They’re an essential part of our planet’s ecological system, we couldn’t survive without them. And have you ever stopped to wonder at how beautiful they can be? Constantly changing, and washing the world in subtly different qualities of light throughout the day and night, they’re a wonder of creation that we so often take for granted.
It does appear that sky-watching is good for your health. It rejuvenates the eyes because they’re focused at a far distance and exposed to a large amount of natural full-spectrum light, and it calms the mind.
When you’re familiar with the sky, you can read it: “When you see a cloud rising in the west, you say at once, ‘A shower is coming.’ And so it happens” (Luke 12:54). Like many things, you can watch the sky too much: ‘He who observes the wind will not sow, and he who regards the clouds will not reap’ (Ecclesiastes 11:4).
Symbols of the Spiritual
The Bible often uses features of nature to make us think about spiritual things. Sleep and awakening are a picture of death and resurrection (Daniel 12:2). Marriage is a picture of the relationship between Christ and his followers (Ephesians 5:22–32). And when you look, there are lessons in less obvious places.
Let’s remind ourselves what clouds are and what they do. You may be familiar with the ‘water cycle’, the fundamental mechanism that keeps the world alive. The sun causes water to evaporate, mostly from the oceans. The water vapour cools and condenses in the atmosphere and forms clouds. When the clouds are sufficiently heavy, water falls back to earth, usually in the form of rain. The water finds its way back into the oceans, and the process starts again.
Now let’s think about some figures of speech the Bible uses.
The oceans are used as a symbol for nations. The prophet describes his own day: ‘The wicked are like the tossing sea; for it cannot be quiet, and its waters toss up mire and dirt’ (Isaiah 57:20). Whereas in his vision of the Kingdom of God, the Apostle John sees a ‘sea of glass’ (Revelation 4:6).
The sun is used as a symbol for God (Psalm 84:11), and Jesus Christ (John 8:12).
Jesus says ‘Come to me’ (Matthew 11:28). By this means, God is calling out of the world’s population a ‘people for his name’ (Acts 15:14). Compare this to the sun warming the oceans and causing water to separate from them and rise towards heaven.
The community of believers (both dead and living) is referred to as a cloud: ‘Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us’ (Hebrews 12:1).
When Jesus Christ returns to establish the Kingdom of God, we’re given the picture of refreshing rain, bringing life to a parched land: ‘May he be like rain that falls on the mown grass, like showers that water the earth!’ (Psalm 72:6). ‘The wilderness and the dry land shall be glad; the desert shall rejoice and blossom like the crocus; it shall blossom abundantly and rejoice with joy and singing’ (Isaiah 35:1–2). When he establishes God’s Kingdom, he will not be alone—he’ll reign along with those who have given their lives to him, and to whom he will give immortality. ‘You have made them a kingdom and priests to our God, and they shall reign on the earth’ (Revelation 5:10).
Symbolically, then, when Jesus returns the clouds will drop their rain on the earth.
Refreshing Rain
However good or not so good your life may be right now—when you look around, you have to admit that this world is in a mess. It has been, since paradise was lost in Genesis 3. But God has promised that the curse will be undone, when Christ returns. Literally, the climate will be repaired and the world will be fruitful (Isaiah 35). And symbolically, its people will be restored to godliness (Isaiah 2). The Bible’s promise of the coming Kingdom of God is a promise of paradise restored:
Shower, O heavens, from above, and let the clouds rain down righteousness; let the earth open, that salvation and righteousness may bear fruit; let the earth cause them both to sprout; I the Lord have created it
(Isaiah 45:8).
Clouds are a reminder of God’s kindness to us now, and of His ultimate purpose to bless the earth.