Clouds -
Isa 19:1 NRSVAue "An oracle concerning Egypt. See, the LORD is riding on a swift cloud and comes to Egypt; the idols of Egypt will tremble at his presence, and the heart of the Egyptians will melt within them."
Nah 1:3 NRSVAue "The LORD is slow to anger but great in power, and the LORD will by no means clear the guilty. His way is in whirlwind and storm, and the clouds are the dust of his feet."
Psa 104:3 NRSVAue "you set the beams of your chambers on the waters; you make the clouds your chariot; you ride on the wings of the wind;"
Sky, sun, moon and stars -
Isa 13:1,10,19-20 NRSVAue "The oracle concerning Babylon that Isaiah son of Amoz saw... For the stars of the heavens and their constellations will not give their light; the sun will be dark at its rising, and the moon will not shed its light... And Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, the splendor and pride of the Chaldeans, will be like Sodom and Gomorrah when God overthrew them. It will never be inhabited or lived in for all generations; Arabs will not pitch their tents there; shepherds will not make their flocks lie down there."
Isa 34:4-5 NRSVAue "All the host of heaven shall rot away, and the skies roll up like a scroll. All their host shall wither like a leaf withering on a vine or fruit withering on a fig tree. When my sword has drunk its fill in the heavens, upon Edom it will fall, upon the people I have doomed to judgment."
Eze 32:2,7-8 NRSVAue "Mortal, raise a lamentation over Pharaoh king of Egypt and say to him: You consider yourself a lion among the nations, but you are like a dragon in the seas; you thrash about in your streams, trouble the water with your feet, and foul your streams... When I blot you out, I will cover the heavens and make their stars dark; I will cover the sun with a cloud, and the moon shall not give its light. All the shining lights of the heavens I will darken above you and put darkness on your land, says the Lord GOD."
Hail, fire and brimstone -
Psa 18:12-13 NRSVAue "Out of the brightness before him there broke through his clouds hailstones and coals of fire. The LORD also thundered in the heavens, and the Most High uttered his voice."
Isa 28:1-2 NRSVAue "Woe to the proud garland of the drunkards of Ephraim and the fading flower of its glorious beauty, at the head of the fertile valley, those overcome with wine! See, the Lord has one who is mighty and strong, like a storm of hail, a destroying tempest, like a storm of mighty, overflowing waters; with force he will hurl them down to the earth."
Earthquakes -
Psa 18:6-8 NRSVAue In my distress I called upon the LORD; to my God I cried for help. From his temple he heard my voice, and my cry to him reached his ears. Then the earth reeled and rocked; the foundations also of the mountains trembled and reeled because he was angry. Smoke went up from his nostrils and devouring fire from his mouth; glowing coals flamed forth from him. (2 Sam.22:7-16)
The apocalyptic language of Jesus in Matthew 24
Mat 24:29-31 NRSVAue “Immediately after the suffering of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of heaven will be shaken. Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, 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. And he will send out his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other."
"angels aggelos: From ἀγγέλλω aggellō (probably derived from G71; compare G34; to bring tidings); a messenger; especially an “angel”; by implication a pastor:—angel, messenger." 1890 Strong's Dict.
*Angels may be the pastors preaching the gospel all over the earth, see -
Col 1:23 NRSVAue "provided that you continue securely established and steadfast in the faith, without shifting from the hope promised by the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven. I, Paul, became a minister of this gospel." (Written 60-62 AD, 8 to 10 years before the destruction of the temple in 70 AD)
Mat 24:34 NRSVAue "Truly I tell you, this generation will not pass away until all these things have taken place."
Mat 24:34 Weymouth "I tell you in solemn truth that the present generation will certainly not pass away without all these things having first taken place."
Mat 24:34 GNB "Remember that all these things will happen before the people now living have all died."
Mat 24:34 REB "Truly I tell you: the present generation will live to see it all."
