For the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea.
The earth is to be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as fully and widely as the waters cover the sea, spreading throughout the world and not confined to a few places. That knowledge is the knowledge of God and of Jesus Christ, His saving truth and light and glory made known through the opened Bible and the preached gospel, which is the highest education. It belongs to the prophecy that will surely be fulfilled at its appointed time at the end, when truth triumphs, every deception is broken forever, and the purposes of God are finally established. The filling comes as Christ works through consecrated human agents, through the Word made effective by the Holy Spirit, through preaching and publishing and Spirit-filled workers going forth, and above all in the proclamation of the third angel's message with great power when the earth is lightened with glory. It is received where self is surrendered, trust in man is put away, and Christ's righteousness is accepted by faith, so that His witnesses reveal His glory in lives that magnify God.
Wording and Meaning
The earth is to be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as completely and widely as the waters cover the sea. That covering is total, reaching throughout the whole earth and spreading over the world rather than being confined to a few places or concentrated in one place or center.
The knowledge that fills the earth is knowledge of God and of Jesus Christ, of His wonderful truth and unsurpassed glory, of salvation and light. It is made known through the Bible opened and the gospel preached to all nations, through the Word which the Holy Spirit makes effective in human hearts. This knowing of God is the highest education, bringing enlightenment to those who receive it.
The filling of the earth with glory is the beaming forth of the Sun of Righteousness to penetrate every depth and reach every height. Then truth long obscured and not clearly discerned will be clearly revealed and opened before those who search for it as hidden treasure. That worldwide display is righteousness and praise springing up before all the nations.
Prophetic Context and Fulfillment
The verse belongs to the prophecy of Habakkuk 2 that will not tarry beyond the appointed time, being the word of the Lord for the last days. It will soon be witnessed just as described and will surely be fulfilled, as surely as the desolation of San Francisco was seen. It stands within Habakkuk 2:3-20 as a clear description of scenes of destruction and desolation that will soon come and be universal in the last day. It gives a faint description of the reality now unfolding at the end, when the end is near. That coming calls everyone to be ready also, because the Son of man comes in an hour not thought of, before whose coming all must be ready amid those universal scenes.
In that time Satan is drilling his army to develop strong parties ready for the great battle of the last great conflict, evil shall spring forth, and men in high places supposing themselves wise will block the way. Wisdom is needed then, the work must be divided and subdivided with men selected as ordained caretakers, and the King's highway must be cleared. The global revealing of God's glory to fill the whole earth as completely as the waters cover the sea is connected with a work of warning to the world that must be given before the storm of end-time events breaks. This worldwide revelation is the final warning work to be given before the gathering storm of coming events breaks upon the world.
The verse points to the promised Messiah's coming, that the whole world would be filled with knowledge of the glory of the Lord. The Magi's study of the heavens and the Hebrew Scriptures led them to learn that His coming was near and that this worldwide knowledge would follow. The verse has also been used to describe an expected temporal millennium, a future period when the earth would be filled with knowledge of the Lord as taught by the presiding elder. That expectation stands contrasted with the hope of Jesus' soon coming.
The verse shows the final triumph and establishment of all God's purposes, when truth triumphs bright like the sun at noon and like the sun at noonday and fills the whole earth with God's glory. God's law is joined to His throne and linked with it and cannot be destroyed by Satan working with men and by satanic and human agencies. Truth is inspired and guarded by God and will live and succeed even when it appears overshadowed. The gospel of Christ is the law lived out in character and exemplified in character, and it prevails. Every deception, every defense of falsehood and false vindication, and every error forged by Satan will be broken forever and eternally broken, and the Sun of Righteousness will shine with healing in His wings and shine forth with healing.
Means of Worldwide Spread
The knowledge of the Lord's glory is to be made known through human agents whom Christ sets to work for others and joins with His divine power, for this is His ordained means of communicating the living Word, and even amid war, famine, pestilence and calamities the truth is to be made known. That knowledge comes through the Word, which the Holy Spirit makes effective in human hearts, while miraculous manifestations do not replace or surpass the Word. The worldwide spread is commanded by the same Voice that commanded light at creation, and it is not to be confined to a few places but to cover the whole earth in the last days.
