To God be the Glory, great things He has done.

mcmtffr.org wishes to acknowledge and thank Derek Konofalski and Rocket Media for making this page:
Mobile Friendly

 

Genesis Framework
GF 09 Ezekiel 10.4
Aug 23, 2015
Part Nine

Scripture

Ezekiel 10:4

NKJ Ezekiel 10:4
Then the glory of the LORD went up from the cherub, and paused over the threshold of the temple; and the house was filled with the cloud, and the court was full of the brightness of the LORD's glory.

I realize that we are not quite ready to get into how the subject of how “man is made in the image of God.” Since we are sailing in seas often avoided by most exegetes, we must be careful to “chart” our progress as we go, keeping in mind at all times where we are relative to where we’ve been, in order get where the Lord is taking us. We certainly don’t want anyone to get lost in a fog of indiscernible facts and ideas to which he cannot appropriately relate, so I will attempt to "systemize” our study. We’ll be breaking down our exploratory mission into a series of question-driven groups.

Today, the question we will begin to answer is this:

(Q) How variously identified( conceptualized) is the Glory-Spirit in the Scriptures?

Let’s make sure where we’ve been.

When Genesis 1.1 says that “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth,” the statement is indicative of two major realms; the heavens and the earth.

The heavens include all of the invisible cosmos created by God, the place wherein God dwells, along with all the hosts of heaven and every spirit-being created by God.

Nothing of this realm is visible to the natural eye of man unless God chooses either to open the spirit eyes that one might “see” it, or that it is made manifest; that is, made to appear in such a form as to “become” visible to the natural eye.

In order to make this general distinction clear in our conversation, we are using two separate terms, the term “upper-register” to refer to the invisible spirit world, and the term “lower register” to designate all the rest of the greater cosmos, including the vast expanse of the entire God-created physical universe.

This distinction using the criterion of visible-invisible is certainly not the best that we could use, but it is comprehensive enough to serve as a working model for reference.

For example, we know of many physical phenomena which, while not visible, yet are nevertheless not “spirit” in existence, such as electromagnetic waves, and other invisible forces, such as gravity, magnetic force, sound waves, etc.

One very important idea that we must continue to keep straight is this: whenever Scripture refers to the term “heaven” or “heavens,” we must be careful to discern the context of its use in order to understand to which realm it refers.

This should not be a problem for you, if you understand that Genesis 1.1 was the same as saying, “In the beginning God created the heavens( the upper-register) and the earth( the lower register),” and that the canopy of which we behold when we gaze upward into the night sky, is also called the heavens, and that the rest of the universe and the earth was formed out of the same stuff God created which is called “earth” in this verse.

“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.”

As the Genesis 1 account continues, the visible heavens emerge as a derivative of what is called “the earth” in verses 1 and 2. In the biblical record conditions are described in the visible world calling for divine action: the “earth” was in a state of unbounded deep-and-darkness.

Genesis 1:2
The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep.

This is what was visible at that point…

Then the presence of the Creator who would make light shine in the darkness and set bounds to the waters is affirmed in the remarkable statement-- “The Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters”

We have learned that the “hovering” was not a static, motionless position assumed by the Glory-presence, the word hover itself denotes activity, and the Scriptures bear out the fact that whenever the Glory-Spirit is present, there is much divine activity taking place there. In order to affirm that idea we look in the Pentateuch at the only other place in the Scriptures where Moses uses this verb “hovering.”

This is what we find…

Moses uses this verb in Deuteronomy 32:11 to indicate the divine activity in leading Israel through “the howling wilderness” on the way to Canaan; and he likens it; that is. He conceptualizes the Glory-Presence over that which God creates to that of an eagle hovering over to protect its young, spreading out its wings to support them, and to guide them on to maturity, toward their appropriate end; in this case, to the land of Promise.

In Exodus 19.4 God describes His own divine activity in similar terms as bearing () Israel on eagles’ wings.

I will remind us of the current question we are looking to answer:

(Q) How variously identified( conceptualized) is the Glory-Spirit in the Scriptures?

So what conceptualization of His Glory-Presence do we find God leading His people at the time of the exodus? It was in the pillar of cloud and fire that went before them in the way and afforded them overshadowing protection. Notice the visual separation of light/darkness contrast of the activity of the Glory-Presence. The Glory-cloud manifested itself visually in such a way as to accommodate for day/night conditions; by appearing as a dark column of smoke by day and as a bright shaft of
fire by night. The action of the Glory-cloud described by the conceptualization of outspread wings was natural beyond the idea of the overshadowing function it performed. Both sight and sound enter into the conceptual description of this theophanic cloud. When the eyes of God’s prophets are on occasion enabled by Him to see into the spirit realm and penetrate the thick darkness, the cloud is seen to be alive with winged creatures with cherubim and seraphim. Along with the sight is added the sound of its coming, in the prophetic description, the sound of their wings.

NKJ Ezekiel 1:24
When they went, I heard the noise of their wings, like the noise of many waters, like the voice of the Almighty, a tumult like the noise of an army; and when they stood still, they let down their wings.

