Pagina-afbeeldingen
PDF
ePub

ture put for comfort, joy, happiness, and for good in general.*.

Again, the word glory, as applied to God in scripture, implies the view or knowledge of God's excellency. The exhibition of glory, is to the view of beholders. The manifestation of glory, the emanation or effulgence of brightness, has relation to the eye. Light or brightness is a quality that has relation to the sense of seeing: We see the luminary by its light. And knowledge is often expressed in scripture by light. The word glory very often in scripture signifies or im-. plies honor, as any one may soon see by casting his eye on a concordance. But honor implies the knowledge of the dig-. nity and excellency of him who hath the honor. And this is often more especially signified by the word glory, when applied to God. Num. xiv, 21. "But as truly as I live, all the earth shall be filled with the, glory of the Lord." i. e. All the earth shall see the manifestations I will make of my perfect holiness and hatred of sin, and so of my infinite excellence. This appears by the context. So Ezek. xxxix. 21-23. "And I will set my glory among the heathen, and all the heathen shall see my judgment that I have executed, and my hand that I have laid upon them. So the house of Israel shall know that I am the Lord their God. And the heathen shall know, that the house of Israel went into captivity for their iniquity." And it is manifest in many places, where we read of God's glorifying himself, or of his being glorified, that one thing directly intended, is a manifesting or making known his divine greatness and excellency.

*Isa. vi. 3. "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of Hosts, the whole earth is full of his glory." In the original, His glory is the fulness of the whole earth" Which signifies much more than the words of the translation. God's glory, consisting especially in his holiness, is that, in the sight or communications of which, man's fulness, i. e. his holines sand happiness, consists, By God's glory here, there seems to be respect to that train, or those effulgent beams that filled the temple: These beatas signifying God's glory shining forth, and commaicated. This effulgence or communic tion is the fulness of all intelligent creatures, who have no fulness of their own.

+ See particularly Heb. íii, 3.

Again, glory, as the word is used in scripture, often signifies or implies praise. This appears from what was observed before, that glory very often signifies honor, which is much the same thing with praise, viz. high esteem and respect of heart, and the expression and testimony of it in words and actions. And it is manifest that the words glory and praise, are often used as equivalent expressions in scripture. Psal. 1. 23. "Whoso offereth praise, glorifieth me." Psal. xxii. 23. "Ye that fear the Lord, praise him; all ye seed of Israel, glorify him." Isa. xlii. 8. "My glory I will not give unto another, nor my praise to graven images." Verse 12. "Let them give glory unto the Lord, and declare his praise in the islands." Isa. xlviii. 9—11. "For my name's sake will I defer mine anger; for my praise will I refrain for thee.... For mine own sake will I do it; for, I will not give my glory unto another." Jer. xiii. 11. "That they might be unto me for a people, and for a name, and for a praise, and for a glory.” Eph. i. 6. "To the praise of the glory of his grace." Verse 12. To the praise of his glory." So verse 14. The phrase is apparently equivalent to that, Phil. i. 11. Which

[ocr errors]

afe by Jesus Christ unto the praise and glory of God." 2 Cor. iv. 15. That the abundant grace might, through the thanksgiving of many, redound to the glory of God."

It is manifest the praise of God, as the phrase is used in scripture, implies the high esteem and love of the heart, exalting thoughts of God, and complacence in his excellence. and perfection. This must be so manifest to every one acquainted with the scripture, that there seems to be no need to refer to particular places.

It also implies joy in God, or rejoicing in his perfections, as is manifest by Psal. xxxiii. 2. "Rejoice in the Lord, O ye righteous for praise is comely for the upright." How often do we read of singing praise? But singing is commonly an expres sion of joy. It is called, making a joyful noise. Psal. Ixvi. 1, 2, and xcvi. 4, 5. And as it is often used, it implies 'gratitude for his benefits to us. Psal. xxx. 12, and mà• ́

or love to God

ny other places.

VOL. VI.

p'

Having thus considered what is implied in the phrase, the glory of God, as we find it used in scripture; I proceed to inquire what is meant by the name of God.

Psal. cii. 15.

