Without a familiarity of Old Testament language, the whole of Revelation, unfortunately, becomes a grab bag, a free-for-all of interpretation based on conjecture. We should always let Scripture interpret Scripture. And when we look to the Revelation, we see that nearly all of its symbols have a history of meaning rooted in thousands of years worth of inspired literature established by the law and the prophets. Instead of modern day prognosticators trying to divine foreign meanings from Revelation (often looking to world events for clues), we should instead look for the key to understanding already in Scripture. These words and phrases have already been established and have a pattern of literary meaning pregnant with symbolism, fantasy, clarity and beauty. A mere "this means that" symbology, which so many today try to use, is a disservice to sacred Scripture and causes confusion.
So, let's look at just a few instances of how "clouds" were used in reference to God in the Old Testament...
Exodus 13:21, "And the Lord went before them by day in a pillar of cloud to lead the way..."
Exodus 14:19, "And the Angel of God, who went before the camp of Israel, moved and went behind them; and the pillar of cloud went from before them and stood behind them."
Exodus 14:24, "Now it came to pass, in the morning watch, that the Lord looked down upon the army of the Egyptians through the pillar of fire and cloud, and He troubled the army of the Egyptians."
Exodus 19:9, "And the Lord said to Moses, 'Behold, I come to you in the thick cloud, that the people may hear when I speak with you, and believe you forever.'"
Exodus 19:16-19, "Then it came to pass on the third day, in the morning, that there were thunderings and lightnings, and a thick cloud on the mountain; and the sound of the trumpet was very loud, so that all the people who were in the camp trembled. And Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet with God, and they stood at the foot of the mountain. Now Mount Sinai was completely in smoke, because the Lord descended upon it in fire. Its smoke ascended like the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mountain quaked greatly."
Psalm 18:8-14, "Smoke went up from his nostrils, and devouring fire from his mouth; glowing coals flamed forth from him. He bowed the heavens and came down; thick darkness was under his feet. He rode on a cherub and flew; he came swiftly on the wings of the wind. He made darkness his covering, his canopy around him, thick clouds dark with water. Out of the brightness before him, hailstones and coals of fire broke through his clouds. The LORD also thundered in the heavens, and the Most High uttered his voice, hailstones and coals of fire. And he sent out his arrows and scattered them; he flashed forth lightnings and routed them."
Psalm 104:3, "He lays the beams of his chambers on the waters; he makes the clouds his chariot; he rides on the wings of the wind..."
Isaiah 19:1, "An oracle concerning Egypt. Behold, the LORD is riding on a swift cloud and comes to Egypt; and the idols of Egypt will tremble at his presence, and the heart of the Egyptians will melt within them."
I will cover the sun with a cloud, and the moon shall not give its light. All the bright lights of heaven
will I make dark over you, and put darkness on your land, declares the Lord GOD."
Nahum 1:2-8, "The LORD is a jealous and avenging God; the LORD is avenging and wrathful; the LORD takes vengeance on his adversaries and keeps wrath for his enemies. The LORD is slow to anger and great in power, and the LORD will by no means clear the guilty. His way is in whirlwind and storm, and the clouds are the dust of his feet. He rebukes the sea and makes it dry; he dries up all the rivers; Bashan and Carmel wither; the bloom of Lebanon withers. The mountains quake before him; the hills melt; the earth heaves before him, the world and all who dwell in it. Who can stand before his indignation? Who can endure the heat of his anger? His wrath is poured out like fire, and the rocks are broken into pieces by him. The LORD is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble; he knows those who take refuge in him. But with an overflowing flood he will make a complete end of the adversaries, and will pursue his enemies into darkness.
Nahum 1:2-8, "The LORD is a jealous and avenging God; the LORD is avenging and wrathful; the LORD takes vengeance on his adversaries and keeps wrath for his enemies. The LORD is slow to anger and great in power, and the LORD will by no means clear the guilty. His way is in whirlwind and storm, and the clouds are the dust of his feet. He rebukes the sea and makes it dry; he dries up all the rivers; Bashan and Carmel wither; the bloom of Lebanon withers. The mountains quake before him; the hills melt; the earth heaves before him, the world and all who dwell in it. Who can stand before his indignation? Who can endure the heat of his anger? His wrath is poured out like fire, and the rocks are broken into pieces by him. The LORD is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble; he knows those who take refuge in him. But with an overflowing flood he will make a complete end of the adversaries, and will pursue his enemies into darkness.
God leads from the cloud. He goes before and behind in the cloud. He troubles armies from the cloud. He speaks to his people from the cloud. He shows His power from the cloud. He casts judgment in fantastic imagery from the cloud. He scatters people from the cloud. His chariot is the clouds. His righteous judgments from the cloud cause his enemies to know He is God. He removes nations from power by darkening them by way of His cloud. We see His power expressed in terms of vibrant and loud earthly phenomena. Beautiful! Ultimately, the picture that is beautifully painted is God's rule executed from His throne of power in the clouds high above any rulers of earth. This is by no means an exhaustive list of "cloud" Scriptures, but enough to give us an idea.
With all this in mind we get to the New Testament. Jesus says in Matthew 24:30, "Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory."
Mark 14:62, "Jesus said, 'I am. And you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Power, and coming with the clouds of heaven."
Acts 2:19, "I will show wonders in heaven above and signs in the earth beneath: Blood and fire and vapor of smoke."
It should come as no surprise that the ultimate Prophet, Jesus Himself, would of course use the same linguistic patterns, symbols and hyperbole established by the many prophets before Him. Since the "cloud" motif was well established, Jesus's first-century hearers would have known exactly what He meant. Already with the few Scriptures above, our brains should be playing the background music of all the fantasy imagery Scripture has imbued in the simple word "cloud": God leading His people, troubling those who oppose Him, comforting those who believe, melting the hearts of His enemies, gathering His people in power, scattering His opponents in judgment... Ultimately blessing those who obey and cursing for those who oppose.
Patterns in Scripture bring understanding. God exercises His power from a cloud, from a perch high above the earth, from His throne. He rides a chariot of clouds and exercises His power and exudes glory from that position of authority over all things. As you can see there are so many aspects and details that add multiple dimensions: clouds bring darkness, lightning. Clouds are due to smoke and fire. Hyperbolic details are thrown in to underscore and highlight the poetic beauty that God exudes (beams, nostrils, blood, melting hearts, hailstones, fire, coals...) All these minute details adds a dimension to what is going on in the heavens when God is exercising His will, judging those who oppose and blessing those who are His. This painting in our minds becomes very graphic with each detail building on a foundation that establishes God as the ultimate Power in our physical universe. But it all points to one thing as it relates to humanity: God "comes" in clouds to protect His people and to destroy those who have chosen to oppose Him.
You can also see that early in Scripture there are multifaceted uses of the Power of God in clouds that begins to build on one another adding another dimension of meaning each time. I think Western minds (myself included!) definitely tend towards the "logical" and "literal" meanings of passages. But as I've studied, how much we miss out when we limit ourselves to such simplicity! Like poetry, symbols and metaphors in Scripture take on much more than their individual meanings.
There are many more Scriptures that use terminology like this. I'll bet you'll see it a lot more often now that it's been pointed out. :)
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