THE RESTING PLACE OF THE GLORY
[p. 39] THE RESTING PLACE OF THE GLORY
1 Samuel 4: 19 - 22; 1 Samuel 5: 1 - 6; Psalm 78: 59 - 69;
Revelation 21: 10,11 I desire To say a word to you in regard to the present and eternal resting place, or location, of the divine glory. I assume that every believer would be interested in the glory of God. It is that which is most attractive as the end of all His ways. We are told that the God of glory appeared to Abraham, and I take it that Abraham’s faith would connect itself with the glory of Him that appeared to him, and as Abraham is the father of all them that believe, all believers would, normally, be interested in the divine glory. Therefore, as interested in the glory, we would naturally be concerned as to the location of it.
I think we can see a true child of Abraham in the wife of Phinehas; there was in her an appreciation of the glory. She was the wife of a priest who, though a custodian of the ark of the covenant, had little or no concern as to it; but in her we can discern the faith that appreciates the divine glory, and she felt its departure. It had departed, and she missed it. We might all inquire as to whether we have missed the glory.
I would endeavour to explain what I mean by the glory departing. The thing to see is that the glory of God was connected with the world-system that then was: it was primarily connected with the responsibility of man. Joseph was the leading tribe; the birthright was his. The glory was set up in connection with Joseph; that is, in the tent in Shiloh, which God placed among men. The Lord Jesus Christ is the strength and glory of God. He is the true Ark of the covenant who voluntarily came among men. He came here in connection with the [p. 40] world-system which then existed, and of which Israel was the centre. But it is not so now; you can find nothing of God in connection with the world at the present time. For that you have to revert to the time when the glory was in the tent which God placed among men. I do not know of anything more affecting than the position of Christ here among men. The Lord Jesus Christ was a Man here, and thus among men was the strength and glory of God; therefore the glory was connected with this world, not morally but outwardly, and in testimony. But you could not find a trace of it today anywhere in the world.
One would scarcely desire to leave an order of things where the divine glory was. If I had been here when the Lord Jesus was here I should not have cared to leave. There was nothing in common between Christ and the world-system; but nevertheless He was here, and the glory of God was never more among men than when Christ was here, but it was in connection with an order of things uncongenial to it.
I do not know whether that is clear to you, but if it is, it will enable you to discover the change, now that the glory has departed. I could understand souls having hopes in regard to a world in connection with which the glory of God was; that would be perfectly right, but it has departed. It is not that there is not glory in connection with this world; it were folly to deny this, and all men are set for it, but it is human glory. The Spirit of God speaks of the glory of this world. Satan took the Lord up into a high mountain, and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. The Spirit of God records for us that the kingdoms of the world and their glory were made to pass before the Son of God. But it was not God’s glory, but glory built up by the genius and energy of men in connection with men. You could [p. 41] not have a kingdom without men. It began with Nimrod. There is glory in connection with this world, and all men of every class have ever been bent upon advancement in the world; but its glory is the glory of man. The enemy would bring this world’s glory to your attention, but it has to come under the judgment of God. Do you know why the enemy brings forward the glory of the world? It is in order to enthrone himself in the minds and affections of men as their god. His power is subservient to his desire to become the god of this world. He says, “All this power will I give thee ... If thou therefore wilt worship me, all shall be thine”. Luke 4:6,7. That is the condition. I do not say that he offers so much to all, but he offers something to each. His political power is subservient to his ambition to become god; he wishes to be god. It is very solemn, because any recognition in you of the glory of this world is a recognition of the authority of its prince.
Satan was not always prince of this world, nor god either. He has become both. He became god in virtue of having become prince. He was not prince, for instance, when David ruled. When David ruled he was the prince of this world; and so with Solomon. While their kingdoms lasted the God of Israel was supreme. God was owned and worshipped at Jerusalem, and this, too, even by the nations. The kingdom establishes God’s authority in men, and this makes room for Him in our hearts, so that He is worshipped as the one true God. But when the Lord came to this world what came to light was that its throne was in Satan’s hands. Against Christ were gathered together Herod, Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles and the people of Israel. Satan had marshalled them all against the Anointed of God. The Lord called him the “prince of this world”. He says, “The prince of this world cometh and hath nothing in me”. John 14:30. Later, he is called “the god of this world”. 2 Corinthians 4:4. As prince of this world Satan crucified Him who was the true God, and so enthroned himself as god. The Lord said that Satan had nothing in Him, and we need to watch that he has nothing in us. “He that is begotten of God keepeth himself, and that wicked one toucheth him not”. 1 John 5:18. Among true Christians Christ is owned as the true God, while all outside lies in the wicked one. Satan is god there, hence the exhortation to the children to keep themselves from idols. But when Satan was seen as prince of this world, the glory of God departed from it. The world has refused Christ, but He has also refused it. He could not remain identified with an order of things which had proved itself to be under the domination of the enemy. The Lord’s withdrawal was judicial: the world should see Him no more: He had left it for ever. The favour of His presence would not again be accorded to it. But this was not all. His departure meant the judgment of the world and the casting out of its prince.
I turn now to 1 Samuel 5 to enlarge on this a little. The ark of the covenant fell into the enemy’s hand, and was unprotected. There was no priestly hand there to protect it. It speaks to us of Christ. All forsook Him and fled. He was the Ark alone in the enemy’s hand. Does it not touch your heart to think that the Ark of the covenant came voluntarily among men? The divine glory was here; there was no reproof from it, no demand; it shone resplendent among men. But there was no response to it, no appreciation of it, and at the end God “delivered his strength into captivity, and his glory into the enemy’s hand”. Psalm 78:61. Is it not affecting to see that blessed One delivered into the hands of His enemies? Those who should have been the protectors of the ark (the priests) were in hostility to Christ. You will remember how the ark was to be carefully covered by the priests, and delivered into the hands of the Kohathites [p. 43] to carry, but there was no one to put forth a hand to care for Christ.
