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God revealed His Presence to His people in the Cloud of Glory.
The Cloud functioned as a sort of "mobile home" for God - His
fiery chariot by which He made His presence known to His people.
On Sinai, the Cloud was accompanied by thunder, light, fire, smoke,
and an earthquake (Ex. 19:16-20) and was filled with innumerable
angels (Deut. 33:2; Ps. 68:17). The Cloud is nothing less than a
revelation of the invisible Heaven, where God is seated on His
throne of glory, surrounded by His heavenly court and council (Ex.
24:9-15; Isa. 6:1-4), and from which He spoke to Moses (Ex. 33:9;
Ps. 99:7).
While there are many phenomena associated with the Cloud (most are listed in Ps. 18:6-15), perhaps the most striking characteristic is the peculiar, unmistakable noise or voice: virtually every account mentions it. Depending on the situation, it can sound like wind, thunder, rushing water, a shout, a trumpet (or many trumpets), a marching army, the rumbling of chariot wheels across the heavens, or the fluttering and beating of wings (see the passages already cited; also Ezek. 3:12-13; 10:1-5; 2 Sam. 5:24; 2 Kings 7:5-7); and Ezekiel tells us that the sound, in fact, has its origin in the beating of the wings of the myriads of angels (Ezek. 1:24; 3:12-13). It is important to recognize that the Cloud was a theophany, [that is,] a visible manifestation of the enthroned presence of God to His covenant people. Indeed, the Old Testament often uses the term Spirit as a synonym for the Cloud, ascribing the same functions to both (Neh. 9:19-20; Isa. 4:4-5; Joel 2:28-31; Hag. 2:5). The most revealing instance of this equation of God and the Cloud is where Moses describes God's salvation of Israel in the wilderness in terms of an eagle hovering or fluttering over her young (Deut 32:11). How did God "flutter" over Israel? Why does the Psalmist continually seek refuge in the shelter of God's "wings" (e.g., Ps. 36:7; 57:1; 61:4; 91:4)? [T]he fascinating thing about Moses' statement in Deut. 32:11 - God's "fluttering" over His people by means of the Cloud - is that Moses uses that Hebrew word only one other time in the entire Pentateuch, when he tells us that "the earth was without form, and void; . . . and the Spirit of God was moving upon the face of the waters" (Gen. 1:2). Certainly, God Himself does not have wings. But His angels do - and the special revelation of God's saving, judging and protecting presence was by the Glory-Cloud, which contains "many thousands of angels" (Ps. 68:17; cf. 2 Kings 6:17): "He will cover you with His pinions, and under His wings you may seek refuge . . . for He will give His angels charge concerning you, to guard you in all your ways" (Ps. 94:4,11). |
It remains for us to speak of the marvelous work of the angels in the human mind itself.