Grace Bible Church Bible Study Series God is Light Thi nk of some words that would describe visible light and write them here What are some of its characteristics? _______________________________________________________________________ _________________ _________________________________ _____________________ _______________________________________________________________________ Now, write at least two sentences using the word “light” in a sense other than visible light. ___________________________________ _________________________________ ___ _______________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________ Using your Strong’s Concordance , find the reference in your Bible that says: “God is light, and in him is no darkness at all” and write the reference here _________________ Do you think there is a visible manifestation of light associated with God? _________ ___ Obviously, candles, light bu lbs, lighters, and even the most powerful source of light we can see, the sun, are not God. These artificial sources of light are only t _ _ _ _ _ _ _ y. But God’s light, which we cannot see today, is e _ _ _ _ _ l. (Hint : see II Corinthians 4:18). The Lord Jesus Christ’s Birth At the birth of the Lord Jesus Christ, the angels came to the shepherds and the Bible says that “the ________ of the Lord _________ round about them.” Write the reference where we find this Scri pture ___________________. What synonym is used for ‘light’ in this verse? ______________ Glory is a synonym for God ’ s visible light that is very important to understand. Understanding this synonym for light and your answer to the next question are very important to our study. Was it the angels’ glory that shone? ____________ Whose ‘ glory ’ was it? ________ 1 The Lord Jesus Chr ist’s Transfiguration When the L ord Jesus Christ was on the earth with the twelve disciples , He told them about the future. He called Himself the “Son of Man”, which is how He referred to Himself as a human man. He said that, in the future , He would com e back to earth as the glorified Son of Man. Using your Strong’s Concordance , find the verse that says: “For the Son of Man sh all come in the glory of his Father ...” and write the reference here ____________________. Will the Son of Man be the source of this “glory” (light)? __________ ___ In Matthew 17:2, the Lord Jesus gave three of the disciples a glimpse of what it will look like when He comes back to the earth to rule in the 1000 - year (millennial) Kingdom. Please turn to this passage and read it n ow. What did the Lord Jesus’ fac e do in this passage? _______________________________ How brightly? ______ _________ _____ __ Describe His clothes: _____________________________________________________ Let me ask you again, at His birth, was it the angels who were the source of the “glory” (light) that shone? ____________ When the Lord Jesus returns to earth to rule and rei gn, where will His glory have come from? (See John 17: 5) ___________ Who is the Source of “glory” (light)? _______ ______ ______________ The Apostle Paul & the Glorified Lord Jesus Christ T he Apostle Paul saw the Lord Jesus Christ after the Lord Jesus was crucified and ascended into heaven to be in the presence of God the Father. Remember, God the Father is ___________ (I John 1:5). Thinking back to Acts 26:13: What did Paul see from he aven? ___ __________ How bright? ______________________ _________ Who was this? (Hint: see verse 15) _______________________________ 2 Remember some of the words we used earlier in t his lesson to describe light? List two of these from Acts 26:13 _____ ___________ _________________ and from Matthew 17:2 _ __________________ ______________________ Moses & God, the Father’s “Glory” God’s glory is very powerful and bright. Mos es asked God, “... I beseech thee, shew me thy glory ....” Find this verse using your Strong’s Concordance and write it here _ _________________ In verse 20, what did God say would happen to Moses if God were to show His face? _____ _________ _______ T ell me, in your own words, how God showed Moses His “glory” (light) (s ee verses 22 - 23) ________________________________________ _______________________________ _______________________________________________________________________ ___________________________ ____________________________________________ __________________________ _____________________________________________ In the nex t chapter , in verse 29, what did Moses’ face do? _________ ____________ Was this just a little or a lot? (see verse 30) ________ _______ Who was the Source? ______ ______ _____________ What seems to happen to those who are in the presence of God? __ ________________ A Tent in The Wilderness God told M o ses, Exo 25:8 And let them make me a