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Continuing our discussion from part two, the more I read all of these intriguing verses, the more I become convinced that we are not being told the whole story concerning the Lord's return. Why? Well, for one thing, because I do not believe that Jesus was alone at His return. Yes, I know that He was accompanied by the holy Angels, but that is not what I mean. If you are confused by this statement, then I encourage you again to read my companion series called "Jesus Christ's Return: Have We Been Deceived?". It will clearly address this issue for you.

If Jesus is truly the central figure of the end of the age scenario as all of these teachers and preachers tell us, why does He tell us that He is "sitting on the right hand of power"? One would expect Jesus to be in the "Driver's Seat", yet He is not. So we must ask ourselves why not. Not only that, but why is He sitting, or what might He be sitting in? When He states that He will be sitting on the "right hand of power", is it possible that He means exactly that? Do you understand what I am saying here? If Jesus is sitting on the "right hand of power" in some great "Celestial Spacecraft", who do you think might be in the "Driver's Seat" of that same vehicle?

Personally, as I believe I have mentioned in a few other articles I have written, I am becoming convinced that Jesus has already made it rather clear to us. When Jesus says that He arrives in the Glory of His Father, I suspect that what He means by that, is that His Glory is overshadowed by, and He is in fact bathed in, the greater Glory of His Father who accompanies Him. In other words, Jesus the Son and God the Father come together, in order to reclaim the Earth as a part of their Kingdom. If you doubt my words, allow me to offer you some additional support verses which may convince you of the same.

A moment ago I discussed the visions of the Prophet Daniel. In those visions, as I stated already, I believe that the One referred to as the Ancient of Days is God the Father. He is the One who sits upon the Fiery Throne. It is not Jesus. Jesus is the Son of man who comes to His Father's Throne. In a similar fashion, in Ezekiel's visions, he also plainly tells us in chapter ten that the One sitting upon the Fiery Throne above the four Cherubims and the wheels within the wheels, is the "God of Israel". Here again is the verse:

"This is the living creature that I saw under the God of Israel by the river of Chebar; and I knew that they were the cherubims."


In the Book of Revelation, in the vision of the fourth chapter, I believe that it is also God the Father who sits upon the Fiery Throne. If you compare John's vision with the vision of the Prophet Ezekiel, you will see that they both saw the exact same thing 600-700 years apart. In Ezekiel's vision we are told that there was a rainbow about the Fiery Throne, and John sees the same exact thing. In Ezekiel's vision there are four winged Cherubims which have the faces of a man, of a lion, of an ox, and of an eagle. John also describes seeing four winged Beasts, except the word "calf" is used to describe one of the faces, instead of the word "ox".

Ezekiel and John both saw God the Father sitting upon His Fiery Throne, and not Jesus. That is why in chapter five of the Book of Revelation, we see Jesus, as the Lamb of God, approaching the Throne of His Father, in order to open the Seven-Sealed Book which His Father holds in His Hand. There is no doubt here that Jesus is the Lamb who was slain, and by whose blood we are all redeemed unto God, exactly as the following verses state:

"And I saw in the right hand of him that sat on the throne a book written within and on the backside, sealed with seven seals. And I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice, Who is worthy to open the book, and to loose the seals thereof? And no man in heaven, nor in earth, neither under the earth, was able to open the book, neither to look thereon. And I wept much, because no man was found worthy to open and to read the book, neither to look thereon. And one of the elders saith unto me, Weep not: behold, the Lion of the tribe of Juda, the Root of David, hath prevailed to open the book, and to loose the seven seals thereof. And I beheld, and, lo, in the midst of the throne and of the four beasts, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent forth into all the earth. And he came and took the book out of the right hand of him that sat upon the throne. And when he had taken the book, the four beasts and four and twenty elders fell down before the Lamb, having every one of them harps, and golden vials full of odours, which are the prayers of saints. And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation; And hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth."


