The Cloud of Witnesses
(week 06/06)
Olubi Johnson
Hebrews 12:1-2 NKJV: Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us,
In the scripture above we are told that we are surrounded with a great cloud of witnesses.
Who then are these witnesses?
All saints that have died and gone to heaven: both from the Old Testament and the New Testament.
It is vital to understand that the saints in heaven are living and conscious of what and how well we are doing here on earth spiritually: Gods family is both in heaven and on earth.
Ephesians 3:14-15 NKJV: For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, 15 from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named,
Luke 20:37-38 NIV: But in the account of the bush, even Moses showed that the dead rise, for he calls the Lord ‘the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.’ 38 He is not the God of the dead, but of the living, for to him all are alive.”
These witnesses are concerned about the spiritual condition of the church and desire for us saints here on earth to do even better than they did in their Christian race when they were here on the earth.
Why are we told about these witnesses?
To comfort and encourage us to continue and finish well our Christian race.
1 Corinthians 10:11 NIV: These things happened to them as examples and were written down as warnings for us, on whom the fulfillment of the ages has come.
Rom 15:4 NIV: For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.
So by copying the good examples of the cloud of witnesses and avoiding their errors and mistakes God expects every generation of Christians to do better than the previous generation until the Church is perfected in the last generation and is raptured out of the earth as a glorious church not having spot, blemish, wrinkle or any such thing!
Proverbs 4:18 NKJV: But the path of the just is like the shining sun, that shines ever brighter unto the perfect day.
This generation of Christians counting from the establishment of Israel as geopolitical entity again in 1948 is destined to be the last generation.
Matthew 24:32-34 NIV: “Now learn this lesson from the fig tree: As soon as its twigs get tender and its leaves come out, you know that summer is near. 33 Even so, when you see all these things, you know that it is near, right at the door. 34 I tell you the truth; this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened.
Now the fig tree is symbolic of the nation of Israel in this context:
Hosea 9:10 NKJV: “I found Israel like grapes in the wilderness; I saw your fathers as the firstfruits on the fig tree in its first season.
Joel 1:7 NKJV: He has laid waste My vine, and ruined My fig tree;
So lift up your heads, learn from the cloud of witnesses, through the scriptures by the Holy Spirit to fulfill your destiny!
