HABAKKUK 2:14
For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea.
This vision lifts the eyes from the small and troubled present to the vast and glorious future.
God has just announced the coming judgment of Babylon, the empire that would devastate Judah. But amid the warning against Babylon’s violence, pride, and idolatry, God interrupts the woes with a cosmic declaration. The Babylonian empire, like all empires, was temporary; but the knowledge of God’s glory will cover the earth as completely and inescapably as the waters cover the sea floor.
They shall not hurt nor destroy in all My holy mountain, for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD as the waters cover the sea (Isaiah 11:9). Both Isaiah and Habakkuk link this global filling of glory to the coming of the Messiah. In Christ, the knowledge of God’s glory was embodied.
And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth (John 1:14). Jesus is the glory of God made visible, tangible, accessible. He is the image of the invisible God (Colossians 1:15) and in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily(Colossians 2:9). To know Jesus is to know the glory of the LORD. The earth is filled with His knowledge wherever His gospel is proclaimed, and His Spirit indwells our hearts.
Jesus, risen and reigning, commanded: Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit (Matthew 28:19). The spread of the gospel is the spreading of the knowledge of God’s glory. Every conversion, every new church planted, every prayer offered in the name of Jesus adds another drop to the ocean of glory that will one day cover the earth.
John saw a great multitude which no one could number, of all nations, tribes, peoples, and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb (Revelation 7:9). Every people group, every tongue, every tribe has been reached; the earth is filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD through the Lamb who was slain, through Jesus Christ.
The knowledge of God’s glory has been advancing since the resurrection of Christ. The early church began in Jerusalem with a few hundred believers. Today, Christianity is the world’s largest faith. The water is rising. The glory is spreading. The mission of God, centred in Jesus Christ, is unstoppable.
The knowledge of the glory of the LORD is experiential and transforming. To know, here implies intimate, relational, personal acquaintance. The earth will be filled with people who personally know, love, and worship the living God revealed in Jesus Christ.
Our worship, our witness, our prayers, and our service are tributaries feeding into the great ocean of God’s glory that is filling the earth.
Ask God to:
- fill you afresh with the knowledge of who He is.
- stir your hearts for the global mission of the gospel.
- transform your knowledge of God from just intellectual to deeply personal and relational.
