4/24/2010 7:43 AM
SPIRITUAL DIARY
My Worship Time Focus: The glory of God departed
Bible Reading &
Meditation Reference: 1 Samuel 4:19-22
Message of the verses: “19 ¶
Now his daughter-in-law, Phinehas’s wife, was pregnant and about to give
birth; and when she heard the news that the ark of God was taken and that her
father-in-law and her husband had died, she kneeled down and gave birth, for
her pains came upon her. 20 And about
the time of her death the women who stood by her said to her, "Do not be
afraid, for you have given birth to a son." But she did not answer or pay
attention. 21 And she called the boy
Ichabod, saying, "The glory has departed from Israel," because the ark of
God was taken and because of her father-in-law and her husband. 22 She said, ‘The glory has departed from Israel, for the
ark of God was taken.’”
The wife of
Phinehas had a better idea about what was going on than her husband or her
father-in-law, for he husband was using the Ark of God as a good luck charm,
and Eli was concerned for the safety of the Ark of God, like God could not take
care of His Ark. Phinehas’s wife cared
for the glory of the Lord so much that before her death she named her child
Ichabod which means the glory of God has departed.
I have done
a brief history about the glory of the Lord in an earlier SD, but it seems that
this is a good place to go over this again as the glory of the Lord departed
from Shiloh here and would not return until
Solomon would build the temple of the Lord later on.
When the
tabernacle was finished, and this is recorded in the last chapter of Exodus the
glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle.
Exodus 40:34-35 describe this, “34 Then the cloud covered the tent of
meeting, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle. 35 Moses was not able to enter the tent of
meeting because the cloud had settled on it, and the glory of the LORD filled
the tabernacle.” In the book of Romans the apostle Paul when describing the
nation of Israel
mentions about the glory of the Lord that was in the tabernacle or perhaps the
temple when her writes, “3 For I could
wish that I myself were accursed, separated from Christ for the sake of my
brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh, 4
who are Israelites, to whom belongs the adoption as sons, and the glory and the covenants
and the giving of the Law and the temple service and the promises, 5 whose are the fathers, and from whom is the
Christ according to the flesh, who is over all, God blessed forever. Amen.”
Shiloh
would not see the glory of the Lord again and Asaph tells his readers in Psalm
78:60-61 concerning this, “60 So that He
abandoned the dwelling place at Shiloh, The tent which He had pitched among
men, 61 And gave up His strength to
captivity And His glory into the hand of the adversary.” When Judah
was about to go into captivity the prophet Jeremiah is comparing what happened
to Israel
when the Ark of God was captured to what was going to happen to them. This is seen in two places of his writings, “12 "But go now to My place which was in
Shiloh, where I made My name dwell at the first, and see what I did to it
because of the wickedness of My people Israel. 13 "And now, because you have done all
these things," declares the LORD, "and I spoke to you, rising up
early and speaking, but you did not hear, and I called you but you did not
answer, 14 therefore, I will do to the
house which is called by My name, in which you trust, and to the place which I
gave you and your fathers, as I did to Shiloh,” (Jeremiah 7:12-14). “6 then
I will make this house like Shiloh, and this
city I will make a curse to all the nations of the earth.’” “9
"Why have you prophesied in the name of the LORD saying, ’This
house will be like Shiloh and this city will
be desolate, without inhabitant’?" And all the people gathered about Jeremiah
in the house of the LORD,” (Jeremiah 26:6, 9).
It is not
sure what happened to the tent but is mentioned that the Philistines returned
the Ark of God, as this proves that the Lord could take care of it. This is seen in 1 Samuel chapter six and at
the end of that chapter it tells that the Ark of God came to Beth-shemesh. The ark of God is also mentioned to be at Nob
and perhaps it is there that the priests built the covering for it. Next it can be seen that David brings the Ark
of God into the city of Jerusalem and then Solomon builds the temple of God and
puts it in there, and it is here that the glory of the Lord fills this temple
after Solomon dedicates it, “10 It
happened that when the priests came from the holy place, the cloud filled the
house of the LORD, 11 so that the
priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud, for the glory of the
LORD filled the house of the LORD,” (1 Kings 8:10).
The prophet
Ezekiel sees, and writes about the glory of the Lord leaving the temple of God in Ezekiel 8:4; 9:3; 10:4, 18;
11:22-23. As I read through these verses
in Ezekiel it seems to be a process of the glory of the Lord leaving the temple
of God and the last section is where He departed, “22 ¶ Then the cherubim lifted up their wings with
the wheels beside them, and the glory of the God of Israel hovered over them.
