The Shekinah Glory of God in the New Testament

In the Old Testament, the prophets created a word (Shekinah) to describe the manifested presence of God in their midst. As explained in my lesson about the Shekinah Glory of God in the Old Testament, the Shekinah Glory appeared as a dark cloud with fire and lighting or a brilliant light within the cloud. God’s presence appeared on Mount Sinai, when the Ten Commandments were given, and also as a pillar of fire by night, and a cloud by day, during the 40 years in the wilderness. Later, the Shekinah Glory rested above the Ark of the Covenant inside Solomon’s Temple. This lesson will discuss the Glory of God in the New Testament. 

A Summary of Solomon’s Temple

As mentioned in the lesson about the Shekinah Glory in the Old Testament, the presence of God rested in Solomon’s temple, above the Ark of the Covenant, for more than 400 hundred years. But, over time, the people forgot about God and they did not keep His commandments. The fifth chapter of Hosea is a rebuke from God for the apostasy of the people of Israel. Then, in Hosea 5:15, God says ‘I will go away and return to My place’. Because of their sin, Israel was taken into captivity by the Babylonians and Solomon’s Temple was destroyed. But, just before the temple was destroyed, Ezekiel had a vision about the Glory of God leaving the temple.

In Ezekiel 10:18-19, it states: ‘Then the glory of the Lord moved away from the threshold of the temple and stopped above the cherubim. The cherubim spread their wings, and they rose up from the earth while I watched. They stopped at the entrance to the east gate, of the Lord’s temple, as the glory of the God of Israel hovered above them.’ Then, in Ezekiel 11:23, the scriptures state ‘The glory of the Lord rose up from within the city and stopped over the mountain east of it.’ The mountain that is mentioned here is the Mount of Olives. 

Ezekiel saw the Shekinah glory cloud leave the Temple and move to the Eastern gate of Jerusalem and then, to the Mount of Olives, which is often mentioned in the New Testament. After the children of Israel returned to Jerusalem from their Babylonian captivity, Solomon’s Temple was restored to some degree, but not to the grandeur it once displayed. By this time, the Ark of the Covenant had disappeared. Although the Bible does not state that the Shekinah presence of God returned to the rebuilt Temple, many rabbi scholars believe that the Shekinah cloud did return to the Temple.

Herod’s Temple before the Ministry of Jesus

Hundreds of years after Solomon’s Temple was restored, King Herod decided to enlarge the Temple Mount, build additional structures and walls and completely renovate the Jewish Temple. This new and impressive Jewish Temple became known as Herod’s Temple. In the New Testament, the scriptures do not state if the Shekinah presence of God was visible within the Holy of Holies, behind the curtain which separated that area from the Holy Place. Within Herod’s Temple, there was a seven-branched candelabra called a menorah. Each of the seven branches had a container at the top which would hold oil and a wick for the light. A Jewish priest would enter the Temple every morning to light the seven candles. However, there are ancient Jewish documents which state one candle always stayed lit, even though all seven candle holders received the same amount of oil. The Jewish scholars called this the Everlasting Light and they believed this light was a confirmation of the divine presence of God in Herod’s Temple. Since there were no windows in the Temple, it was a dark place with only the light of the menorah. Again, we see darkness and light in relation to the presence of God. So, are there scriptures in the New Testament which refer to the Glory of God?

The Birth of Jesus

If we look at the scriptures in the New Testament, we know that Jesus was the manifested presence of God, in the flesh. However, the Glory of God was usually mentioned as something different than the physical body of Jesus. In Luke 2:9, when the angels announced the birth of Jesus, the scriptures state ‘And, behold, an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were sore afraid.’ This seems to indicate that the Glory of the Lord is reserved for God the Father in heaven, and for his angels. However, notice that the ‘glory of the Lord shone around them’ indicating a brilliant light in the darkness of the night. Again, we see the same display of light and darkness at the same time, a common theme for the Glory of God.

The Transfiguration of Jesus

Another example of the Glory of God in the New Testament is the event called the Transfiguration. In Mark 9:2, we read ‘And after six days Jesus took with him Peter and James and John, and led them up into a high mountain, apart by themselves: and he was transfigured before them.  And his clothing became shining, exceedingly white as snow. And there was a cloud that overshadowed them: and a voice came out of the cloud, saying, ‘This is my beloved Son’.’

The scriptures state that the cloud ‘overshadowed’ them, so it is possible that the cloud was a dark cloud. Once again, the scriptures mention a cloud and a shining light, in reference to the Glory of God.

Jesus on the Mount of Olives

There are many scriptures in the New Testament which mention that Jesus would go to the Mount of Olives. And Jesus often went to the Mount of Olives at night. The Temple in Jerusalem was situated at the base of the Mount of Olives. To reach the Mount of Olives, Jesus would travel through the Eastern Gate of the Temple complex.  Luke 21:37 states ‘Each day Jesus was teaching in the temple, and each evening he went out to spend the night on the hill that is called the Mount of Olives.’ When Jesus went to the Mount of Olives at night, after teaching all day, it sounds as if he went to the mountain to get refreshed and he stayed there all night.

I find it interesting that Jesus goes to the one place on earth (the Mount of Olives) which is also the last place where the Shekinah Glory of God was seen. In the Old Testament, Ezekiel  saw the Shekinah cloud of God’s presence leave the Temple through the Eastern Gate and stop over the Mount of Olives, before returning to heaven. I have this mental picture of Jesus, at night, on the Mount of Olives and the Shekinah cloud of God’s presence resting on him, perhaps giving him comfort and direction, just like the Shekinah cloud did for the children of Israel, a thousand years earlier.