Here again, the divine functions of the Glory-cloud is not static, but dynamically active, and noisy when on the move. The characteristic of high actively as the Glory-cloud functions is affirmed as well by the fact that the “hovering” meaning of the Hebrew verb is always in the force of the piel; namely, intensive active form.

NKJ Ezekiel 10:4
Then the glory of the LORD went up from the cherub, and paused over the threshold of the temple; and the house was filled with the cloud, and the court was full of the brightness of the LORD's glory.

NKJ Ezekiel 10:5
And the sound of the wings of the cherubim was heard even in the outer court, like the voice of Almighty God when He speaks.

So what is the connection between the Glory-cloud experienced by Israel and Ezekiel and the Glory-Spirit present at beginning, hovering over creation in Genesis 1.2b?

It is the same Glory-Spirit variously identified( conceptualized) as the Glory-Spirit to describe the Spirit hovering at creation

By Moses’ use of the word tohu to describe the wilderness, the same word he used in Genesis 1.2a to describe the state of the earth over which the Spirit hovered at creation, Moses is instituting a comparison between God’s presence as Israel’s active divine shield in the wilderness and God’s divine activity over creation in the beginning. The discovery of a pattern between the two events is unavoidable.

Within the broad parallelism that emerges we find that at the exodus there is a reenactment of creation history: the divine pillar of cloud and fire was present; like the Spirit of God at the beginning, to bring light into the darkness, to divide the waters and make dry land appear in the midst of the deep, and to lead on to the Sabbath in the holy paradise land. From this we can draw this obvious implication: n a broad sense, the simple statement of Genesis 1.1 is interpreted by the entire rest of scripture history, and the events of the entire Scriptural history already and not yet lived out, all emerge from within the paradigm seed-form of Genesis 1 as a framework, and its outgrowth will find its consummation and end( telos) at the final
revelation( the apocalypse) of Christ.

We will continue seeking to answer the question more specifically:

How variously identified( conceptualized) is the Glory-Spirit in the Scriptures?

As an eagle hovering

As the Spirit of God hovering

As eagles’ wings carrying to transport

As a smoke-cloud pillar bearing darkness to protect

As a fire-cloud pillar bearing light to lead

As a mighty east-wind separating waters of the deep and making dry land appear

 

Many will be surprised on the Day of Judgment when they discover that it was just as the Word of God says; only the righteousness of Christ is able to save you.All men are sinners and no one can save himself. God is just, so He must punish sin; but He is also merciful, moreover gracious, and offers His Son as the perfect sacrifice in order to purchase a place for you in heaven, which He offers to you as the free gift of eternal life.

Jesus is God Incarnate

In order to pay the debt of our sins, He came from Heaven, having been sent by the Father, where He lived a life of perfect obedience to the Father even unto the shameful death upon the cross in order to pay the debt of your sins.This gift must be received by faith, believing that Jesus’ perfect life and Cross Work was His complete and necessary Atonement for your sins, in your behalf.Faith is a gift that comes by the Power of God the Holy Spirit working in a person’s innermost being. The Holy Spirit has the authority and power to quicken your dead spirit, to make it come to life. If you have not done so before this moment, ask Jesus to forgive you your sins, tell Him you’ve stop trying to be your own savior, and ask Him to come into your life right now, and to give you eternal life. Then, in faith believing, thank Him for the gift that He is giving you, the one He paid for in full in your place, in Jesus’ name,AMEN

Bibliography

Agnes, Michael and Charlton Laird (eds.). Webster’s New World Dictionary and Thesaurus. New York, NY: Macmillan, 1996.
Aland, Kurt, Matthew Black, Carlo M. Martini, Bruce M. Metzger, and Allen Wikgren (eds.). The Greek New Testament, 4th rev. ed. Germany: Biblica-Druck, 1994.
Benner, Jeff A. The Ancient Hebrew Lexicon of the Bible. College Station, Texas: Virtualbookworm.com Publishing Inc., 2005
Bullinger, E. W. Figures of Speech Used in the Bible; Explained an Illustrated. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Book House, 2007.
Chapman, Benjamin. Greek New Testament Insert. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Book House, 1977.
Dana, H. E., and Julius R. Mantey. A Manual of the New Testament. Canada: The Macmillan Company, 1957.
Louw, Johannes P. and Eugene A. Nida. Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament Based on Semantic Domains. New York, NY: United Bible Societies, 1989.
The ESV Study Bible. Wheaton, Illinois: Crossway, 2011.
Metzger, Bruce M. Lexical Aids for Students of New Testament Greek. Princeton, New Jersey, 1977.
Wikipedia contributors. "Xenophon." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 15 Aug. 2014. Web. 19 Aug. 2014.
Wuest, Kenneth S. The New Testament; An Expanded Translation. Grand Rapids, Michigan, 1992.
Wuest, Kenneth S. (Revised, Donald L. Wise). The Practical Use of the Greek New Testament, rev. ed. Chicago, Il: Moody Press, 1982.
Walsh, J. Martyn and Anna Kathleen Walsh. Plain English Handbook: A Complete Guide to Good English, 7th rev. ed. Cincinnati, Ohio: McCormick-Mathers PublishingCompany,1977.

Copyright August, 2015
Rev. Jim Craig
All Rights Reserved