The Glory of the Lord

Once we reach the end of Exodus, the tabernacle has been completed and something peculiar happens. Exodus 40:34-35 tells us, "Then the cloud covered the Tent of Meeting, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. Moses could not enter the Tent of Meeting because the cloud had settled upon it, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle."

I don't know if I've ever seen anybody's glory before, but it must be pretty dense stuff if it keeps people from entering a room. It's probably worth taking a look to see where else this stuff shows up in the Bible and see if that gives us any clues to what this means.

"The glory of the Lord" shows up a couple other times in Exodus. In ch. 16, it manifests itself in the manna. In ch. 24, it surrounds the peak of Mt. Sinai, where Moses goes to talk with the Lord. The phrase shows up a handful of times through Leviticus and Numbers, but then we don't see it again until 1 Kings. After Solomon completes the temple, something very similar to Exodus 40 happens - the glory of the Lord fills the temple so that neither Solomon nor the priests could go in to do their work (you can read about it in 1 Kings 8 or 2 Chronicles 7). That seems eerily similar to this tabernacle episode. Ezekiel uses the phrase a few times. Ezekiel 10 is an alarming one, because in that chapter, Ezekiel has a vision of the glory of the Lord leaving the temple (that can't be good). Much later (ch. 43) Ezekiel sees the glory of the Lord returning to the temple (phew).

Whatever this glory of the Lord stuff is, there seems only to be a few things we can say about it for sure. First, it appears to look like a thick cloud. Also, it always seems to be hanging around wherever God is. Remember we talked about Yahweh "living" in the tabernacle or in the temple? I don't think it's coincidence that His glory fills these places as soon as they're completed. By association, we can also connect the Lord's blessing to the presence of His glory. This we discussed a few weeks ago too. Ezekiel mostly discusses the future exile that's coming for the Israelites (they'll end up being conquered and escorted to Assyria and Babylon). His vision of the glory of the Lord leaving the temple, symbolizes the Lord removing His protection from the people. The result: exile. The end of Ezekiel, however, discusses the opposite. It's a promise that exile isn't forever, that the Lord's blessing will return and with it the Israelites will return to their land.

This phrase doesn't show up too much in the New Testament, but something very similar appears in Revelation 21. Here's a chapter that we should all probably read seven times a day for a week and see if our perspective on the future doesn't become super hopeful. Revelation 21 describes the new creation and the new Jerusalem. There in John's vision is the city of God restored to its ideal state. And there in the midst of it is the glory of God, shining like a sun (Rev. 21:11, 23). There is everything just as it ought to have been all along with God in the middle of it. The city is not just well protected by the Lord, but it is a beacon to the world - perfect in every way.

From time to time, I imagine this for the local church, a place like Calvary Fellowship. I start to wonder what it might be like for God to come to our congregation so powerfully that we essentially have to stop doing whatever we might normally have done. Think of playing through a song like "Did You Feel the Mountains Tremble?" and all of a sudden the air gets thick like a cloud and we literally have to stop singing and playing and all we can think to do is fall on our faces. I don't think we'd have to do it out of fear, although that would be a legitimate emotion at that point, but simply because the Lord is there with all of His goodness and love and we just have to soak it in. Remember, when the glory of the Lord fills the new Jerusalem, it's not a terrible thing, it's a wonderful occasion worthy of rejoicing. Can we hope and pray for something like this to happen for our people at Calvary someday? I will be.