Do you know when God dispatches them, And causes the light of His cloud to shine? (Job 37:15)
And the LORD descended in the cloud, and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the LORD. And the LORD passed by before him, and proclaimed, The LORD, The LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, Keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty; visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children’s children, unto the third and to the fourth generation. And Moses made haste, and bowed his head toward the earth, and worshipped. And he said, If now I have found grace in thy sight, O Lord, let my Lord, I pray thee, go among us; for it is a stiffnecked people; and pardon our iniquity and our sin, and take us for thine inheritance. (Exodus 34:5-9, CEV)
Here, from the dark cloud, our Lord descended by some open token of his presence and manifestation of his glory in a cloud, and thence proclaimed his NAME; that is, the perfections and character which are denoted by the name JEHOVAH. The Lord God is merciful; ready to forgive the sinner, and to relieve the needy. Gracious; kind, and ready to bestow undeserved benefits. Long-suffering; slow to anger, giving time for repentance, only punishing when it is needful. He is abundant in goodness and truth; even sinners receive the riches of his bounty abundantly, though they abuse them. (Eph 2:13).
All God reveals is infallible truth, all he promises is in faithfulness. Keeping mercy for thousands; he continually shows mercy to sinners, and has treasures, which cannot be exhausted, to the end of time. Forgiving iniquity, and transgression, and sin; his mercy and goodness reach to the full and free forgiveness of sin. And will by no means clear the guilty; the holiness and justice of God are part of his goodness and love towards all his creation.
In Christ’s sufferings, the Divine holiness and justice are fully shown, and the evil of sin is made known. God’s forgiving mercy is always attended by his converting, sanctifying grace. None are pardoned but those who avail for themselves the gift of Calvary.
Near the end of the Bible, close to the culmination of Bible prophecy, Christ, THE Light in the clouds is once more mentioned, as if to assure us again “there is Light in every cloud.”
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. (Rev 1:7, CEV)
Jesus is here portrayed as the all-powerful King, victorious in battle, glorious in peace. He is not just a humble earthly teacher, he is the glorious God. When you read John’s description of the vision, keep in mind that his words are not just good advice; they are truth from the King of kings. Don’t just read his words for their interesting and amazing portrayal of the future. Let the truth about Christ penetrate your life, deepen your faith in him, and strengthen your commitment to follow him no matter what the cost.
It is at midnight, when it is darkest that God manifests His power for the deliverance of His people. The sun appears, shining in its strength. Signs and wonders follow in quick succession. The wicked look with terror and amazement upon the scene, while the righteous behold with solemn joy the tokens of their deliverance. Everything in nature seems turned out of its course. The streams cease to flow. Dark, heavy clouds come up and clash against each other. In the midst of the angry heavens is one clear space of indescribable glory, when comes the voice of God like the sound of many waters, saying:
“It is done.” Rev 16:17.
The True Light In The Clouds Will Always Be Jesus.
Christ could not help being bright and shining. His very work was to shine. I am come, He said, “that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.” In Me is no darkness at all. Light means revelation, and the light is to shine amid moral darkness. Christ is everything to those who receive Him. He is their Comforter, their safety, their healthfulness. Apart from Christ there is no light at all. There need not be a cloud between the soul and Jesus. His great heart of love is longing to flood the soul with the bright beams of His righteousness.
Jesus lives to make intercession for us. (Heb 7:25) While the blackness and darkness are closing about the world, our lives are only secure as they are hid with Christ in God. Precious Saviour! In Him alone are our hopes of eternal life to be centered. We will then talk faith, talk hope, talk courage, and diffuse light on every side. “Ye are,” saith Christ, “the light of the world. A city set on an hill. Let your light so shine before men, that they may glorify your Father which is in heaven” (Matthew 5:14-16). Faith must pierce the darkest cloud. Simple, earnest trust in God will glorify His name, and in that trust you may be all light in the Lord. Praise the Lord. Praise Him, and glorify God for His matchless love.
Christ says to His followers, “You are the light of the world.” Then let your light shine forth in clear, steady rays. Do not wrap about you a cloud of darkness. Cease to suspect others. By good works represent the character of Christ. When you are tempted to yield to despondency, look to Jesus, and talk with Him. Your Jesus, THE Light in your clouds will never make a mistake. He will judge righteously. He will guide you in the right path. (Psalms 119:105)
Earlier this week I encountered someone I had never met before. They asked me out of the blue:
“Why are you so happy?”
I had to chuckle a bit because I had no idea it was even showing like that. But I just told him how I became a Christian, and what Jesus has been doing in my life.
I remember saying to him
“I am happy everywhere I go!”
He had previously told me he was atheist but after hearing my testimony, (1 John 1:1-3, Rev 12:11) he said that he wants to know more about God and His Word. And he asked me to send him some relevant material about that.
My friends, who will you be a light to this week? No matter how bad things might be for you tight now, with Jesus, you can be the light in someone else’s clouds.