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Hello everyone and welcome back to the next installment of The Visible Yahweh as a part of our What is the Bibles Main Character teachings. This is another component in our foundational series on What is the Bible.
We love teaching the ancient Near Eastern context of the biblical authors. It is our firm belief that this is the proper context to interpret the Bible through. Our hope is that with this information you will be able to form a “portfolio” about the ancient Near Eastern worldview to keep in the forefront of your minds to help guide you while studying the Bible.
Being aware of the context of any subject helps one to ground the content are engaging with with something much larger. The same is true about the topic today. We will be building off past installments of our What is the Bible Series.
If you haven’t had a chance to check out the other material yet, get the larger context of this teaching first by clicking here.
Today we will continue our study on how the invisible Yahweh reveals Himself visibly to humanity in the form of a man via The Rider on the Clouds.
How we are going to learn
In this teaching we will be looking at the topic of The Rider on the Clouds man theophany in the ancient Near Eastern biblical authors worldview. As I have done in the past with other teachings I want to quote from scholarly sources to make my point. I do this in hope that you will see this isn’t just my interpretation of the Scriptures but that this view is steeped in acadeemia.
We will be using two amazing sources which we highly recommend.
- Faithlife Study Bible: This is an amazing resource that is free if you download the app or use it online. To download the app or use this resource online visit their website here. This resource is also available in print which you can purchase here.
- The NIV Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible: This is my favorite resource for gaining a better understanding for the ancient Near Eastern worldview of the Biblical authors. This is available in a multitude of variations all of which you can find on our resource page here.
Let’s get started
Our teachings on the Visible Yahweh centers around the ancient Near Eastern biblical authors description of the Invisible God revealing Himself Visibly to humanity through the theophany of a man. In the Old Testament this man theophany is describe in four ways.
Over the past weeks we covered the other three of these which were The Word, The Angel of the Lord, and The Name. This week we will be covering the fourth and final way the ancient Near Eastern biblical authors described this man theophany.
Theophany
Remember theophany is a visible manifestation of a deity revealed to humanity. Throughout this teaching we have been looking at the ancient Near Eastern view of theophany and the role it plays in the pantheon of a nation.
Here is a quote for our recommended resources
“Since people cannot possibly process God’s nature as a disembodied, formless spirit, theophany allows God to make His presence known in a physical way that people can discern through their senses.”
Faithlife Study Bible: in the Article: Theophany in the Old Testament.
God uses theophanies many times throughout the Hebrew Bible. Fire, a still small voice, a storm cloud are only a couple of examples of God communicating to humanity via theophanies.
During these devotions we have be focusing especially on the ancient Near Eastern theophany of a man and its counterpart in the belief of the Godhead of the ancient Israelites.
Over the coarse of the past three installments we learned that the Invisible God appears to humanity visibly in the form of The Word, The Angel of the Lord, and The Name. If you haven’t gone over that content yet check it out here.
For the fourth week of our Visible Yahweh mini series we are going to be learning how Yahweh’s theophany appears to humans as a man via The Cloud Rider.
Identifying The Cloud Rider is going to be similar to the other Visible Yahweh devotionals of this series that we have looked at thus far. This new outlook may come as a bit of a surprise to us due to the fact we most likely have already formed a certain understanding of these familiar texts.
Lets critical think aloud together as we take a closer look at the details of
The Cloud Rider
Daniels Vision
“As I looked, “thrones were set in place, and the Ancient of Days took his seat. His clothing was as white as snow; the hair of his head was white like wool. His throne was flaming with fire, and its wheels were all ablaze. 10 A river of fire was flowing, coming out from before him. Thousands upon thousands attended him; ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him. The court was seated, and the books were opened. 11 “Then I continued to watch because of the boastful words the horn was speaking. I kept looking until the beast was slain and its body destroyed and thrown into the blazing fire. 12 (The other beasts had been stripped of their authority, but were allowed to live for a period of time.) 13 “In my vision at night I looked, and there before me was one like a son of man, coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days and was led into his presence. 14 He was given authority, glory and sovereign power; all nations and peoples of every language worshiped him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and his kingdom is one that will never be destroyed.”
Daniel 7:9-16
What an amazing passage of scripture! For many of us this may be familiar due to its messianic language. Looking again carefully at the details, did you notice what was being said?
We see two powers in the heavens. The Ancient of Days sitting upon the throne, and one like the Son of Man coming on the clouds. Both of these powers are describes with attributes that only Yahweh possess.
This is because in this passage there are two forms of Yahweh present.
Ancient of Days, One like the Son of Man
Isn’t it interesting that in this passage the visible Yahweh coming on the clouds is described as one like the son of man? This idea has been at the center of our Visible Yahweh study.
The visible Yahweh of the Old Testament is reveal to humans in the form of a man.
Here is a couple quotes from one of our recommended resources to help ground us in this thought.
Ancient of Days
“the Ancient of Days. In Canaanite mythology the head of the pantheon is El, who is depicted as an aged person. Among his titles are ‘judge’, ‘father’ and a phrase that is usually taken to mean ‘father of years’. This suggests that Daniel is using imagery and descriptions that would have been well known to his audience.“
The NIV Culture Backgrounds Study Bible: Notes on Daniel 7:9 pg 1436
and
Like the Son of Man
“one like the son of man. In Aramaic and Hebrew the phrase “son of man” is simply a common expression to describe someone or something as human or humanlike.”