**Context and grammar show the literal word for word text means the generation to whom Jesus was speaking!
Isa 19:1 NRSVAue "An oracle concerning Egypt. See, the LORD is riding on a swift cloud and comes to Egypt; the idols of Egypt will tremble at his presence, and the heart of the Egyptians will melt within them."
Nah 1:3 NRSVAue "The LORD is slow to anger but great in power, and the LORD will by no means clear the guilty. His way is in whirlwind and storm, and the clouds are the dust of his feet."
Psa 104:3 NRSVAue "you set the beams of your chambers on the waters; you make the clouds your chariot; you ride on the wings of the wind;"
Sky, sun, moon and stars -
Isa 13:1,10,19-20 NRSVAue "The oracle concerning Babylon that Isaiah son of Amoz saw... For the stars of the heavens and their constellations will not give their light; the sun will be dark at its rising, and the moon will not shed its light... And Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, the splendor and pride of the Chaldeans, will be like Sodom and Gomorrah when God overthrew them. It will never be inhabited or lived in for all generations; Arabs will not pitch their tents there; shepherds will not make their flocks lie down there."
Isa 34:4-5 NRSVAue "All the host of heaven shall rot away, and the skies roll up like a scroll. All their host shall wither like a leaf withering on a vine or fruit withering on a fig tree. When my sword has drunk its fill in the heavens, upon Edom it will fall, upon the people I have doomed to judgment."
Eze 32:2,7-8 NRSVAue "Mortal, raise a lamentation over Pharaoh king of Egypt and say to him: You consider yourself a lion among the nations, but you are like a dragon in the seas; you thrash about in your streams, trouble the water with your feet, and foul your streams... When I blot you out, I will cover the heavens and make their stars dark; I will cover the sun with a cloud, and the moon shall not give its light. All the shining lights of the heavens I will darken above you and put darkness on your land, says the Lord GOD."
Hail, fire and brimstone -
Psa 18:12-13 NRSVAue "Out of the brightness before him there broke through his clouds hailstones and coals of fire. The LORD also thundered in the heavens, and the Most High uttered his voice."
Isa 28:1-2 NRSVAue "Woe to the proud garland of the drunkards of Ephraim and the fading flower of its glorious beauty, at the head of the fertile valley, those overcome with wine! See, the Lord has one who is mighty and strong, like a storm of hail, a destroying tempest, like a storm of mighty, overflowing waters; with force he will hurl them down to the earth."
Earthquakes -
Psa 18:6-8 NRSVAue In my distress I called upon the LORD; to my God I cried for help. From his temple he heard my voice, and my cry to him reached his ears. Then the earth reeled and rocked; the foundations also of the mountains trembled and reeled because he was angry. Smoke went up from his nostrils and devouring fire from his mouth; glowing coals flamed forth from him. (2 Sam.22:7-16)
The apocalyptic language of Jesus in Matthew 24
Mat 24:29-31 NRSVAue “Immediately after the suffering of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of heaven will be shaken. Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, 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. And he will send out his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other."
"angels aggelos: From ἀγγέλλω aggellō (probably derived from G71; compare G34; to bring tidings); a messenger; especially an “angel”; by implication a pastor:—angel, messenger." 1890 Strong's Dict.
*Angels may be the pastors preaching the gospel all over the earth, see -
Col 1:23 NRSVAue "provided that you continue securely established and steadfast in the faith, without shifting from the hope promised by the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven. I, Paul, became a minister of this gospel." (Written 60-62 AD, 8 to 10 years before the destruction of the temple in 70 AD)
Mat 24:34 NRSVAue "Truly I tell you, this generation will not pass away until all these things have taken place."
Mat 24:34 Weymouth "I tell you in solemn truth that the present generation will certainly not pass away without all these things having first taken place."
Mat 24:34 GNB "Remember that all these things will happen before the people now living have all died."
Mat 24:34 REB "Truly I tell you: the present generation will live to see it all."
**Context and grammar show the literal word for word text means the generation to whom Jesus was speaking!