The Glory of God in Other Scriptures

Since the New Testament was written in Greek, the root word for Shekinah (which is a Hebrew word) is not found. See my lesson about the Shekinah Glory in the Old Testament to understand what this word really means. However, in the New Testament, there are many scriptures which reference the Glory of God. One of the most famous examples can be found in the Lord’s Prayer. In Matthew 6:13, near the end of the prayer which is directed to ‘Our Father, who art in heaven’, the last sentence states ‘For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever’. Another example can be found in Matthew 16:27 where Jesus says ‘For the Son of Man will come in the glory of His Father and with His angels.’ Notice that Jesus mentions glory as it relates to his father in heaven. In Matthew 24:30, Jesus also states ‘they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.’ Jesus seems to be saying that at his second coming, we would see the Glory of God on him. In John 17:5, Jesus says ‘Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was.’ So, Jesus is stating that He had the glory before the world was created, but apparently, Jesus set aside the manifested Glory of God when He came to earth. And, as we have seen in this lesson, and in the lesson about the Shekinah Glory of God in the Old Testament, the manifested Glory of God can be truly frightening, with dark clouds, thunder and lightning, and brilliant light. So, Jesus did not come to frighten us, but to love us and to draw us closer to Him. How amazing!

The Crucifixion of Jesus

When Jesus was crucified, the presence of God was manifested on earth. In Matthew 27:45-54, we read ‘Now from the sixth hour (which is noon) until the ninth hour (which is 3pm) there was darkness over all the land. And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?” that is, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?”…And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice, and yielded up His spirit. Then, behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom; and the earth quaked, and the rocks were split, and the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised; and coming out of the graves after His resurrection, they went into the holy city and appeared to many. So when the centurion and those with him, who were guarding Jesus, saw the earthquake and the things that had happened, they feared greatly, saying, “Truly this was the Son of God!”

If you remember, when God first came down to earth at Mount Sinai, there was a dark cloud and the earth shook. Is it possible that the darkness that covered all the land was the dark cloud of God’s presence, manifested on the earth? John 3:16 states ‘For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.’ The Roman soldiers realized that Jesus was the Son of God when darkness covered the earth and the earthquake happened. If you don’t already believe in Jesus, what will it take for you to become a believer?

Herod’s Temple after the Death of Jesus

During the ministry of Jesus, there is no mention in the Bible, about the Glory of God in Herod’s Temple. When Jesus was crucified, it would have been around 30-33 AD, some 40 years before the Temple was completely destroyed by the Romans in 70 AD. As mentioned earlier, there was a seven-branched menorah in the Temple, with one candle which miraculously, was always burning. All of the other candles were lit from the single candle that never burned out. In the Talmud, an ancient document that is the primary source of Jewish theology, there is a mention of this menorah. The miraculous light was called the Everlasting Light and represented the presence of God in the Temple to the Jewish priests. About 40 years before the destruction of the Temple, the candle which previously stayed lit, no longer shone with the miraculous light. When the oil was used up, the light went out.

In the Old Testament, Ezekiel had a vision where he saw the Shekinah cloud leave Solomon’s Temple (before it was destroyed) and the cloud moved to the Mount of Olives. Because the people of Israel rejected God, in Hosea 5:15, God said ‘I will go away and return to my place’. In another ancient Jewish document, there is a story about a Jewish rabbi named Jonathan, who was an eyewitness to the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD. He stated that the Shekinah Glory cloud left Herod’s Temple, before it was destroyed and for three and a half years, the cloud rested on the Mount of Olives. He said that it was visible as a cloud from late spring in 66 AD until December of 69 AD, eight months before the Temple was destroyed by the Romans in 70 AD.

According to this rabbi, the presence of God, the Shekinah Glory of God, was hoping that Israel would repent. Remember, by this time, Jesus had risen from the grave and ascended to heaven; and his disciples have been preaching the Gospel for over 30 years. The rabbi reported that a supernatural voice could be heard coming from the cloud, resting on the Mount of Olives saying, “Return, O backsliding children. Return to Me, and I will return to you’.  But, after three and a half years, when Israel did not repent and did not accept Jesus, the voice in the cloud said, ‘I will return to my place’ and the cloud disappeared from the Mount of Olives and returned to heaven. If this story is true, then there are two instances when the presence of God left the holy Temple in Jerusalem and returned to heaven…because the people did not want to follow God’s commandments; so His presence left!

The Second Coming of Jesus

In Matthew 24:30, it states ‘They shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.’ This event is the second coming of Christ, at the end of the age. In the past, I used to think that Jesus would come on his horse with beautiful, white clouds surrounding him. Now, after I have studied the Shekinah Glory of God in both the Old and New Testaments, I think Jesus might be surrounded by dark clouds and lightening when he returns on His white horse!

In Zechariah14:4, it states ‘And his feet shall stand, in that day, upon the Mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east, and the Mount of Olives shall split in the midst thereof, toward the east and toward the west, and there shall be a very great valley.’ It is interesting that Jesus will return to the very place (the Mount of Olives) where the Shekinah Glory of God was last seen on earth! However, a massive earthquake will happen with Jesus returns to the Mount of Olives to set up his earthly kingdom. When Jesus returns and is surrounded by dark clouds with lightening, then an earthquake takes place, He will come to earth in the same manner that God came to the earth at Mount Sinai, thousands of years earlier – with the Glory of God!