In Isaiah 6, the prophet reveals the experience he had in the presence of God. What we see in his encounter is a revelation of God’s majesty, God’s holiness, and God’s splendor.
“In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord, high and exalted, seated on a throne; and the train of his robe filled the temple. Above him were seraphim, each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying. And they were calling to one another: ‘Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory.’ At the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook and the temple was filled with smoke. ‘Woe to me!’ I cried. ‘I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty’” (Isaiah 6:1-5).
Isaiah literally experienced all three aspects of God’s glory. If you asked him what the glory of God is, I am sure he would point back to this experience.
In the book of Acts we read the story of Saul’s conversion and another example of God’s glory:
“As he neared Damascus on his journey, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, ‘Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?’ ‘Who are you, Lord?’ Saul asked. ‘I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,’ he replied. ‘Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do’” (Acts 9:3-6).
These are both examples of the splendor of God, but also examples of God manifesting his presence. In both cases God used the revealing of his glory to bring some form of revelation to these men. What I find interesting is the responses of both men; they were humbled. One of the things to understand about the manifest presence of God is that when it shows up, all your pride, ego and bravado simply goes out the window. His glory is just too great.
I remember a time when I was praying at home with my mom and sister. As we were praying the presence of God showed up in a very real, tangible way. His presence was so strong that I literally could not stand up – all I could do was kneel. Even if I wanted to, I had no strength to stand up.
It gave me greater understanding when Paul said in Philippians, “every knee will bow.” By the way I would not say this is the normal everyday experience but it was a small glimpse of the awesome nature of God’s presence and God’s glory. When God’s presence or glory shows up in this manner, the reaction will be like Isaiah and Saul. You will see how wonderful, majestic, and holy God is and how sinful and unworthy you are. There will be no room for boasting of any kind.
Photo credit: Pexels/Joy Marino