Who is the cloud rider?

Examining the many titles and epithets of God can teach us more about him. Among his many titles and descriptions, a very interesting one is that Jehovah is “the one who comes on the clouds”. Let’s examine where it comes from and what it means.

The Cloud Rider is Jehovah

Jehovah had many titles and descriptive attributes. One of the ancient descriptions of Jehovah was “the one who rides the clouds.” For example:

Exodus 19:9 — And Jehovah said to Moses: “Look! I am coming to you in a dark cloud, so that the people may hear when I speak with you and so that they may always put faith in you as well.” Then Moses reported the words of the people to Jehovah.

Exodus 20:21 — So the people kept standing at a distance, but Moses went near to the dark cloud where the true God was.

How does Jehovah come to Moses? In a cloud. Also think about how Jehovah traveled with the Israelites:

Exodus 13:21 — Now Jehovah was going ahead of them by day in a pillar of cloud to lead them along the way, and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, so that they could travel by day and by night.

Jehovah lead them from the Cloud through the desert. And when God wanted to speak to Moses, guess what happened?

Exodus 33:9,10 — As soon as Moses would go into the tent, the pillar of cloud would come down and stand at the entrance of the tent while God spoke with Moses. 10 When all the people saw the pillar of cloud standing at the entrance of the tent, each of them rose and bowed down at the entrance of his own tent.

The Cloud was closely linked with the presence and movement of Jehovah. He also appeared in a cloud over the Ark of the Covenant.

Leviticus 16:2 — Jehovah said to Moses: “Tell Aaron your brother that he may not come at just any time into the holy place inside the curtain, in front of the cover on the Ark, so that he may not die, for I will appear over the cover in a cloud.

Also look in Exodus 16:10; 40:35; Numbers 10:34; 11:25; 12:5; 14:14; Psalm 97:2; Jeremiah 4:13; Matthew 17:5; Mark 9:7; Luke 9:34,35 Perhaps you’ve never noticed these details before, but to the Israelites they were obvious. To them Jehovah and only Jehovah is the Cloud Rider.

Deuteronomy 33:26 There is none like the true God of Jeshʹu·run, Who rides through heaven to help you And who rides upon the clouds in his majesty.

There is no one other than Jehovah who rides on the clouds.

Psalms 68:32,33 — O kingdoms of the earth, sing to God, Sing praises to Jehovah, 33 To the one who rides the ancient heaven of heavens. Look! He thunders with his voice, his mighty voice.

Jehovah rides the heavens.

Psalms 104:3 — He [Jehovah] lays beams of his upper rooms in the waters above, Making the clouds his chariot, Moving on the wings of the wind.

Jehovah rides the clouds like a chariot.

Isaiah 19:1 — A pronouncement against Egypt: Look! Jehovah is riding on a swift cloud and is coming into Egypt. The worthless gods of Egypt will tremble before him, And the heart of Egypt will melt within it.

So it is very clear that when someone is described as riding on the clouds, it talks about Jehovah. In the ancient Jewish mind, Jehovah is the Cloud Rider.

A Son of Man

But things get interesting when you get into Daniel 7 and get to view the divine council scene:

Daniel 7:13 — “I kept watching in the visions of the night, and look! with the clouds of the heavens, someone like a son of man was coming; and he gained access to the Ancient of Days, and they brought him up close before that One.

Wait a minute!? There we have the Ancient of Days on his throne, but suddenly someone who looks like a human comes on the clouds? And the Cloud Rider is always and only Jehovah? We know from descriptions in Ezekiel and other places that Jehovah sits on a throne with wheels and fire etc. So both these characters are identified elsewhere as Jehovah. Jehovah comes flying on a cloud to the throne of Jehovah? There are two Jehovah figures in the same verse.

Who then is this “Son of Man”? The gospel accounts make it clear that it is none other than Jesus Christ.

The Cloud Rider is Jesus

Can we support this connection? Yes. In the New Testament things get even clearer.

Matthew 24:30 — Then the sign of the Son of man will appear in heaven, and all the tribes of the earth will beat themselves in grief, and they will see the Son of man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.

See also Luke 21:27

Jesus is telling his disciples: “Hey, remember that Son of Man Cloud Rider in Daniel 7:13? Yeah, that’s me. I’m Jehovah.”

Later on Jesus is caught by the Sanhedrin and tells them:

Matthew 26:64,65 — Jesus said to him: “You yourself said it. But I say to you: From now on you will see the Son of man sitting at the right hand of power and coming on the clouds of heaven.” 65 Then the high priest ripped his outer garments, saying: “He has blasphemed! What further need do we have of witnesses? See! Now you have heard the blasphemy.

See also Mark 14:62

In this case Jesus tells the Sanhedrin the same thing. “I’m the Cloud Rider of Daniel 7:13!” And they understand what he is saying. He is saying that “I am Jehovah!” That is the reason why they immediately accuse and judge him guilty of blasphemy. In the Jewish ear he claimed to be Jehovah God!

Later in Acts Jesus proves beyond the shadow of a doubt that he is in fact the Cloud Rider when he literally rides on a cloud up to heaven.

Acts 1:9-11 — After he had said these things, while they were looking on, he was lifted up and a cloud caught him up from their sight. 10 And as they were gazing into the sky while he was on his way, suddenly two men in white garments stood beside them 11 and said: “Men of Galʹi·lee, why do you stand looking into the sky? This Jesus who was taken up from you into the sky will come in the same manner as you have seen him going into the sky.”

So Jesus is the Cloud Rider. Jehovah is the only one who is the Cloud Rider. Hence Jesus is Jehovah.

But the fun doesn’t stop there! Remember in Matthew 24:30, where Jesus describes how the Coming of the Son of Man will be like? They will see the Son of Man come on the clouds. Revelation also touches on this:

Revelation 1:7 — Look! He is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, and those who pierced him; and all the tribes of the earth will beat themselves in grief because of him. Yes, Amen.

This verse also proves that Jesus is the Cloud Rider who is the same as Jehovah. Revelation goes on:

Revelation 14:14,15 — Then I saw, and look! a white cloud, and seated on the cloud was someone like a son of man, with a golden crown on his head and a sharp sickle in his hand. 15 Another angel emerged from the temple sanctuary, calling with a loud voice to the one seated on the cloud: “Put your sickle in and reap, because the hour has come to reap, for the harvest of the earth is fully ripe.”

The Son of Man Jesus is sitting on the cloud like it’s his vehicle as he goes out to harvest the earth. This reminds us a lot about Daniel 7:13 as well. This red thread goes all the way through the Bible. Jehovah is consistently the Cloud Rider all throughout the Old Testament. In Daniel 7:13 we get the insight that Jehovah is also the Son of Man. And in the New Testament, the Cloud Rider is consistently Jesus.

This proves that Jesus is Jehovah manifested in the flesh.