Looking at all of the previous evidence then, it only stands to reason that when the "Celestial Fleet" visits the Earth in order to save God's children from the wrath of the Beast -- or "little horn" as he is referred to by Daniel -- it is God the Father, or the "Ancient of Days", who is in command of the Fleet, with Jesus His beloved Son sitting right next to Him on the Right Hand of Power. The Lord indeed arrives bathed in the Glory of His Father with the Holy Angels, exactly as He stated in the Gospel of Mark. This is why in that same chapter, only a few verses later, where Daniel is describing how the kingdoms of the Earth are crushed when Christ returns, he also writes the following:

"I beheld, and the same horn made war with the saints, and prevailed against them; Until the Ancient of days came, and judgment was given to the saints of the most High; and the time came that the saints possessed the kingdom."


So Daniel informs us that it is when the "Ancient of Days" arrives at the end of the age, that the Beast, or Little Horn, and the Ten Horns, are defeated, and the Saints sit upon thrones and possess the kingdom. Again, this is the very same thing which John describes for us in Revelation chapter twenty, as we see here:

"And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years."


Now, I realize that the idea of God the Father coming with Jesus Christ at the end of the age in order to destroy the evil upon the Earth, is not going to sit very well with certain Christians. Do you know why? Quite simply, because for a number of years now, a certain doctrine of devils has been popularized within the Christian body. Whether or not this has been limited to American Christendom, I really do not know.

At any rate, according to this false doctrine, Jesus is God. He is not just the Son of God, He is now actually God. This is a belief which I personally soundly reject. Being as I discuss this in other articles, and will be discussing it even more thoroughly, and more convincingly, in an upcoming series, I will not be discussing it in depth here.

Suffice it to say that there is ample Scriptural evidence to support the fact that Jesus Christ isn't really God. That is to say, He is not God the Father. He is an entirely separate entity -- the Son of God -- who I believe to this day remains submissive to the Will of His Father. In short, if we accept that Jesus is God as these wayward people wish to believe, then there is no way that God the Father and Jesus the Son come together at the end of the prophesied age, even though that is what the Scriptures appear to be saying; at least to me.

Having said that, let us continue now with our look at these unusual Celestial Events involving clouds found in the New Testament. We have already discussed the amazing events which occurred on the top of the Mount of Transfiguration. Let us turn now to the Book of the Acts of the Apostles, where we not only find Jesus returning to Heaven following His Resurrection, but where we are also given a clear hint of how He returns:

"And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight. And while they looked stedfastly toward heaven as he went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel; Which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven."


There are a number of interesting things to be said about the previous verses. First of all, notice that we are told that Jesus was taken up. This seems to be an indication that the Lord's Ascension was not something which He did by His own accord. The fact that He was taken, implies that there was something or someone else involved in the act. In like manner, I find the language "a cloud received him out of their sight" a little unusual. Obviously, a normal cloud cannot receive anything. Of course, it could have hid the Lord from their view as it passed by, but the words used here seem to indicate that this cloud, or whatever it was, was anticipating Jesus' arrival, so that it could receive Him.

Now, lest you begin to think that maybe I am stretching the intended meaning of the previous verses, please consider the fact that the Koine Greek word used there is "hupolambano", which is pronounced hoop-ol-am-ban'-o. According to Thayer's Greek English Lexicon, the primary meanings of this word are to take up in order to raise, to bear on high, to take up and carry away, to receive hospitably, to welcome. Now, in my opinion, those meanings convey the idea of some kind of "Celestial Craft" arriving to welcome and carry away Jesus back to the bosom of His Father. Normal clouds simply do not do those kinds of things. You be the judge. I rest my case.

In his first Epistle to the brethren at Corinth, the Apostle Paul reminds them of how Moses and the children of Israel were all "under the cloud". It is from these verses that I derived the title for this series. Once again, these verses beg the question "Exactly what was this mysterious cloud which followed the Israelites wherever they went, which settled upon the Tabernacle, and which even protected them from the Egyptians?" Consider the following verses:

"Moreover, brethren, I would not that ye should be ignorant, how that all our fathers were under the cloud, and all passed through the sea; And were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea; And did all eat the same spiritual meat; And did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ."


