Shekinah Glory - Day 3, 21 Days of Glory

Exploring the question - "what is the glory of God? Lets consider the Shekinah glory of God.  Specifically the “glory cloud” appearances. God shows up and it’s quite obvious. This manifestation is a type of theophany, “the appearance of God in a visible form to a human being”. 

Interestingly, the word Shekinah is not in the bible. It’s a Jewish rabbinical word and biblical concept, but not directly translated from the scriptural text. It’s an extra-biblical expression that literally means "to dwell, inhabit, or settle".  It implies the presence of the Lord resting in a place.

 Then the Lord came down in the cloud and stood there with him and proclaimed his name, the Lord (YWHW). Exodus 34:5

The word translated as “cloud” is  `anan’ , it appears 34 times in the account of Moses’ generation (Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy). The cloud manifestation is prominent in this era of God’s story, either leading His people on their journey or abiding at the Tabernacle. He is visibly living with his people. Whenever the cloud lifted from above the Tent, the Israelites set out; wherever the cloud settled, the Israelites encamped. Num 9:17

God is all about relationships, closeness. He wants us to know Him. He reveals Himself – that’s revelation. We respond – that’s worship. It’s a pattern of revelation and response. How did Moses respond to the presence of God?

Moses bowed to the ground at once and worshiped. Ex 34:8  

Here the Hebrew word translated as worship is ‘shachah’, it’s appears 172 times in the scriptures and means to bow low, lie face down, prostrate. It is an outward expression of submission to a superior authority. The whole community responded to the presence of God with this attitude of humility.

 Whenever the people saw the pillar of cloud standing at the entrance to the tent, they all stood and worshiped (shachah) , each at the entrance to his tent. Ex 33:10

These texts demonstrate that the right response to an authentic God encounter is to go low.  Worship is all about responding to God with a right heart, on His terms. But hey, they're pretty good terms.

That’s all I have time to write today,  more on Shekinah glory in the next posts. May you experience His presence today.

Prayer:

Lord, continue to teach us Your ways through Your word. Give me a humble heart, give your people a humble spirit.  For your glory.  In Jesus name, Amen.

"21 Days of Glory" is an exploration of the glory of God - March 1 - March 21. I’m sharing what I learn along the way.