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WUMFSA Devotionals for Advent to Epiphany, 2003 - 2004 Friday, January 9, 2004 Arise, shine; for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you. Isaiah 60:1 Who has ever seen the glory of the Lord? I've asked myself this question when the words "Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord" have come out of my mouth singing the "Battle Hymn of the Republic." Though I've never seen the glory I don't think I should feel too bad about it. Biblically speaking, only a select few people have ever had the pleasure. Most often God's glory is understood as God's holy light; it can also be rendered as God's presence (from the Hebrew word kavhod). Although God appears in our scriptures from the first chapters of Genesis, it is not until half-way through Exodus that the word kavhod is used when God's glory is revealed on Mount Sinai. In Exodus 19 and 24 God's presence comes to Israel in clouds and fire to pass along the Ten Commandments and give instructions for building the Ark of the Covenant. In another passage Moses' face reflects the intensity of the dazzling light so that Israel cannot look upon him. Before God's glory the prophet Ezekiel fell prostrate. If we understand God's glory as more than light and fire we are able to see God revealed in a different way. Rather than mere external manifestations, God's glory is the revelation of God's actual presence. Such a divine appearance is the root meaning of the word epiphany. And what makes reading Isaiah 60 appropriate to us now in this season is just that to us Christians, Jesus' coming into the world is the manifestation of God. Who has ever seen the glory of the Lord? Maybe none of us have. Or, perhaps all of us have in Jesus Christ. How do you see God's glory or presence in
the life of Jesus? In what ways can we live a more holy life
by living as Jesus did? Where do you see God's glory revealed
today? |