If you read those verses carefully, you will see that Paul answers our question for us by telling us plainly that it was Jesus Christ. Long before He ever appeared in the flesh in the New Testament, the Lord was back there leading the children of Israel. If we are told in the Book of Genesis that the Lord walked in the Garden of Eden in the cool of the day, why could He not also have been there watching over the children of Israel from a "Celestial Craft" hovering over them? Did we not read earlier in part one that the Lord descended from above in a cloudy pillar in order to talk face to face with Moses? And did we not read that the Lord peered out of the pillar of fire in order to spy on the Egyptians? Interesting indeed!

Now we come to some verses of Scripture which are well-known to many Christians, because they deal with the rapture -- or being caught up to Heaven -- of both the living and the dead Christians at the time of Christ's return. In Paul's first Epistle to the brethren at Thessalonica, we find the following inspiring lines:

"For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord."


So, just as we read earlier that Jesus was received by a cloud at the time of His Ascension almost 2,000 years ago, on that blessed day of the Lord's return, the Saints who were alive at that time would arise, in order to meet the Lord in the air, in the clouds, and so would they ever be with the Lord. But exactly what are those clouds? That is the question.

As I point out in some of my other articles, such as in the series "The Great Tribulation and the Rapture", it is this awe-inspiring event, known to millions of Christians throughout the world as the Resurrection of the Dead, and the Rapture of the Saints, which occurs at the sound of the Seventh Trump, which constitutes what the Bible refers to as the Mystery of God. Upon Jesus Christ's return for His dear children, we are told that this Mystery is completed, as we see by these verses:

"Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed."


"But in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he shall begin to sound, the mystery of God should be finished, as he hath declared to his servants the prophets."


The Book of Revelation begins by telling us that these things indeed occur when Jesus Christ returns for His children, and that every eye shall see Him:

"Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. Even so, Amen."


And once again, there are those unmistakable clouds. But notice how that verse is worded. It does not say that He is arriving in the clouds, as if to suggest that He appears in the clouds of the sky, although this is true as well. It clearly states that He is coming "with clouds".

Why is that so significant? Because it is very suggestive of the idea that the Lord brings these clouds with Him. If that is truly the case, then can we assume that these clouds are accompanying Jesus for a very specific purpose? If so, could it possibly be, as I suggest in my series "Chariots of Fire: A Voluntary Voyage to Heaven?", that these clouds are in reality some kind of "Celestial Craft" which are used to beam the Saints from the Earth, and carry them off to the Father's Kingdom, so that, as Paul wrote, "So shall we ever be with the Lord"? Interesting indeed!

I hope that by now, you are beginning to realize that there is strong evidence to suggest that we are not just dealing with regular cloud formations in all of the cases I have cited. While it may be true that the Hebrew and Koine Greek words which are used in the text may normally mean literal clouds, I for one honestly question whether this was the original intent of the authors in every single place where we find this word.

As I told you earlier, what else could they possibly have compared these craft to? They came from the sky. They were luminous. They rotated. They were very fast like chariots being drawn by horses. So the writers of the Bible called them bright, fast-moving clouds which spun like a whirlwind for lack of a better way to describe them. These craft were simply something which was totally beyond their simplistic comprehension, and there was nothing on Earth at that time with which they could compare them. Thus it may be for this reason that we find these cryptic descriptions in the Bible.

It seems that quite often when the Holy Scriptures discuss transporting someone to or from the sky, or Heaven if you prefer, they include the mention of these strange clouds and whirlwinds; as if they are an integral part of the Lord's Celestial Transportation System. In fact, guess what? After the Two Sackcloth Witnesses of Revelation chapter eleven have laid dead in the streets of Jerusalem for three days, while the entire world mocks their death, do you know how they ascend to Heaven? You guessed it. We are told that a "cloud" comes and picks them up, as we see here:

"And they heard a great voice from heaven saying unto them, Come up hither. And they ascended up to heaven in a cloud; and their enemies beheld them."


Just like Jesus, after being dead for three days, they were anxious to return to the Father. Perhaps they said "Beam us up Lord! We are ready to go!" Doesn't this scenario sound familiar to you? At the time of Jesus' water baptism, the sky opened up and there was a Voice from Heaven, as we see by the following verses:

"And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him: And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased."


