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 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, chapter 7).
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 Him when He ascended? If it was just a normal cloud, He would have ascended "into a cloud". Scripture says that cloud "received Him". 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 but he did say how He would be coming with all His saints (1 Thessalonians 3:13). In the next chapter he says that He will return bringing with Him those who have fallen asleep in Jesus and He will raise up the bodies of the dead in Christ. They are 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.
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. Does 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 23:46). When Jesus died, His Spirit departed this world and went to the Father. 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 Paradise that day. Did making the thief perfect (by the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross) allow the thief's spirit to be one of the first ones to see the face of God?
Jesus told the thief that they were going to Paradise that day but John also said that He would depart out of this world to be with the Father. The Father is in His heavenly home. Is that the same place as Paradise? Some scholars say no, but I am not sure about that. The tree of life grows there (Revelation 2:7) and it grows by the river of life that flows from the throne of God (Revelation 22:1-2).
Paul spoke of the death and resurrection of Jesus:
1 Corinthians 15
20 But now Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who are asleep.
Paul says that Jesus had been asleep but He was then raised up. He was resurrected as the first fruits of those who are asleep. There is no doubt about the fact that Jesus went to paradise after His death on the cross (Did He also go to speak to spirits in prison - 1 Peter 3:19?). His Spirit went to Paradise. His body was asleep in the tomb. We also know that Jesus told the thief that both of them would be in Paradise that day.
The bodies of both would sleep in the ground that night but the Spirit of Jesus went to the Father. Were the ancient faithful, who had died previously, also made perfect and were their spirits allowed to go with Jesus into Paradise to be brought before the Father? Did they all go with Jesus when He went in (as Daniel foretold) with the clouds of heaven? Were they not the same departed faithful ones that have become a cloud of witnesses around us?
Paul said that Jesus was asleep but He was raised up. Jesus was raised as the first fruits of those who are asleep but only His body had been asleep. His Spirit never slept. Did His Soul also stay awake? Was His Soul in Hades? Paul said (in chapter 5, of his first letter to the Thessalonians), "may your spirit and soul and body be preserved complete, without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ". Our total being includes our spirit, soul and body. His Body, Soul and Spirit all were made complete and ascended to the Father. If it happened with Jesus, the first fruits, does that not mean it will happen to us, the later fruits? Our goal is to be made complete (in spirit and soul and body) and without blame when He comes.
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). If we have been made perfect and blameless (when He comes) we will be allowed to draw near into the Father's home and be allowed to see His face. As the Psalmist said, "As for me, I shall behold Your face in righteousness; I will be satisfied with Your likeness when I awake" (Psalms 17:15). It will only happen if we have been made like Him, with His righteousness.
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. That writer tells us how those priests were serving a copy and shadow of the heavenly (Hebrews 8:5). 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 9:24). 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. Jesus is seated by the Father, serving as High Priest in the inner room Holy of Holies as we serve in the outer room.
If the old tabernacle and its worship were caused to come about as an earthly 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 been poured out on those in our outer room. If our tabernacle has its glory cloud does it contain all of the departed spirits of those made perfect by His blood? If the departed faithful have been made perfect and have become one spirit with Christ (1 Corinthians 6:17) and have been given His glory (John 17:22), have their spirits joined His Spirit in our glory cloud? They have been brought into the glory of Christ.
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 land. The Spirit of the LORD is leading us. Is He not in us (the tabernacle) and in our glory cloud? If we die before we get there, will our spirit continue to travel along with our tabernacle in our cloud of glory (if we have been faithful)? Remember, Jesus said that believers will never die (John 11:26). Are the Spirits of the departed faithful not still with His church body?
Under the old covenant, 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 (after we see Paradise)?
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 tell us who is 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 present with us in the assembly of the church. Would it not include those departed faithful that he wrote of as not having been made perfect apart from us (chapter 11)? Are they not the same ones who are in the cloud of witnesses that now surround us (Hebrews 12:1)? Does that cloud include the Spirits of the faithful of the new covenant? If they are a cloud around us, are they not the glory cloud on our new covenant tabernacle?
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 of His return. He wrote saying, "when the Lord Jesus will be revealed from heaven with His mighty angels in flaming fire" (2 Thessalonians 1:7). Paul spoke, again, 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? 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). We who have been born again of the spirit will enter the kingdom but 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? Can they blow like the wind where 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 to remember. The one who has been joined to the Lord is one spirit with Him (1 Corinthians 6:17).
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 Jesus 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, Jesus 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 Ezekiek 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 Him) 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?
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. He is seeing Him being "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 1:10). Will He be glorified in His saints in the GLORY CLOUDS OF HEAVEN?
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 ("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) .
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? Remember what Moses said of that old covenant cloud; "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 Israel" (Exodus 40:38). Is their earthly journey with their tabernacle telling us an earthly copy of our story? 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.
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? 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. He will judge the nations in body and soul and the bodies and souls of the damned will be 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 4:17)? He 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.
Did judgment of the saints begin two thousand years ago, 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 16:19-31)? 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. 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 selected, then they have obtained eternal life and will not "come into judgment but has already passed out of death into life" (John 5:24). Are their souls in comfort (in Hades) and their spirits in clouds of glory?
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 five or six 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 12/27/04
Revised 11/8/07
Image of the cross is from FreeFoto.com
Link For cross - http://www.freefoto.com/preview/05-08-10?ffid=05-08-10&k=Cross+at+Sunset