Is this the face of God in the clouds?

If you surf the internet in search of unexplained phenomena, then you have probably come across this video shot in New Brunswick, Canada.

The story about the face in storm clouds over the Grand Falls also appeared in various news agencies such as The Huffington Post.

The YouTube version of the video was uploaded on August 2nd of this year.

I remember some story about this face in the clouds being emailed to me awhile back.

I forgot about it until I saw this headline last week on AT2W’s website – “God’s Face in the Clouds: Man of God Prophesied God Will Be Seen on Earth By Many”.

It turns out that the story was an attempt to legitimate some preacher from St. Louis named “Apostle” David E. Taylor.

Usually, AT2W reports accurate and verifiable information, but they dropped the ball on this one. The site is dedicated to exposing false and heretical teachers and preachers amongst the African American community.

When I and other readers left comments that referred to what the Scriptures had to say about this “face of God” in a cloud, our comments were promptly deleted except for one that called the sighting “Wonderful, but unbiblical”. The comment was followed by a disclaimer from AT2W staff stating that offensive language and so on, would not be “tolerated”.

But the audience of AT2W are mostly African American Christians, so I doubt that the deleted comments were “offensive”. Certainly mine were not – I merely stated that cases like this sighting are why we need to know our Bibles and I quoted Exodus 33:20 and Matt. 24:24 as reasons to not trust these cloud apparitions.

I’ve never heard of Taylor until I read the article. When I found some of Taylor’s teachings and “healings” on YouTube, well, let’s just say that he’s not exactly theologically or exegetically sound.

The staff at AT2W apparently believe that Taylor is a true “man of God”, despite his "healings", questionable teachings, and his unbiblical declaration that Jesus wants to meet everyone face to face.

And he has been claiming that God promised that He would make personal appearances (hence, the face in the clouds), preceding Taylor in whatever city Taylor was to preach in.

Now where have I heard this type of claim before? Let me see… Oh yes, Benny Hinn.

So there you have it – this video, which I can’t find a shred of evidence that it has anything to do with Taylor, supposedly verifies that God is with this Taylor fellow.

Despite any conclusive link between Taylor and the person that shot the video, Taylor has a picture from the eerie face in the video plastered across his website header.

I read the article, saw the video, and immediately realized that this could not be the face of our God (the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob).

I can honestly say that I could clearly see a face in those cloud formations. In fact, I saw two faces, but neither one can be the face of Almighty God based upon what the Scriptures tell us.

Now, if we were to simply go by what we see, then we would readily conclude that this “face” is God’s. But we as Christians have been given a “Biblical barometer” to measure anything that we “see”.

According to the New World Encyclopedia, “A barometer is an instrument used to measure atmospheric pressure”. As Christians, our barometer is the Holy Bible, which we must use as an instrument to measure everything in the atmosphere that we are pressured to believe in.

So here's an acronym for us to remember when fascinating stories and videos come around:

B - Basic

I - Instrument to be used

B - Before

L - Listening to

E - Everything!

An old, but wise saying in Marvin Gaye’s “I Heard It Through The Grapevine” minds us to “believe only half of what you see and none of what you hear”.

So I’ll believe half of what I’m seeing – yes, I see a cloud and something that resembles a face, but no, it’s not the face of God.

We must first examine this face of God premise from the Scriptures, which tell us to “ Try [test] the spirits to see whether they be of God” (1 John 4:1).

Exodus 33:17 And the LORD said unto Moses, “I will do this thing also that thou hast spoken: for thou hast found grace in My sight, and I know thee by name.”

Exo 33:18 And he said, "I beseech thee, show me thy glory".

Exo 33:19 And He said, "I will make all my goodness pass before thee, and I will proclaim the name of the LORD before thee; and will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy”.

Exo 33:20 And He said, “Thou canst not see my face: for there shall no man see me, and live”.

John 1:18 No one has seen God at any time; the Only-begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him.

1 John 4:12 No one has seen God at any time. If we love one another, God dwells in us, and His love is perfected in us.

So the Bible definitively declares that no man can see God and live. That being the case, it is completely improbable that this face is God.

Here are some Bible based reasons why it can’t be a work of our God:

1. The uploaded YouTube video is titled “BIG AWESOME ZEUS FACE IN THE CLOUDS [2 FACES]”– the person that uploaded the video thinks it looks like Zeus, not the God of the Bible. If it were God, He wouldn’t allow another god to get the credit for His handy-work (Isa 42:8 “I am the LORD: that is My name: and My glory will I not give to another, neither My praise to graven images”).

