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"The whole earth is full of His glory" (Isa. 6: 3).
This cry of the Seraphim when they beheld His glory (i.e. the glory of Christ,
John 12: 41) is variously translated. The A.V. margin reads `His glory is the fullness of
the whole earth' whereas the R.V. margin reads `The fullness of the whole earth is His
glory' and this follows most clearly the order of the Hebrew original.
It is beyond the power of man to decide whether the words `the whole earth' embrace
the whole world, or whether in the first instance they mean the whole land, for the same
word which is translated `earth' is also translated `land' (Isa. 1: 19; 2: 7, 8; 5: 30; 6: 12,
etc.) but even so, the lesser `land' of Israel is a type or symbol of the whole earth, and so
whatever is said of the ultimate blessing of `the land' but foreshadows the greater
blessing of `the earth' in the Lord's good time.
So, when Israel were crossing the Jordan in order to `divide for an inheritance the
LAND' (Heb. eretz Josh 1: 6, 11, 13, 14, 15), the Lord is called "The Lord of all the
EARTH" (Heb. eretz Josh. 3: 11, 13), and when at the other end of their history, under
another "Joshua" (Zech. 3: 1) Israel return from their captivity to the same land
(Zech. 3: 9; 7: 14), once again the Lord is called `the Lord of all the earth' (Zech. 6: 5)
even though in the very next verse, eretz is translated `country'.
The twenty-fourth Psalm that speaks of the earth being the Lord's and the fullness
thereof, uses the word `glory' more than any other of the Psalms. Five times it speaks of
"The King of glory", Who is to be "King over all the earth" (Zech. 14: 9). A further link
between Psa. 24:, Isa. 6: and Zech. 14:, is found in the reference to the earthquake
which took place in the days of Uzziah king of Judah (Zech. 14: 5), which appears by the
context to have been one of the many foreshadowings of the Second Coming of the Lord.
The fullness of the earth and the glory of the Lord are bound up together; he that furthers
the one, enhances the other, and that which `comes short of the glory of God' militates
against the blessing of man.
Since the first great gap (Gen. 1: 2) other lesser gaps have come, as Adam, Noah,
Abraham and the successive stories of their stand or fall are unfolded. Equally so, a
succession of `fullnesses' follow, until all is headed up in Him, in Whom `all fullness'
dwells. Let us pursue this theme, for in its understanding is enshrined the heart of God's
age-long purpose.