Now I want you to dwell upon the mode of its departure. It was not such as is seen in Ezekiel, that is, the glory ascending from the house. The Lord might have ascended to heaven from the mount of transfiguration: the glory would have been departing thus; but the mode of His departure was quite different from that. From the mount the Lord went to Jerusalem to die; He would go out by the cross; by Gethsemane, Pilate’s judgment hall and Golgotha. But while all this involved humiliation and outward defeat, the Lord in His exit from this world accomplished the overthrow of the god of it. Dagon is a figure of the god of this world, and he was the first to fall after the ark fell into the Philistines’ hands, and the Philistines also came under the judgment of God. The captivity of the ark meant the destruction of God’s enemies. The Lord went down; suffered death, but He arose triumphant. There was no priestly hand there, but the Father was there. Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father. That indicates the expression of the Father’s affections. There was no one else interested there. “The Lord awaked as one out of sleep, and like a mighty man that shouteth by reason of wine. And he smote his enemies in the hinder parts: he put them to a perpetual reproach”. Psalm 78:65. What an intervention, beloved friends, on the part of God! What does resurrection involve? The destruction, morally, of the god of this world, and the judgment of this world itself. “Now is the judgment of this world now shall the prince of this world be cast out. And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all unto me”. John 12:31,32. Who is left? The prince is gone, and the world is gone, but the Ark is left. The glory of God in the face of Jesus remains, and He becomes the central gathering point for all. Is not that victory? That is the victory of the Son of God.
[p. 44] I have endeavoured to dwell upon the departure of the Ark, and what it accomplished in departing; but now I would seek to show where the glory is established. The passage I read in Psalm 78 helps us here. I think the first point is to see that God will never again set up His glory in connection with the present order of things, in connection with man in the flesh. “He refused the tabernacle of Joseph”. Psalm 78:67. Joseph here represents Israel in responsibility: the tabernacle was in connection with this tribe, which now is refused. “But chose the tribe of Judah, the mount Zion which he loved”. Psalm 78:68. I desire to make clear that the glory is henceforth connected with an order of things which is entirely after God. Its resting place eternally is in that which is the fruit of sovereign counsel and mercy. God will never commit His glory again to the responsibility of man. It is no longer a question of birthright; it is a question of sovereign counsel. He “chose the tribe of Judah, the mount Zion which he loved”. Psalm 78:68. There the glory is established for ever. The choice of Judah and Zion speaks of sovereign counsel and love. But Judah and Zion are not all; there must be a building. God will prepare a place for the glory. “He built his sanctuary like high palaces, like the earth which he hath established for ever”. Psalm 78:69. Is not stability there? That verse indicates the greatness and stability of the structure. Of old the sanctuary was the resting place of the ark. “Arise, O Lord, into thy rest: thou, and the ark of thy strength”. 2 Chronicles 6:41. In Psalm 78 God secured a permanent resting place and suitable abode for His own glory. Hence He built His sanctuary like high palaces; but that is not all: “Like the earth which he hath established for ever”, Psalm 78:69. That is to be the receptacle for the divine glory. It is well to see how entirely different the new location is from the old. The old was “the tent which he placed among men” (Psalm 78:60) but the glory left it. The new is based upon divine [p. 45] counsel, divine mercy, and is a divine structure. That is the present location of the divine glory. Now in Revelation 21 it is easy to see the connection. In Acts 7:48 we read, “The most High dwelleth not in temples made with hands”. A temple of stone and mortar is no receptacle for the glory of God. The glory of God, it is true, filled the tabernacle and the temple, but these were but figures of the true dwelling-place. They were “made with hands”, and so could not contain the glory of God. God is love, and wherein could His glory rest save in affection formed by the Spirit? This is to be found in the assembly, which, as the passage I read in Revelation shows, is the true abode of God’s glory. “Having the glory of God”, She has it. The glory was not partially there: it dwells there. The wall of the city has twelve foundations. Did you ever see a city with twelve foundations? There is stability in this wonderful structure. Revelation speaks not only of the heavenly city, but of the world in which it is to shine. “The kingdom of the world of our Lord and of his Christ” Revelation 11:15. Our Lord will have a world: He is going to have a world of His own. Is that scene in which His glory is to be reflected in this marvellous structure in your heart? Phinehas’ wife felt that the glory had departed, and she died. If she had lived she would have seen it reinstated by David. We can see the glory reinstated, but it is in connection with another kingdom and another world. The effect on the believer of seeing this is very great. What would have been the effect on this woman had she lived to see the ark established in Zion?
I would just add a word as to the present moment. In the future the glory will be in the assembly, but it is to be there morally now. I would refer to Ephesians 3. The apostle’s prayer was that the saints should be strengthened with power by the Father’s Spirit in the inner man, that Christ should [p. 46] dwell in their hearts by faith. The saints are formed inwardly by the Father’s Spirit, and hence Christ has a dwelling place in their affections. Thus, although cast out by the world, the Lord has a resting place in the assembly. The Father loves the Son; He raised Him from among the dead, and not only so, but He has formed for Christ here on earth, where He suffered and died, an abode in the affections of His people.
Well, it is the Lord’s thought that we should be intelligent as to this great subject, and one’s prayer is that He may help us in regard to it.
Pages 47 to 128 “Notes of Readings and Addresses, Toronto”, 1908 (Volume 6).