WHAT EXACTLY IS “GLORY”?
GLORY IS ONE OF THE MOST BEAUTIFUL WORDS IN THE BIBLE… It is also one of the most challenging words to define. Glory is a wide ranging subject that includes a broad variety of nuances…
While the vast majority of Christians use this word almost daily and assume to know
its meaning, “Glory,” aside from being a lovely word, is really a difficult and complex word to study.
“Glory” is like a diamond with its many mesmerizing facets.
STUDYING GLORY FROM SCRIPTURE IS SOMEWHAT LIKE PEERING AT A DIAMOND in the noonday sun: it is dazzling, and it can be puzzling… It is not my intention here in this brief study to present a comprehensive, all-encompassing final word study on glory, but to state some general facts from Hebrew and Greek lexicons (specialized dictionaries), and, of course, from Scripture that present us with many wondrous truths about glory that, I hope, will benefit us all in comprehending more fully what we are learning from Pastor Matt’s excellent sermons from John’s gospel. I say this because it is interesting to note that out of the 227 times the Greek words translated “glory” and “glorify” are found in the New Testament, no less than 42 of those usages are found in John’s gospel. To give us some focus as we study the blinding brilliance (intentional pun) of glory, I am going to suggest to you that there are three basic truths about glory that we can confidently embrace…
IN GENERAL, IT MAY BE ACCURATELY SAID THAT…
(1) GLORY HAS TO DO WITH LIGHT… it is shining, often striking, bedazzling light…
(2) GLORY IS HEAVY… it is something that has weight…
(3) GLORY IS VISIBLE… it is something you can see; it is meant to be seen
THE HEBREW AND GREEK WORDS FOR “GLORY” AND “GLORIFY”… It is always good to begin a study on any biblical subject with the lexical information of the words in the original languages of the Bible…
THE MAIN HEBREW WORD IS כָּבוֹד†(kah-vode) or כָּבֹד†(kah-vode – alternate spelling) Strong’s No. 3519. (200 times) glory —1. heaviness, burden (in both a good and bad sense) Is 2224 Nah 210; —2. a©†riches Gn 311 Is 103 616 6612; b©†reputation, importance Gn 4513
THE MAIN GREEK WORD IS do,xa (dox-ah) 1391. (166) glory (noun); 1. the condition of being bright or shining, brightness, splendor, radiance; 2. a state of being magnificent, greatness, splendor; 3. honor as enhancement or recognition of status or performance, fame, recognition, renown, honor, prestige – the verb form is δοξάζω (dox-ahd-zo) 1392. (61) glorify (verb)
CONSIDER HOW FAMILIAR THE WORD “GLORY” IS TO US…
“HARK! THE HERALD ANGELS SING, ‘Glory to the newborn King; Peace on earth, and mercy mild; God and sinners reconciled.’ Joyful, all ye nations, rise, Join the triumph of the skies; With angelic hosts proclaim, ‘Christ is born in Bethlehem!’ Hark! the herald angels sing, ‘Glory to the newborn King.’”
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KJV Luke 2:14 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.
“GLORY TO GOD IN THE HIGHEST”… Familiar words to us all. But what do they mean? What exactly does it mean to give glory to God? What exactly does “glory” mean? We often say that we want to glorify God – and well we should – but what does that look like? What exactly does “glory” mean?
