sound of a soft breath

Listen to 1 Kings Chapter 8 & 9 or read "Glory"

Then King Solomon sent for the elders of Israel. He told them to come to him in Jerusalem. ... Solomon wanted them to bring up the ark of the Lord's covenant from Zion. Zion was the City of David. ... All of the elders of Israel arrived. Then the priests picked up the ark and carried it. They brought up the ark of the Lord. They also brought up the Tent of Meeting and all of the sacred articles that were in the tent. ...The entire community of Israel had gathered around King Solomon. ...The priests brought the ark of the Lord's covenant to its place in the Most Holy Room of the temple. ...There wasn't anything in the ark except the two stone tablets. Moses had placed them in it at Mount Horeb. ...The priests left the Holy Room. Then the cloud filled the temple of the Lord. The priests couldn't do their work because of it. That's because the glory of the Lord filled his temple. (New International Reader's Version)

In 2 Chronicles 7 this is recorded about the same event.

... The glory of the Lord filled the temple. The priests couldn't enter the temple of the Lord. His glory filled it. (New International Reader's Version)

What a scene this must of been. What is the Glory of the Lord? What did it look like? What did it feel like? We saw "the glory of the Lord" back in Exodus when the Israelites were in the desert and when Moses went up the mountain to get the 10 commandments. It is described as a cloud and a consuming fire. The account of Moses and the Glory of the Lord in Exodus Chapter 33 gives us a little more of an idea. Here are some other verses on "the Glory of the Lord."


The Glory of God is the full expression of God. It is an expression of all of his goodness. In this case it is the expression physically on Earth at a specific moment in time at a specific place. For humans I think it is overwhelming. When his glory filled the temple the priest couldn't go into the temple or do anything. I don't think we can even express what it is within the limits of the human language. Not even with Hollywood's high tech special effects. John MacArthur Jr. attempts to use words to describe God's Glory and writes "it is any manifestation of God's character, any manifestation of His attributes in the world, in the universe ... In other words, the glory is to God what the brightness is to the sun. The glory is to God what wet is to water. The glory is what heat is to fire. In other words, it is the emanation, it is the effulgence, it is the brightness, it is the product of His presence, it is the revelation of Himself. Anytime God discloses Himself, it is the manifestation of His glory."

What would the glory of God look like as person?