glory

John 17:1 These words spake Jesus, and lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, Father, the hour is come; glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee:

4 I have glorified thee on the earth: I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do.

5 And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was.

10 And all mine are thine, and thine are mine; and I am glorified in them.

22 And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one:

24 Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am; that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me: for thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world.

(John 17 was prayed by Jesus to the Father, moments before he entered the garden of Gethsemane.

This has often been referred to as his high priestly prayer, where he begins by asking that both he and the Father glorify each other.

Then in line 5, this glorifying is shown to be intimately related to the glory of the Father, himself.

And it is further shown, that it is the same glory that the Son had with the Father, before the creation.

How the glory of the LORD has been understood, has been by the way the LORD has revealed aspects of his glory, at various times.

Israel first understood that the LORD is glorious, by the wonders he did in Egypt, and upon Pharaoh's army:)

Exodus 15:1 Then sang Moses and the children of Israel this song unto the LORD, and spake, saying, I will sing unto the LORD, for he hath triumphed gloriously: the horse and his rider hath he thrown into the sea.

6 Thy right hand, O LORD, is become glorious in power: thy right hand, O LORD, hath dashed in pieces the enemy.

11 Who is like unto thee, O LORD, among the gods? who is like thee, glorious in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders?

(But, shortly after that, Israel began to understand how glorious the LORD is, by how he showed his glory, veiled in the cloud:)

Exodus 19:9 And the LORD said unto Moses, Lo, I come unto thee in a thick cloud, that the people may hear when I speak with thee, and believe thee for ever. And Moses told the words of the people unto the LORD.

16 And it came to pass on the third day in the morning, that there were thunders and lightnings, and a thick cloud upon the mount, and the voice of the trumpet exceeding loud; so that all the people that was in the camp trembled.

18 And mount Sinai was altogether on a smoke, because the LORD descended upon it in fire: and the smoke thereof ascended as the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mount quaked greatly.

19 And when the voice of the trumpet sounded long, and waxed louder and louder, Moses spake, and God answered him by a voice.

Exodus 24:16 And the glory of the LORD abode upon mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it six days: and the seventh day he called unto Moses out of the midst of the cloud.

17 And the sight of the glory of the LORD was like devouring fire on the top of the mount in the eyes of the children of Israel.

(The LORD then revealed that his glory is not only known by what is seen, but also by his presence, and certainly by what is heard.)

Exodus 33:14 And he said, My presence shall go with thee, and I will give thee rest.

18 And he said, I beseech thee, shew me thy glory.

19 And he said, I will make all my goodness pass before thee, and I will proclaim the name of the LORD before thee; and will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will shew mercy on whom I will shew mercy.

20 And he said, Thou canst not see my face: for there shall no man see me, and live.

22 And it shall come to pass, while my glory passeth by, that I will put thee in a clift of the rock, and will cover thee with my hand while I pass by:

23 And I will take away mine hand, and thou shalt see my back parts: but my face shall not be seen.

(It would seem that the glory of the LORD is intimately related to his name.

So, the glory of the LORD is known by his splendor that is seen, by his presence, and by his name.)

(The splendor of the LORD was dramatically shown to the prophet Ezekiel, while his people were in captivity in Babylon:)

Ezekiel 1:4 And I looked, and, behold, a whirlwind came out of the north, a great cloud, and a fire infolding itself, and a brightness was about it, and out of the midst thereof as the colour of amber, out of the midst of the fire.

5 Also out of the midst thereof came the likeness of four living creatures. And this was their appearance; they had the likeness of a man.

22 And the likeness of the firmament upon the heads of the living creature was as the colour of the terrible crystal, stretched forth over their heads above.

26 And above the firmament that was over their heads was the likeness of a throne, as the appearance of a sapphire stone: and upon the likeness of the throne was the likeness as the appearance of a man above upon it.

27 And I saw as the colour of amber, as the appearance of fire round about within it, from the appearance of his loins even upward, and from the appearance of his loins even downward, I saw as it were the appearance of fire, and it had brightness round about.

28 As the appearance of the bow that is in the cloud in the day of rain, so was the appearance of the brightness round about. This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the LORD. And when I saw it, I fell upon my face, and I heard a voice of one that spake.

(That glory of the LORD was also dramatically shown by his very presence:)

Exodus 40:34 Then a cloud covered the tent of the congregation, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle.

35 And Moses was not able to enter into the tent of the congregation, because the cloud abode thereon, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle.

II Chronicles 7:2 And the priests could not enter into the house of the LORD, because the glory of the LORD had filled the LORD’S house.

3 And when all the children of Israel saw how the fire came down, and the glory of the LORD upon the house, they bowed themselves with their faces to the ground upon the pavement, and worshipped, and praised the LORD, saying, For he is good; for his mercy endureth for ever.

