The Glory and Spirit of the Lord

1 Peter 4:14 (NET) —  If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory, who is the Spirit of God, rests on you.

This newsletter series has now begun to explore the Holy Spirit’s presence in the Christian Congregation, as well as how He works in and through the Congregation. Specifically, we began to look at how He uses the Means of Grace to save lost sinners and impart them with the gifts of forgiveness, holiness, everlasting life and the indwelling Holy Spirit. Last month’s article covered a lot of ground, but even so, still left many questions which could be explored further. In coming months we will return to some of those questions. They are important because they give us practical, “real world” guidance about how the Holy Spirit works in our lives and how we obey Him and allow Him to work through us. 

First though, we need to clarify a singular point that will help us connect the Old Testament to the New, and therefore help us to understand the Holy Spirit’s work in both. Eventually, we will begin to explore the similarities and differences between the Means of Grace in the Old Testament and in the New. Before we do that, though, we need to familiarize ourselves with one of the names the Old Testament applies to the Holy Spirit. 

The Glory of The Lord

Leviticus 9:23–24 (ESV) —  And Moses and Aaron went into the tent of meeting, and when they came out they blessed the people, and the glory of the Lord appeared to all the people.  And fire came out from before the Lord and consumed the burnt offering and the pieces of fat on the altar, and when all the people saw it, they shouted and fell on their faces.

There are an abundance of places in the Old Testament where the phrase “Glory of the Lord” is used. Many times when the phrase is used it’s hard to tell if a phenomenon or a person is being described. Possibly, because of this potential obscurity, this makes us reluctant to quickly identify “The Glory of the Lord” with the Holy Spirit. 

We should, however, not be the slightest bit bashful about seeing the Holy Spirit present and at work whenever “The Glory of the Lord” is spoken of. This also will help us understand the work and presence of the Holy Spirit in the congregation of the faithful in the Old Testament. 

When I search for the Hebrew phrase “Glory of the Lord” (כְבֹוד־יְהוָ֖ה, or “Kavowd-Yahweh” for you Hebrew nerds) my software comes up with 37 references. They are spread somewhat evenly throughout the 5 books of Moses, Isaiah, Ezekiel, Habakkuk, the Psalms and the historical books. So, a major theme of the entire Old Testament, from one end to the other, is God blessing His people by placing the Glory of the Lord among them, and the people’s desire to receive His presence again after it’s lost (Ezekiel 11:23). 

The Relationship Between the Glory and The Spirit

Simply put: Where the Glory of the Lord is, so there also is the Holy Spirit. They are inseparably united, but they are not strictly synonymous. I need to be careful to tack that “they are not synonymous” part on there, because good Trinitarian theology demands it. However, they are so closely associated, that after this month we are going to treat them as synonymous. 

I think to clarify my point here, I’m going to show the two parts separately. 

The Spirit is With The Glory

Our opening Bible verse is probably sufficient proof to say that the Glory and Spirit of the Lord are inseparably united. Peter, writing to those who were persecuted and therefore desperately needed to know that the Holy Spirit was with them, says that The Spirit is resting upon them. Peter’s description of the Holy Spirit is a fascinating one though. He calls Him “The Spirit of Glory and of God” (ESV). If we get really stingy about details, this can be a slightly tricky verse to bring into English. The Greek word that ESV translated “and” can also sometimes be translated “even”, so it’s possible in English to also say what Peter meant as, “The Spirit of Glory: Even of God.” It’s not that He’s two Spirits, He’s one Spirit, known both as the Spirit of God and the Spirit of Glory. Peter puts them together in such a way that we can even say The Spirit of the Glory of God. It’s very nuanced, but it’s a clear nod to the Old Testament references of “The Glory of the Lord”. 