It advances from centers such as Nashville through preaching of the Word and through publishing books large and small, with workers of missionary spirit going forth as heralds of the morning while Christ, heaven's Conqueror, is in their midst, and truth and righteousness live and continue to shine amid the darkness of this degenerate age. It is God's wonderful truth brought to people through the Bible being opened and the gospel preached to all nations, which is the highest education and the truth by which the earth will be covered. It is fulfilled as believers made full of deep, far-reaching benevolence and intense longing by the Holy Spirit are aroused to do their part, go to the ends of the earth testifying of the cross of Christ, give the message of mercy to those in the darkness of error and unbelief, and add to the church those who will be saved, with the same power given at Pentecost continuing today to reap fields white unto the harvest and carry the work to the regions beyond.
The filling happens during the proclamation of the third angel's message with great power and the loud cry, when another angel comes down from heaven and the earth is lightened with his glory. Then the Spirit of the Lord graciously and universally blesses consecrated human instrumentalities, so that men, women and children open their lips in praise and testimony and share the knowledge of salvation. So the church, aided by the providential interpositions of her exalted Lord, diffuses the knowledge of salvation and present truth so abundantly through intensely active agencies crowned with success by the renewing Spirit that light is communicated to every city and town and is seen flashing everywhere, while those who have held the beginning of their confidence firm unto the end are wide-awake. Medical missionary work will broaden and deepen at every point of its progress because of the inflowing of hundreds and thousands of streams until the whole earth is covered as the waters cover the sea.
Though sin has marred the world with its curse, the Lord is mercifully carrying out His plan to fill the earth with His glory, and His goodness and inexhaustible bounty provide ample means for the work of making the light of truth shine throughout the world. The filling will come soon when the clouds with which human agencies have covered the truth are dissipated and the Sun of Righteousness beams forth to penetrate every depth and reach every height. Then the truth that has not been clearly discerned and is now obscured will be clearly revealed and opened before those who search for it as hidden treasure, and the Holy Spirit will descend in power upon His people explaining many mysteries, so that all know Him and dissension and strife and selfish thoughts are put away.
Call to Missionary Service
The promise that the knowledge of the Lord's glory will spread throughout the earth as completely as water covers the sea calls for missionary work to be distributed among many localities rather than concentrated in one place. The work of sharing that knowledge is to reach many places instead of being gathered into one center. The Lord is not glorified when mission work and spiritual resources are concentrated in one place while other parts of the field are left without them, and the work should spread through many localities so that people everywhere can know God.
That worldwide filling is to be accomplished by the whole church, not only by people in positions of responsibility, with every member serving under Christ's guidance and power as part of a united, active missionary agency. It is the result toward which the church's witness works, for the truth is to reach all nations, bringing people to salvation. God's design is for the standard of truth to cover the earth as the waters cover the sea, and the gospel and the last message of warning are to reach the whole world. Misuse of resources entrusted by God hinders that work and keeps people from receiving the message.
The time when the whole earth shall be filled with the light and the glory of the Lord calls for a special work to be done now. God's people are now to pray for the Holy Spirit's guidance and to seek the Lord with the whole heart that they may find Him. Having received the light of the three angels' messages, they are to come decidedly to the front and take their position on the side of truth. This hope that the knowledge of God's glory will fill the whole earth as completely as waters cover the sea calls people of every age to search God's Word.
Conditions and Spiritual Life
The earth is filled with the Lord's glory when people stop trusting in human wisdom and make God their source of strength. This is seen when God's people cease to trust in man and make God their efficiency, presenting the cross of Calvary and crying to every soul to behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. That keynote vibrates to every soul and brings joy to the heavenly intelligences. This worldwide display is connected with preparing a people for the day of God and proclaiming the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus, with the cross of Christ at the center.
The filling comes when the human will is given up to God's will in unreserved consecration and entire surrender to God. It requires leaning upon Him and looking to Him for wisdom, gaining efficiency and power from Him, with the talents He has entrusted placed under the control of one holy power so that the earthly blends with the heavenly. The earth becomes filled with God's glory when men and women give themselves wholly to being a blessing to others, which is the way to be most happy. This was taught by Jesus through teaching and healing in the region around the Sea of Galilee.
The light of the knowledge of God's glory is shining now, but those who reject Jesus as personal Savior and cling to a legal religion will not understand it. Accepting Christ's free gift opens the way to receive that light. The impartation of Christ's justifying righteousness is the blessing through which this glory filling the whole earth is revealed. Praise and thanksgiving from those who receive it, including God's commandment-keeping witnesses, mark them as precious in His sight.
