VISIONS OF KINGDOM GLORY

November 22, 2009 am
MF Blume
John 12:12-16 KJV  On the next day much people that were come to the feast, when they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem,  (13)  Took branches of palm trees, and went forth to meet him, and cried, Hosanna: Blessed is the King of Israel that cometh in the name of the Lord.  (14)  And Jesus, when he had found a young ass, sat thereon; as it is written,  (15)  Fear not, daughter of Sion: behold, thy King cometh, sitting on an ass's colt.  (16)  These things understood not his disciples at the first: but when Jesus was glorified, then remembered they that these things were written of him, and that they had done these things unto him.

Zechariah 9:9 KJV  Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee: he is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass.

The triumphal entry was a monumental day in the ministry of Jesus Christ.
  • It was the day He fulfilled the prophecy of Israel's King coming to the daughter of Zion, Jerusalem.
  • People waved palm branches and scattered them before his pathway since they recognized prophecy being fulfilled.

But not only was prophecy of Him coming as King fulfilled this day, the rejection He experienced was also prophesied for this day.

John 12:37-41 KJV  But though he had done so many miracles before them, yet they believed not on him:  (38)  That the saying of Esaias the prophet might be fulfilled, which he spake, Lord, who hath believed our report? and to whom hath the arm of the Lord been revealed?  (39)  Therefore they could not believe, because that Esaias said again,  (40)  He hath blinded their eyes, and hardened their heart; that they should not see with their eyes, nor understand with their heart, and be converted, and I should heal them.  (41)  These things said Esaias, when he saw his glory, and spake of him.

Here is where this was prophesied of Isaiah.

Isaiah 6:9-12 KJV  And he said, Go, and tell this people, Hear ye indeed, but understand not; and see ye indeed, but perceive not.  (10)  Make the heart of this people fat, and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and convert, and be healed.  (11)  Then said I, Lord, how long? And he answered, Until the cities be wasted without inhabitant, and the houses without man, and the land be utterly desolate,  (12)  And the LORD have removed men far away, and there be a great forsaking in the midst of the land.

Isaiah also added the fact that Jerusalem would be destroyed due to this rejection in verses 11-12.

Before we even read of his rejection, Jesus referred to His death.

John 12:24 KJV  Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit.

John 12:31-33 KJV  Now is the judgment of this world: now shall the prince of this world be cast out.  (32)  And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me.  (33)  This he said, signifying what death he should die.

And this death would occur due to His rejection.

But something wonderful is found in John 12.
  • When John referred to the prophecy of Isaiah about God blinding their eyes due to their rejection, he said something special.

John 12:(40)  He hath blinded their eyes, and hardened their heart; that they should not see with their eyes, nor understand with their heart, and be converted, and I should heal them.  (41)  These things said Esaias, when he saw his glory, and spake of him.

Isaiah saw Jesus Christ's glory when he said these things.

KINGDOM GLORY!

Isaiah 6:1 KJV  In the year that king Uzziah died I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple.

We see Jesus on the throne.
  • And notice what is about to occur.

Isaiah 6:2-4 KJV  Above it stood the seraphims: each one had six wings; with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly.  (3)  And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory.  (4)  And the posts of the door moved at the voice of him that cried, and the house was filled with smoke.

Seraphim speak of the earth being filled with God's glory, and the doors of the temple quake.

We have been learning about the GLORY that appeared on the ark of the covenant, which was a model of this throne of God.
  • Isaiah 6 is where we really see the idea of the ark being a model of the throne.
  • Just as cherubims covered the mercyseat with their wings, Isaiah saw seraphims with their wings above the throne.
  • John distinctly called this vision of Christ HIS GLORY on the throne.
  • Just as the Ark had God's glory on it, this throne has His glory.

