July 2018

heaven and totally consumed the
ox, the wood, the stones on the
altar, the dust surrounding the
altar, and even the water in the
trench that he had built around it
(1 Kings 18: 20-46).
The glory of the Lord appears
again as fire, in a demonstration
of the Lord’s power. Nothing is
impossible for our Lord, and he
let the wayward Israelites know
this categorically. It brought
about repentance, if only temporarily.
At the Day of Pentecost
in the New Testament, the presence
of God manifested itself:
first as the sound of a mighty,
violent wind. The flames of fire
baptized the disciples and the
believers, filling them with the
Holy Spirit (Acts 2:2-3).
The Shekinah Glory of God is
not seen any more in the Bible;
at least not from God the Father
-- Jehovah Himself. However, I
believe this is because the Son
of God, after he had risen from
the dead, and was taken back
into Heaven, and was glorified by
the Father, so that the Shekinah
Glory of God would be manifest
in His Son, Jesus, the Lamb of
God. After the resurrection, and
before he gives the great commission,
Jesus tells his disciples
that, “…all authority (all power
of absolute rule) in heaven and
on earth has been given to Me
(Matthew 28:18).
Therefore, what God the Father
would do before men now became
Jesus’ responsibility. The
first instance of Shekinah Glory
in Jesus occurred at the Transfiguration.
Jesus had taken his
disciples to a mountain to pray,
and as he was praying, his appearance
transformed, and his
clothing became bright white,
flashing with the brilliance of
lightning. Moses and Elijah were
there with him talking about his
imminent departure from Earth
back to Heaven. The disciples
wanted to build an alter for
each of them, but The Father,
who once again hid his glory in
a cloud, conferred his blessing
upon His son, Jesus the Christ,
and told the disciples to obey
Him (Luke 9:28-36).
Therefore, the Shekinah glory
will from there forward will be
seen as Jesus himself. When
Jesus appears to Saul on the
road to Damascus, a bright light
surrounds him, and the Glory of
the Holy Ones in Heaven surrounded
Jesus. Jesus’ power
manifest itself in that He completely
disabled Saul, who fell
to the ground in the presence of
Jesus’ Shekinah Glory, and got
up blind, and humbled, and told
his companions to take him to
Damascus (Acts 9:3-9).
Jesus said, before his death on
the cross, said, “Now is [the time
for] the Son of Man [to be] glorified,
and God is glorified in Him;
[if God is glorified in Him,] God
will also glorify Him (the Son) in
Himself, and will glorify Him at
once” (John 13:32).
Since Jesus humbled himself,
and left his place in Heaven as
the Son of God to become a
servant of man, and to bring salvation
to us all. Paul declares in
Hebrews, “So too Christ did not
glorify Himself so as to be made
a high priest, but He [was exalted
and appointed by the One] who
said to Him, “You are My Son,
Today I have begotten (fathered)
You [and declared Your authority
and rule over the nations]” (Hebrews
5:5).
Later in Revelation, John has a
vision of Jesus in all his Shekinah
Glory. Jesus is no longer
that man who lived on Earth for
a short time. He has become a
very powerful being. “His feet
were like burnished [white-hot]
bronze, refined in a furnace, and
His voice was [powerful] like the
sound of many waters. In His
right hand He held seven stars,
and from His mouth came a
sharp two-edged sword [of judgment];
and His face [reflecting
His majesty and the Shekinah
glory] was like the sun shining in
[all] its power [at midday] (Revelation
1:15-16). Note that the
Shekinah glory of God is powerfully
present in Jesus. “From
the throne came flashes of lightning,
and rumblings and peals of
thunder, and before the throne
were burning seven torches of
fire, which are the seven spirits
of God” (Revelation 4:5).
Today, we don’t see that much of
God’s Shekinah Glory. Just before
Jesus went back to Heaven,
he told His disciples, “…the
Helper (Comforter, Advocate, Intercessor—Counselor,
Strengthener,
Standby), the Holy Spirit,
whom the Father will send in My
name [in My place, to represent
Me and act on My behalf], He
will teach you all things. And He
will help you remember everything
that I have told you.” Those
who know Jesus personally and
have a relationship with God no
longer need to have Lord Jehovah
appear to them personally.
Jesus sent us the Holy Spirit to
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