Glory of the Lord

In the Old Testament, “glory” has two primary meanings when used in reference to the God of Israel. The first is God’s honor or reputation. This is the usage in verses such as Isaiah 48:11, where the Lord says, “For mine own sake, even for mine own sake, will I do it: for how should my name be polluted? and I will not give my glory unto another.” Note here how the Lord associates His glory with His name. (“Name” also refers to honor or reputation in the Old Testament.) The other primary meaning of “glory” is the visible presence of the Lord. His presence is described in various ways in the Old Testament, including as a pillar of fire or a pillar of cloud (Exodus 13:21–22), as a cloud (Exodus 40:34), and as smoke (Isaiah 6:1–4). Using “glory” to refer to God’s visible presence is a practice that continued into New Testament times and beyond. At Jesus’s birth, the glory of the Lord shone around the angels (Luke 2:9). When Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ appeared to Joseph Smith during the First Vision, the pillar of light that They appeared in is a modern example of the glory of the Lord as His presence. In the 1835 account of the First Vision, Joseph Smith even described seeing a pillar of fire.