In November of 361 AD, Julian began to rule as emperor of Rome. Despite being the nephew of Constantine the Great, Julian quickly revealed that he had rejected the faith of his uncle. He renounced his baptism, began elevating the pagan religions in Rome and began persecuting the Christian church. When Julian’s wickedness drove the church father Athanasius into exile, Athanasius comforted his followers with the following words, “let us retire for a brief while, my friends; this is but a little cloud and soon will pass.”
Athanasius could say this because he was a devout student of the Scriptures. He saw what we should see in moments like our reading from 1 Samuel 16 this morning, where God rebukes Samuel for grieving over Saul. The once promising Saul, the mighty, faithful king who looked like he would be the savior fell. He made an idol of his pride and now the kingdom is falling apart. But this is just going to be a little cloud. It soon will pass. God has already chosen a replacement for Saul, a shepherd boy named David.
And by choosing the youngest of his family, God was making the point clear: No one takes His kingdom away from him. No man can crush the will of God with his own will. It is the Lord’s kingdom, the Lord’s fight. The God who created the clouds controls the clouds. And He will never let them destroy His church and rip His elect out of His hands. The cloud named Saul would pass. As would the cloud named Absalom, the clouds named for Israel and Judah’s unfaithful kings, the clouds of the Assyrians and Babylonians. They would all pass as God paved the the way for the King who would die for your sins, rise for your justification, and be taken by a righteous cloud to the right hand of the Father.
Athanasius was, of course, right. Less than two years after his ascent to the throne, God removed Julian the Apostate from the land of the living. He protected and prospered His church. He kept feeding His faithful with salvation. And so it will be for us. Don’t fear any election result, any politician. Don’t fear war or famine or pestilence or plague. These are all clouds that afflict you with a little darkness and a touch of stinging rain. But all of this will pass. And the memory of these sorrows and persecutions and hardships will all fade into nothing on the great and glorious day when we see the face of the Savior who conquered the rain storms through the food of blood that He poured out at Calvary. On the great and glorious day when Jesus Christ, our crucified and risen Lord returns, He will bless us to lift up our heads and see the cloud of salvation, the cloud that delivers Him back to this earth and delivers us into His eternal kingdom.
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