He Reigns over all

Daniel 7:9-14          Psalm 47             Acts 1:1-11           Luke 24:44-53

He Reigns over all

As a child, I would often see shapes of things or animals in the cloud formations. One cloud might look like a ship, another like a dog, and so on. This pastime was somewhat spoiled at school when we had to learn the names for all these different formations. Stratus clouds were flat or layered and mostly smooth. Cumulus clouds on the other hand were heaped up and puffy, like cauliflower. Cirrus were wispy clouds high up in the sky. Then there were the Nimbus clouds that brought us rain. 

But to confuse matters even further, there were also combination types like the cumulonimbus clouds, otherwise known as the King of Clouds, that exist through the entire height of the troposphere, usually identified by their icy, anvil-shaped top. But for those living in arid regions, knowing the difference between cloud formations was important. While older folks did not often know all the fancy names for these clouds, they knew when the clouds meant rain or when they meant no rain…they knew when to protect the crops, when to run for cover, or when to tie down anything that could be blown away. They could read the weather by the shape and altitude and size and colour and the movement of the clouds.

Clouds are important in the Scriptures too. Sometimes, the word meant a real, physical cloud that brought rain…such as the clouds that caused the Flood. But the word was also used figuratively to indicate God’s presence…a presence that might bring blessing or might bring judgement depending on the recipient. 

For instance, the cloud that led the Israelite slaves out of Egypt, came between the fleeing people of God and the pursuing Egyptian army. To Israel it was protection and light…to the Egyptians, it was menacing and dark. Moses said, in relating the story of the Exodus, that as the army pursued them into the divided sea, God looked down from the cloud upon the Egyptian army and threw them into a panic. But this same cloud lovingly led Israel to Mount Sinai providing shade for them along the way. This same cloud also served as a protecting and comforting guide all the way to the Promised land.

Now, God’s presence on Mount Sinai and in the Tabernacle and later the Temple was also described in terms of a thick cloud coming down on the mountain or on the two structures. Bear in mind that this cloud also came down on the Apostles on the Mount of Transfiguration, but that’s a sermon for another time. Sometimes, loud noises or a loud voice came out of the cloud, thunder and lightning and something that sounded like trumpets…at other times, it was like a silent, burning fire of overwhelming brightness (sometimes referred to as the “Shekinah” glory)…at other times, there was just a sound of rushing wind…but every time, it was God manifesting his presence in or through some sort of cloud formation.

Scripture also often speaks of God riding on the clouds…or coming on the clouds. In Deuteronomy 33:26 Moses spoke of God riding through the heavens to help his people. In Psalms 18 and 68 David spoke about God coming on the clouds to scatter his enemies, riding upon the wings of the wind, clothed in darkness and thick clouds. The clouds were also said to be God’s chariot. As such, clouds were often synonymous with the Presence of God.

So, it should not come as a surprise to see that when the High Priest entered into the Holy Holies on the Day of Atonement…passing through the thick, heavy veil that represented the dividing wall between us and God…besides the blood offerings for his own sin and for the sin of the people, he had to take a censer full of coals of fire from the altar before the Lord, put two hands full of crushed, sweet smelling incense in it and bring it inside the curtain so that the cloud of the incense may cover the mercy seat, representing God’s throne or judgment seat. Only then could he take the blood of the sacrificed bull and sprinkle it on the mercy seat for the atonement of Israel’s sin. 

Now, fast forward to Jesus’ death on the cross. Do you remember what happened when Jesus died? The veil covering the Holy of Holies was ripped open from top to bottom, right? What was that all about? Well, in the book of Hebrews, the author compared Jesus to the High Priest showing his infinite superiority as the sinless Son of God who offered himself once as a single sacrifice for sins. Jesus neither had to offer a sacrifice for his own sins as he had none nor did he have to repeat his sacrifice of himself because he did not enter a sanctuary made by human hands, a mere copy of the true heavenly sanctuary, but rather he entered heaven itself, not with the blood of animals, but with his own blood.

Now, keep all these images of the High Priest and the Great High Priest, as well as the image of God’s appearance at Mount Sinai, the Tabernacle, and the Temple, in mind as we look briefly at our reading from the book of Daniel. “As I watched,” Daniel wrote, “thrones were set in place, and an Ancient One took his throne, his clothing was white as snow, and the hair of his head like pure wool; his throne was fiery flames, and it wheels were burning fire.” Daniel tells us that this is a court room scene, and that judgement was about to be passed. Then he said that he saw “one like a human being coming with the clouds of heaven and he came to the Ancient One and was presented before Him.” 

