“Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith” (Hebrews 12:1-2)

What is the cloud of witnesses spoken of that surrounds us?

Knowing the truth is a process given to us whereby we can come to God through his word. However, it is not enough to merely study and know the words of the Lord; Satan also knows his words but abides not in the truth, for there is no truth in him.

Satan went so far as to attempt to use the word of God against him in the temptation of Jesus, and to this day, Satan uses the written word spoken by his ministers as his main weapon of deception. In fact, the first words out of Satan’s mouth on earth were an attack on the veracity of the word of God by asking Eve, “Yea, hath God said?”

Truth is spiritual, not literal; “for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life.” We can only rightly divide the written word of God by the spirit in which the words were given. The process given to us to do that and to divide the truth from deceptions is by following the spirit, as we are led by a cloud of witnesses. An example written for us in the Bible is when the Israelites were led through the wilderness:

“And the LORD went before them by day in a pillar of a cloud, to lead them the way; and by night in a pillar of fire, to give them light; to go by day and night” (Exodus 13:21 )

The truth revealed through the word of God forms a cloud of witnesses for us to follow in the light of day; the fire of the spirit enlightens us in the dark of night and is a light going before us, lighting our path until the day dawns as the scriptures are revealed.

The Lord states that the truth is established by multiple witnesses. A cloud of witnesses appears when many vapors ascend together and accumulate to the point that they become visible.

Thus, it is not the written word alone that bears witness to itself as being the true word of God, but all of creation bears witness to the truth of spiritual things in the scriptures. For creation mirrors the word of God, being that it was itself created by the word of God to be a witness to the truth. Thus, all of creation is in harmony with the invisible truths that they are the similitudes of, and they were written down, placed in the Bible, and delivered to us.

It is then, by this means, that we can know and understand the written word in spirit and truth when the word of God aligns with the things in the physical creation—for the things he created visibly express the things that are written, creating a cloud of witnesses comprised of the things that are written and confirmed by the things that are made.

In the Revelation of John, Jesus proclaimed himself the beginning of the creation of God. The greatest sermon ever preached is the creation, which came forth from the mouth of God, and its teachings are renewed and repeated with every new day.

“The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork. Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night sheweth knowledge. There is no speech nor language, where their voice is not heard.” (Psalm 19:1)

Jesus spoke unto the multitudes in parables, using them as illustrations of what he was teaching; and without a parable, he spoke not (Matthew 13:34). In his parables, he used the things he created to communicate spiritual truths that people lacked an understanding of.

The purified water that rains on the earth from the clouds above is first pulled up and separated from the impure waters in the earth below, leaving all impurities below. There are many fallacies and false doctrines in the world that make up the waters humanity drinks from. We must seek God, who separates the truth by his spirit from the polluted waters of this world and rains the truth upon his people, who seek the pure living water that comes from the Lord above.

As we learn the truth of God from his word, many things come together, forming a cloud of witnesses testifying to the truth. It is then, as the scripture says, “If the clouds be full of rain, they empty themselves upon the earth” (Ecclesiastes 11:3). And the fullness of scripture is revealed and received into the fertile ground.

We are, as represented in scripture, the earth that receives the former and latter rains. As an eco-cycle completes and begins again, our understanding likewise comes to fullness. When we receive the water from above into our souls, we are then to share it with others, and the cycle perpetuates, like in the ecosystem, which gives rain in due season, sustaining life in the world from one generation to the next.

“For the earth (mankind) which drinketh in the rain that cometh oft upon it, and bringeth forth herbs meet for them by whom it is dressed, receiveth blessing from God: But that which beareth thorns and briers is rejected, and is nigh unto cursing; whose end is to be burned. (Hebrews 6:7-8)

We are to produce life on earth, which comes only from God through his Word, rained down from heaven upon us, confirmed in Spirit and truth, all of his creation bearing witness.