In Christian worship services there is nothing more spiritually or emotionally stirring, whether in singing praises or listening to sermons wherein God’s glory is referenced, but is it really understood? Many of us the body of Christ has heard the account of Moses asking God to reveal his glory as recorded in the Old Testament book of Exodus, and there are probably various interpretations as well as meanings behind what this event means for each individual. To be sure, if God were to manifest the fullness of His glory, this would be beyond our ability to experience or comprehend it.
Exodus 16: 10
Now it came to pass, as Aaron spoke to the whole congregation of the children of Israel, that they looked toward the wilderness, and behold, the glory of the LORD appeared in the cloud.
Exodus 24: 16a, 17-18a
Now the glory of the LORD rested on Mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it six days. The sight of the glory of the LORD was like a consuming fire on the top of the mountain in the eyes of the children of Israel. So Moses went into the midst of the cloud and went up into the mountain.
Exodus 33: 9, 11a, 13a, 17-20
And it came to pass, when Moses entered the tabernacle that the pillar of cloud descended and stood at the door of the tabernacle, and the LORD talked with Moses. So the LORD spoke to Moses face to face; as a man speaks to his friend. SO the LORD said to Moses, “I will also do this thing that you have spoken; for you have found grace in My sight; and I know you by name.” And he [Moses] said, “Please, show me Your glory.” Then He [God] said, “I will make all My goodness pass before you, and I will proclaim the name of the LORD before you. I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.”
Exodus 34: 6-7a
And the LORD passed before him and proclaimed, “The LORD, the LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abounding in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, by no means clearing the guilty. . .
John 1: 1, 14
In the beginning was the WORD, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only-begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.
John 17: 5, 22, 24
And now, O Father, glorify Me together alongside Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was. And the glory which You gave Me I have given them [the disciples], that they may be one just as We are one. Father, I desire that they also whom You gave Me may be one with Me where I am, that they may behold My glory which You have given Me; for You loved me before the foundation of the world.
Luke 9: 29, 32
As He [Jesus] prayed, the appearance of His face was altered, and His robe became white and glistening. But Peter and those with him were heavy with sleep; and when they were fully awake, they saw His glory and the two men who stood with Him.
Colossians 1: 19, 2: 9
For it pleased the Father that in Him [Jesus] all the fullness should dwell. For in Him all the fullness of the God head bodily.
John 5: 37
And the Father Himself, who sent Me, has testified of Me. You have neither heard His voice at any time, nor seen His form.
John 6: 46
Not that anyone has seen the Father, except He who is from God; He has seen the Father.
John 18: 17-18
For the Law [Torah] was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ [Yeshua Moshiach]. No one has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared [revealed] Him [revealed His glory].
NOTE: These are curious statements [John’s gospel] because in Numbers 12: 8a, God says: “I speak with him [Moses] face to face, even plainly, and not in dark sayings. And he sees the form of the LORD.”
COMMENT: Although the many patriarchs, including the great Lawgiver Moses saw God, or at least what is called ‘Theophany,’ a supernatural appearance or manifestation, whether as the Angel of the LORD or the Shekhinah cloud, those who experienced this phenomena thought they actually did see God; and who wouldn’t? The thing is, though, Jesus Himself said that not a single human being has had that exalted privilege to see God as He really is, with the possible exception of Adam and Eve, at first. The main thought behind the word “glory” is goodness or magnificence as it pertains to a divine being, as the revelation of His essential nature.
It is in the person of Jesus Christ that the transcendent God is made fully known to humanity without any lessening of His eternal qualities or character. In John’s gospel, Thomas asked Jesus to show them the Father, to which Jesus replied, “He that has seen Me has seen the Father (Cp. John 6: 46). As Moses was said to speak face to Face with God, the disciples of Jesus experienced something greater than that in the time they spent with Jesus. For the believers of today, the Apostle Paul sums it up for us this way in 1 Corinthians 13: 12a: “For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face [before the LORD]. Also in Revelation 22: 4, it reads: They shall see His face, and His name shall be on their foreheads.
Robert Randle
776 Commerce St. #B-11
Tacoma, WA 98402
May 1, 2011
robertrandle51@yahoo.com
