Who Are the Cloud of Witnesses?
He leads me …
Do people in Heaven watch our lives on earth? If so, can they pray for us when we need help? The Bible mentions ‘a great cloud of witnesses’ in Hebrews 12:1, a verse that encourages us to run the race of faith with perseverance.
In Hebrews 12:1-2, it reads,
Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith.
This first passage of chapter 12 begins with the word therefore, indicating that it is a continuation of what Hebrews said in the previous chapter. This means that it is important to read Hebrews chapter 11 for the extra information about the cloud of witnesses that Hebrews chapter 12 mentions.
When we look at Hebrews chapter 11, we read that the cloud of witnesses refers to people who have gone to Heaven before us. This chapter focuses on the importance of faith, which is defined in verse 1 as -
Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.
Then, in verse 2 it points out that faith ‘is what the ancients were commended for’. Then the rest of the chapter gives examples of people who were commended for their faith. This group of faithful believers in God include such people as Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, Rahab, Gideon, and David.
Every single person who chooses to live by faith through a relationship with God can become part of the great cloud of witnesses. The numbers include a whole lot more than the famous saints in Heaven that we read of in the Bible. There will be a huge number of other people from throughout history who decided to live their lives by faith. This includes our departed friends and family members along with faithful believers who we have heard about or read about and have found to be particularly encouraging. These are the people who effectively guide our lives by the lessons that they learnt and passed on.
We can learn about the effectiveness of faith by learning how they relied on God through victories and defeats, joy and sorrow, celebrations and challenges. We can look back at their lives and see the results of their wise choices to live with faith.[1]
The ones in the cloud around us have given us the incredibly precious gift of their testimony. It does not matter whether their lives were well-lived, or imperfect and feeble because even their weaknesses are a gift to us, because it reminds us that no one is able to finish the race using just their own strength.
The challenge we should ask ourselves now is what kind of legacy do we desire to leave behind for those following us?
There may be a day when we join the cloud of witnesses for someone else.
Hopefully those who come after us have examples from our lives of how to have faith in the greatest witness of all, the pioneer and perfecter of our faith, who ran His own race, won the victory, and is also now encouraging us on. Jesus Christ.
Do the redeemed in Heaven observe us here on earth? Some think so. Some of the mental pictures that have been discussed about Hebrews 11 and 12 are of the cloud of witnesses being in an amphitheater, meaning that the ‘witnesses’ are spectators in the grandstand. Even if this interpretation were correct, the text gives little encouragement to the kind of popular sentimentalism ‘Grandma is looking down on us’ that operates in the absence of gospel faith.
But it is doubtful whether the text can be pushed this far.
There is little support to be found elsewhere in Scripture for the idea of departed saints as spectators of the living. As Richard C. H. Lenski[2] says of the cloud of witnesses -
‘The Scriptures teach that they behold the heavenly glories and say nothing about their beholding and watching earthly events.’
So, what do other commentators say about our cloud of witnesses?
‘It is not so much they who look at us as we who look to them – for encouragement.’ F.F. Bruce [3]
‘Witnesses here does not mean observers of the present conduct of Christians but rather those who testify or give evidence of the victorious life of faith. They show that it is possible to live by faith. Motivated by the preceding catalogue of examples (Hebrews 11), the readers are themselves to live the life of faith.’ Donald A. Hagner [4]
The best way of illustrating what is being meant is to look at what indigenous people like the Māori have as part of their culture.
The Māori family (whānau) does not include just those who are alive. Whānau remain together in life and in death. The connection to those who have passed on is a spiritual one. Those that have passed on are seen as still with the whānau because they live in them. This comes through the wisdom that has been passed down to provide the foundations for the whānau and the existence of the present generation.
Then we see that the people who are living now can prepare the way for those who are yet to come. The Māori see that the decisions made in the present will impact on the mokopuna (grandchildren) of the future.[5]
So, as Christians let us learn from this example, but also achieve what Hebrews 12:1-2 encourages us to do -
So we have many people of faith around us. Their lives tell us what faith means. So let us run the race that is before us and never give up. We should remove from our lives anything that would get in the way. And we should remove the sin that so easily catches us. Let us look only to Jesus. He is the one who began our faith, and he makes our faith perfect (ICB).
When we reach the finish line, we will get to celebrate in Heaven with God and all our supporters in the cloud of witnesses. What an incredible time that will be.
Dear Reader – If you have found some value in this blog, please feel free to send a copy on to your family and friends. Kind regards, John
[1] Who Are the 'Cloud of Witnesses' in the Bible? Whitney Hopler, Crosswalk.com;
https://www.crosswalk.com/faith/bible-study/who-are-the-cloud-of-witnesses-in-the-bible.html
[2] Richard Charles Henry Lenski was a German-born American-naturalized Lutheran pastor, scholar, and author who published a series of Lutheran New Testament commentaries.
[3] Frederick Fyvie Bruce FBA, usually cited as F. F. Bruce, was a Scottish biblical scholar who supported the historical reliability of the New Testament.
[4] Donald A. Hagner has had many articles published. He is the co-editor of the New International Greek Testament Commentary. He has been the recipient of the Weyerhauser Award for Excellence at Fuller and the Golden Award from the Christian Booksellers for the Best Commentary of 1995. Hagner is an ordained minister in the Presbyterian Church (USA).
[5] Whānau – Māori and family, Tai Walker, Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand;