He Shall Have Dominion

clouds as symbols of God’s wrath and judgment. We often see God
surrounded with foreboding clouds which express his unapproachable
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holiness and righteousness.
Furthermore, Scripture poetically portrays God in certain judgment
scenes as coming in the clouds to wreak historical vengeance upon his
enemies. For example: “The burden against Egypt. Behold, the LORD
rides on a swift cloud, and will come into Egypt; the idols of Egypt will
totter at his presence, and the heart of Egypt will melt in its midst” (Isa
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19:1). This occurs in the Old Testament era when the Assyrian king Esar-
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haddon conquers Egypt in 671 B.C. Obviously it does not imply a literal
riding on a cloud, any more so than Psalm 68:4: “Sing to God, sing praises
to His name; Extol Him who rides on the clouds, By His name YAH, And
rejoice before Him.” 13
The New Testament picks up this apocalyptic judgment imagery,
when it speaks of Christ’s coming in judgment clouds during history.
Matthew 26:64, for instance, must speak of a first century “coming to
judge.” Christ says that his accusers in the Sanhedrin will witness it:
“Nevertheless, I say to you, hereafter you will see the Son of Man sitting
at the right hand of the Power, and coming on the clouds of heaven” (Mt
26:64).
According to Matthew 24:30 the Jews of “this generation” (Mt 23:36;
24:34) would see a sign that the Son of Man is in heaven: “Then will
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appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven.” The sign that the Son of
tem at this point. He does not realize that we believe the Bible sometimes speaks
only metaphorically of a divine coming in AD 70. Of “partial preterists” he
(wrongly) asserts: “they do believe Jesus did come back in judgment on Israel (a
parousia)” and that they teach “that our Lord returned in judgment in A.D. 70.”
This, he believes, leads to our holding that “Jesus does not return once but
twice.” Riddlebarger, Amillennialism,239 (see also 241). I wonder how he would
interpret Isa 19:1? See my explanation of the metaphorical nature of his coming
in Mathison, When Shall These Things, 51–55.
10. Ge 15:17; Ex 13:21–22; 14:19–20; 19:9, 16–19; Dt 4:11; Job 22:14; Ps
18:8ff; 97:2; 104:3; Isa 19:1; Eze 32:7–8.
11. 2Sa 22:8, 10; Ps 18:7–15; 68:4, 33; 97:2–39; 104:3; Isa 13:9; 26:21; 30:27;
Joel 2:1, 2; Mic 1:3; Nah 1:2ff; Zep 1:14–15.
12. Even dispensationalists recognize this: BKC, 1:1066. PKH, 102. PSB 772.
13. See even the dispensational commentary: John A. Martin, “Isaiah,” BKC,
1:1066.
14. Marshall, Interlinear NASB-NIV, 79. The Greek word order is important here.