"And it came to pass in those days, that Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee, and was baptized of John in Jordan. And straightway coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens opened, and the Spirit like a dove descending upon him:"


"Now when all the people were baptized, it came to pass, that Jesus also being baptized, and praying, the heaven was opened, And the Holy Ghost descended in a bodily shape like a dove upon him, and a voice came from heaven, which said, Thou art my beloved Son; in thee I am well pleased."


When we are told that this Voice came from Heaven, exactly what does this mean? Are the writers simply trying to convey the thought that it originated from above? Or could it mean that this Voice actually originated from some specific point in the sky? If we stretch our imagination a bit, taking into consideration the things we have already discussed, could it possibly mean that this great Voice was projected from some "Celestial Craft" which hovered somewhere overhead, possibly concealed by the physical clouds?

Well obviously, I don't know the answer to this question. But, what we do know, is that on the top of the Mount of Transfiguration, there was also a Voice, as well as a bright cloud into which the Disciples entered. At the time of Jesus' Ascension in the Book of Acts, a cloud received Him out of their sight. Here again with the Lord's two Prophets, there is a Voice, and a cloud arrives to carry them off to Heaven. And let us not forget that the Lord came down in a pillar of a cloud to speak with Moses in the Tabernacle. All of this amazingly clear evidence throughout the entire Bible is so overwhelming! For me personally, it is quite difficult to dismiss these things as just regular cloud formations. What about you?

Let us continue our citation of verses which are found in the Book of Revelation, with three more that are found in the fourteenth chapter, which deal with what we can refer to as the Lord's "Harvest of the Saints". While the mention of a cloud in the following Scriptures may be more symbolic than literal in nature, it seemed only appropriate that I include them here. Of course, there is a possibility that these verses may be cryptically referring to the arrival of the "Celestial Craft" at the time of the Rapture of the Saints:

"And I looked, and behold a white cloud, and upon the cloud one sat like unto the Son of man, having on his head a golden crown, and in his hand a sharp sickle. And another angel came out of the temple, crying with a loud voice to him that sat on the cloud, Thrust in thy sickle, and reap: for the time is come for thee to reap; for the harvest of the earth is ripe. And he that sat on the cloud thrust in his sickle on the earth; and the earth was reaped."


As you may already be aware, the Gospels likewise speak very clearly of this very same Harvest, as well as of the fiery destruction of the wicked, on a number of occasions. Please consider the following verses:

"I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance: but he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire: Whose fan is in his hand, and he will throughly purge his floor, and gather his wheat into the garner; but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire."


"Another parable put he forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is likened unto a man which sowed good seed in his field: But while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went his way. But when the blade was sprung up, and brought forth fruit, then appeared the tares also. So the servants of the householder came and said unto him, Sir, didst not thou sow good seed in thy field? from whence then hath it tares? He said unto them, An enemy hath done this. The servants said unto him, Wilt thou then that we go and gather them up? But he said, Nay; lest while ye gather up the tares, ye root up also the wheat with them. Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn."


"He answered and said unto them, He that soweth the good seed is the Son of man; The field is the world; the good seed are the children of the kingdom; but the tares are the children of the wicked one; The enemy that sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the world; and the reapers are the angels. As therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire; so shall it be in the end of this world. The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity; And shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth. Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Who hath ears to hear, let him hear."


"Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken: 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. And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other."


"And then shall they see the Son of man coming in the clouds with great power and glory. And then shall he send his angels, and shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from the uttermost part of the earth to the uttermost part of heaven."


"John answered, saying unto them all, I indeed baptize you with water; but one mightier than I cometh, the latchet of whose shoes I am not worthy to unloose: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire: Whose fan is in his hand, and he will throughly purge his floor, and will gather the wheat into his garner; but the chaff he will burn with fire unquenchable."


As I also mention in my lengthy series "The Great Tribulation and the Rapture", the Apostles Peter and Paul likewise make mention of the sudden fiery destruction of the wicked in the Day of the Lord, as we see here:

"For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape."


