Coming In The Clouds

There are many examples from the Old Testament showing that God came down to man on many occasions, often in association with judgment or deliverance. As students of the Word, have we ever insisted that all of these “comings” were physical, bodily manifestations of God? We don’t claim that God physically came down and delivered David and Deborah from their enemies, yet we must trust the Bible when it says that God came down in those instances. We seem to have no problem understanding those comings as “spiritual, metaphorical” comings of God. Why, then, when the descriptions of Christ’s Second Coming echo those same themes of judgment upon His enemies, and deliverance of His people, do we apply the physical nature of the Incarnation to it, and not the spiritual nature established by the precedent in the Old Testament? The reason that most people make this application is because Christ’s physical body ascended into heaven, and He was said to be coming back in like manner:

Now when He had spoken these things, while they watched, 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, who also said, "Men of Galilee, why do you stand gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will so come in like manner as you saw Him go into heaven." Acts 1:9-11 NKJV While many in the Church make the focus that Christ bodily ascended, therefore He must bodily return, we believe that the other references to His coming place the emphasis on His returning in the clouds. (pp. 207-208, Behind The Veil of Moses)

In this chapter, discover the scriptural support for this application.