The Glory of God

Just mentioning the subject of the glory of God, I feel an inadequacy and humility as I know it not to be a simple matter. I have often heard pastors and worship leaders, mostly in the charismatic stream refer to the glory of God as a powerful “weighty” force if there is a way to explain it. They also mention it as something we should welcome in our worship to the LORD. As I continue with my reading of the book of Ezekiel, I have noticed that the way Ezekiel sees the glory of God is different than the way it is seen in the body of Christ today. In fact, looking at his description of the glory of God, it is hard to wrap one’s brain around it simply because it is too lofty of a knowledge to grasp. Moreover, I personally believe that one cannot be versed in this topic simply by knowledge, it has to be experienced and revealed. Despite my limited knowledge on the topic, I will try my best to remain within the boundaries of the Scriptures, highlighting a few traits of what the glory of God demands in order to help us be grounded in our understanding of the LORD. I would encourage everyone reading this to do his or her own research and due diligence as my obervations are in no way exempt from scrutiny. 

The first observation I have noticed about the glory of God as described in Ezekiel is that it is to be revered. As hard as that might be, when Ezekiel talks about the glory of God appearing or filling the Temple, it is clear that it is not just a “force” or a “wind” that someone might feel. In fact, at the sight of God’s glory, Ezekiel falls face down (Ezekiel 1:28; 43:3; 44:4). He is that paralyzed by the glory of God and knows without explanation that reverence is what must ensue. If you recall in the interaction between God and Moses after Moses had pleaded for God to go with His people into the promised land, Moses asked to see the glory of God, but the LORD told him that He would make all His goodness pass before Moses and proclaim before him His name, ‘The LORD’. What the LORD did instead was to tell Moses where to hide so that when His glory passed by, Moses could be covered and sheltered from it. This alone begs the question, why would Moses need to be sheltered from God’s glory? What I infer from that interaction alone is that the glory of God seems to include the eminence of the holiness of God and where there is holiness there is no filth, hence no one can see the face of God and live, that is no one impure can see the face of God and live (Exodus 33:18-23). Additionally, the glory of GOD appeared powerfully in the time of Solomon when he dedicated the Temple to the LORD before the people. The book of second chronicles tells us that “As soon as Solomon finished his prayer, fire came down from heaven and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices, and the glory of the LORD filled the temple” (2 Chronicles 7:1). This signified God’s acceptance of the sacrifice and His dwelling place to be the Temple which Solomon had built and consecrated unto Him. Similarly to Ezekiel, at the sight of the glory of God, the people of Israel bowed down their faces to the ground and worshiped the LORD (2 Chronicles 7:3). There is no other response than reverence, that humble posture of worship before the LORD when we encounter His glory.

The second observation I noticed about the glory of God from Ezekiel is that it often comes with judgement or alignment. Indeed, the glory of God only rests in places where God is, in holy habitations. In the early visions of Ezekiel, he sees the glory of God depart from the temple of God due to the many abominations committed by the people of Israel in the temple. Sadly, the temple of the holy one of Israel had become too corrupted, sacrifices were being conducted by priests that were not the right one, in fact, sacrifices to other gods were being conducted in the temple of the living God! There are so many more evils that were happening in the temple of God that it is not surprising that the glory of God departed from that place. When Ezekiel sees it, it is a clear sign for him that the people of Israel are done, or rather that God is done with His people. What follows is simply the judgement of the LORD on His people. Now that the glory of God has departed from the temple, the people of Israel no longer have a covering, they are left to their own devices and must live through the consequences of their actions. This is one of the reason Israel went into captivity, this was the judgement of the LORD on His people for their idolatry and corruption. The glory of the LORD had to leave before His judgement could take place. In the same way, when Ezekiel receives another vision and this time the glory of the LORD returns to the temple, albeit a new temple, it also comes with alignment and new ordinances. Alignment in the form of God reinstating the difference between the sacred and the profane, punishing the Levites who, as priests and guardians of His temple failed in their sacred duties but elevating the Zadok priests– who remained faithful to the LORD by keeping charge of His sanctuary when Israel went astray– to the role of serving at the altar and entering the holy of holies (Ezekiel 44:10-15). As the LORD reinstates order in His house, it also brings the necessary judgement or punishment that the offender rightly deserves. This is done when the glory of God returns, when God Himself decides to dwell again in the temple with all that He is, His holiness, His righteousness, His magnificence, etc. His glory consumes anything that is not like Him. In such a context, it is evident that nothing spoiled can remain in His vicinity, nothing unclean can remain in His surrounding, what was once a norm becomes abominable and sacrilegious. 

Today, the glory of God has not returned fully to fill the new temple which is the church. However, when Christ returns, the glory of God in its fullness will be manifested and everything that does not align with God will be eradicated from the new heaven and the new earth that the book of Revelation tells us about. When Christ comes back for His bride, He will come in glory and power and truly every knee will bow, and every tongue will confess that Jesus is LORD to the glory of God (Philippians 2:10-11). This is the culmination of our faith as Christians. We wait for that day when Christ will assume his power and responsibilities as King of kings and Lord of lords in its fullness, the day when our faith shall be sight. But in the meantime, we war to bring the kingdom of God and His will on earth as it is in heaven, we stand tall and we submit to the Lordship of Christ, knowing that our battle is not against flesh and blood but against all spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places (Ephesians 6:12). May the grace to remain be given to all of us who stand. Amen.