THE LORD RIDES ON A SWIFT CLOUD

“Behold, the LORD rides on a swift cloud, and will come into Egypt” (Isaiah 19:1, NKJV).

There is something incredibly majestic in this imagery and at the same time it is somewhat foreboding. It is captivating, to me, to think of the Lord riding a cloud for transportation. Yes, I know it is symbolic but it is powerful imagery. First we are given the artistic beauty of Jehovah riding a swift cloud and then immediately comes the ominous, categorical phrase, “and will come into Egypt.”

I believe the picture of the Jehovah riding a swift cloud is symbolic of His sovereignty. He is the Lord of all the heavens and all the earth (Joshua 2:11). The word “swift” represents the decisiveness with which God works when the “fullness of time” has come.

Many scholars consider Isaiah 19 the most important prophesy in all of Scripture regarding God’s dealing with Egypt; if it is not at the top of the list, it is certainly very close. God dealt harshly with Egypt, as they had held the Jewish nation in bondage and oppression for 400 years. In the Old Testament, Egypt represents oppression and bondage. In the New Testament era, Egypt is often used to represent our life before we came to know Christ; i.e., we were being held captive by sin.

So then, how do we view a verse like this? Is it just a beautiful literary statement, simply a prophetic statement that scholars tell us has been historically fulfilled, or does it have practical implications for us today? I think all three are accurate but what presses me the most is to understand what it means to me, how it impacts my life today.

This verse gives us another distinctive picture of the heart and character of God. If you read my material at all, you know that frequently I come back to the theme of “getting to know God.” This is a lifelong pursuit and cannot be captured in a paragraph, a book or, for that matter, the whole of the New York Public Library (50,828,473 volumes at last count). It is a subject as big and as diverse as God Himself and certainly will not be exhausted in our lifetime.

In this brief article we will consider just two aspects of this verse and how they apply to us; first, we will look at timing and second, what the phrase “will come to Egypt” has to do with us.

The verse says that God rides on a swift cloud and we have begun to understand that this shows us that when God acts, He does so with quickness. In the natural, it becomes an easy jump for us to think that when we pray within the will of God, for things that we know God has promised us (because Scripture says so), God has to act immediately. When we pray with that expectation and God does not act immediately, our human tendency is to react with anxiety, fear or frustration—or we think somehow we have blown it. Hold steady, because this is not necessarily the case. God will answer and He will act but He is not bound by our sense of timing, not now, not ever! Timing is always a struggle for us and never a struggle for Him. The Bible speaks of the “fullness of time.” In essence, what this is speaking of is this: When the timing is right according to God’s agenda and calendar, He will act, He will answer, and do so quickly! To try and pull God into acting on our time schedule is to attempt to reduce God to being, thinking, and acting like us and that is simply wrong! When we pray according to His will and there is no immediate answer, the issue for us is trust. Do we trust that in the fullness of time the answer will arrive? Do we trust Him…period?

“For you have need of steadfast patience and endurance, so that you may perform and fully accomplish the will of God, and thus receive and carry away [and enjoy to the full] what is promised.” (Hebrews 10:36 Amplified Bible)

What possible relevance could the phrase “will come to Egypt” have to do with us? It is, I believe, God’s statement that He wants to get all the residue of Egypt out of our lives. It is hilarious to watch a video clip of the old Steve Martin routine, “Walk Like an Egyptian.” It is a great comedy routine but it is not funny when we are in bondage and under oppression to the old way of life, to the Egypt of our past. “Will come to Egypt” sounds ominous but really, it is not. God will send the Holy Spirit to convict us of living that is “Egyptian” and below where a child of God should be. He will use His Word to illuminate areas of “Egyptian” life that are wrong for one of His children to be involved in. These are the actions of a shepherd who cares for his sheep and only wants the best for them, the actions of a father who loves his children even when they act like prodigals.