FIRST, WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO GLORIFY GOD? to give glory to God?… I have a lengthy study on my computer in which I have attempted for years to answer those questions. To answer those questions is more difficult than you might think. Let me give you an example. The Holman Bible Dictionary, a very reliable, conservative source, says that to give God the glory is “to praise.” That brings up another challenging question for another time, i.e., what exactly is praise? Easton’s Bible Dictionary, an old but excellent source, says that to give God glory is a Hebrew idiom meaning “confess your sins.” You will find differing answers in both Hebrew and Greek lexicons. All these attempts are related and accurate, of course, but they are differing, partial, and therefore difficult… Like facets of a diamond…
THE SHORTER WESTMINSTER CATECHISM is the document all orthodox Christians have recognized as stating the essentials of our faith since 1647. The first tenet of the famous document, in the familiar question and answer style of a catechism, says, “What is the chief end of man?” “Man’s chief end is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever.” It is obvious, I think, we should then all be intent on defining exactly what glory means…
MAN’S PURPOSE IN LIFE IS TO GLORIFY GOD… Think of that! That’s our job description… And consider this not unconnected statement…
THE PURPOSE OF GOD IS TO GLORIFY HIMSELF IN HIS CREATION…
ESV Numbers 14:21 But truly, as I live, and as all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the LORD,
THE ENGLISH NOUN “GLORY” IS FOUND 606 TIMES IN OUR ENGLISH BIBLES… 376 in the O.T. and 230 in the N.T. The word is obviously used a lot. It is the noun, more than the verb, that we will focus on in this brief study. Unquestionably, “glory” is an important word…
ON THE NIGHT THAT GOD THE SON WAS BORN AS A MAN, the angels said, “Glory to God in the highest.” What does that mean? Taken as a whole, the following information offers an answer…
HERE IS A FINE THEOLOGICAL DEFINITION OF “GLORY”…
GLORY IS the manifested (i.e., it is visible – TAR) presence of God, often displayed in dazzling magnificence (radiant, shiny – TAR); it is His character, His attributes expressed; it is His weight, His inestimable worth revealed in His creation. “The glory of God refers first and foremost to the sheer weight of the reality of His presence” – Hard Sayings…
IN MY STUDIES OF THE WORD IN BOTH HEBREW AND GREEK, I have found that definition to be most accurate. I also like this abbreviated statement about God’s glory: “His weighty presence” – Tommy Tenney… I would add, “His visible weighty presence.”
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CONSIDER THE PHYSICAL CONDITIONS OF THE ANCIENT MIDEAST… Relating to glory being heavy: It is well to remember that the physical conditions of the Bible lands in Bible times: they were essentially desert conditions. Winds were constantly blowing the sand and changing the contour of the land. Yet a rock does not shift in storms. A rock is heavy. A rock has weight, “weighty presence.” In the shifting, relativistic sands of our culture, God is our Rock. He is heavy; He does not move…
ESV Psalm 18:31 For who is God, but the LORD? And who is a rock, except our God?–
LISTEN TO THE INTIMATE CONNECTION OF GLORY AND WEIGHT IN…
ESV 2 Corinthians 4:17 For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison,
ONE COMMENTATOR SAYS THIS ABOUT “GLORY”: “In Scripture, the word glory is often used to represent the totality of God’s nature, character, and attributes.”… I would add, “as it is seen”…
I THINK THIS IS A GREAT DEFINITION OF GLORY…
GLORY IS (PRIMARILY) THE MANIFESTED PRESENCE OF GOD; it is His character, His attributes or characteristics visibly expressed; it is His weight being seen, His inestimable worth made manifest in His creation…
GLORY IS SOMETHING THAT IS VISIBLE… Whatever we finally determine glory to be, we can be confident that we can see it… It is heavy; it has to do with light; and it is visible…
NAS John 1:14 And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.
BUT LATELY, THE PAST FEW YEARS, IN CONTINUING TO STUDY the word “glory,” I have come to see that glory is more than “just” God’s manifested presence. After studying this word over the years, and having felt confident that I understood the word whenever I have preached on the subject, I see the word now as very complex, multi-faceted, difficult to pin down in one definitive statement. Its usage in Scripture simply has too many shades of meaning. In this study, I want to emphasize most prominently one of the three foundational meanings of “glory,” that of its visibility. Glory may be seen…
BUT, SO I WON’T MISLEAD YOU, LET ME ADD THAT “GLORY IS MORE than a visible manifestation: it is (also – TAR) an indication of the essence of God; He Himself is glory. E. F. Harrison states, “God’s glory is not confined to some outward sign which appeals to the senses, but is that which expresses His inherent majesty, which may or not have some visible token (cf. Ex 33:18; Isa 6; Rom 1:23; 3:23). – Mounce
SEE WHAT I MEAN ABOUT GLORY BEING COMPLEX AND CHALLENGING?
