Filled with God's Glory

For as the waters fill the sea, the earth will be filled with an awareness of the

Glory of the LORD.

Habakkuk 2:14 (NLT)

I love visiting the ocean. I grew up inland, two days or more away from the ocean, and was well into my teens the first time that I saw the ocean in person. Looking out at the horizon and seeing nothing but water as far as my eye could see was almost overwhelming. Add to that the thunderous waves as they smashed into shore and I was hooked. Every sense was in a state of excitement. The wet sand bit into my bare toes, my chest vibrated with the sound of the surf, my nose filled with the fishy smells of seaweed and salty air, and the patterns of foam pushed over the beach drew my eyes from horizon to foreground and back again. The verse above uses the ocean, or the sea as a metaphor for 'the earth being filled with an awareness of the Glory of God.' It's not the same imagery if you talk about a cup full of water. Water in a cup just sits, definitely wet, possibly cold. The waters that fill the sea are alive and active with power, energy, and motion. This is a powerful image of a relationship with God that I want to dive into today.

Habakkuk was a prophet in Judah (the southern kingdom) in the time leading up to the Babylonian exile (around 612-586 B.C.) The book in the Old Testament that shares his name begins with two of his prayers of complaint to God. Habakkuk's first complaint is "Violence is everywhere!" This is an indictment of his own people's behavior, and a statement of his personal sense of justice. Essentially he asks God when He is going to punish the evil-doers around him. God's reply is pretty straightfoward. He is getting ready to send Babylon to conquer Israel.

I'm sure that answer was a bit of a shock to Habakkuk because his second complaint changes tone. "Wait a minute! Are you going to let our enemies destroy us?" His strident judgement is traded for an abject plea for mercy.

The verse above that grabbed my attention some time ago comes in the context of God's reply to Habakkuk's second prayer.

God tells him to "write this down plainly":

• This vision is for a future time, the end in fact.

• Thieves and captors, the wealth of nations will turn to ash.

• "The earth will be filled with an awareness of the glory of the LORD"

• The world's idols are worthless, but "the LORD is in his holy Temple."

What does it mean to be filled with an awareness of the glory of the LORD?

Filled is the Hebrew word mālā' (maw-lay') it is a passive verb - the earth will be filled. The earth is not filling itself, it is being filled. Filled is also in the imperfect tense, meaning that it represents a continuous, incomplete, open-ended process. It can mean filled, satisfied, or accomplished. 'The earth will continually be filled, satisfied..."

Awareness is the Hebrew word yāḏa' (yaw-dah') and is commonly translated as knowledge. In this form it is a verbal noun - an action represented as an object. It is in the active voice, so it seems to me there is some effort involved in this knowing, learning, and discerning. It is not an impersonal knowledge, it comes through experience and an intimate acquaintance.

Glory is the Hebrew word kāḇŏḏ (kaw-bode'), which literally means weight. It can be translated as glory, splendor, honour, riches, and reverence.

So God promises that in the end, not only will the wicked be judged and all false gods come to nothing, but also that 'the earth will continually be satisfied with the intimate experience of the weight of God's glory and splendor.' That is quite a promise!

I think the even better news is that we don't have to wait for 'the end' to experience this for ourselves. The whole earth may not catch on for a while yet, but we can enter into the LORD's holy Temple by the blood of Jesus (Hebrews 10:19-20). We can be filled with the Holy Spirit like the waters fill the sea (Ephesians 5:18-20).

It's very clear that Habbakuk experienced this himself, because the book closes not with another lament, but with a prayer of worship. He has had a taste of God's glory and his heart overflows with praise and thanksgiving. Let's join Habbakuk and lay aside our complaints and worries and instead seek to be filled with the knowledge of God's glory.

Amen.

Some music for your reflection:

Holy Spirit You Are Welcome Here (written by Bryan Torwalt and Katie Torwalt; performed by Jesus Culture featuring Kim Walker Smith)

Spirit of the Living God (written by Daniel Iverson, performed by Rosemary Siemens)

That's My King (by CeCe Winans)