Friday, February 10, 2017

The Glory of the Lord Revealed

One of God’s primary desires is to reveal His glory to men on the earth. He wants us to see it. Let’s look at the will of God about this in Scripture.

First of all, it is evident in the passage in Isaiah, where the gospel is foretold. It describes the calling of John the Baptist who would prepare the way for the Lord, and it also speaks of the coming of Christ. “Then the glory of the LORD will be revealed, And all flesh will see it together; For the mouth of the LORD has spoken." (Isa 40:5). This firmly establishes that it is God’s will to reveal His glory.

Moses cried out to God, “Show me your glory!” And the Lord answered the cry of his heart.

And He said, "My presence shall go with you, and I will give you rest." Then he said to Him, "If Your presence does not go with us, do not lead us up from here. "For how then can it be known that I have found favor in Your sight, I and Your people? Is it not by Your going with us, so that we, I and Your people, may be distinguished from all the other people who are upon the face of the earth?" The LORD said to Moses, "I will also do this thing of which you have spoken; for you have found favor in My sight and I have known you by name." Then Moses said, "I pray You, show me Your glory!" And He said, "I Myself will make all My goodness pass before you, and will proclaim the name of the LORD before you; and I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show compassion on whom I will show compassion." But He said, "You cannot see My face, for no man can see Me and live!" Then the LORD said, "Behold, there is a place by Me, and you shall stand there on the rock; and it will come about, while My glory is passing by, that I will put you in the cleft of the rock and cover you with My hand until I have passed by. "Then I will take My hand away and you shall see My back, but My face shall not be seen." (Exo 33:14-23)

In another instance, Moses and Aaron said to the sons of Israel, “And in the morning you will see the glory of the LORD…” (Exo 16:7a). Even the sons of Israel would see His glory.

“It came about as Aaron spoke to the whole congregation of the sons of Israel, that they looked toward the wilderness, and behold, the glory of the LORD appeared in the cloud.” (Exo 16:10)

The glory of the LORD rested on Mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it for six days; and on the seventh day He called to Moses from the midst of the cloud. And to the eyes of the sons of Israel the appearance of the glory of the LORD was like a consuming fire on the mountain top. (Exo 24:16-17)

His glory once filled the tabernacle, when it was a tent. “Then the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle.” (Exo 40:34). It’s still God’s desire to fill His tabernacle with His glory.

When He does that, we will be unable to enter or stand. “Moses was not able to enter the tent of meeting because the cloud had settled on it, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle.” (Exo 40:35)

When His glory falls, men are unable to stand. In the days of Solomon, “The priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud, for the glory of the LORD filled the house of the LORD.” (1Ki 8:11; cf., 2Ch 5:14)

“Now when Solomon had finished praying, fire came down from heaven and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices, and the glory of the LORD filled the house. The priests could not enter into the house of the LORD because the glory of the LORD filled the LORD'S house. (2Ch 7:1-2)

Moses said, "This is the thing which the LORD has commanded you to do, that the glory of the LORD may appear to you." (Lev 9:6)

"Moses and Aaron went into the tent of meeting. When they came out and blessed the people, the glory of the LORD appeared to all the people." (Lev 9:23)

“But all the congregation said to stone them with stones. Then the glory of the LORD appeared in the tent of meeting to all the sons of Israel.” (Num 14:10)

“Thus Korah assembled all the congregation against them at the doorway of the tent of meeting. And the glory of the LORD appeared to all the congregation.” (Num 16:19)

“It came about, however, when the congregation had assembled against Moses and Aaron, that they turned toward the tent of meeting, and behold, the cloud covered it and the glory of the LORD appeared.” (Num 16:42)

“Then Moses and Aaron came in from the presence of the assembly to the doorway of the tent of meeting and fell on their faces. Then the glory of the LORD appeared to them;” (Num 20:6)

When holy men see His glory, they bow down with their faces to the ground. “All the sons of Israel, seeing the fire come down and the glory of the LORD upon the house, bowed down on the pavement with their faces to the ground, and they worshiped and gave praise to the LORD, saying, ‘Truly He is good, truly His lovingkindness is everlasting.’" (2Ch 7:3)

His glory is great. “And they will sing of the ways of the LORD, For great is the glory of the LORD.” (Psa 138:5)

His glory is blessed. “Then the Spirit lifted me up, and I heard a great rumbling sound behind me, ‘Blessed be the glory of the LORD in His place.’" (Eze 3:12)

His glory endures forever. “Let the glory of the LORD endure forever; Let the LORD be glad in His works;” (Psa 104:31)

He wants His saints to speak of His glory and make it known to the sons of men. David said, “All Your works shall give thanks to You, O LORD, And Your godly ones shall bless You. They shall speak of the glory of Your kingdom And talk of Your power; To make known to the sons of men Your mighty acts And the glory of the majesty of Your kingdom.” (Psa 145:10-12)

