July 1 Manifest Glory

July 1

Manifest Glory

Ezekiel 28:20-23 The word of the Lord came to me: 21 "Son of man, set your face toward Sidon, and prophesy against her 22 and say, Thus says the Lord God: "Behold, I am against you, O Sidon, and I will manifest my glory in your midst. And they shall know that I am the Lord  when I execute judgments in her and manifest my holiness in her; 23 for I will send pestilence into her, and blood into her streets; and the slain shall fall in her midst, by the sword that is against her on every side. Then they will know that I am the Lord."

GOD has finished with his words of judgment and his sorrow regarding Tyre. Now he points Ezekiel to Sidon. Sidon is 20 miles north of Tyre. The city was a stronghold of Israel's great enemy, the Philistines. The people of Sidon ruled over their neighbors at different times in history and were a great challenge to the Jews who lived in the northern part of the Promised Land where the tribes of Zebulun and Naphtali lived.

    Through Ezekiel, God says to Sidon, "I will manifest my glory...manifest my holiness in her." In simple terms, you begin to manifest yourself - show yourself - to others when you speak to them and tell them your name. If you then desire to manifest more of yourself, you tell them your opinions and you speak of your likes and dislikes. In other words, you reveal yourself to others in different ways. Sometimes you hold back. Other times you give more of yourself to others as you allow people to know you on different levels of intimacy.

    God's glory is the visible demonstration of his power to judge and to save. He is about to become more intimate with the Sidonians. He will show his glory to Sidon in judgment. This judgment will also manifest his holiness. The Sidonians will come to personally know as Tyre would, as Babylon would, as Israel would and as all the nations of the world will know one day, that God reveals himself very personally in judgment and salvation to all. He is Lord of Heaven and earth.

    Now see God's gory in this lesson. God proclaimed and did these things about 580 BC. But this was not the end of his glorious manifestation to Tyre, Sidon and others. Look here at Matthew 4:15-17 "The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles—16  the people dwelling in darkness have seen a great light, and for those dwelling in the region and shadow of death, on them a light has dawned." 17  From that time Jesus began to preach, saying,  "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." 

    And note this from Mark 3:7-8 Jesus withdrew with his disciples to the sea, and a great crowd followed, from Galilee and Judea 8 and Jerusalem and Idumea and from beyond the Jordan and from around Tyre and Sidon. When the great crowd heard all that he was doing, they came to him. 

    And there is more evidence in the New Testament of how God manifested his glory and his holiness to Tyre and Sidon. (See Matthew 11:21 for example.) He certainly manifested his glory to the people of Zebulun and Naphtali. In these areas, Jesus performed nearly all of his miracles. And 11 of his 12 disciples came from this region. In this region, too, was Jesus' great Transfiguration. The Lord God was very intimate with his people here.

    I pray that when you see God so intricately manifest himself through Scripture, to declare in the Old Testament and to manifest in the New Testament, you will know more intimately of God's glory - his power to judge and to save. Be prepared for the Day of God's Glory to come fully to earth.

Prayer: Manifest your glory and your holiness through me today, Lord God. Amen.