John provided something very important for us to understand here.
  • He said Isaiah prophesied of blindness from God when he saw Jesus Christ's glory.
  • And so when we read in Isaiah 6:3 that the whole earth is full of His glory, we learn something powerful.
  • Verse 4 helps us see the picture.
  • The glory Isaiah saw was the glory that was said to fill the earth.
  • And the reason to doors shook at the sound of the seraphims shouts was because THAT GLORY OF JESUS ISAIAH SAW THERE WAS READY TO BURST OUT THROUGH THOSE DOORS AND COME OUT OF THIS TEMPLE INTO THE EARTH!

Recall the association of GLORY with the model of the throne of God called the Ark.

1 Samuel 4:21 KJV  And she named the child Ichabod, saying, The glory is departed from Israel: because the ark of God was taken, and because of her father in law and her husband.


So the ark is called the glory of God, and John said that when Isaiah saw the Lord on the throne in Isa. 6 it was JESUS CHRIST'S GLORY.

I want to tie all this together with more bible passages about God's glory to get a powerful truth about the day Jesus rode into Jerusalem in His triumphal Kingdom entry.

Ezekiel referred to the GLORY OF THE LORD.

Ezekiel 1:26-28 KJV  And above the firmament that was over their heads was the likeness of a throne, as the appearance of a sapphire stone: and upon the likeness of the throne was the likeness as the appearance of a man above upon it.  (27)  And I saw as the colour of amber, as the appearance of fire round about within it, from the appearance of his loins even upward, and from the appearance of his loins even downward, I saw as it were the appearance of fire, and it had brightness round about.  (28)  As the appearance of the bow that is in the cloud in the day of rain, so was the appearance of the brightness round about. This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the LORD. And when I saw it, I fell upon my face, and I heard a voice of one that spake.

Notice there is a THRONE with Jesus sitting on it, having gold from his waist upward and fire from his waist down.
  • If you read Revelation 1:13,15 we see very similar picture Jesus.

Around Him was a rainbow.
  • All of this was said to be called the GLORY OF THE LORD.
  • So everytime you read Ezekiel speaking about THE GLORY OF THE LORD, this is what he intended you to remember.
  • This puts the picture of the ark, the Lord on a throne in Ezekiel 1 and the Lord on the throne in Isaiah 6 altogether as the one thought of Jesus on the throne.
  • And it is very significant that John 12 mentions the triumphal Kingdom entry and actually refers to Isaiah 6 where we see HIS KINGDOM GLORY in a vision.

Now let us see how Ezekiel shows visions that we later realize were foretelling the rejection of Jesus Christ when He would come that day in the triumphal entry to Jerusalem.

Ezekiel 10:1 KJV  Then I looked, and, behold, in the firmament that was above the head of the cherubims there appeared over them as it were a sapphire stone, as the appearance of the likeness of a throne.

Ezekiel 10:4 KJV  Then the glory of the LORD (the title Ezekiel gave to this picture of a throne and God on it) went up from the cherub, and stood over the threshold of the house; and the house was filled with the cloud, and the court was full of the brightness of the LORD'S glory.

AT TEMPLE.

Ezekiel 10:18-20 KJV  Then the glory of the LORD departed from off the threshold of the house, and stood over the cherubims.  (19)  And the cherubims lifted up their wings, and mounted up from the earth in my sight: when they went out, the wheels also were beside them, and every one stood at the door of the east gate of the LORD'S house; and the glory of the God of Israel was over them above.  (20)  This is the living creature that I saw under the God of Israel by the river of Chebar (What he saw here was the same GLORY he saw in Chapter 1); and I knew that they were the cherubims.

11 speaks of men devising mischief in Israel.

Then:

Ezekiel 11:19-20 KJV  And I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within you; and I will take the stony heart out of their flesh, and will give them an heart of flesh:  (20)  That they may walk in my statutes, and keep mine ordinances, and do them: and they shall be my people, and I will be their God.

JUST AS IN THE NEW TESTAMENT where Jesus came, was rejected, men devised mischief, and THE NEW COVENANT WOULD COME after the cross.

2 Corinthians 3:3 KJV  Forasmuch as ye are manifestly declared to be the epistle of Christ ministered by us, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God; not in tables of stone, but in fleshy tables of the heart.

