Seeing God’s Glory
“For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD as the waters cover the sea.”
Habakkuk 2:14
This is the promised future, but it’s hard to see hope through all the darkness. Like a dimmer switch gradually flooding a room with light, so God’s glory - the weight of His presence - is on a trajectory of becoming increasingly visible over time. Our eyes haven’t adjusted fully, but He’s given us glimpses of glory from the very beginning, proof that there’s still more to come.
God’s glory in creation
“The heavens declare the glory of God, the sky above proclaims his handiwork.”
Psalm 19:1
Study and enjoy nature as a way to see His glory.
God’s glory in action
“Moses said, ‘Please show me your glory’...
The LORD passed before him and proclaimed,
‘the LORD, the LORD,
a God merciful and gracious,
slow to anger,
and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness,
keeping steadfast love for thousands,
forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin,
but who will by no means clear the guilty,
visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children
and the children’s children to the third and fourth generation’.”
Exodus 33:18; 34;6,7
Look at God’s actions toward humanity to see His glory.
God’s glory in visions
Centuries after Moses lived, the prophet Ezekiel sees “the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the LORD.”
Ezekiel 1:28.
He attempts to express this vision of glory, like…well,…kind of…
“A great cloud with brightness all around it…” 1:4
“The likeness of four living creatures…they had human likeness, but each had four faces,
and each of them had four wings…And the living creatures darted to and fro,
like the appearance of a flash of lightning.” 1:5-14
“I saw a wheel on the earth beside the living creatures, one for each of the four of them…
their appearance was like the gleaming of beryl…as it were, a wheel within a wheel…
and the rims of all four were full of eyes all around…
Wherever the spirit wanted to go, they went, and the wheels rose along with them,
for the spirit of the living creatures was in the wheels.” 1:15-21
“Over the heads of the living creatures there was the likeness of an expanse,
shining like awe-inspiring crystal…
above the expanse over their heads there was the likeness of a throne,
in appearance like sapphire; and seated above the likeness of a throne
was a likeness with a human appearance…” 1:22-28
Let the inexplicable aspects of God’s glory move you to worship.
But it doesn’t end here. Thankfully, God kept pulling back the curtain on His glory, and we’ll step behind that veil next week.