Can you see how all these images fit together? The clouds indicating God’s presence but also the clouds of incense that had to precede the entrance of the High Priest into the Holy of Holies to make an offering of blood on the Day of Atonement? Daniel is describing here what happened when Jesus, our Great High Priest, offered himself up for us. This image encompasses the death, burial, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus as it is all part of the one atonement for all time. Jesus entered the Heavenly Holy of Holies…into the court room or throne room of God…coming with clouds (or clothed with clouds) as an offering of Himself for our sin. 

It is important to note that Jesus invoked this very same passage from Daniel at his mockery of a trial before the High Priest, Caiaphas. When Caiaphas asked Jesus, “Are you the Messiah, the Son of the Blessed One?” Jesus replied, “I AM (remember how God responded to Moses when asked to reveal his name – God replied I AM – Jesus is deliberately quoting the reply here); “I AM,” Jesus replied, “and (now here it comes) you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of the Power and coming with the clouds of heaven.” At this point the High Priest tore his clothes and pronounced Jesus guilty of blasphemy. Why? Because he knew the passages quoted Jesus well enough to realise that Jesus was bluntly stating that the one being judged (in other words, Jesus) would soon be the Judge of all, including the High Priest! Soon, they would know in no uncertain terms that Jesus was who he said he was…the Son of God!

That’s what John meant when he said of Jesus in the opening chapter of Revelation, “Look! He is coming with clouds; every eye will see him, EVEN THOSE WHO PIERCED HIM (i.e. those responsible for his crucifixion); and on his account, all the tribes of the land (in other words, the twelve tribes of Israel) will mourn.” (Just keep in mind that often mourning indicated remorse-filled repentance rather than simply wailing…when you have a moment, please go and read Zechariah 12:10 and following…and compare that with all that is written in Acts 2 especially verses 37 and following.) For the first readers of the Revelation, John’s statement would not have been read as an end of time prophecy. Rather, they would have understood that John was making a statement about Jesus’ present enthronement as Lord of lords and King of kings and of his judgment of Apostate Israel.

So, when the Gospels and the opening chapter of Acts speak about Jesus being lifted up on clouds and returning on clouds the authors are not describing some form of celestial skateboarding. No, they are using a well-known image that their first century audience would have understood. Jesus ascended into the Presence of God to sit down as the universal ruler to reign over all…ever to place all his enemies under his feet. Jesus is King and Judge of all.

Now, I’m not sure where we lost this understanding as the Church, but the 19th-century Anglican bishop named Christopher Wordsworth (1807-1855), who was the nephew of the poet William Wordsworth, clearly understood what it meant for Jesus to go on clouds and to come on clouds. In his great hymn (a hymn unfortunately mostly forgotten today) he transports us into that heavenly court room or throne room described in Daniel and in the Day of Atonement passages and other such passages.

See the Conqueror mounts in triumph, see the King in royal state,

Riding on the clouds His chariot, to His heavenly Palace-gate;

Hark, the choirs of angel voices Joyful Hallelujahs sing.

And the portals high are lifted, to receive their heavenly King.

Who is this that comes in glory, with the trump of jubilee?

Lord of battles, God of armies. He has gained the victory;

He Who on the Cross did suffer, He Who from the grave arose.

He has vanquished Sin and Satan, He by death has spoiled His foes

Now our heavenly Aaron enters with His blood within the veil;

Joshua now is come to Canaan, and the kings before Him quail;

Now He plants the tribes of Israel in their promised resting place;

Now our Great Elijah offers double portion of His grace.

Thou hast raised our human nature on the clouds to God’s right hand.

There we sit in heavenly places, there with Thee in glory stand;

Jesus reigns, adored by Angels; Man with God is on the Throne;

Mighty Lord, in Thine Ascension we by faith behold our own.

Isn’t that simply marvellous? Where and when did we as the Church sell our birth rite for pot of defeatist, fear-filled, theology? Our Jesus has not only paid the penalty for our sins, but he has also conquered sin, Satan, and death, he has set us free and has opened the door into the very throne-room of Almighty God! 

Spiritually speaking, we have not only crossed through the Red Sea, dearest beloved brethren, we have crossed over the Jordan, and we have entered into the Promised Land! What we are engaged in right now is a mop-up operation…like Joshua we have been commanded to take, not the land, but the world by making disciples of all nations! And our King has promised to be with us always, even to the end of the Age. 

So, regardless of dictators, dark days, diseases, dangers, disasters, and death, Jesus remains on the throne. Nothing can happen to us that does not somehow fit into His Masterplan of salvation for the world.

I’d like to close with the final verse of Bishop Wordsworth’s hymn:

Glory be to God the Father, Glory be to God the Son,

Dying, risen, ascending for us, Who the heavenly realm has won;

Glory to the Holy Spirit; to One God in Persons Three

Glory both in earth and heaven, glory, endless glory, be!

Let us pray.

© Johannes W H van der Bijl 2022