had come for judgment of
the saints to begin. He made that statement nearly two
thousand years ago.
Did
judgment of the saints begin as the first century saints fell asleep? Were
their souls judged and separated in Hades?
Does the story of
the rich man and
Lazarus tell us that (Luke
Remember, the rich
man died and found himself
in torment in Hades. The
poor man was in
comfort. The last
day had not come
because the rich man was concerned about his brothers, still living on
earth. The bodies
of those two men were still in the
tomb; only their souls would have been in Hades.
A judgment had happened to separate the souls of those two men and it happened before Jesus will come in glory and judge the nations. A judgment of the saints who are still living and serving will happen on that last day but the souls of the departed saints may be judged first to determine where they will dwell until the final resurrection and judgment takes place.
If
the departed faithful have already been judged and selected, then they
have
obtained
eternal life and will not
"come
into judgment but has already passed
out of death into life" (John
I have written this book so that we can listen to Jesus speak from His holy word as He tells us of His return in the clouds of heaven. We must be careful not to go beyond what is written and for fifty years I have tried to meet that requirement but I may have been cutting some scriptures short and not have believed they meant what they said.
Those,
way-out, scriptures are not, way-out, they are right on. Some are hard to understand
and we may not be
able to find answers to all of our questions but we must continue to
search the
scriptures. All
scripture is true and it
will happen, just as Jesus said it will happen.
I
must tell you that I am not from one of the
schools of theology. I
am a retired
engineer and have been a Christian most of my life. It
has only been within the last few
years that I have come to realize how God caused the old covenant
tabernacle
and its worship to happen to show us some things about our spiritual
worship
and our tabernacle.
You
will notice that I have used the New
American Standard translation for the copied scriptures in this book. You may wish to also read
the same scriptures
from the translation that you normally use.
Johnny
Rogers
Revised
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