NKJ Psalm 96:8 Give to the LORD the glory due His name; Bring an offering, and come into His courts
THE SEPTUAGINT (Greek translation of the Hebrew Old Testament) offers a different and, I think, beautiful perspective on this verse…
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LXE Psalm 96:8 Bring to the Lord the glory becoming his name: take offerings, and go into his courts.
SO IT IS NOT ENTIRELY ACCURATE TO CONFINE GLORY TO ITS VISIBILITY…
BUT WITH THAT SAID, I STILL BELIEVE A GOOD, SIMPLE, COMPOSITE DEFINITION of “glory” remains the physical manifestation of God. Said another way, “glory” is God’s weighty presence made visible, and that of course includes light. Can’t see without light…
NKJ Matthew 4:8 Again, the devil took Him up on an exceedingly high mountain, and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory.
NKJ Luke 9:32 But Peter and those with him were heavy with sleep; and when they were fully awake, they saw His glory and the two men who stood with Him.
GLORY IS SOMETHING THAT MAY BE SEEN…
NAS Psalm 63:2 Thus I have beheld Thee in the sanctuary, To see Thy power and Thy glory.
NAS Exodus 33:18 Then Moses said, “I pray Thee, show me Thy glory!”
52 sn Moses now wanted to see the glory of Yahweh, more than what he had already seen and experienced. He wanted to see God in all his majesty. The LXX chose to translate this without a word for “glory” or “honor”; instead they used the pronoun seautou, “yourself” – show me the real You. God tells him that he cannot see it fully, but in part. It will be enough for Moses to disclose to him the reality of the divine presence as well as God’s moral nature. It would be impossible for Moses to comprehend all of the nature of God, for there is a boundary between God and man. But God would let him see his goodness, the sum of his nature, pass by in a flash. B. Jacob (Exodus, 972) says that the glory refers to God’s majesty, might, and glory, as manifested in nature, in his providence, his laws, and his judgments. He adds that this glory should and would be made visible to man – that was its purpose in the world. – NET Notes
God spoke to Moses out of the pillar of cloud in Exodus 33, assuring him that His Presence would be with the Israelites (v. 9). Verse 11 says God spoke to Moses “face to face” out of the cloud, but when Moses asked to see God’s glory, God told Him, “You cannot see My face; for no man shall see Me, and live” (v. 20). So, apparently, the visible manifestation of God’s glory was somewhat muted. When Moses asked to see God’s glory, God hid Moses in the cleft of a rock, covered him with His hand, and passed by. Then He removed His hand, and Moses saw only His back. This would seem to indicate that God’s glory is too awesome and powerful to be seen completely by man. – GotQuestions.com
CONSIDER THIS BEAUTIFUL VERSE ON GLORY…
ESV Isaiah 60:19 The sun shall be no more your light by day, nor for brightness shall the moon give you light; but the LORD will be your everlasting light, and your God will be your glory.
ISAIAH IS SAYING THE GLORY OF THE LORD WILL BE OUR LIGHT IN THE FUTURE!
NAS Psalm 72:19 And blessed be His glorious name forever; And may the whole earth be filled with His glory. Amen, and Amen.
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HERE IS ANOTHER GOOD ATTEMPT AT A DEFINITION OF GLORY BY A SCHOLAR…
“Glory is the true apprehension of God or things. The glory of God must mean His unchanging essence. Giving glory to God is ascribing to Him His full recognition. The Glory of God is what He is essentially; the glory of created things including man is what they are meant by God to be, though not yet perfectly attained (Heb. 2:10; Rom. 8:18-21).” – Zodhiates
NKJ Acts 7:2 And he said, “Brethren and fathers, listen: The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, before he dwelt in Haran,
NKJ Ephesians 1:17 that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him
THE N.T. EXTENDS THIS TO DIVINE GLORY TO CHRIST…
NKJ 2 Peter 1:17 For He received from God the Father honor and glory when such a voice came to Him from the Excellent Glory: “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”
THE SCRIPTURE TELLS US CLEARLY THAT just as God possesses glory, so Christ possesses divine glory; He is no less than “the Lord of glory”…
NKJ 1 Corinthians 2:8 which none of the rulers of this age knew; for had they known, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.
