Clouds In The Bible Trivia Quiz

Answer: the glory of the Lord

"And it came to pass, when the priests were come out of the holy place, that the cloud filled the house of the LORD, so that the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud: for the glory of the LORD had filled the house of the LORD."

The "Shechinah (or) Shekinah" representing the glory cloud is a word not found in Biblical scripture, but is a word that Rabbinical Jews have used to denote that cloud of glory. Many Christians have come to use and understand the meaning of this word, which traces its roots back to the language of the ancient Chaldees. It means something like "resting place" and was the same as the cloud that preceded the children of Israel as the Lord led them out of Egypt as he went before them "in a pillar of a cloud." This was the symbol of his presence with his chosen people.

Answer: that He would return in a similar manner

"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 steadfastly 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 in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven."

John, the author of Revelation, says in chapter 1:5-7, that Jesus will come in clouds and that EVERY eye shall see Him return. I have capitalized the reference to clouds below:

"And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood, And hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father; to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen. 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.

In Matthew's gospel Jesus himself stated that His return would be obvious and not secretive. In chapter 24:23-27 we find the following descriptive of that foretold event:

"Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there; believe it not. For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect. Behold, I have told you before. Wherefore if they shall say unto you, Behold, he is in the desert; go not forth: behold, he is in the secret chambers; believe it not. For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be."

In verse 36 of that same chapter, Jesus points out, "But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only."
Yes, God the Father keeps secrets. We are allowed to know the things that we need to know; the rest He keeps to Himself.

I believe the reason that He doesn't allow Jesus to know the exact time of His return for the redeemed is simple. He does not want the devil to know of the exact time, and there would be a danger of even a whispered word being overheard and he would get even busier deceiving mankind with an exact timetable to go by, so God simply does not allow that possibility.

Answer: those believers in Christ who are dead

For emphasis I have capitalized a portion of the text.

"But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, EVEN SO THEM ALSO WHICH SLEEP IN JESUS WILL GOD BRING WITH HIM. For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. 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. Wherefore comfort one another with these words."

Answer: power and great glory

Luke 21:27 says "And then shall they see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory."

Mark 13:26 is almost identical; "And then shall they see the Son of man coming in the clouds with great power and glory."

This might possibly be understood as an allusion to the "clouds" found in Hebrews 12:1-2.

"Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a CLOUD OF WITNESSES, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God."

Answer: a sharp sickle with which to reap the earth

This first part of this text seems to speak of Jesus "reaping" His people, while the second part seems to show that the non-believers are sent through judgment.

"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.

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."

Answer: This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye him.

The text in the King James Version reads this way:

"And after six days Jesus taketh Peter, James, and John his brother, and bringeth them up into an high mountain apart, And was transfigured before them: and his face did shine as the sun, and his raiment was white as the light. And, behold, there appeared unto them Moses and Elias talking with him. Then answered Peter, and said unto Jesus, Lord, it is good for us to be here: if thou wilt, let us make here three tabernacles; one for thee, and one for Moses, and one for Elias. While he yet spake, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them: and behold a voice out of the cloud, which said, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye him. And when the disciples heard it, they fell on their face, and were sore afraid. And Jesus came and touched them, and said, Arise, and be not afraid. And when they had lifted up their eyes, they saw no man, save Jesus only."

The voice from the cloud interrupted Peter's inopportune remark and in essence told Peter to be quiet. This was probably due to the fact that Peter simply had NO IDEA what he was talking about. The final admonition of "hear ye him" can be applied to all of mankind. Sometimes we might be wise to be silent and listen to what Jesus has to say, instead of basing our opinions on what we are thinking or uttering ourselves.

Answer: rainbow

The King James Version renders the word rainbow as simply "bow", but the implication seems to be clear: whenever we see a rainbow, we are seeing evidence of God's promise to Noah that He would never again destroy the world by water.

"And I will establish my covenant with you; neither shall all flesh be cut off any more by the waters of a flood; neither shall there any more be a flood to destroy the earth. And God said, This is the token of the covenant which I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for perpetual generations: I do set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a token of a covenant between me and the earth. And it shall come to pass, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the bow shall be seen in the cloud: And I will remember my covenant, which is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh; and the waters shall no more become a flood to destroy all flesh. And the bow shall be in the cloud; and I will look upon it, that I may remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is upon the earth. And God said unto Noah, This is the token of the covenant, which I have established between me and all flesh that is upon the earth."

We read in the book of 2nd Peter 3:10-12, however, of a foretelling of a different type of destruction that surpasses that of just the earth itself:

"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? Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness."

Answer: the Lord moved behind the Israelites and stopped the Egyptians

Yes, the Lord left His usual position of leading ahead of the Israelites, (see Genesis 13:21-22) and moved to the REAR of the formation of the people, according to Genesis 14:19. There, the cloud in which He was traveling provided darkness to the Egyptians, but light to the Israelites. As the Egyptians pursued the descendants of Israel, they were drowned in the sea with absolutely no survivors. The Israelites and the peoples who were with them, made it to safety and later in the chapter we read that they saw the dead bodies of their pursuers on the shore.

Those who believe that the Red Sea is not the sea in the text, but that the "Sea of Reeds" is spoken of, (which was a shallow body of water), often scoff at the miracle of the passage through water and claim that it was not that miraculous of a deal in their attempts to discredit the miracle. In verse 29 the King James Version says this, "But the children of Israel walked upon dry land in the midst of the sea; and the waters were a wall unto them on their right hand, and on their left."

If a shallow body of water was the one referenced then this would be even MORE of a miracle. First, the wind that 'stacked up' the water would have had to be even more powerful and secondly, a whole bunch of Egyptians would have drowned in shallow water!

Answer: Jude

These "clouds" spoken of in Jude are those who have no sensible fear of spiritual things, unable to discern holy from unholy, and caring even less.

The text found in the single chapter of Jude, verses 10-13 reads this way in the King James Version:

"But these speak evil of those things which they know not: but what they know naturally, as brute beasts, in those things they corrupt themselves. Woe unto them! for they have gone in the way of Cain, and ran greedily after the error of Balaam for reward, and perished in the gainsaying of Core. These are spots in your feasts of charity, when they feast with you, feeding themselves without fear: clouds they are without water, carried about of winds; trees whose fruit withereth, without fruit, twice dead, plucked up by the roots; Raging waves of the sea, foaming out their own shame; wandering stars, to whom is reserved the blackness of darkness for ever."

What possible good is a cloud that brings no water? What good is a tree without fruit? What good is something that is "twice dead"? The rhetorical questions that this scripture implies seems to point to the utter uselessness of those who corrupt themselves and have no regard for others or for God.

Answer: Nahum

Nahum, the prophet, whose name means "to comfort", says this statement about God in the third verse of the first chapter of his book. In the next few verses we see an illustration of the almost total insignificance of anything else, as compared to God.

"He rebuketh the sea, and maketh it dry, and drieth up all the rivers: Bashan languisheth, and Carmel, and the flower of Lebanon languisheth. The mountains quake at him, and the hills melt, and the earth is burned at his presence, yea, the world, and all that dwell therein. Who can stand before his indignation? and who can abide in the fierceness of his anger? his fury is poured out like fire, and the rocks are thrown down by him."

Finally, in the 7th verse, we see His mercy extended to those who put their trust in Him:

"The LORD is good, a strong hold in the day of trouble; and he knoweth them that trust in him."