And I observe that it is manifest that God's name and his glory, at least very often, signify the same thing in scripture. As it has been observed concerning the glory of God, that it sometimes signifies the second person in the trinity; the same might be shewn of the name of God, if it were needful in this place. But that the name and glory of God are often equipollent expressions, is manifest by Exod. xxxiii. 18, 19. When Moses says, "I beseech thee, shew me thy glory:" And God grants his request, he says, "I will proclaim the name of the Lord before thee." Psal. viii. 1. "O Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth! Who hast set thy glory above the heavens." Psal. Ixxix. 9. "Help us, O God of our salvation, for the glory of thy name; and deliver us, and purge away our sins, for thy name's sake." "So the heathen shall fear the name of the Lord; kings of the earth, thy glory." Psal. cxlviii. 13. alone is excellent, and his glory is above the earth and heav en." Isa. xlviii. 9. "For my name's sake will I defer mine anger, and for my praise will I refrain for thee." Verse 11. "For mine own sake, even for mine own sake will I do it ; for how should my name be polluted? And I will not give my glory unto another. Isa. xlix. 19. "They shall fear the name of the Lord from the west, and his glory from the rising of the sun." Jer. xiii. 11. "That they might be unto me for a name, and for a praise, and for a glory." As glory often implies the manifestation, publication and knowledge of excellency, and the honor that any one has in the world; so it is evident does name.

name." Deut. xxvi. 19. nations, in praise, in name, 9, and many other places.

and all the "His name

Gen. xi. 4. "Let us make us a

"And to make thee high above all and in honor." See 2 Sam. vii.

So it is evident that by name is sometimes meant much the same thing as praise, by several places which have been just mentioned, as Isa. xlviii. 9. Jer. xiii. 11. Deut. xxvi. 19, and also by Jer. xxxiii. 9. "And it shall be unto me for a

name, a praise and an honor, before all the nations of the earth, which shall hear of all the good I do unto them." Zeph. iii. 20. "I will make you a name and a praise among all people of the earth."

And it seems that the expression or exhibition of God's goodness is especially called his name, in Exod. xxxiii. 19. "I will make all my goodness pass before thee, and I will proclaim the name of the Lord before thee." And chap. xxxiv. 5——————7. And the Lord descended in the cloud, and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the Lord. And the Lord passed by before him, and proclaimed, the Lord, the Lord God, gracious and merciful, longsuffering and abundant in goodness and truth; keeping mercy for thousands." &c.

And the same illustrious brightness and effulgence in the pillar of cloud, that appeared in the wilderness, and dwelt above the mercy seat in the tabernacle and temple (or rather the spiritual divine brightness and effulgence represented by it) which is so often called the glory of the Lord, is also often called the name of the Lord. Because God's glory was to dwell in the tabernacle, therefore he promises, Exod. xxix. 43. "There will I meet with the children of Israel, and the tabernacle shall be sanctified by my glory." And the temple was called the house of God's glory, Isa. Ix. 7. In like manner, the name of God is said to dwell in the sanctuary. Thus we often read of the place that God chose, to put his name there ; 'or (as it is in the Hebrew) to cause his name to inhabit there. So it is sometimes rendered by our translators. As Deut. xii. 11Then there shall be a place which the Lord your God shall chuse to cause his name to dwell there." And the temple is often spoken of as built for God's name. And in Psal. xxiv. 7, the temple is called the dwelling place of God's name. The mercy seat in the temple was called the throne of God's name or glory, Jer. xiv. 21. Do not abhor us, , for thy name's sake, do not disgrace the throne of thy glo"rý." ~ Here God's name and his glory, seem to be spoken of the same.

66

SECTION VII.

Shewing that the Ultimate End of the Creation of the World, is but one, and what that one End is.

FROM what has been observed in the last section, it appears, that however the last end of the creation is spoken of in scripture under various denominations; yet if the whole of what is said relating to this affair, be duly weighed, and one part compared with another, we shall have reason to think, that the design of the Spirit of God does not seem to be to represent God's ultimate end as manifold, but as one. For though it be signified by various names, yet they appear not to be names of different things, but various names involv. ing each other in their meaning; either different names of the same thing, or names of several parts of one whole, or of the same whole viewed in various lights, or in its different respects and relations. For it appears that all that is ever spoken of in the scripture as an ultimate end of God's works, is included in that one phrase, the glory of God; which is the name by which the last end of God's works is most commonly called in scripture; and seems to be the name which most aptly signifies the thing.

The thing signified by that name, the glory of God, when spoken of as the supreme and ultimate end of the work of creation, and of all God's works, is the emanation and true external expression of God's internal glory and fulness; meaning by his fulness, what has already been explained. Or, in other words, God's internal glory extant, in a true and just exhibition, or external existence of it. It is confessed that there is a degree of obscurity in these definitions; but perhaps an obscurity which is unavoidable, through the imperfection of language, and words being less fitted to express things of so sublime a nature. And therefore the thing may

« VorigeDoorgaan »