The cloud always follows the stormy wind. If we have the wind, we will surely have the cloud, for the cloud is the issue of the blowing of the wind. Like the stormy wind, the cloud signifies the Holy Spirit. When the Holy Spirit touches us, He is like the wind. When the Holy Spirit visits us and overshadows us, He is like the cloud. First, the Holy Spirit blows upon us like the wind to move us, and then He abides with us like a cloud to cover us. The cloud in Ezekiel 1:4 is a figure of God covering His people. We may use the word brooding and say that the cloud was God brooding over His people. The cloud, therefore, was nothing other than the brooding God. God comes as the wind, but He stays as the cloud. By staying as the cloud, He covers us, overshadows us, and broods over us to give us the enjoyment of His presence, thereby producing something of Himself in our daily life. How wonderful! This is the covering God typified by the covering cloud. By considering the history of the people of Israel, we can understand more fully the significance of the cloud. A number of times God appeared to them and visited them like a great cloud that overshadowed them. For instance, after the Israelites came out of Egypt, they passed through the Red Sea. Concerning this Paul says, “All our fathers were under the cloud, and all passed through the sea; and all were baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea” (1 Cor. 10:1-2). The cloud that covered the children of Israel typifies the Spirit of God. Eventually, the children of Israel arrived at Mount Sinai and camped there. In Exodus 19:9 the Lord said to Moses, “Lo, I come unto thee in a thick cloud,” and there was “a thick cloud upon the mount” (v. 16). In chapter twenty-four we are told that “a cloud covered the mount,” that the Lord “called unto Moses out of the midst of the cloud,” and that “Moses went into the midst of the cloud” (vv. 15, 16, 18). Later, after the tent of meeting was set up for God, God’s glory filled the tent and a cloud covered it and abode upon it (40:34-35). All the people could see that the cloud was covering the tent of meeting. That cloud signified God’s visitation and His abiding with them. The cloud also signifies God’s care for His people and His favor toward them. He appeared to them like a cloud, covering and overshadowing them, in order to care for them. Proverbs 16:15 says that the king’s favor is like “a cloud of the latter rain.” In His gracious visitation God comes to us like a cloud to care for us and to show favor to us. In Ezekiel 1:4 the cloud is mentioned in relation to the wind. Together, the wind and the cloud are an indication that an important transaction is about to take place between God and man. At least from time to time, in our Christian life there needs to be a significant spiritual transaction between God and us. I believe that everyone who has been genuinely saved has experienced such a transaction. We also experience a spiritual transaction during times of revival. First, the Holy Spirit touches us and moves us, causing us to turn to the Lord, to see our corruption, and to repent and confess our sins. Then we have the sense that God is like a cloud visiting us, overshadowing us, and covering us. We may sense also that the grace of God is upon us, covering us like a canopy. God is the blowing wind, and He is also the covering and overshadowing cloud. Whenever we experience God as the blowing wind, we also have the sense that, after He blows upon us, He remains with us, overshadowing and covering us and brooding over us. This is God as the gracious cloud. The blowing of the wind brings the presence of God to us in the form of a heavenly, brooding, overshadowing cloud. When I was saved, I experienced not only the blowing of a mighty wind from the north upon my whole being but also the Lord’s presence overshadowing me like a cloud. Under this overshadowing I began to ask myself, “What is life all about? Should I keep going on the way I have been going?” Because of the blowing wind and the overshadowing cloud, an important transaction took place between me and God. A genuine experience and a true revival involve both the spiritual wind and the spiritual cloud. I cannot forget the particular experience I had of God as an overshadowing cloud in 1935. On one Lord’s Day afternoon I was ministering about the Spirit. At a certain point I had the sense that a cloud had come down and was covering me. Although I did not see anything with my physical eyes, I sensed that something was overshadowing me. I was enveloped by the cloud which covered me, and I had a deep sense of the Lord’s presence in a very definite and practical way. At that time the presence of the Lord truly was like a cloud. That experience was a matter not only of faith but also of something that could be sensed. I sensed that I was covered and overshadowed by the presence of the Lord. It was wonderful, pleasant, comforting, strengthening, and energizing. The congregation realized that something had happened and that the atmosphere had changed, and immediately I began to speak in a powerful way. Many of us have experienced the Lord as an overshadowing cloud. When you pray, repenting and confessing your sins, you may sense that you are under the covering of a canopy or of a cloud. It might have been your experience that during your morning revival or during a time of pray-reading the Word, a stormy wind from God came and blew upon you. Then after the blowing of the wind, a cloud came and stayed with you, perhaps for the whole day. Throughout the day you had the sense that something was following you, overshadowing you, covering you, and brooding over you, and you enjoyed the Lord’s presence all day long. I can testify that I have experienced this many times. As I was in contact with the Lord early in the morning, the Spirit came to me like a strong wind from the north, and immediately I entered into the Lord’s presence, which was like a cloud covering me. His presence became my enjoyment, and all day long I experienced His covering and enjoyed His presence. We all need to experience the Lord’s presence like a brooding, overshadowing cloud. We should not be content with mere doctrines and teachings. Instead of coming to the Bible seeking more knowledge, we need to seek the Lord Himself. When we come to the Word, we should pray, “Lord, I need the wind and the cloud. Lord, blow upon me as a stormy wind from the north and cover me with the overshadowing cloud. Come to me as the wind and stay with me as the cloud.”
Posted on: Mon, 14 Jul 2014 10:47:34 +0000
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