Of the eight privileges which pertain to Israel listed in Romans 9:4–5, the appearance of God’s glory among them wonderfully distinguished them as unique among the nations.

The “glory of the Lord” appeared many times in the course of Israel’s history. It appeared to Abraham, the father of the nation; Moses desired to see it when on Sinai, and saw it again with Elijah two thousand years later (Ex. 33:18; Mt. 17:1); it appeared to Isaiah when Uzziah died; Ezekiel saw it when it was departing from the disobedient nation; and Haggai predicted its return.

In fact the glory of God had not only appeared to individuals on various occasions throughout their history, but for long periods of time it actually dwelt among them. The term sometimes used to describe this glory is, “the Shekinah.” This is a Hebrew word which means “dwelling”—or “settling,” “resting.” This is because the glory represented the fact that God’s presence was dwelling among them. When Moses finished constructing the tabernacle, the glory, appearing as a cloud, filled it and “rested above it.” The glory was so great at the time that Moses could not enter the tabernacle (Ex. 40:34–35). This was repeated when Solomon finished the temple with the same result (2 Chr. 5:13–14). In this aspect, these two Old Testament constructions are both types of the Church, which is also called a temple, the “dwelling place of God in the Spirit” (Eph. 2:21–22). Paul wrote to the Christians in Colosse, revealing a wonderful mystery: “Christ in you, the hope of glory” (Col. 1:27). Thus the glory is our hope too, but in a much higher way than Israel!