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Manifesting
the Glory
"And there will I meet with thee, and I will commune with
thee from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubim
which are upon the ark of the testimony" (Exod. 25.22).
 ABOVE
the Mercy Seat and between the two Cherubim (Exod. 25:22),
sounded forth the Voice that spoke with Moses. When the Tabernacle
was erected and dedicated (Exod. 40:34-35), the glory of Yahweh
filled it within, a cloud without screened it from mortal
view, and His Voice gave instructions to Moses.
Later,
David referred to Yahweh as "Thou that dwellest between the
cherubim" (Psa. 8(): 1). Rotherham renders this as "Thou that
art enthroned in the cherubim" (ep. also Psa. 104:1-2). Yahweh's
presence was tokened by the indwelling, or Shekinah glory
above the Mercy Seat, the only illumination in an otherwise
completely dark Most Holy.
It
typified the Lord Jesus Christ as "the Light that shineth
in darkness" (John 1:5), and the "true Light which lighteneth
every man" (v.9). In him was beheld glory, "the glory as of
the only begotten of the Father" (v.14). As the "true light",
he was related to the "true Tabernacle which the Lord pitched,
and not man" (Heb. 8:2).
Manifestations
Of The Light
Paul
described him as "the brightness of (Yahweh's) glory and the
express image of His person" (Heb. 1:3). This can be rendered
"the effulgence of glory". "Effulgence" is a word that describes
rays coming out of their original, or parent source of light,
and themselves forming a similar light body to the original.
By such an extension of Himself, Yahweh's glory, in truth
and character, dwelt briefly in the midst of lsrael. But the
nation comprehended it not, preferring to dwell in darkness.
Subsequently, as in times past, "the glory" ascended to where
it originated (cp. Acts 1:9 with Ezek. 9:3; 10:4).
Christ's
followers are expected to reflect his light. "Ye are the light
of the world," he told them, and exhorted: "Let your light
so shine before men that they might see your good works and
glorify your Father which is in heaven" (Matt. 5:14-16).
One
of those "lights", the Apostle Paul, in exhorting his brethren,
wrote:
"God,
who commanded the light to shine Out of darkness, hath shined
in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory
of God in the face of Jesus Christ" (2 Cor. 4:6).
"Ye
were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord:
walk as children of light" (Eph. 5:8).
"Be
blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in
the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye
shine as lights in the world; holding forth the word of life"
(Phil. 2:15-16).
The
Word of God is the mirror-glass into which we intently gaze
to learn "what manner of persons we ought to be" (2 Cor. 3:18).
As polished glass it will catch the rays of Divine light so
that we are illuminated thereby, and are "changed into the
same image (i.e. of the Lord) from glory to glory, even as
of the Lord the spirit" (mg).
But
no matter how brightly that light shines, we reflect it but
dimly. This is due to the weaknesses of the flesh that impose
their own limits to the manifestation of Divine glory in our
characters and lives.
Hope
of Glory
Nevertheless
the day will come when such limitations will be removed, and
the fullness of Divine strength and glory will be manifested
through the glorified saints: the cherubim of the future age.
Meanwhile,
we "live in hope of the glory of God" (Rom. 5:2); a hope that
will be fulfilled when he "shall change our vile body that
it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body" (Phil. 3:21),
"according as His Divine power" will work in us for His "glory
and virtue" (2 Pet. 1:3). Just as the Lord Jesus was the light
of the glory of Yahweh shining in a dark place (John. 1:5),
so we, his saints, are called upon to be likewise (Phil. 2:15-16).
This is in preparation for the bestowal of the fullness of
glory in the age to come, constituting us the Cherubic messengers
of Yahweh in His Temple-Kingdom upon the earth.
The
parable of the Tabernacle and its encampment taught that lesson,
setting before Israelites the ideal to which they could, and
we can, attain in the mercy of Yahweh. |
