The Cloud Rider: Divine Identity of Messiah

Riding the clouds was Baal's signature. It was his epithet, the phrase that marked him out as the storm god of Canaanite religion.
The Old Testament takes it off him and gives it to Yahweh. He rides through the heavens in Deuteronomy 33. He comes to Egypt riding on a swift cloud in Isaiah 19. Each occurrence displaces Baal.
Each occurrence but one. In Daniel 7 the figure riding the clouds is not Yahweh. It is one like a son of man, who comes to the Ancient of Days and receives everlasting dominion.
Which is why the high priest tore his robes when Jesus used the phrase at his trial. Jesus was not claiming to be a prophet. He was claiming a title that in Israel's Scriptures belonged to God alone - and in one place, to a second figure beside him.
Scripture links:
- Deuteronomy 33:26 - Yahweh rides through the heavens.
- Isaiah 19:1 - the Lord rides on a swift cloud into Egypt.
- Daniel 7:13-14 - one like a son of man comes with the clouds and is given dominion.
The clouds were never just weather. They were a claim about who had arrived.