“Such was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord, and when I saw it, I fell on my face and I heard the voice of one speaking.”
– Ezekiel 1:28
Now, the first chapter of Ezekiel is pretty baffling. All the imagery that is there is mind boggling. It’s pretty hard to picture, but that’s the point. So yes, there is meaning and purpose in every single part of this description of the glory of the Lord, but when Ezekiel gets to the end of this chapter he says, “Such was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord,” even that phrasing, it’s a picture of you can’t behold. The glory of God describe who God is and just a simple explanation, but don’t miss the effect of it.
Ezekiel 1:28 Shows Us a Glimpse of God’s Glory
Ezekiel falls on his face before this likeness of the glory of the Lord as he then hears God’s speaking to him. And I just want to encourage us today in a fresh way to say what Moses said in Exodus 33. He went before the Lord, he said, “Show me your glory.” Ezekiel gets a glimpse here. Isaiah 6 gets a glimpse of the glory of God, so let’s do that today.
Let’s say to God, “We want to see you more clearly than we do now. We want to know you more truly than we do now. We want to be in greater awe of who you are than we are now, and we want to experience deeper joy and delight in you than we do now.” Oh God, we know from Ezekiel1 and all over your word that your glory is indescribable and incomparable and unimaginable to us. There is no one like you. Your glory can only be described with words like appearance and likeness.
The Lord is the Pursuit of Our Lives
You’re glorious beyond description. Oh God, and we say together right now, we want to see more. We want to see more of your glory, to know more of your glory, to enjoy more of your glory not that what you have shown us is insufficient, but God, we know that your glory is infinite, that it goes on forever and ever, and ever which means there’s more to enjoy, more to see, more to know now and tomorrow and the next day and the next day.
So God, we want to step fully into that. You are our prize. You are the pursuit of our lives. God help us to put aside other pursuits, help us to live, to know and enjoy you in all of your glory and exalt you in all of your glory among all of the nations. God, the nations need to see your glory. The bushy people of Mayat need to see your glory. God, 7,000 unreached people groups in the world need to see your glory.
Ezekiel 1:28 Leads Us to Want to Know God
Billions of people who haven’t heard the gospel need to hear about your glory, see your glory in the face of Jesus. God, cause your glory to spread among all the nations. Use our lives toward that end even as we, on a daily basis, grow to enjoy and delight in your glory more and more and more. God may this be the one pursuit of our lives today and tomorrow and the next day and the next day. Psalm 27, “One thing I ask of the Lord, this I seek, that I may dwell in the house of the Lord beholding the face, the glory of the Lord.”
God, we want to see you. We want to know you. We want to love you with all our hearts, soul, mind, strength, and we want to glorify you. May this be the summation of our lives, and may this be what our families… May this be what our lives are about, and what our families are about, what our churches are about until your glory is known and enjoyed among all the nations across all the earth in Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.
David Platt serves as a Lead Pastor for McLean Bible Church. He is also the Founder and Chairman of Radical, an organization that helps people follow Jesus and make him known in their neighborhood and all nations.
David received his B.A. from the University of Georgia and M.Div., Th.M., and Ph.D. from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. Some of his published works include Radical, Radical Together, Follow Me, Counter Culture, Something Needs to Change, and Don’t Hold Back.
He lives in the Washington, D.C. metro area with his wife and children.
