In Other Words...Glory

“Then Moses said, “Now show me your glory.” And the LORD said, “I will cause all my goodness to pass in front of you, and I will proclaim my name, the LORD, in your presence.”
“When Moses came down from Mount Sinai with the two tablets of the Testimony in his hands, he was not aware that his face was radiant because he had spoken with the LORD. When Aaron and all the Israelites saw Moses, his face was radiant, and they were afraid to come near him. But Moses called to them; so Aaron and all the leaders of the community came back to him, and he spoke to them. Afterward all the Israelites came near him, and he gave them all the commands the LORD had given him on Mount Sinai. When Moses finished speaking to them, he put a veil over his face. But whenever he entered the LORD’s presence to speak with him, he removed the veil until he came out.”
--Exerpts from Exodus 33 and 34

Like many other words describing God, we throw this word “glory” around without really understanding what it means. We may have a general idea, but it is one of those words that is hard to define. This term “glory” often carries with it the idea of brightness and majesty. But the word for “glory” actually comes from the Hebrew word kavod which means “weighty” or “heavy.” You get the idea that God is full almost to the point of bursting. So what is God full of? I think God is full of awesomeness—another word that we have difficulty describing. We know what awesome is when we see it, but we can’t really define it. God is full of being awesome. I think God’s glory is awesomeness in action. When we see a sunrise or sunset, when we see the magnificence of God’s creation, when we see a baby born, when God helps us do something we never thought we could, and we respond with, “That was awesome” we have just seen God’s glory—God’s awesomeness in action.

The world is full of God’s glory. And we give Him glory by giving Him credit. In the theater, when something is important and deserving of your attention, what do they do? They shine a spotlight on it. There is this visual cue that says, you should focus on this actor, or this part of the stage. It is worthy of your attention. And many people like to be in the spotlight don’t they? People in Hollywood complain about the paparazzi, but they continue to put themselves in positions to be photographed and have stories written about them. They love being the topic of conversation and on everyone’s minds. And we give it to them. We give them the spotlight. We give them glory and praise for things they have done. But giving glory to these weak substitutes is idolatry. They aren’t worth it—only God is.

But before we are too hard on them, we should think about ourselves. Most of us have the intense desire to be recognized, seen, or complimented. We don’t necessarily want the full spotlight, but we want people to tell us verbally and through their actions that we are acceptable, that we are good, that we are pretty, that we are worthy. Here’s the problem—we seek validation from other people when we should be seeking it from God. We are seeking to glorify ourselves when we should be seeking to glorify God. Instead of turning the spotlight on ourselves, it is God who deserves and should receive the recognition.

Here’s what happens. We take God’s glory, that should be evident in our lives, and we put a veil over it, just like Moses. The veil was not a good thing. It showed that the people did not really want to experience God’s glory. Moses had come into contact with God of the universe, and they weren’t interested. And when we divert the glory of God onto something or someone else, we are veiling God’s glory. Paul talks about this in 2 Corinthians 3:13-15:

“We are not like Moses, who would put a veil over his face to keep the Israelites from gazing at it while the radiance was fading away. But their minds were made dull, for to this day the same veil remains when the old covenant is read. It has not been removed, because only in Christ is it taken away. Even to this day when the Law of Moses is read, a veil covers their hearts.”

It started with a physical veil—hiding the glory of God on Moses’ face. Then it turned into a spiritual one. Just as God’s glory was hidden from their eyes, then even when God’s Word was read He was hidden from their hearts. They couldn’t see him for who he was. And when Jesus came, they couldn’t see that the glory of God was being revealed in a man. But Paul goes on in verses 16-18.

"But whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit."

We often become like the things to which we give glory. Think about it. You like a certain athlete, so you start wearing his/her jersey, liking his/her team, using the same equipment. When actors start doing something, a lot of people follow. Scientology and Cabalistic Judaism are big because stars in Hollywood have made them such. Certain singers dress and act a certain way, and so you do too. It doesn’t even have to be someone who is popular or well known. It could be a brother, sister, parent, or friend. The more you give glory to someone, the more you become like them. That is Paul’s point. If you are giving glory to God and focusing on Him, you will become more like him. You will be transformed into His likeness. That is what happened to Moses. He experienced God’s glory and he was physically changed. When we experience God’s glory, I don’t think we become shiny happy people, but we are changed on the inside and our actions changes as a result. We reflect God’s glory through the way we act. Jesus tells us to be the light of the world. Really, we are not a lighthouse, we are a mirror, reflecting God’s glory as it shines upon us. Giving God glory and experiencing God’s glory is not just about singing songs. It is about giving God credit for the things in this world, your talents, abilities, and blessings. God’s glory is all around us. Are we giving him the honor he deserves or are we stealing it, and shining the light onto ourselves or someone else?