“O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgements, and His ways past finding out.” Romans 11:33
It was Moses, as a shepherd in the wilderness of Sinai, who received the revelation of God in the burning bush. There God told him to remove the sandals from off his feet, “…for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground.” (Exodus 3:5) In this revelation of God, Moses was brought face to face with the distinguishing difference between God and man, the fact that God was holy, and man was not. This distinction meant that God, as Creator, Redeemer, and Sustainer in life, was completely separate from sinful man, the enormity and vastness of His nature being of a quality and essence that really had no affinity with sinful man. And yet, God chose to come and reveal Himself to Moses in this manner.
Just before the conquest of Jericho, the Lord came to Joshua, revealing Himself as the “…Captain of the host of the Lord.” (Josh. 5:14) This Captain then would say to Joshua: “Loose thy shoe from off thy foot; for the place whereon thou standest is holy.” (5:15) In the case of Moses, after walking before, and serving, the Lord for a good many years, he would make a request of God. He would ask God to SHOW him His glory. The Lord would grant him his request, making all His goodness pass before Moses. Both Moses and Joshua were confronted with the fact that the matter of God’s holiness was paramount in His dealing with men. The great blessing of knowing, and truly respecting, this holiness of God, was the revelation of His glory. That glory was the unveiling of His nature, His person. The Lord Jesus would even bring Martha, the sister of Lazarus, to the point where He chose to SHOW her the glory of God. He did so in the quietness of a tomb, where Lazarus was dead. There were no trumpets, or powerful manifestations. The glory of God, revealed by the quiet power in raising one from the dead, was known when Lazarus appeared alive at the opening of the tomb. The holiness of God, that separateness in every way from sinful man, was revealed by the unveiling of His glory, a glory as invisible as He was and is, but made known by the marvelous and profound effect on those who seek Christ.
In Paul’s letter to the Ephesians, he wrote of the, “…glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end.” (3:21) There was in the first coming of Christ to Bethlehem, the unveiling of HIs glory, clothed in His holiness, His uniqueness. From a human standpoint, we might think that this “glory” was greatly veiled, hidden, limited. This is true, as the Son of God, when He came to earth, laid aside His glory heaven, taking upon himself the form of a servant. Even with the limitations of His creation as a man, the quiet, consistent, powerful glory of God was revealed. It was especially manifested among men when Jesus began His ministry, as the special anointing of the Holy Spirit by the Father, revealed it. Jesus would even remark to Philip on one occasion, “…he that hath seen Me hath seen the Father.” (Jn. 14:10) The great point here is this. God has, from the foundation, in His holiness, chosen to reveal Himself, by unveiling His glory to sinful man, to save him. That revelation was greatly realized in the first coming of Christ. Though invisible for the most part, and sometimes not recognized, it was revealed to those who would truly see.
When Jesus used the illustration of the “lilies of the field,” as opposed to Solomon’s “glory,” He took something small and commonplace, to show us that the glory of God is all around us. Even in Isaiah’s day, in his vision of God, the Seraphims declared: “…Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts: the whole earth is FULL of His glory.” (6:3) In spite of the empires of men, God’s incomparable glory is revealed.
Dear Father, Open our eyes to see Thy glory in creation, supremely revealed in Christ. In Jesus’ name, Amen.