The Messiah and the Covenants of Israel

The Glory of God (Continued)

THE SHEKINAH GLORY

But goodness and grace, though vocalised, and perhaps accompanied with the noise of trumpets as were other declarations of the Lord, could not be seen by Moses. To complete the encounter, God in His grace provided a visible expression of His presence to accompany the declaration. Moses was allowed to see the ‘after-glow’ of the Shekinah, the outward manifestation of the glory of God revealed in terms of light and colour. The word ‘Shekinah’ means ‘that which dwells’, and was used by the Rabbis to refer to the visible presence of God among men. Repeatedly in the Old Testament we come across the idea that there were certain times when God’s glory was visible. In the desert, before the giving of the manna, the children of Israel “looked toward the wilderness, and behold, the glory of the LORD appeared in the cloud”. (Exod. 16:10) Before the giving of the Ten Commandments, “the glory of the LORD rested on Mount Sinai”. (Exod. 24:16) When the Tabernacle had been erected and equipped, the glory of the Lord filled it. Other instances of the manifestation of God’s glory include the time when Solomon’s Temple was dedicated. These were localized terrestrial manifestations of something that was essentially celestial. Ezekiel in his ecstasy saw “the likeness of the glory of the Lord”. (Ezekiel 1:28). In the Old Testament the glory of the Lord came at times when God was very close.

While, for Moses, the passing by of a physical manifestation of the presence of God was but the work of a moment, the whole encounter lasted some six weeks, at the end of which he returned to report back to the Hebrew nation. The Bible tells us that his face shone with the glory of God, and that he had to wear a veil before the elders of Israel would approach him.

So we have two main aspects of the glory of the Lord - the inherent element which is the fusion between mercy and righteousness; and the radiated element which falls on our sight in terms of light and colour. But there is also a more abstract element presented in Scripture. Let’s take two examples, one from the Old Testament and one from the New.

THE GLORY OF GOD AND JOB

Job, great man that he was, was distressed in his situation and condition; and who wouldn’t be? He had lost his family, his possessions and his health. He felt he had a legitimate complaint against God. He thought, ‘why is this happening to me? If I could find Him I would argue my case, I would explain to Him that this is unfair’. What he did not realize was that God was working out things for His own glory. He did finally meet with God, but the wisdom of God silenced him. The LORD said, “Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? Tell Me, if you have understanding. Who determined its measurements? Surely you know! Or who stretched the line upon it? To what were its foundations fastened? Or who laid its cornerstone, When the morning stars sang together, And all the sons of God shouted for joy?” (Job 38:4-7) In other words, when I created the world I had a purpose and a plan, and I am still working to that higher purpose and I want you to get on board. The higher purpose was, of course, His own glory, of which Job was a part. For it began with, “Have you considered My servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, one who fears God and shuns evil?” (Job 1:8) In other words, Job had been living his life to the glory of God. Yet the actions of a wise God would refine and purify Job’s testimony to bring even more glory to Himself. God was accomplishing something in the life of Job through suffering that perhaps could not be accomplished in any other way, simultaneously humbling Satan while revealing His own wisdom.

In Job’s situation, if you considered the catalogue of calamities from his point of view, things were difficult to understand. But if you considered events from God’s point of view then they had a completely different complexion. Job was being educated to have a more elevated perspective – to understand more of the character of God. In the first two chapters of the book God is introduced and referred to by his name YHWH. In the middle section (the main argument) Job and his four friends all refer to God by His Name ‘Elohim’. If, as many suggest, Job is a very ancient book, it is likely that Job, in the first instance, did not know God as YHWH. However, by the time we come to the end of the book, he is brought to know God by His covenant Name because, in the last chapters, it is the LORD YHWH that answers. By the end of the experience, Job had been educated to know God better, and to understand something more of His ways. He has learned that God’s mathematics are superior - that by subtraction you can increase. And Job, through his suffering also learned to appreciate the infinite wisdom of God, through which Satan was defeated and the LORD glorified.

The end for him was compensating. It turned out to be twice as good as the beginning, and both celestial and terrestrial realms were brought to marvel at the way God ordered all aspects of the experience to redound to His own praise and glory. We must ever remember that the throne room of heaven is central, even for us earthlings. “The Most High God rules in the kingdom of men”. (Dan. 5:17,21) Daniel also served the Most High God, but it did not immunize him from calamity. Like Daniel, we need to see things from heaven’s point of view, through heaven’s eyes.