God’s Glory Indicates His Presence.

 

Glory is a characteristic of God seen in both the Old and New Testament descriptions of God and his presence.

In Exodus 33:22, the glory of the Lord indicated his presence as to Moses, “and while my glory passes by I will put you in a cleft of the rock, and I will cover you with my hand until I have passed by.”

The visible presence of God’s glory was seen in a cloud during the Exodus, and in Solomon’s Temple after the Ark of the Covenant was put in it.

The glory of the LORD dwelt on Mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it six days. And on the seventh day, he called to Moses out of the midst of the cloud (Exodus 16:10).

The glory of the Lord appeared to all the people during the time of the Tabernacle. 

Then the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle (Exodus 40:34).

The Book of John connects God’s presence in giving the Law and the indwelling of the presence of God in the Tabernacle to Jesus dwelling with humanity by calling Jesus “the Word.”

The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth (John 1:14).

After the temple was built, the presence and glory of the Lord were seen in a cloud.

And when the priests came out of the Holy Place, a cloud filled the house of the LORD, so that the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud, for the glory of the LORD filled the house of the LORD (1 Kings 8:11-12).

God’s glory is seen on Mt. Sinai when Moses received the Ten Commandments. Fire and a cloud indicated the glory of God. God’s glory had a brightness that was overwhelming to those who saw it. Today’s English Version (TEV) uses the phrase “dazzling light” to communicate this aspect of God’s glory

The dazzling light of the Lord’s presence came down on the mountain. To the Israelites the light looked like a fire burning on top of the mountain. The cloud covered the mountain for six days, and on the seventh day the Lord called to Moses from the cloud (Exodus 24:16-17, TEV).

The story of Christ’s birth in Bethlehem highlights the glory of the Messiah’s birth.

And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with great fear (Luke 2:9).

The shining glory of the Lord connects the birth of Christ to the giving of the Law to Moses. Both momentous occasions were accompanied by such a bright light that it struck fear in the hearts of the people who saw it.

The presence of God as fire is also seen in Acts 2. On the day of Pentecost, early Christians were touched by the power of the Holy Spirit.

They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them (Acts 2:3).