OT Concept
1. kabod
a. has the sense of something weighty which gives importance,
such as wealth or
honor.
b. in relation to God, relates to that which makes God impressive.
c. is an essential quality of God's character
i. if man's glory taken away, he's still man.
ii. if God's glory taken away, no longer God.
iii. this is why God won't share his glory with anyone
iv. Isa 42:8 “I am the Lord; that is my name! I will not give my
glory to
another or my praise to idols.”
v. Isa 48:11 “I will not yield my glory to another.”
d. Ps 63:2 “I have seen you in the sanctuary and beheld your
power and your
glory.” — when
you look upon God, you see his power & glory; glory is
visible.
e. Ps 113:4 “The Lord is exalted over all the nations, his
glory above the
heavens.” —
glory exalted above heavens
f. Eze 39:21 “I will display my glory among the nations, and
all the nations will
see the punishment
I inflict and the hand I lay upon them.” — his glory related
to punishment
g. Ex 33:20, Moses asked to see God’s glory, God responded:
“you cannot see my
face, for no
one may see me and live.” — God's glory so intense that in
general, no
human can survive experiencing it/seeing him.
h. This was widely understood in OT, so people expected to
die if they saw God;
were instances
when, by God's grace, people survived
i. Gen 32:30 “So Jacob called the place Peniel [face of God],
saying, ‘It is
because I saw God face to face, and yet my life was spared.’”
ii. Judges 6:22-23 “When Gideon realized that it was the angel of
the Lord,
he exclaimed, ‘Ah, Sovereign Lord! I have seen the angel of the Lord
face to face!’ But the Lord said to him, ‘Peace! Do not be afraid. You
are not going to die.’”
2. physical appearance
a. God's appearance is result of who he is; his glorious appearance
is nothing more
than evidence
of his glory.
b. God’s glory often looked like fire; fire often accompanied
God’s glory
i. Ex 24:17 “To the Israelites the glory of the Lord looked
like a
consuming fire on top of the mountain.” appearance: consuming fire
ii. 2 Chr 7:1 “When Solomon finished praying, fire came down from
heaven and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices, and the glory
of the Lord filled the temple.”
iii. Lev 9:23-24 “Moses and Aaron then went into the Tent of Meeting.
When they came out, they blessed the people; and the glory of the Lord
appeared to all the people. Fire came out from the presence of the Lord
and consumed the burnt offering and the fat portions on the altar.”
iv. Dan 7:9-10 “His throne was flaming with fire, and its wheels
were all
ablaze. A river of fire was flowing, coming out from before him.”
c. cloud typically accompanied God's glory
i. cloud/smoke representative of God's presence
ii. his actual presence would destroy sinful man
iii. also prevents making of idols
iv. Ex 16:10 “While Aaron was speaking to the whole Israelite community,
they looked toward the desert, and there was the glory of the Lord
appearing in the cloud.
v. Ex 24:15-16 “When Moses went up on the mountain, the cloud
covered
it, and the glory of the Lord settled on Mount Sinai.”
vi. Ex 40:34-35 “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.”
vii. 1 Ki 8:11 “And the priests could not perform their service because
of
the cloud, for the glory of the Lord filled his temple.”
viii. Ex 40:38 “So the cloud of the Lord was over
the tabernacle by day, and
fire was in the cloud by night.” God leading Israelites thru wilderness,
cloud & fire
d. Eze 43:2 “and I saw the glory of the God of Israel coming
from the east. His
voice was like
the roar of rushing waters, and the land was radiant with his
glory.” — voice
like a roar, glory lit up the land
e. Isa 60:1-3 glory related to light: “Arise, shine, for your
light has come, and the
glory of the
Lord rises upon you. See, darkness covers the earth and thick
darkness is
over the peoples, but the Lord rises upon you and his glory appears
over you. Nations
will come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your
dawn.” — seems
to be poetic language, yet is based on reality of God’s glory
f. these attempt to describe the indescribable God, to describe
a divine being with
human words
and understanding.
3. word "glory" embraces the whole
biblical knowledge of God.
4. "Shekinah" is derived from
Hebrew "to dwell," is used of God's presence among men.
NT Concept
1. doxa
a. root of this word group (dokeo): to believe, to think, to
appear, to have the
appearance ("it
seems to me"); relates to a person's perception of a subject.
b. doxa is given more significance in NT than it had in secular
Greek; like agape,
which in secular
Greek was vague, but in NT had strong connotation of self-
sacrificing
love.
c. God's glory is the evidence/indication/manifestation of
his perfection and divine
attributes
d. God's glory is impression we have when we observe him or
his acts; root
meaning of "glory"
is appearance or impression.
e. primary use of doxa in NT has sense of brightness, brilliance,
splendor.
f. individual uses of doxa in NT may emphasize divine honor,
splendor, power or
radiance, but
the main theme is always the divine mode of existence/being.
2. Lk 2:9 “An angel of the Lord
appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone
around them, and they were terrified.” — glory
of Lord shined, terrified the men.
3. Paul’s experience, Acts 22
a. v 6, “About noon as I came near Damascus, suddenly a bright
light from
heaven flashed
around me.”
b. v 11, “My companions led me by the hand into Damascus, because
the
brilliance of
the light had blinded me.”
4. 2 Cor 3:7 “Now if the ministry
that brought death, which was engraved in letters on
stone, came with glory, so that the Israelites
could not look steadily at the face of
Moses because of its glory, fading though
it was . . .” — God's glory made Moses'
face shine so brightly he had to cover it.
5. Rev 4; John taken before the
throne in heaven
a. v 3, “A rainbow, resembling an emerald, encircled the throne.”
— corona,
luminous ring
of light, looks like rainbow
b. v 5, “From the throne came flashes of lightning, rumblings
and peals of
thunder.”
6. Rev 15:8 “And the temple was
filled with smoke from the glory of God and from his
power.” smoke from God's glory.
7. Rev 21:23, describing the New
Jerusalem: “The city does not need the sun or the moon
to shine on it, for the glory of God gives
it light, and the Lamb is its lamp.” — God's
glory will illuminate New Jerusalem.
8. God doesn’t “zap” people for
looking at him, doesn’t put on a light show to impress
them.
We Need a Balance
1. Our view of God:
a. Our Father, Daddy; intimate relationship, love, caring,
and so on.
b. Jesus our older brother, did everything for us
c. Holy Spirit lives within us, to teach us, guide us, reveal
God’s truths to us,
empower us
d. “warm, fuzzy” relationship with God
e. anthropomorphism: we make God in our own image, or the way
we want to
think of him
f. narrow, limited perspective of God
2. God’s nature is very broad,
balanced
a. love and anger
b. mercy and judgment
3. Our goal in studying glory
a. to see more of God
b. to develop a profound reverence (awe) for who he is