2. Jesus warns that in the last days before His coming, there would be signs and wonders - Matthew 24:23-26 “Then if any man shall say to you, Lo, here is Christ! Or, There! Do not believe it. For false Christs and false prophets will arise and show great signs and wonders; so much so that, if it were possible, they would deceive even the elect. Behold, I have told you beforehand. Therefore if they shall say to you, Behold, He is in the desert! Do not go out. Behold, He is in the secret rooms! Do not believe it.” Or that His face is in a cloud, do not believe it either – especially when some fake healing preacher says God met him face to face on numerous occasions and goes before him in clouds. *A note about Exodus 33:11 which says, “And the LORD spake unto Moses face to face, as a man speaketh unto his friend.” The Hebrew word for “face” in this verse is “paniym” (pronounced “paw neem”) and it does not necessarily refer to a literal face, but is often symbolic in terminology, meaning “form, before, honor, by reason of, to meet,” etc… (See Strong’s H6440). Another use of the word “paniym” is found in Gen. 1:2 - "The Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters." We know that water does not have a literal face, it is a figurative term. This explanation is vital to our understanding because we already know that no one (except Jesus) can see God’s face and live

3. The Bible warns us that in the latter days, there would be signs and wonders, but they won’t be coming from God – 2 Thessalonians 2:8-12 “And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of His mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of His coming: 2Th 2:9 Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, 2 Th 2:10 And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. 2Th 2:11 And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: 2Th 2:12 That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness”.

4. God would never use the clouds as a sign – in Scripture, the use of clouds is always reserved to denote or symbolize His Glory, His covenant, and His coming, not as an eye catcher or sign: Gen. 9:13-15, Exodus 13:21-22, Exodus 14:24, *Exodus 16:10, Exodus 24:16, Exodus 34:5, 1 Kings 8:10, 2 Chronicles 5:13-14, *Job 22:13-14, Job 26:9, Psalm 104:3, Psalm 105: 39, Isaiah 4:5, Isaiah 19:1, Isaiah 30:30, Isaiah 44:22, Lamentations 2:1, Lam. 3:42-44, Ezekiel 1:2-6, *Ezekiel 10:2-4, Nahum 1:3, *Matthew 17:1-5, *Matt. 24:30, Matt. 26:64, Mark 13:26, Mark 14:62, Luke 21:27, * Acts 1:6-11, 1 Thessalonians 4:17, Revelation 1:7, Rev. 10:1, Rev. 11:3-12, Rev. 14:14-15,

5. Ecclesiastes 11:4 tells us that “He who watches the wind shall not sow; and he who pays attention to the clouds shall not reap.” In other words, if we spend our time paying attention to the wind and clouds, we can not get anything done. (Also see verse 3)

But even from a secular standpoint, it is not probable either.

There are two faces visible, not one face.

The video has been edited, slowed down so that we can see what we are told that we are seeing.

The video does not “prove” anything other than clouds can become strange formations; if people see strange things in clouds daily, how does this prove the existence of God to an atheist?

Even the person filming the video can be heard saying “A face, a face, holy “frig“ – well into the video. The clouds are not a face in the very beginning, but form the face shape later rather than the face being present from the beginning. The person does not see a face until about 40 seconds into the video. If it were God, He would not have delayed the view of His face and it would not have dissipated as the cloud continued to move.

There is a MAJOR discrepancy in the places where these events happened as told by Taylor on his website which states that “The Face of God appears in North America”, the next frame says that Father God’s face appears in America and is "seen by millions”. But the actual (and only reported) place that this cloud appeared was in New Brunswick, Canada – it was not reported as having been seen in America to my knowledge. And note that the same picture is used for all 6 frames, yet each frame gives a different scenario for the one sighting – there is still no evidence that the video is in any way related to Taylor and his visit to Canada, yet Taylor “claims” this video as proof of his prophecy and ministry. Even if the video is genuine, Taylor is not.

While this is a fascinating video and even creepy in some segments, can we say that surely it is a divine sign?

I think not. If it is a sign, the Scriptures prove that it is not from The LORD. From Satan? Perhaps, but from God, no. The Almighty certainly wouldn’t let Zeus steal His thunder.