"And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming:"


"But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men . . . But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up. Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness, Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat?"


Towards the very end of the Book of Revelation, we also find the following verse which indicates the swift destruction of the wicked by Celestial Fire:

"And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison, And shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle: the number of whom is as the sand of the sea. And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city: and fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them."


Having read the previous verses, consider now the following verse that is found in the Book of Zechariah. It sounds very similar to the swift, fiery destruction of the wicked we have just read about, even as the wicked stand upon their very feet:

"And this shall be the plague wherewith the LORD will smite all the people that have fought against Jerusalem; Their flesh shall consume away while they stand upon their feet, and their eyes shall consume away in their holes, and their tongue shall consume away in their mouth."


Returning our attention to the Apocalypse, or the Book of Revelation, after describing the Harvest of the Saints, the Apostle John proceeds to describe a second Angel who comes out of the Temple of God with a sickle in his hand. This second Angel is then commanded by a third Angel, who also comes out of the Temple, to unleash the Wrath of God upon the inhabitants who remain upon the Earth, as we see here:

"And another angel came out of the temple which is in heaven, he also having a sharp sickle. And another angel came out from the altar, which had power over fire; and cried with a loud cry to him that had the sharp sickle, saying, Thrust in thy sharp sickle, and gather the clusters of the vine of the earth; for her grapes are fully ripe. And the angel thrust in his sickle into the earth, and gathered the vine of the earth, and cast it into the great winepress of the wrath of God. And the winepress was trodden without the city, and blood came out of the winepress, even unto the horse bridles, by the space of a thousand and six hundred furlongs."


It is interesting to note here that while we have mention of three Angels in these two sets of verses from the fourteenth chapter of the Apocalypse, there is only one person sitting upon a cloud. Furthermore, he's the only one who is described as wearing a crown. It is easy to conclude then, that these verses may very well be describing the Rapture, when Jesus comes in, or with, the clouds of Heaven, in order to harvest, or carry away His children, just as this event is described in all of the previous verses we have examined.

With those last verses, we have now gone through the entire Bible, and picked out some of the Scriptures which seem more relevant to this topic. As I am sure you realize, there are many other verses in God's Holy Word which speak of clouds. However, in most cases, they are easily understood to be referring to actual physical clouds which produce rain or snow. In fact, I will concur that some of the Scriptures I have included in this series may also be understood in that context. Furthermore, others could easily be understood to be referring to volcanic clouds, such as in the example of Moses on the summit of Mount Horeb, or Sinai. The Scriptures indeed make it sound like a volcanic eruption occurred at the time the Lord descended, in order to meet with Moses. Consider the following group of verses:

"And it came to pass on the third day in the morning, that there were thunders and lightnings, and a thick cloud upon the mount, and the voice of the trumpet exceeding loud; so that all the people that was in the camp trembled. And Moses brought forth the people out of the camp to meet with God; and they stood at the nether part of the mount. And mount Sinai was altogether on a smoke, because the LORD descended upon it in fire: and the smoke thereof ascended as the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mount quaked greatly. And when the voice of the trumpet sounded long, and waxed louder and louder, Moses spake, and God answered him by a voice. And the LORD came down upon mount Sinai, on the top of the mount: and the LORD called Moses up to the top of the mount; and Moses went up."


Do you realize what an act of faith that was on Moses' part? When a volcano is in the middle of a powerful eruption, the last thing that most people would want to do, is to climb to its summit; yet that is exactly what the Lord told Moses to do. And as we know, as frightened as Moses was, he instantly obeyed the Lord. Let us not forget that the Bible tells us that Moses was the meekest man upon the Earth. Likewise, the Apostle Paul also tells us that Moses did fear and quake as he went up the mountain. So it was nothing like what we see in Hollywood movies such as the famous 1956 epic "The Ten Commandments" starring Charlton Heston.

"(Now the man Moses was very meek, above all the men which were upon the face of the earth.)"


"And so terrible was the sight, that Moses said, I exceedingly fear and quake:)"


Please go to part four for the continuation of this series.

⇒ Go To The Next Part . . .

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