[1] In the year of King Uziyahu’s (Uzziah’s) death I saw Adonai sitting on a high, lofty throne! The hem of his robe filled the Temple. [2] S’rafim stood over him, each with six wings – two for covering his face, two for covering his feet and two for flying. [3] They were crying out to each other, “More holy than the holiest of holiness is Adonai-Tzva’ot! The whole earth is filled with his glory!” [4] The doorposts shook at the sound of their shouting, and the house was filled with smoke. [5] Then I said, “Woe to me! I [too] am doomed! – because I, a man with unclean lips, living among a people with unclean lips, have seen with my own eyes the King, Adonai-Tzva’ot!” [6] One of the S’rafim flew to me with a glowing coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar. [7] He touched my mouth with it and said, “Here! This has touched your lips. Your iniquity is gone, your sin is atoned for.” [8] Then I heard the voice of Adonai saying, “Whom shall I send? Who will go for us?” I answered, “I’m here, send me!” Isaiah 6:1-8
[2] Instantly I was in the Spirit, and there before me in heaven stood a throne, and on the throne, Someone was sitting. [3] The One sitting there gleamed like diamonds and rubies, and a rainbow shining like emerald encircled the throne. Surrounding the throne were twenty-four other thrones, and on the thrones sat twenty-four elders dressed in white clothing and wearing gold crowns on their heads. [5] From the throne came forth lightnings, voices and thunderings; and before the throne were seven flaming torches, which are the sevenfold Spirit of God. [6] In front of the throne was what looked like a sea of glass, clear as crystal. Revelation 4:2-6
[8] Each of the four living beings had six wings and was covered with eyes inside and out; and day and night they never stop saying, “Holy, holy, holy is Adonai, God of heaven’s armies the One who was, who is, and who is coming!” [9] And whenever the living beings give glory, honor and thanks to the One sitting on the throne, to the One who lives forever and ever, [10] the twenty-four elders fall down before the One sitting on the throne, who lives forever and ever, and worship him. They throw their crowns in front of the throne and say, [11] “You are worthy, Adonai Eloheinu, to have glory, honor and power, because you created all things – yes, because of your will they were created and came into being!” Revelation 4:8-11
“I am the א (Aleph) and the ת (Tav),” says Adonai, God of heaven’s armies, the One who is, who was and who is coming. Revelation 1:8
Who is this King of glory? This is a question that was penned by David in Psalm 24. Who is he, this glorious king? Adonai, strong in might, Adonai, mighyt in battle. (V 8) Who is he this glorious king? Adonai -Tzva’ot – he is the glorious king. (V 10) Proverbs 30 asks, Who has gone up to heaven and come down? Who has cupped the wind in the palms of his hands? Who has wrapped up the waters in his cloak? Who established all the ends of the earth? What is his name, and what is his son’s name? Surely you know! (v4) He is so much greater than we can possibly know this side of heaven, and as I have journeyed through the different Hebrew words for praise, I have come to realize without question that no matter how much I love Him, praise Him, come to know Him, seek Him and spend time in His presence, He is so much more worthy of any praise I have given or will ever give. He is worthy, and only He.
As I started looking at words associated with praise, the first word that I began to study was hode (howd). This one simple word brought me to David’s question. “Who is this glorious king?” Hode means splendor, majesty, glory, strength, honor, beauty, comeliness, excellency, goodly. It is grandeur or an imposing form and appearance. A deeper look is 1. Splendor, majesty of a king. 2. Divine splendor, majesty, light and glory which God WEARS as King. He is clothed in all of these things. One of the things that we think of when we think of human grandeur and splendor is the wedding of Prince Charles to Diana and the gown that she wore. The train of her dress was twenty-five feet long. It was impressive to behold. When Isaiah saw the Lord, it says the train or hem of his robe filled the temple. While Diana’s gown with it’s mighty train was indeed beautiful there is no comparison to the hem of His robe. Hers was made from fabric, Adonai’s is made of glory, splendor, light, majesty, of hode.
There is another place where we hear about the hem of His garment. Mark 5:29-33 tells the story of the woman with the issue of blood. For twelve years, she had been sick and had spent her life savings on doctors, yet only grew worse. When she heard about Yeshua, she said “If I touch even his clothes, I will be healed.” Upon touching the hem or the tzizit on His robe, she was instantly healed. Feeling power and virtue go out of Him, He asked “Who touched me?” And upon her responding to Him, His response was for her to “go in peace and be healed of your disease.” While this was a physical encounter with a physical robe, it was also a spiritual encounter involving a temple and the hem His robe. 1 Corinthians 3:16 says, “Don’t you know that you people are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit lives in you?” His robe is made of hode, and when that woman (temple) touched the hem, that glory, splendor, light, and majesty filled the temple, and she was made whole of her affliction.