23 The glory of the LORD went up from
the midst of the city and stood over the mountain which is east of the city.
24 And the Spirit lifted me up and
brought me in a vision by the Spirit of God to the exiles in Chaldea.
So the vision that I had seen left me. 25
Then I told the exiles all the things that the LORD had shown me.”
Ezekiel
also describes the glory of the Lord returning to the millennial temple near
the end of his writing in Ezekiel 43:1-5, “1 ¶
Then he led me to the gate, the gate facing toward the east; 2 and behold, the glory of the God of Israel
was coming from the way of the east. And His voice was like the sound of many
waters; and the earth shone with His glory. 3
And it was like the appearance of the vision which I saw, like the
vision which I saw when He came to destroy the city. And the visions were like
the vision which I saw by the river Chebar; and I fell on my face. 4 And the glory of the LORD came into the house
by the way of the gate facing toward the east. 5 And the Spirit lifted me up and brought me
into the inner court; and behold, the glory of the LORD filled the house.”
I have seen
the glory of the Lord first in Exodus and then lastly in the millennial temple
which doesn’t take place until Christ returns to earth for those 1000 years
that are promised in the book of Revelations.
“Re 20:4 And I saw thrones, and
they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of
them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and
which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his
mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with
Christ a thousand years. 5 But the rest of the dead lived not again
until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection. 6
Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such
the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ,
and shall reign with him a thousand years.”
A long time
ago our Pastor asked why was the second temple better than the first temple
while he was preaching through the book of Nehemiah and the answer was because
the Lord Jesus Christ was in that temple while here on earth for the first
time. Now where is the glory of the Lord
at this present time, the time of the Church on the earth? The apostle Paul writes about this in two
places, and the first one is in 1 Corinthians 6:19-20, “19 Or do you not know that your body is a temple
of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not
your own? 20 For you have been bought
with a price: therefore glorify God in your body.” That is really something that is truly
awesome, but the glory of the Lord is also seen in the Church collectively and
he describes that in Ephesians 2:19-22, “19
So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow
citizens with the saints, and are of God’s household, 20 having been built on the foundation of the
apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the corner stone, 21 in whom the whole building, being fitted
together, is growing into a holy temple in the Lord, 22 in whom you also are being built together
into a dwelling of God in the Spirit.” I
have learned that at this present time that the Spirit of the Lord dwells in me
as a believer in Jesus Christ alone for my salvation and also in the church and
that when the Lord returns and the temple is again built in Jerusalem that the glory of the Lord will
fill it once again.
Spiritual meaning for my life today: What does all of this mean to me, a believer
living in 21st century America? Since I don’t use the word awesome often because
of what it means in the Hebrew, “yaw-ray” is the word and the meaning is: “to fear, revere, be afraid, to stand in awe
of, be awed, to fear, reverence, honour, respect.” The word is translated in the AV as fear “188
times afraid 78, terrible 23, terrible thing 6, dreadful 5, reverence 3,
fearful 2, terrible acts 1, afraid 78, terrible 23, terrible thing 6, dreadful
5, reverence 3, fearful 2, terrible acts 1.”
The word is translated as awesome in the NASB95 31 times. With that all said I want to say that having
the Holy Spirit live in me is AWESOME.
While
attending Moody’s founder’s week a number of years ago I heard a story that
illustrates why I don’t use the word “awesome” unless it has to do with the
Lord or what He has done, and it goes like this. The Pastor speaking is trying to show the
importance of this word awesome by saying that there were many people who
thought and said that it was awesome how Michael Jordan dunks that basketball,
and then he went on to say that the Lord could slam dunk the world and that
would be awesome.
Having the
Spirit of the Lord living in me is an awesome privilege with great
responsibility and I must say that I have failed in many ways at many times,
but I can also say that the Spirit of the Lord living in me has changed my life
completely, for He has taken me from someone who was lost alienated from the
Lord because of sin and placed me into the Body of Christ so that one day I
will see my Lord face to face, and again
that is awesome to me. Warren Wiersbe, who
is one of my very favorite authors quotes an old Scottish preacher who said “The
Christian life is a series of new beginnings,” and I could not agree more, and
it is the Holy Spirit who lives in me who provides those new beginning for me
whenever I fall, and that again is awesome.
My Steps of Faith for
Today:
- Remember
how much it means to me to have the Holy Spirit living in me to guide me
through His Word and through this life as I live in 21st
century America.
4/24/2010 9:15 AM