Ezekiel tried to describe the glory he saw as having the appearance of a rainbow in the clouds. It was so awesome that he fell on his face. “As the appearance of the rainbow in the clouds on a rainy day, so was the appearance of the surrounding radiance. Such was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the LORD. And when I saw it, I fell on my face and heard a voice speaking.” (Eze 1:28)

“So I got up and went out to the plain; and behold, the glory of the LORD was standing there, like the glory which I saw by the river Chebar, and I fell on my face.” (Eze 3:23)

"Then He brought me by way of the north gate to the front of the house; and I looked, and behold, the glory of the LORD filled the house of the LORD, and I fell on my face." (Eze 44:4)

“And behold, the glory of the God of Israel was there, like the appearance which I saw in the plain.” (Eze 8:4)

“Then the glory of the God of Israel went up from the cherub on which it had been, to the threshold of the temple. And He called to the man clothed in linen at whose loins was the writing case.” (Eze 9:3)

When the temple is filled with His glory, there is a brightness of it. “Then the glory of the LORD went up from the cherub to the threshold of the temple, and the temple was filled with the cloud and the court was filled with the brightness of the glory of the LORD.” (Eze 10:4)

“And behold, the glory of the God of Israel was coming from the way of the east. And His voice was like the sound of many waters; and the earth shone with His glory.” (Eze 43:2)

When Israel wandered away from God into idolatry, His glory departed. “Then the glory of the LORD departed from the threshold of the temple and stood over the cherubim.” (Eze 10:18)

“When the cherubim departed, they lifted their wings and rose up from the earth in my sight with the wheels beside them; and they stood still at the entrance of the east gate of the LORD'S house, and the glory of the God of Israel hovered over them.” (Eze 10:19)

“Then the cherubim lifted up their wings with the wheels beside them, and the glory of the God of Israel hovered over them.” (Eze 11:22)

The glory of the LORD went up from the midst of the city and stood over the mountain which is east of the city.” (Eze 11:23)

“And the glory of the LORD came into the house by the way of the gate facing toward the east.” (Eze 43:4)

“And the Spirit lifted me up and brought me into the inner court; and behold, the glory of the LORD filled the house.” (Eze 43:5)

"Then your light will break out like the dawn, And your recovery will speedily spring forth; And your righteousness will go before you; The glory of the LORD will be your rear guard.” (Isa 58:8)

"Arise, shine; for your light has come, And the glory of the LORD has risen upon you.” (Isa 60:1)

The Lord wants the whole earth to be filled with His glory. “But indeed, as I live, all the earth will be filled with the glory of the LORD.” (Num 14:21)

"For the earth will be filled With the knowledge of the glory of the LORD, As the waters cover the sea.” (Hab 2:14)

Putting it All Together
It’s God’s will to reveal His glory. It will be revealed, and all flesh will see it together. It is visible, if God allows you to see it. You can cry out as Moses did, “Lord, show me your glory!” He did see God’s glory, which sometimes appeared in a cloud and at other times was like a consuming fire. Ezekiel described the glory as having a brightness and appearing as a rainbow in the clouds.

The glory of the Lord can move from one place to another. It can come in and it can depart. When the glory departs, it is desolate and empty. This is what has happened in many of the churches these days. We have come to rely on our programs so much that we seem to think we no longer need the presence of God or His glory. But if we get hungry enough and desperate enough for it, we will cry out for it to return once again.

When His glory fills the temple, His priests are unable to minister before Him. They all fall on their faces. It’s so great that they cannot stand. Blessed be the glory of the LORD in His place. If we haven’t experienced that yet, being incapacitated and prostrated under the glory, then we haven’t experienced what it means for His temple to be filled with His glory.

It’s time to seek Him until He comes, and all the earth will be filled with the glory of the LORD.

Attribution noticeAttribution notice: Most Scripture quotations taken from the NASB.

Author's Note: If you enjoyed this article, you may also like: The Light and the GloryFor the Glory of God AloneSeeking Glory from GodJesus Alone Reveals the FatherLight of the World, The Glory of Martyrdom for Christ, and Being a Light in a Dark World. You may also access the Main Directory for this blog, or my complete blog directory at Writing for the Master.

Do You Want to Know Him?
If you want to know Jesus personally, you can. It all begins when you repent and believe in Jesus.  Do you know what God's Word, the Bible says?

“Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.’” (Mar 1:14b-15).  He preached that we must repent and believe.

Please see my explanation of this in my post called "Do You Want to Know Jesus?"
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Len Lacroix is the founder of Doulos Missions International.  He was based in Eastern Europe for four years, making disciples, as well as helping leaders to be more effective at making disciples who multiply, developing leaders who multiply, with the ultimate goal of planting churches that multiply. His ministry is now based in the United States with the same goal of helping fulfill the Great Commission. www.dmiworld.org.

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