The Pulpit Commentary — Ezekiel — Volume 2 — Section 359

unseen God is ever clothed. We may take the manifestation of glory as a type and suggestion of that higher wonder, I. IN WHAT THE GLORY OF THE Go» OF lBBAEL OONSIBTB, 1. The radiance OJ heavenly light. 'l'he glory is like the effulgence of sunlight, the raying forth of beams of splendour from the central fountain of light. (1) It is perfect truth. All error and falsehood are excluded. God dwells in infinite knowledge and wisdom and truthful- ness. (2) It is absolute holiness. No stain or fleck of sin ever touches the supreme purity of God. (3) It is infinite love. 1'he glory of God is most seen in his goodness, By wonderful deeds of grace he manifests his glory. (4) It is unutterable joy. The joy of truth, holiness, and love must ever dwell in the heart of God. God smiles over his creatures: that is his glory. 2. The weal,th of heavenly voices. "His voice was like a noise of many waters." God has broken the silence of etemity. He has called to his lost and wayward children. With variety of utterance and of truth God l1as made his voice Leard. His gospel message is his glory. II. How 'l'HE GLORY OF THE Go» OF lsRAEL APPEARS. Ezekiel saw the glory dawn in the east like the pure, bright light of a rising sun. 1. It was not always manifest. There had been a night previous to this glad dawn. There had been dark days in the Captivity, when even the radiance of God seemed to be dimmed. (1) In tile world's history there have been awful, blank ages, out of which all Divine glory seems to have been excluded. (2) In individual experience there are sad days when the soul exclaims, "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" 2. It is 'ITLade manifest. (1) To the world, in Christ, who manifested forth the glory of his Father. Thus St. John says, "And we beheld his glory, the glory as of the Only Begotten of the Father" (John i. 14). (2) To the individual, by faith. When we truly seek for the brightness of God's countenance in Christ, and trust his grace, there rises a light in the darkness, and God's glory appears. ill THE RESULTS TH.AT FOLLOW THE MANIFESTATION OF THE GLOBY OF THE GOD OF lsBAEL, ".And the earth shined with his glory." This radiance was not confined to celestial regions. It was no vain pageantry displayed among the clouds. It came into the world as a brightness for earthly things. This is ever the case with manifes- tations of God's glory. It is especially so with Christ who" tabernacled among us," and so brought the celestial glory to dwell on earth, The shining forth of God's truth and goodness makes a new day for the world. It is already reflected in purified, gladdened lives; it will be fully seen in a renewal of the whole face of society. That which seems to be most remote and unpractical is thus most closely associated with the needs and hopes of mankind. The world pines and despairs for lack of more visions of Divine truth and goodness. The perfect day will be when this light shines into the darkest places of the earth, i.e. when all men have received "the glorious gospel of the blessed God." Ver. 3.-God the same in ;'udgment ancl in mercy. The remarkable point of this verse lies in the fact that Ezekiel could detect no change in the manifestation of the Divine glory when he compared the new appearance which heralded the great redemption of Israel with the earlier appearance which preceded the denunciation of wrath and doom. God is the same in both cases. L 'l'BE FACT. This has two sides-one relating to the time of judgment, and the other concerned with the period of redemption. 1. God's mercy is not lost in Judg- ment. He was glorious when he came to judgment, and one essential element of the glory of God is his ineffable love. We may not see love in wrath, but it is present, for "whom the Lord lovetl.t be chasteneth" (Heb, xii. 6). God does not change his nature because men sin, nor indeed does he cease to yearn over his poor fallen children with infinite pity because it has become well that he should smite them in his great anger. 2. God's ,-ightwusness is not lost in redemption. He loses none of the glory of his holiness by saving sinners. Christ came to "magnify the Law and make it honourable" (Isa. xliL 21). Righteousness is honoured (1) in the Person of Christ, our great Repre- sentative, who offered his pure and spotless soul as a perfect sacrifice to God; (2) in the deliverance of man from sin. Righteousness itself desires an end of sin more than the mere punishment, which is but a means towards that end. Thus the glory of God's holiness is most matlifest when lie red~ems map fropi sln and lea~ hjpi iQtO " new, holy life, ou. xtm. 1-27.J TltE BOOK OF THE PROPHET tZEKIEL. 373