Jesus "came on the clouds" in a.d. 70 with the destruction of Jerusalem. The phrase "coming on the clouds" is a prophetic phrase signifying the Lord coming in judgment through some means (i.e. not a visible appearance of God in any form, but His judgment coming in some manner).
Check out Matthew 24, which is obviously speaking of the destruction of Jerusalem (read Matt 23-24 in context and you will see this) and the Temple and it's order/system/age, and the same phrase is used:
Matt 24:30 Then will appear in heaven the sign of the Son of Man, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.
This is the same "coming" that Revelation 1:6-7 is speaking about.
SO, how does the Bible speak about God in relation to clouds? Gary DeMar writes:
First, God showed Himself by the physical presence of clouds, although no one ever saw Him (e.g., Ex. 13:21; 14:24; 19:9; 20:21; 24:15; 33:9; 34:5; 1 Kings 8:12). Second, God's abode is described as a canopy of clouds (Psalm 97:2). Third, God's mode of transportation is figuratively described as a cloud chariot (104:3). Fourth, when God speaks, "He causes the clouds to ascend from the end of the earth" (Jer. 10:13; 51:16). Fifth, the "day of the LORD ... will be a day of clouds" (Ezek. 30:3; Joel 2:2). Sixth, God's judgment of the wicked is described as the upheaval of the created order: "In whirlwind and storm is His way, and clouds are the dust beneath His feet" (Nahum 1:3). In each of the above symbols, clouds are symbols of God's presence.
In addition, there are verses which describe God "coming on the clouds":
"Behold, the LORD is riding on a swift cloud, and is about to come to Egypt" (Isa 19:1; cf. Psalm 104:3). ... The image of God riding on a swift cloud depicts His sovereignty over the nations.
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There is a third cloud motif in Scripture. The reference is found in Daniel 7:13-14, the passage that Jesus quotes in Matthew 24:30. Notice that the coming of the Son of Man in Daniel 7 is not down but up! The Son of Man, Jesus, comes up "with the clouds of heaven" to "the Ancient of Days and was presented before Him."
The context of Revelation 1:6-7, using
Sola Scriptura, is Jesus being exalted as King over all the nations and being given dominion over all the kingdoms and peoples of the earth. Jesus "coming on the clouds" is symbolic of not only His exaltation as King, but His power and coming judgment upon apostate Judaism and particularly upon Jerusalem.
To clarify more, DeMar comments further:
At His ascension, Jesus had come up to the Ancient of Days "with the clouds of heaven" to receive the kingdom from His Father (Mark 16:19; Acts 1:9). Jesus' reception of the kingdom gave Him possession so that He could do with it as He pleased. He had earlier stated that the kingdom would be "taken away from" those who rejected Him and would "be given to a nation producing the fruit of it" (Matt 21:43).
Who are the people John describes as,
"every eye will see him, even those who pierced him, and all tribes of the earth will wail on account of him"?
The rendering "all tribes of the earth" is not as accurate as possible for us to determine who is being spoken of here. We must cross-reference with Matt. 24 and also look to the Greek words used. DeMar writes of this:
The "coming" of "the Son of Man" is most often taught as a worldwide event since Jesus states that "all the tribes of the earth will mourn" (Matt. 24:30). Again, most Bible translations do not capture the true meaning of the Greek. A better translation is "tribes of the land," indicating that the event is restricted to Israel since Israel is the topic of discussion. The Greek word often translated "earth" can also be translated "soil" (Matt. 13:5,8,23), "ground" or "dirt" (25:25), "land" (countryside: 27:45), "Earth" (world: 16:10), or the "land of Israel" (2:6, 20-21), depending on the context. Since "tribes" is used in conjunction with land in Matthew 24:30, "land [of Judea]" is the best translation.
So, how can we be sure that this means the tribes of Israel and not tribes of the earth? Context, of course. Matthew 24, along with Revelation 1, is not describing events leading up to the end of the world, but the "end of the age." The word "kosmos" is not used in Matt. 24, "aion" is, meaning "age." The end of the Old Covenant age is being spoken of in both contexts, with Christ being brought His place of dominion following His ascension into heaven (coming on the clouds; cg. Dan 7 again), NOT the "end of the world," a concept foreign to Scripture. Jesus' disciples are asking Him about the end of the age, NOT the end of the world. Context, context, context.
Also, using
Sola Scriptura, we can see clearly that the audience being referred to in both passages is those in Jerusalem, that generation that would not "pass away until all these things took place." Consider:
Zech 12:10 "œAnd I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and pleas for mercy, so that, when they look on me, on him whom they have pierced, they shall mourn for him, as one mourns for an only child, and weep bitterly over him, as one weeps over a firstborn. 11 On that day the mourning in Jerusalem will be as great as the mourning for Hadad-rimmon in the plain of Megiddo.
It is very clear from Scripture that those who looked upon Christ and mourned and those who pierced Him are the generation that both Jesus and John refer to, both quoting Old Testament prophecy. The same generation that would "not pass away" before "all things" take place; that is, all the things Christ describes in Matt. 24's Olivet Discourse. Either Christ is a
liar, or futurists and non-preterists have their timetables completely wrong.
Plus...
