Moses and Aaron then went into the tent of meeting. When they came out, they blessed the people; and the glory of the Lord appeared to all the people.
Leviticus 9:23
What a dramatic scene! The whole camp of Israel, a million or more people, are somehow gathered at vantage points where they can observe what is happening in the open space before the door of the tabernacle. They watch Aaron and his sons kill these animals and put them on the altar and sprinkle the blood and pour it out. When everything is completed exactly as the LORD had commanded Moses and Aaron go together into the tabernacle. A hush falls on the whole assembly.
Then Moses and Aaron come out again and they bless the people. Suddenly the glory of the LORD appears. This was a shining cloud of light, the Shekinah, a radiant glory of light which suddenly appeared and filled the whole area. And then a supernatural fire proceeds from it which consumes in a flash all the rest of the offerings upon the altar. A most impressive scene! No wonder the people fall on their faces and shout. This is a shout of victory, an expression of their sense of awe and wonder at the fact that the God of glory is in their midst.
All of this is designed for our instruction (1 Corinthians 10). What is the lesson? We are to be priests like these, and the objective of priesthood is to produce the glory of the LORD. That is what is manifest when the priesthood is operating properly. When all is done as God commands, then it works out to produce the glory of the LORD.
The counterpart of that glory in our lives today is the beauty of the character of Jesus. The New Testament says that the Spirit of God is at work in our hearts to produce glory unto glory. And Paul, in 2 Corinthians 4:6 says that the glory of God is found in the face of Jesus Christ.
So it is God's character, the character of Jesus, appearing in you and in me in our daily encounters with people, which is represented by the glory of the LORD here in Leviticus.
Father, help me to stop resisting what you are doing in me so that I might be a minister and priest of your glory to others.
Life Application
Is the glory of God the chief end for which we love and serve? Have we grasped the joy of spreading the fragrance of the knowledge of Him everywhere? Shine, Jesus, shine, to show your glorious power in our jars of clay!