sanctuary; that I may dwell among them. Exo 25:9 According to all that I shew thee, after the pattern of the tabernacle, and the pattern of all the instruments the reof, even so shall ye make it. This would be called the tabernacle of the congregation It would also be called the ‘ tent ’ of the meeting. This is wh ere Israel would come to do all the rituals of the ordinances The ‘ tent ’ in the wilderness was what we com monly call the Tabernacle. G od instructed Moses exa ctly how to build it becau se God w anted it to represent the human Body of Jesus Christ. But this tabernacle was a ‘tent ’ because this was a temp oral place for God to dwell As we will expound later in o ur study on God ’ s ‘ purpose ’ for this ‘ tent ’ in the wilderness, we can fi rst see that God ’ s glory was seen in this ‘ tent. ’ Notice Exodus Chapter 40. 3 Exo 40:33 And he reared up the court round about the tabernacle and the altar, and set up the hanging of t he court gate. So, Moses finished the work. Exo 40:34 Then a cloud covered the tent of the congregation, and the ________ of the LOR D filled the tabernacle. What di d Exodus 25:8 state as a reason for Moses to build the t abernacle? It was so that God may __________ among them. So, when we read in Exodus 40:34 that the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle , we can know that this was when God was ‘ dwe lling ’ in the tabernacle. Let ’ s read on. Exo 40:35 And Moses was not able to enter into the tent of the c ongregation, because the cloud abode thereon, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle. Exo 40:36 And when the cloud was taken up from over the tabernacle, the children of Israel went onward in all their journeys: Exo 40:37 But if the cloud were n ot taken up, then they journeyed not till the day that it was taken up. Exo 40:38 For the cloud of the LORD was upon the tabernacle by day, and _______ was on it by night, in the sight of all the house of Israel, throughout all their journeys. Of course , t he tabernac le wasn ’ t literally on fire. Fire is a descriptive way of tal king about the light that was emanating from it . This light is often referred to as the “ She k inah Glory ” of God. This is because the Hebrew word for ‘ tab ernacle ’ is a ‘ form ’ of the Heb rew word “ Shekinah ” The Hebrew word for tabernacle is shaw - kan' ... which means to ‘ live or dwell. ’ So, even though the Hebrew word shekinah is not found in the Bible, it literally means the “ dwelling glory of God ” a nd is used in Hebrew writings We coul d a l so refer to it as the ‘ ten t glory of God ’ or the ‘ carnal dwelling glo ry of God. ’ This i s an important fact to put in our memory as we continue with this study. The f act that G od made his light visible to the children of Israel is consistent with the m ani festation of God. God is light. Of course , n ot only is God associated with visible lig ht, but with light in the sense of the knowledge of truth as well. There is a v erse in the Bible that tells us this. It h as the phrase “ To open their eyes ... ” and it a lso has the phrase “ darkness to light. ” Use your concordance to find this verse and writ e t he reference here _____________________. So, “ light ” is associated with God as concerns truth . But He is very much as sociated with visible light. In the end of ti me when ther e is a ‘ new ea rth ’ we read, Rev 21:23 And the city had no need of the sun, neither o f the moon, to shine in it : for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof Rev 21:24 And the nations of them which are saved shall wal k in the light of it: and the kings of the earth do bring their glory and honour into it. Rev 2 1:25 And the gates of it shall not be shut at all by day: for there shall be no night there. W here God dwells th ere is visible light. This is vitally importan t as we continue in our study. So, for this stu dy l et ’ s focus on the visible ligh t of God. 4 Lu cifer “in the beginning” D o we find the creation of Lucifer in Genesis Chapter 1? _______ Before Go d created the earth that we now live on, He created Lucifer and ange ls. God asked Job, “Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth?” (Job 38 :4). When we read Job 38: 7, we can see that when God “laid the foundations of the earth” the angels w ere already there to “sing together”. (“Morning stars” and “sons of God” refer to angels). If Lucifer was already in existence when God made the earth we now live on, where was Luc ifer before the earth was made? Some think that the only thing that exi sted when Lucifer rebelled against God was heaven, but let’ s conside r something el se. What if Lucifer had n ever been in heaven? What if G od had the “eart h” in a different state tha n we know it today and it was on a very different earth