CONSIDER THE TRANSFIGURATION…
NKJ Matthew 17:2 and He was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and His clothes became as white as the light.
NKJ Luke 9:32 But Peter and those with him were heavy with sleep; and when they were fully awake, they saw His glory and the two men who stood with Him.
GLORY IS VISIBLE; GLORY IS HEAVY; GLORY HAS TO DO WITH LIGHT…
JUST AS GOD’S GLORY FILLED THE TABERNACLE, SO GOD’S GLORY FILLED JESUS… In Jesus, God has come to take up residence among His people once again, in a way even more intimate than when He dwelt in the midst of wilderness Israel in the Tabernacle – Kostenberger
WE GET A GREAT SENSE OF THE MAJESTY OF GOD’S GLORY IN…
ESV Exodus 40:34-35 Then the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle. 36 And Moses was not able to enter the tent of meeting because the cloud settled on it, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle.
(This visible glory of God is referred to by theologians as God’s Shekinah glory.)
“LIKE MOSES OF OLD (2 Cor 3:6-18; cf. Ex 34:29-35), the apostles were firsthand eyewitnesses of God’s glory, which was in these last days displayed in Jesus, God’s one-of-a-kind Son.” – Kostenberger
JESUS IS THE GLORY OF GOD… Said another way, Jesus is God made visible…
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ESV Colossians 1:15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.
AGAIN, OUR PRIMARY PURPOSE IN LIFE IS TO GLORIFY GOD… We are to manifest His presence to others, not to selfishly seek happiness, not, in effect, to glorify ourselves, but simply and profoundly make our faith in God visible. When we do that, we are glorifying God, bringing glory to Him…
YES, WE – YOU AND I – ARE HIS GLORY! AMAZING, ISN’T IT? God glorifies Himself in His creation, and that includes us. And we glorify Him when we praise Him, thank Him, pray to Him, worship Him, live obediently for Him, and when we suffer for his sake…
NAS 2 Corinthians 3:18 But we all, with unveiled face beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit.
IN THE O.T., THE STRESS IS ON SEEING THE DIVINE GLORY (Lev. 9:6; Isa. 6:1; 35:2), witnessing the visible manifestation of God’s glory. In the NT, however, the emphasis shifts to participation. Participation in God’s glory is by participation in Christ. – Kittle/TAR
“GLORY TO GOD IN THE HIGHEST!”… May we ourselves forever be glory to God in the highest! As shining visible expressions of God on earth, may we have the weight not to move in the storms of life. Amen?
IN CLOSING, HERE IS WHAT I THINK IS AN EXCELLENT ANALOGY OF GLORY… It has to do with the sun, S-U-N. The sun is 93 million miles away. We can’t see 93 million miles away. When we look at the sun it is not actually the sun we are seeing, but the light coming from the sun. The light of the sun may be said to be the visible expression of the sun. The light is, therefore, the “glory” of the sun. Glory has to do with light, visible light…
WHEN WE ARE OBEDIENTLY LIVING THE CHRISTIAN LIFE WE REFLECT the light, the glory, of God to those around us… When people look at us, they don’t actually see God Himself – He is “93 million miles away” – but they can – amazingly – see in us His reflection!…
SO, THE DIFFICULTIES AND COMPLEXITIES ACKNOWLEDGED, WE CAN, nevertheless, be certain that these three facts are biblically accurate about glory, the noun: (1) it is visible; (2) it has to do with light; and (3) it is heavy. In all these verses I have presented today, I think it is most helpful if we remember these three facts…
ONE FINAL, FITTING VERSE…
ESV Ezekiel 1:28 Like the appearance of the bow that is in the cloud on the day of rain, so was the appearance of the brightness all around. Such was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the LORD. And when I saw it, I fell on my face, and I heard the voice of one speaking.
SO WE MIGHT ADD A FOURTH TRUTH TO THIS STUDY: GLORY IS HUMBLING…
Article By: Professor Thomas A. Rohm
