The Sanctuary in the Psalms by Dunn Steven;

Author:Dunn, Steven; [Dunn, Steven]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Lexington Books/Fortress Academic
Published: 2016-08-15T00:00:00+00:00

4

The Mysterious Cloud Chariot

Distant clouds, visible but beyond reach, evoke the wonder and mystery of God in Psalms 18:11, 68:5, 18, and 34, 97:2. Clouds reveal and conceal God’s dynamic, ephemeral nature. Thunder and wind representing God’s voice and breath, emanate from clouds; heavenly bodies share the sky with clouds as attendants at the heavenly throne. Clouds represent God’s presence guiding the Israelites in the Exodus, in the revelation on Mount Sinai-Horeb, at the tent of meeting “outside the camp,” and within the Holy of Holies of the Tabernacle and Temple.1 In the ancient Israelite cult, the cloud chariot corresponds to the Cherubim above the ark, shrouded in a cloud of incense (Lev 16:13) within the Holy of Holies.2 Fire and incense offered in the sanctuary correspond to clouds and lightening as agents of God’s glorious presence in the heavens.3 Cloud imagery unites creation and cult to mediate divine presence.

Several pre-exilic texts outside the psalter reveal the development of this image. In Deuteronomy 33:26, the “Song of Moses,” the “God of Jeshurun”—an ancient epithet for Israel—rides (bkr) the heavens (Mym#h), appearing as “majesty” in the cirrus clouds (Myqx#) in the upper limits of the atmosphere, to provide help on earth.4 Yhwh emerges ()b) from Sinai, “shines” (xrz) from Seir, and “appears” ((ypwh) from Mount Paran, surrounded by “myriads of holy ones” representing attendants of the heavenly throne (33:2). Verbs denoting movement and illumination provide a mythological depiction of Yhwh’s dynamic, mystical presence soaring in the cloud chariot.5

Habakkuk 3 depicts Yhwh emerging in a storm theophany from the southern wilderness regions of Teman and Mount Paran, places of austere beauty and mystery, revealing divine glory “in the heavens” with praise resounding on earth with “splendor” spreading like light (3:3–4).6 Rays of light emerge from the place where God’s “power is concealed” (hz( Nwybh)—a possible allusion to the Holy of Holies in which the Ark of the Covenant (zw(, Pss 78:61; 132:8) and cherubim symbolized God’s invisibly enthroned presence hidden within the sanctuary (Exod 25:22; Num 7:89). Divine anger tames the chaos of primeval rivers and seas (v. 8a-b), shakes the earth, destroys evil, and rescues the Israelites as a prelude to praise (v. 19). “For you ride upon your steeds, your chariots of salvation” (h(w#y Kytbkrm), envisions the origin of divine power in storm clouds (v. 10) emitting rain, lightening, and thunder. Hidden within the clouds forming the divine chariot soaring across the wilderness, Yhwh mediates divine power through the storm.7 Cosmic upheavals represent fearsome divine intervention that for the righteous promise ultimate security and blessing. Contemplation upon these images elevates the poet spiritually to transcend external crises and commune internally with a benevolent, protective God.

Isaiah depicts Yhwh “riding on a swift cloud” (lq b(-l( bkr; 19:1) on the way to Egypt to bring terror and destruction (vv. 2–17).8 An altar and a sacred pillar to “Yhwh of hosts” will be set up in Egypt to signify divine presence, leading to the conversion and healing of the Egyptians who will worship Yhwh (vv.

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