It's very nuanced grammar, but buried in the nuance is Peter’s underlying assumption that the Holy Spirit is also the Spirit of the Glory of God. There’s an implicit assumption that the same “Glory of God” that did so many incredible things for the Old Testament saints (see Exodus 16:9-20, Leviticus 9:22-24, Number 20:6-13, and many others) is also near and with the New Testament saints (that’s us!). When we dig into the OT references to His Glory, we find that they are often having to do with the Temple, Tent of Meeting or the Lord making His presence powerfully known. In fact, in one text The Lord literally says that the Glory will “make the people holy” and “dwell with them”. 

Exodus 29:43–46 (ESV) —  There I will meet with the people of Israel, and it shall be sanctified by my glory.  I will consecrate the tent of meeting and the altar. Aaron also and his sons I will consecrate to serve me as priests.  I will dwell among the people of Israel and will be their God.  And they shall know that I am the Lord their God, who brought them out of the land of Egypt that I might dwell among them. I am the Lord their God. 

The themes of presence and sanctification are obvious themes that we see attached to the Holy Spirit in the New Testament. They are explicitly spoken of in the Old Testament as well. In fact, Isaiah speaks of the presence of the Spirit and the Glory of the Lord in the same place. 

Isaiah 63:11–12 (ESV) —  Then he remembered the days of old, of Moses and his people. Where is he who brought them up out of the sea with the shepherds of his flock? Where is he who put in the midst of them his Holy Spirit,  who caused his glorious arm to go at the right hand of Moses, who divided the waters before them to make for himself an everlasting name,

As I’ve said, there are other references to the Glory of The Lord that tie that name to the 3rd Person of the Trinity: The Holy Spirit. I think, however, this is sufficient evidence to make the point. “The Glory of the Lord” is very closely associated with the Holy Spirit. 

The Word/Jesus is Also With The Glory

The New Testament also closely associates the 2nd person of the Trinity with the Glory of the Lord. The 2nd person of the Trinity, whom John calls the Word of God but we most commonly call Jesus Christ the Son of God, is spoken of in two New Testament passages as also doing the things that Isaiah 63:11-12 credits to the Holy Spirit and His “Glorious Arm.” 

1 Corinthians 10:1–5 (ESV) —  For I do not want you to be unaware, brothers, that our fathers were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea,  and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea,  and all ate the same spiritual food,  and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank from the spiritual Rock that followed them, and the Rock was Christ.  Nevertheless, with most of them God was not pleased, for they were overthrown in the wilderness.

In this verse, Paul doesn’t go so far as to say that Jesus is the Glory of the Lord, but he does credit Christ with giving them spiritual water and being their spiritual Rock. It’s not an explicit link to the Glory of the Lord, but definitely an implicit one. 

Jude also links Christ to the activity of the Glory of The Lord. 

Jude 5 (ESV) —  Now I want to remind you, although you once fully knew it, that Jesus, who saved a people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed those who did not believe.

Again, this isn’t an explicit link, but the implicit connection is there. The Word of God was always there whenever the Glory of the Lord was present. 

The Glory of The Lord is Nearly Synonymous with The Holy Spirit

My point in all of this is that we should think of the term “The Glory of The Lord” as practically synonymous with the name “The Holy Spirit.” We acknowledge that “The Glory of The Lord” is really a description of when the Word and Spirit of God show up and make themselves known, so it’s really a title that applies to both the Son of God and His Holy Spirit. So we further acknowledge the caveat that “The Glory of The Lord’ is not the Holy Spirit working independently or singularly from the Word of God. But, we should also see that in the Old Testament, every time we get a chance to see “The Glory of the Lord”, we are watching and observing the story of the Holy Spirit. 

The name “The Holy Spirit” may not be precisely synonymous with the name “The Glory of the Lord”, but they are practically synonymous for our study of the Holy Spirit and how He was present in the lives of the Old Testament saints. Peter acknowledged the same thing in 1 Peter 4:14. So in coming months, as we expand our study of the Holy Spirit’s work, we will treat the term “The Glory of the Lord” as another name for the Holy Spirit of God.