At the beginning of this post, I shared the visions of two men: Isaiah and John. I honestly can not imagine what that must have been like. To see the God of all creation seated on His throne. Isaiah said that just the hem, the bottom edge of His robe filled the temple. My mind can not wrap around that type of magnificence and that magnitude of Him. In both visions, they saw S’rafim worshiping and crying out qadowsh (kaw-doshe), holy! Isaiah’s mouth was touched with a coal from the altar and his sin was atoned for, so that he could stand in the presence of Adonai. John fell down as if dead and was told, “Don’t be afraid! I am the First and the Last, the Living One. I was dead but look! – I am alive forever and ever!” The One who gave His live for John stood him back up on his feet and charged him with writing the final book of the New Testament. Isaiah was charged with taking the Word to the people and spoke of the coming King after declaring “Send me!”. Both of them saw into the throne room of the Most High and were never the same again. Hebrews 8:1-2 reads, “Here is the whole point of what we have been saying: we do have just such a cohen gadol (high priest) as has been described. And he does sit at the right hand of HaG’dulah (the Greatness, a euphemism for God, the word used here draws on 1 Chronicles 29:11: ‘Yours, YHVH, is the greatness [HaG’dulah] and the power [HaG’vurah] and the glory [HaTif’eret].) in heaven. There he serves in the Holy Place, that is, in the true Tent of Meeting, the one erected not by human beings but by Adonai. {from the Complete Jewish Study Bible}
As I cannot aptly describe the majesty and splendor of Adonai, I have to turn to the scriptures and how they describe Him.
· God comes from Teman, the Holy One from Mount Pa’ran. His splendor covers the sky, and his praise fills the earth. Habakkuk 3:3
· Yes, he will rebuild the Temple of Adonai; and he will take up the royal splendor, sitting and ruling from his throne. There will be a cohen before his throne; and they will accept each other’s advice in complete harmony. Zechariah 6:13
· In his presence are honor and majesty, in his place, strength and joy. 1 Chronicles 16:27
· Yours, Adonai, is the greatness, the power, the glory, the victory, and the majesty; for everything in heaven and on earth is yours. The kingdom is yours Adonai; and you are exalted as head overall. 1 Chronicles 29:11
· Adonai! Our Lord! How glorious is your name throughout the earth! The fame of your majesty spreads even above the heavens! Psalm 8:2(1)
· For Adonai is great, and greatly to be praised; he is to be feared more than all gods. For all the gods of the peoples are idols, but Adonai made the heavens. In his presence are honor and majesty, in his sanctuary, strength and splendor. Psalm 96:4-6
· Bless Adonai, my soul! Adonai, my God, you are very great; you are clothed with glory and majesty. Psalm 104:1
· His work is full of majesty and splendor, and his righteousness continues forever. Psalm 111:3
· I will meditate on the glorious splendor of your majesty and on the story of your wonders. Psalm 145:5
· Let them praise the name of Adonai, for his name alone is exalted; for his glory is above both earth and heaven. Psalm 148:13
When we look up the letters that spell hode, הוד we see that the Hey means God’s presence, Vav means completion, and Dalet means door or binding with God. In that splendorous presence of God is completion and we access that splendor and bind with Him through the door provided by salvation in Yeshua. Hode has a numeric value of 15 and when I looked at other words with this value, I came across three that made me pause and reflect. The first is an Aramaic word, yeda (yed-aw) meaning to praise and give thanks. The second is another Aramaic word, chava (Khav-aw), meaning interpret, explain, declare, to show, to breath, to speak. The only book this word is found is the book of Daniel where he would interpret dreams and the writing on the wall, but there is one verse which is spoken by Nebuchadnezzar in Daniel 3:32. “I am pleased to recount the signs and wonders which the Most High God has done for me. How great are his signs! How powerful his wonders! His kingdom lasts forever, and he rules all generations. Daniel 3:32-33 The final word is more than just a word, it is THE Word. Yah. The Divine Name. The Lord. But when you look at the gematria it also lists, HE IS. The two words that started this whole blog journey. Who is this King of glory? The answer is He Is (I Am).
I will never grasp the fullness of his splendor and majesty this side of heaven unless I have my own Isaiah/John moment, and that is okay, because there will come a day, when I see Him face to face and on that day, I will see and know in full. In the here and now, I will continue to seek after and chase after Him, to spend time in His presence, to cry out for His glory to fall and rain down upon us. I will cry out like so many before me the greatness and splendor of my God.
In your majesty, succeed, ride on in the cause of truth, meekness, and righteousness. May your right hand teach you awesome things. Psalm 45:5(4)