Glory

“And [Moses] said, ‘Please, show me Your glory.’ Then [God] said, ‘I will make all my goodness pass before you, and I will proclaim the name of the LORD before you, I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.’” (Exodus 33:18-19)

In 1989 Denzel Washington gave a remarkable performance which launched his stardom in the movie Glory about Colonel Robert Shaw (Matthew Broderick) who led the first all-black volunteer company in the American Civil War and in turn fought prejudices both in his own Union army and the Confederates. God, however, has a different definition for glory in His Word. The single, most significant and outstanding thing about God, indeed the most important characteristic about Him is His glory.

While some of us may think it is His power, righteousness, majesty or holiness, but God Almighty Himself would give a different answer. The English word glory came from the Hebrew word kabod which could literally be translated heavy weight, for it refers to the heaviest, biggest, grandest thing about someone. Glory is nothing less than the sum total of a person’s worth in all dimensions.

In Exodus 33, Moses was asking God to show him His glory, so what Moses was really saying in the Hebrew context was, “Don’t show me the money like Jerry Maguire, but show me the weightiest and most magnificent thing about You. Enquiring minds want to know, and I want to know Your biggest, baddest, hippest, grandest attributes.” God responded to Moses’ request for His glory by making His goodness pass before him and further in Exodus 34:6-7, “The LORD, The LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abounding in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin.”

When Moses asked God to show him the biggest thing about Himself, God showed him His goodness or mercy. If we are to Mimic God as we are commanded to in Ephesians 5:1 we must excel in goodness, grace and compassion. Mercy, graciousness, loving kindness, goodness, forgiveness and compassion must be the hallmark of our behavior above all else so that the lost will see the glory of God displayed in us.
Copyright © 2002 Eddy Ministries.
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