The NIV Culture Backgrounds Study Bible: Notes on Daniel 7:13 pg 1436
Constantly here on Critically Thinking Aloud we talk about how the ancient Near Easter biblical authors use elements from there surrounding ancient Near Eastern neighbors to declare truths in their writings.
Throughout this devotional we have been revealing that the ancient Near Eastern Biblical authors recorded how the Invisible God chose to reveal Himself to humanity in the form of a man.
While both of these divine characters described by Daniel possess anthropomorphic elements, only The Cloud Rider is expressly described as being humanlike. The divine Rider on the Clouds is a man, a divine man is the one seen riding on the clouds.
This man theophany is known throughout the Old Testament in the descriptions of The Word, The Angel of the Lord, The Name, and The Cloud Rider. All of these motifs are used for describing the Invisible Yahweh’s Visible form.
Ancient Near Eastern context
Yahweh appearing as the man theophany riding on a cloud has deep theological roots in the ancient Near East.
Here is another quote from the same resource.
“coming on the clouds of heaven. In ancient Near Eastern literature clouds are often associated with the appearance of deities. In the OT it is Yahweh, the God of Israel, who rides on the clouds as his chariot (Ps 104; Isa 19:1). In canaanite mythology Baal, the son of El, is described as “rider/charioteer of the clouds.”
The NIV Culture Backgrounds Study Bible: Notes on Daniel 7:13 pg 1436
The Father Judge, and his son riding on the clouds, are both familiar images in the ancient Near East.
Hopefully there are a lot of dots that are starting to connect for you guys.
Psalms 68
“Sing to God, sing in praise of his name, extol him who rides on the clouds; rejoice before him—his name is the Lord.”
Psalms 68:4
This passage combines The Name theology that we looked at last week with the Rider on the Clouds. Both The Name and the one who Rides on the Clouds are describing the Visible Yahweh.
Here is yet another quote from our resource
“rides on the clouds. In the Ugaritic Baal Cycle, Baal is regularly referred to as the “rider of the clouds.” References can be found in both the Baal Cycle and in the Aqhat Legend. This image of power over the winds and weather stands as another example of the psalmist using descriptions of the gods that were familiar in other cultures. In doing so they are asserting Yahweh’s control over nature and nations (104:3; Jer 4:13)- a control elsewhere attributed to other gods.”
The NIV Culture Backgrounds Study Bible: Notes on Psalms 68:4 pg 943
Polemics
This is one of the many examples of the ancient Near Eastern Biblical authors use of polemic in the Old Testament. Polemic is basically a verbal or written attack on a known idea.
The ancient Near Eastern Biblical authors used polemics all the time to assert Yahweh as the one true God in the place of His ancient Near Eastern counterparts.
Say tuned, for over the next year we are going to start looking more in depth at where and how the ancient Near Eastern Biblical authors used polemic as a key literary devise.
Yahweh is The Cloud Rider
Here is a quote from our other recommended resources that gives more insight to the cloud rider.
“Another motif in the OT that indicates that there is an Israelite binitarian Godhead is the ‘Rider on the Clouds.’ Although this epithet was a well-known title for Baal, the Hebrew Bible consistently used it and similar designations to refer exclusively to Yahweh (Pss 68:4; 68:33; 104:3; Deut 33:26; Isa 19:1), with one exception: the “son of man” in Dan 7:13. This Human figure- though distinct from the Ancient of Days (the enthroned deity in Dan 7)- bears a title reserved exclusively for Yahweh in the OT.”
Faithlife Study Bible: in the Article: Old Testament Godhead Language
Throughout the Old Testament The Rider on the Clouds is always referring to Yahweh except for this one occasion in Daniel 7. The ancient Near Eastern Biblical author was clearly communicating to their readers that they believed Yahweh in the form of a man is The Rider on the Clouds. They believed The Rider on the Clouds is Yahweh in the from of a man.
God Chose to Appear to Us
The Trinity that we have come to know as Christians is rooted in Old Testament theology. Ever since the beginning the Invisible God has chosen to make Himself known to humans through His visible manifestation in the form of a Man.
Before His incarnation, Jesus, the Visible Yahweh, was known in the Old Testament as the second person of the trinity by four different descriptions.
In the four weeks of this mini series on the Visible Yahweh we have discussed all of Yahweh’s man theophany motifs. The Word, The Angel of the Lord, The Name, and The Rider on the Clouds are all use in the Old Testament to describe the Invisible God appearing in a visible form to humans as a man.
I want to leave you with this last quote.
“Theophanies set the precedent for Jesus. They help make sense of why and how God chose to appear in human form.”
Faithlife Study Bible: in the Article: Theophany in the Old Testament
In the next installment of Critical Thinking Aloud we will see how the third person of the Trinity fits into these four motifs.
Peace and Blessing! We hope you enjoyed this mini series on The Visible Yahweh.
Check out this short video series on Spiritual beings by our friends over at The Bible Project by clicking here. They are amazing and super helpful to better grasp what we will be covering in this series.
Citations:
Faithlife Study Bible. J. D. Barry et al. Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software, 2012
NIV Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible Grand Rapids, Michigan USA Zondervan 2016
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