Israel rejected Jesus as King and missed out on the New Covenant where God writes his laws in tables of our hearts instead of stone tables like the Old Covenant Ten Commandments.

And after this new covenant is said to come to the world, we read...

Ezekiel 11:22-23 KJV  Then did the cherubims lift up their wings, and the wheels beside them; and the glory of the God of Israel was over them above.  (23)  And the glory of the LORD went up from the midst of the city, and stood upon the mountain which is on the east side of the city.

Notice how this GLORY OF THE LORD described in Ezekiel 1 is over the heads of cherubims and hovers away from Jerusalem and stands on the mountain that is east of Jerusalem.

We read of Jesus coming into Jerusalem in John 12.
  • The same story is found in Matthew 21.
  • After He is rejected in Matthew 21, we read of all sorts of parables and words about Israel losing the KINGDOM and it being given instead to another nation.
  • We know that other holy nation is the church.
  • And we keep reading this from Matthew 21 all the way over to Matthew 24.
  • And in Matthew 24, just like Ezekiel's vision sees the glory leave the temple and go to the mountain east of the city, Jesus leaves the temple and goes to the Mount of Olives.

Matthew 24:1,3 KJV  And Jesus went out, and departed from the temple: and his disciples came to him for to shew him the buildings of the temple.  

(3)  And as he sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?

The MOUNT OF OLIVES IS THE VERY MOUNTAIN EAST OF THE CITY!
  • Ezekiel saw the glory go to the Mount of Olives!
  • Just like Jesus later did.

Ezekiel was actually seeing a vision in symbolic form of Jesus Christ being rejected by Jerusalem!

And Ezekiel begins prophesying of all sorts of judgments on Jerusalem.
  • But by the time we get to Ezekiel 43, something wonderful happens.

Ezekiel 43:1-4 KJV  Afterward he brought me to the gate, even the gate that looketh toward the east:  (2)  And, behold, the glory of the God of Israel came from the way of the east: and his voice was like a noise of many waters: and the earth shined with his glory.  (3)  And it was according to the appearance of the vision which I saw, even according to the vision that I saw when I came to destroy the city: and the visions were like the vision that I saw by the river Chebar; and I fell upon my face.  (4)  And the glory of the LORD came into the house by the way of the gate whose prospect is toward the east.

The GLORY IS RETURNING TO THE TEMPLE.

THE NEW COVENANT/TESTAMENT WAS MENTIONED BEFORE WE READ THE GLORY RETURNS.

And what happens next?

Ezekiel 47:1 KJV  Afterward he brought me again unto the door of the house;... 

NOTICE THIS HOUSE IS THE TEMPLE!
  • Isaiah saw the GLORY IN THE TEMPLE!


...and, behold, waters issued out from under the threshold of the house eastward: for the forefront of the house stood toward the east, and the waters came down from under from the right side of the house, at the south side of the altar.

Ezekiel 47:12 KJV  And by the river upon the bank thereof, on this side and on that side, shall grow all trees for meat, whose leaf shall not fade, neither shall the fruit thereof be consumed: it shall bring forth new fruit according to his months, because their waters they issued out of the sanctuary: and the fruit thereof shall be for meat, and the leaf thereof for medicine.

We find that while Isaiah sees a vision of the GLORY of the Lord, ready to burst out and fill the earth, Ezekiel sees the same scenario with many other aspects involved.

And what really makes this so interesting is that this is the exact same vision from Revelation 22.

Ezekiel saw the glory flow out like a river and shows what it accomplishes.

Isaiah saw the SOURCE of that river of glory.

Revelation 22:1-2 KJV  And he shewed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb.  (2)  In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.

Revelation 22:17 KJV  And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.

Jesus used almost identical words and spoke of the BAPTISM OF THE HOLY SPIRIT:

John 7:37-39 KJV  In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink.  (38)  He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.  (39)  (But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified.)

In other words, THE GLORY HAS RETURNED!

WE ARE IN THE KINGDOM TODAY!