THE GLORY OF GOD
Exodus 33:18-22 Moses
said, "Now show me your glory."
And the LORD said… you cannot see my face, for no one may see me and live...
There is a place near me where you may stand on a rock. When my glory passes by, I will put you in a
cleft in the rock and cover you with my hand until I have passed by."
The Hebrew word for
“glory” is “kabod”. Kabod is a rich and complex theological word with multiple
shades of meaning. It refers to the weight of an object, material wealth,
achieved rank, prominence, greatness and power. With such nuances of meaning we
can see why it is used in describing God. The magnificence of “kabod” reaches
its fulfillment in the Christian scriptures in seeing the “kabod” rest on the
person of Jesus Christ. “The
Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his kabod,
the kabod of the One and Only, who came from the Father,
full of grace and truth.” John 1:14
The Kabod
of God, leaves us alone and speechless before Him. In the silence of His
passing presence in our midst, we realize our own insufficiency to live and
respond to the life we created and he allows us to have. The allusion of
control over life and work is shattered completely, leaving only one option –
Him: on His terms, in His manner, at His hour, with His will and goal. All who
beheld the Kabod of God were forever changed in their relationship to Him and
their relationship to the world of people around them. “Trust” alone is the
residue seen on the face of Moses, in the tone of his voice and in the
quickness of his steps that led the God’s people.
“But
the reality of kabod shatters every delusion… The glory of God
makes possible the…act of religion: the realization that we are not sufficient
unto ourselves, that we have received our life and being from another. In a
decision that reaches the roots of our most intimate self and demands the
renunciation of belonging to that self, we freely ratify our condition as
creatures. Through this fundamental act of dispossession we acknowledge the
illusion of control and open ourselves to the reality of God.”