(Not only was the glory of the LORD known by his presence in the tabernacle and in the temple, but also by the incarnation of the Son:)

John 1:14 And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.

II Corinthians 4:6 For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

Hebrews 1:2 Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds;

3 Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high;

Revelation 21:23 And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it: for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof.

(That splendor of the LORD is known by his name, for his name reveals all his glorious attributes, and by which he is glorified.

He revealed that first to Moses:)

Exodus 34:5 And the LORD descended in the cloud, and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the LORD.

6 And the LORD passed by before him, and proclaimed, The LORD, The LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth,

(The LORD glorifies his name for the sake of his great attributes:)

Psalms 115:1 Not unto us, O LORD, not unto us, but unto thy name give glory, for thy mercy, and for thy truth’s sake.

(The Father glorified his name through the ministry of Jesus on earth:)

John 12:28 Father, glorify thy name. Then came there a voice from heaven, saying, I have both glorified it, and will glorify it again.

(There is mutual glorification of the Godhead:)

(Jesus is glorified by fulfilling prophecy, and in this case by being betrayed according to the scriptures.

And in Jesus being glorified, it glorified the Father.

And as the Father is glorified in this, he then further glorifies the Son, yet somehow in himself, and will do so right away:)

John 13:31 Therefore, when he was gone out, Jesus said, Now is the Son of man glorified, and God is glorified in him.

32 If God be glorified in him, God shall also glorify him in himself, and shall straightway glorify him.

(When we pray, and ask for something in Jesus' name, he answers that, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son:)

John 14:13 And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.

(Also, the Holy Ghost glorifies the Son:)

John 16:13 Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come.

14 He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall shew it unto you.

(It appears that when we give glory to the LORD, there is pleasure involved; first we were created for his pleasure:)

Revelation 4:11 Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.

(Our giving glory to the LORD is for his pleasure, yet, it seems that the LORD has so done this, that we receive pleasure as well:)

Acts 20:35 I have shewed you all things, how that so labouring ye ought to support the weak, and to remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he said, It is more blessed to give than to receive.

(So somehow, it is more blessed to give glory, than to receive it.

That in the ages to come, the Father and the Son will not only be pleased as we give glory to the Father and the Son;

But we will be greatly blessed, and apparently have great pleasure in the giving of glory.

So that giving glory is not a work, but a blessing, a pleasure in itself.

How great is the wisdom of God to have things work out so wondrously as this.)

(So, does this marvelous giving and receiving of glory and pleasure occur in the mutual glorification of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost?

It appears, yes, as seen in his high priestly prayer, Jesus asks the Father glorifies him, that he then may in turn glorify the Father:)

John 17:1 These words spake Jesus, and lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, Father, the hour is come; glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee:

(Also, Jesus asks the Father to glorify him in a special way, that the Father would glorify him with his own self.

This appears to be much more than Jesus being glorified by events, actions of others, or words spoken by people.

Somehow, the crucifixion and the resurrection would involve the close, personal glory of the Father.

And that glory of the Father would work with, work upon, and work through the Son, to fulfill the will of the Father.

That this close glorification by the Father is as great as the glory that the Son had with the Father, before creation:)

5 And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was.

(And it would appear, that the scripture that said, "It is more blessed to give than to receive", applies to the Godhead, as well.

The Father apparently has great pleasure in glorifying the Son.

Also, the Son, therefore, has great pleasure, in glorifying the Father.

And likewise, the Holy Ghost has great pleasure in glorifying the Son.

That this must have been the incomprehensible, pleasurable existence of the LORD, the Godhead, before the creation.

And now he allows us to partake in this great wonder of glorification of the LORD.)

(It is also how we glorify the LORD, through his name:)

I Chronicles 16:29 Give unto the LORD the glory due unto his name: bring an offering, and come before him: worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness.

I Chronicles 29:13 Now therefore, our God, we thank thee, and praise thy glorious name.

(both now:)

I Peter 4:11 If any man speak, let him speak as the oracles of God; if any man minister, let him do it as of the ability which God giveth: that God in all things may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom be praise and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.

(and forever:)

Revelation 4:11 Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.

Revelation 5:12 Saying with a loud voice, Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and blessing.

13 And every creature which is in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, heard I saying, Blessing, and honour, and glory, and power, be unto him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb for ever and ever.

Revelation 7:12 Saying, Amen: Blessing, and glory, and wisdom, and thanksgiving, and honour, and power, and might, be unto our God for ever and ever. Amen.

Revelation 19:1 And after these things I heard a great voice of much people in heaven, saying, Alleluia; Salvation, and glory, and honour, and power, unto the Lord our God: