UNDERSTAND the GREATNESS of God’s GLORY!
September
9 Bible Reading: Ezekiel Chapters 43-45
UNDERSTAND the GREATNESS of God’s GLORY!
"Afterward he brought me to the gate,
the gate that faces toward the east. And behold, the glory of the God of Israel came from the way of the east. His
voice was like the sound of many waters; and the earth shone with His glory. And the glory of the Lord came into the temple by way of the gate which
faces toward the east. The Spirit lifted me up and brought me into the inner
court; and behold, the glory of the Lord
filled the temple." (Ezek. 43:1-2, 4-5)
In a
dramatic reversal of the departure of God’s glory, prophet Ezekiel saw God’s
glory returning from the east to dwell once again in His temple. Earlier in the
Book of Ezekiel (10:4, 18–22; 11:22–25) we saw the glory cloud reluctantly
leaving the temple at Jerusalem about 19 years ago. Here, God’s glory is
pictured as returning to the city from the east (compare this with Rev. 1:15;
14:2; 19:6; 21:11, 23).
The word ‘glory’ is a derivative of the Hebrew
word ‘kabod’ that is used to describe
the worthiness of something in the form
of greatness and splendor. God’s glory is described in the Old Testament as
taking the form of a cloud (Ex.
24:15–18). The glory of the Lord also filled
the temple as He filled the
tabernacle (Exodus 40:34, 35), the
temple of Solomon at its dedication (1 Kings 8:11), and the temple in the vision of Isaiah (Isaiah
6:4). Let us now understand the greatness of God’s glory!
God has
displayed His glory to His people time and again (Psalms 3:3; Zech. 2:5), and
has lately displayed His glory through His only begotten Son Jesus Christ (see Isaiah
60:1; Luke 2:32). God’s glory is exhibited in His name (Deut. 28:58; Neh. 9:5), His majesty (Job 37:22; Psalms 93:1; 104:1; 145:5; 145:12; Isaiah
2:10), His power (Exodus 15:1, 6; Romans
6:4), His works (Psalms 19:1; 111:3),
and His holiness (Exodus 15:11). The
scriptures describe God’s glory as great
(Psalms 138:5), eternal (Psalms
104:31), rich (Ephesians 3:16), and highly exalted (Psalms 8:1; 113:4).
However, we
have all come short of God’s glory: "for all have sinned and fall short of
the glory of God" (Romans 3:23). To counteract this, Jesus Christ became
the earthly manifestation of God’s glory: "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
1:14; see also 2 Cor. 4:6; Hebrews 1:3).
Let us be
aware that the glory of God will return completely in the person of our Lord
Jesus when He comes to reign one day in the future. In fact, even now the earth is full of the glory of God (Isaiah
6:3), which is not yet understood by the people of the earth. God’s Word
promises us that the knowledge of God’s
glory shall fill the earth one day (Habakkuk 2:14).
For us today
the appropriate response to understanding and appreciating the glory of God is
to reverence Him by bowing before Him
as Ezekiel did (see Ezek. 3:23; 43:3). Let us bow down before Him and give Him
the reverence that is due unto Him (Jesus Christ) today!
