Clouds
by Brad Scott
I thought we might take a break from the "rabbinical" words for just a bit and cover a few prophetic words. The word cloud in the scriptures is very thought provoking. There are actually five words used for clouds in the Bible. The words 'av, shachaq, chaziyz express the most literal picture of those white fluffy mists in the sky. Shachaq means to pound or beat something to a fine powder. 'Av expresses the idea of a thick covering and is often just translated as thick, and chaziyz refers just to the presence of clouds with lightning.
There are two words that have very interesting and prophetic meanings and appearances to them. The word that is most translated as cloud is 'anan (ענן). It's first appearance is tied to the covenant that God made with man with respect to the world never being destroyed again by a flood. The bow in the 'anan of Bere’shiyt (Genesis) 9:13-17 is the token of that covenant. The word 'anan literally means to observe or that which speaks of a time. Clouds are signs of the presence of God. We know that a cloud led the children of Israel through the wilderness and that this experience was prophetic of another exodus and another wilderness in the last days (Hitgalut (Revelation) 1:7, 10:1, 11:12, 14:14-16). We are told in Daniyy’el (Daniel) 7:13 that the Messiah's coming is to be observed with the clouds of heaven. Luke tells us in the book of Ma’asey hashsheliyechiym (Acts) that the Messiah was taken up and a cloud received him. Luke goes on to say that Yeshua‘ will return in like manner (Ma’asey hashsheliyechiym 1:9-11; Mattityahu (Matthew) 25:30, 26:64) So it is no wonder that many Jewish commentaries on Daniyy’el 7:13 refer to the coming Messiah as the 'anan adam, or the cloud man.
The last Hebrew word translated as cloud puts the crown, so to speak, on the Messiah. It is the word nasiy' (נשיא). This word is translated as cloud, prince, and ruler and its verbal root means to rise up or to lift up.
Yechezeq’el (Ezekiel) 37:25And they shall dwell in the land that I have given unto Ya'aqov, my servant, in which your fathers have dwelt; and they shall dwell in it, even they, and their children, and their children's children forever; and my servant, David, shall be their prince forever.
Shalom Alecheim! ◊