Exodus 16:10: “And it came to pass as Aaron spoke to the whole congregation of the children of Israel, they looked toward the wilderness, and behold the glory of the Lord appeared in the cloud.”
“Bows and flows of angel hair and ice cream castles in the air and feather canyons everywhere. I’ve looked at clouds that way, but now they only block the sun they rain and snow on everyone, so many things I would have done, but clouds got in my way.
I’ve looked at clouds from both sides now, from up and down and still somehow, it’s clouds illusions I recall, I really don’t know clouds at all.” – Joni Mitchell
Joni Mitchell wrote the above words while in an airplane flying above the clouds. She was reading a book by Saul Bellows at the time entitled: “Henderson the Rain King.” This is the Pulitzer Prize nominated story (the prize went to Allen Duri’s “Advise and Consent” that year) of a very successful and rich middle aged man who feels restless and unfulfilled and harbors a spiritual void that is manifested in an inner voice that keeps crying out: “I want, I want, I want.” Joni Mitchell was at the point in the book when the protagonist is also flying in an airplane looking out the windows at the clouds contemplating the purpose of life and it is here she found an affinity with the protagonist. Looking over the clouds she wrote the words to the song: “Both Sides, Now” which Judy Collins made famous in the late sixties and became almost an anthem for the Hippy movement.
It is ironic that where clouds symbolized the meaninglessness of life to Saul Bellows, Scripture seems to indicate that the purpose of life is really found in a cloud. In Exodus 16:10 we learn that the glory of the Lord was manifested in a cloud. What this glory actually looked like, no one can really say. I checked all the commentaries but no one really has a clue. However, of this we can be certain; the glory of God is the very presence of God. The Jews call this the Shekinah which is the feminine form of the word shacan which means to dwell or inhabit. The presence of the Lord was inhabited in the cloud.
The word cloud in Hebrew is ’anan which means simply cloud. However, this word is also the root word for diviner or miracle worker. The word is spelled Ayin Nun Nun and the use of these letters is very interesting, because it means, spiritual insight through faith. However, the double Nun (ננ) would suggest that this spiritual insight is through faith and faith alone. Spiritual insight does not come through man’s teaching, although it helps, it does not come through study, but God can use that. Ultimately, however, our spiritual insight comes from faith. Without faith, no amount of teaching or study will bring you spiritual insight. When Moses entered the cloud or the ‘anan he entered into deep spiritual understanding. The people of Israel did not want to enter the cloud, they were afraid. They were afraid to enter into this deep understanding of God. It is interesting that the word for knowing in Hebrew is yada which is an intimate knowing. Our understanding of God comes not through the teachings of man or our personal study, again God can use this, but ultimately our understanding of God comes from our intimacy with Him.
Ray Bradbury, the celebrated science fiction writer has been studied by men and women of great intellectual knowledge and skills. Many university professors study the works of Ray Bradbury. Yet, when it comes down to the real expert on Ray Bradbury these leaned people would call upon one person who knew and understood the mind of Ray Bradbury. She as a relatively uneducated woman who knew the mind of Ray Bradbury better than those who studied his works for years. She was the one expert who could explain the thoughts of this complex writer. Her name, of course, was Marguerite Bradbury, Ray Bradbury’s wife. She knew the thinking of Ray Bradbury because she had a love relationship with him and was intimate with him. She tells how, when she first met Ray Bradbury she was unimpressed. She had no interest in science fiction and when Ray Bradbury gave her a copy of his book, she stuck it on a shelf and forgot about it. However, she did not forget about Ray Bradbury. As time went by they continued to see each other and eventually fell in love. The night she became engaged to Ray Bradbury, she went home and laid in bed thinking about the man she was to marry and how little she really knew about him. Then it struck her, she had the book he wrote. She went and dusted off of the book, sat down and began to read. She read the book three times that night. Now how could someone who hates science fiction, stay up all night reading a book of science fiction and read it three times? The answer is simple, she fell in love with its author and the book he wrote would reveal his inner secrets.
So too, the more we love God, the more He will reveal his secrets to us in His book. The more we enter that cloud or ‘anan , the presence of God, the more we will know Him. It is interesting that the word shekiniah is in a feminine form. The shekiniah glory of God represents His feminine nature, that part of him that is the soft, caring, gentle and nourishing. When we enter his presence we enter cleansed by the Blood of His Son Jesus Christ so we do not enter His presence with condemnation or fear of punishment, but we are allowed to enter into His loving arms, guilt free.
As I sit and contemplate that amazing relationship that we, just one creature among the trillions and trillions of creative works of the God of universe I find myself speaking the words of Joni Mitchell: “I really don’t know clouds, at all.”
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