tha n we know today that Lucifer rebelled against God? Let’s let Scripture tell us. Please read E zekiel 28:12 - 14. What i s the name used for Lucifer in verse 14? ______ __________________________ Wher e had Lucifer been (verse 13)? _______________________________________ _ We also see from verse 14 , Eze 28:14 Thou art the anoint ed cherub that covereth; and I have set thee so: thou wast upon the holy ________________ of God; thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire. We must realize that this is not a literal ‘ mountain. ’ This is symbolic language for the ‘ g overning place ’ of God. Jus t as a mountain is ‘ high ’ so is God ’ s throne a nd the place from which He governs. Lucifer was in the place of God ’ s governing ce nter In verse 16 God proclaims he will be cast out of the “ mo untain of God. ” There will then no long er be a place for Lucifer in the government of God. How does ver se 13 and verse 14 describe how God ’ s governing center must have looked? W e must be careful to unde rstand that these gemstones were not necessarily on fire. Just as the tabernacle was desc ribed as being on fire , here in this pas sage , “St ones of fire” is a very descriptive way to explain what happens to gemstones when LIGHT hi ts them. The word for ‘ fire ’ is the same Heb rew word used in Exodus Chap ter 40 describing the tabernacle. When LIG HT hits gemstones they refract and reflect that LIGHT and become b rilliant These wer e brilliant, bright gemstones because LIGHT was on them. Who do yo u t hink was the source of the LIGHT to make these gemstones “on fire”? ____________ Does this sound lik e the Garden of E de n that Adam and Eve were in? _________ _ In vers e 13, how many of the precious stones that God made were Lucifer’s covering? __________ _ _ 5 There is a partial listing of them in verse 13. Write some of them here ______ __________________ _______________________________________________ From verse s 13 and 14 we find tha t Go d allowed Lucifer to do two things with these gemstones. What were t h ey? _______________________________________________ Let’s consider that this Eden was not the same Eden that Adam and Eve were in, but rather the same place - only dif ferent: a pl ace without plants or tre es, without a sun and moon ... a place that e xist ed before Adam and Eve ... a place that existed before Lucifer rebelled against God Let’s call this place the pre - redemptive earth. Why call it this? Becaus e it didn ’t need r edee ming before Lucifer’s reb ellion. Remember, this all took place before pla nts, animals, or even human life were created. Where Lucifer Rebell ed We are considering that Lucif er was not in heaven when he rebelled, but on a pre - redemp tive ea rt h in a place called _ ________, walking up and down in the midst o f brilliant gemstones. Some people will reject this idea, saying he was in heaven wh en he “fell” I personally don’t like r eferring to Lucifer’s rebellion as a fall because it conf u ses our m inds as to what r eally happened. If it was a rebellion, why do people call it a fall? Many people point to a verse in Isaiah 14 with a misundersta nding as to what the verse is really say ing. Let’s take a look at Isaiah 14:12 . Where does it s ay L ucifer has fallen from? ______________ _ At first glance, it seems tha t when Lucifer rebelled a gainst God, even before trees, animals, plants, or Adam and Ev e were created , he was in heaven, but th is is not true! Remember, we are reading prophecy and pro p hecy wil l refer back to t he past but will also refer to an event as th ough it has already happe ned, even when it has not yet happened. Let’s demonstrate thi s concept. Help me find the verse, it g oes: “But he was wounded for our transgressions ...” a nd w rite the Scripture referen ce here ___________________ How many times does the word ‘was’ occur i n this passage? _______ How many times do we find the word ‘ are’ ? ______ In verse 6, it says: “the Lor d hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.” What tense in the Engl ish lan guage a re Hath , and was , past, pr esent, or future? ______________ Isaiah lived and wrote this Scripture many years before Christ w as even born, yet he wrote in the past tense. With the certainty of this future eve nt h appening, Isaiah wrot e as if i t had already happened. Much prophecy i s written like this and when Isaiah is talking about Lucifer falling from heaven in Isaiah 14:12, he is writing with confidence that a future event w ill happen! There is a Scripture ref erence that tells us when this will happen It involves verses 7 thro ugh 12 and goes like this: “And there was war i n heaven ...” Write the reference here __________ This is when Lucifer will fall from heaven. It is ye t future. 6