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Vol. 11 No. 10 October 2009 |
Page 10 |
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Vol. 11 No. 10 October 2009 |
Page 10 |
Raymond Elliott
For several weeks we have experienced a real ‘monsoon’ season in the southeast section of our country [USA]. However, I don’t remember enjoying looking at the clouds in their various sizes and shapes since my childhood. Even the sunsets have been enhanced as the sun rays are seen beaming around a magnificent cloud. Some of the cumulous clouds reach perhaps 20 to 30 thousand feet in height. The beautiful blue sky at times has been filled with soft pillows of clouds. Other clouds that hang low and are darker in color have for their background the larger whiter clouds. Some clouds hide the sun and make for cooler weather while working in the yard or in the field. Then there are storm clouds that bring lightning and loud bursts of thunder and heavy rains and sometimes hail. On some days the entire sky is overcast with clouds that can make a person feel depressed. Yet, all in all, clouds are beautiful and they make believers appreciate God’s creation. The Psalmist declared, “The heavens declare the glory of God; And the firmament shows His handiwork” (Psalms 19:1). You need to stop for awhile from your busy schedule and look upwards to the beautiful scenes not made with man’s hands.
It is amazing how often we read about clouds in the Bible in connection with important persons and events. Here is a list of just a few times clouds are mentioned in both the Old and New Testament.
Sanford F. Bennett in 1867 wrote the beautiful lyrics of the song “Sweet By and By” and the first stanza tells us that “There’s a land that is fairer than day, And by faith we can see it afar; For the Father waits over the way, To prepare us a dwelling place there.” In the Book of Revelation we read that “The city had no need of the sun or of the moon to shine in it, for the glory of God illuminated it. The Lamb is its light” (21:23). Also “There shall be no night there: They need no lamp nor light of the sun, for the Lord God gives them light. And they shall reign forever and ever” (22:5). It is necessarily inferred that no clouds, especially storm clouds, will be there as the beautiful hymn “O They Tell Me of a Home” teaches:
O they tell me of a home far beyond the skies, O they
Tell me of a home far away; O they tell me of a home
Where no storm clouds rise, O they tell me of an unclouded day.
O they tell me of a home where my friends have gone, O they
Tell me of that land far away Where the tree of life
In eternal bloom Sheds it fragrance thro the unclouded day.
O they tell me of the King in His beauty there, And they
Tell me that mine eyes shall behold, Where he sit on the throne
That is whiter then snow, In the city that is made of gold.
O they tell me that He smiles on His children there, And His
Smile drives their sorrows away; And they tell me that no tears
Ever come again, In that lovely land of unclouded day.
O the land of cloudless day, O the land of an unclouded sky;
O they tell me of a home, where no storm clouds rise,
O they tell me of an unclouded day.
Josiah K. Alwood, 1890