The truth is to spread throughout the earth and fill it with God's glory, with every action magnifying and exalting the God of truth. As Christ is magnified through a person, that person's self-importance decreases. God gives each person work and calls each worker to plan and cooperate with Him. He is gathering a people for Himself and calls human beings to cooperate with Him in His work of restoration without forcing them, and their future welfare depends on their choice.
The whole earth being filled with God's glory is the highest earthly aim that all must keep in view, requiring a life that measures with the life of God with no plans for independent action. For a minister of the gospel it demands no evasion of truth and righteousness but decided change, thorough reconversion, and use of his God-pledged life in working out the only plan whereby men must be saved. Those who share in the overcomer's disappointments, joys and successes here will share the reward of the faithful in the great hereafter.
The earth is to be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as fully and widely as the waters cover the sea, spreading throughout the world and not confined to a few places. That knowledge is the knowledge of God and of Jesus Christ, His saving truth and light and glory made known through the opened Bible and the preached gospel, which is the highest education. It belongs to the prophecy that will surely be fulfilled at its appointed time at the end, when truth triumphs, every deception is broken forever, and the purposes of God are finally established. The filling comes as Christ works through consecrated human agents, through the Word made effective by the Holy Spirit, through preaching and publishing and Spirit-filled workers going forth, and above all in the proclamation of the third angel's message with great power when the earth is lightened with glory. It is received where self is surrendered, trust in man is put away, and Christ's righteousness is accepted by faith, so that His witnesses reveal His glory in lives that magnify God.
Wording and Meaning
The earth is to be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as completely and widely as the waters cover the sea. That covering is total, reaching throughout the whole earth and spreading over the world rather than being confined to a few places or concentrated in one place or center.
The knowledge that fills the earth is knowledge of God and of Jesus Christ, of His wonderful truth and unsurpassed glory, of salvation and light. It is made known through the Bible opened and the gospel preached to all nations, through the Word which the Holy Spirit makes effective in human hearts. This knowing of God is the highest education, bringing enlightenment to those who receive it.
The filling of the earth with glory is the beaming forth of the Sun of Righteousness to penetrate every depth and reach every height. Then truth long obscured and not clearly discerned will be clearly revealed and opened before those who search for it as hidden treasure. That worldwide display is righteousness and praise springing up before all the nations.
Prophetic Context and Fulfillment
The verse belongs to the prophecy of Habakkuk 2 that will not tarry beyond the appointed time, being the word of the Lord for the last days. It will soon be witnessed just as described and will surely be fulfilled, as surely as the desolation of San Francisco was seen. It stands within Habakkuk 2:3-20 as a clear description of scenes of destruction and desolation that will soon come and be universal in the last day. It gives a faint description of the reality now unfolding at the end, when the end is near. That coming calls everyone to be ready also, because the Son of man comes in an hour not thought of, before whose coming all must be ready amid those universal scenes.
In that time Satan is drilling his army to develop strong parties ready for the great battle of the last great conflict, evil shall spring forth, and men in high places supposing themselves wise will block the way. Wisdom is needed then, the work must be divided and subdivided with men selected as ordained caretakers, and the King's highway must be cleared. The global revealing of God's glory to fill the whole earth as completely as the waters cover the sea is connected with a work of warning to the world that must be given before the storm of end-time events breaks. This worldwide revelation is the final warning work to be given before the gathering storm of coming events breaks upon the world.
The verse points to the promised Messiah's coming, that the whole world would be filled with knowledge of the glory of the Lord. The Magi's study of the heavens and the Hebrew Scriptures led them to learn that His coming was near and that this worldwide knowledge would follow. The verse has also been used to describe an expected temporal millennium, a future period when the earth would be filled with knowledge of the Lord as taught by the presiding elder. That expectation stands contrasted with the hope of Jesus' soon coming.
The verse shows the final triumph and establishment of all God's purposes, when truth triumphs bright like the sun at noon and like the sun at noonday and fills the whole earth with God's glory. God's law is joined to His throne and linked with it and cannot be destroyed by Satan working with men and by satanic and human agencies. Truth is inspired and guarded by God and will live and succeed even when it appears overshadowed. The gospel of Christ is the law lived out in character and exemplified in character, and it prevails. Every deception, every defense of falsehood and false vindication, and every error forged by Satan will be broken forever and eternally broken, and the Sun of Righteousness will shine with healing in His wings and shine forth with healing.
Means of Worldwide Spread
The knowledge of the Lord's glory is to be made known through human agents whom Christ sets to work for others and joins with His divine power, for this is His ordained means of communicating the living Word, and even amid war, famine, pestilence and calamities the truth is to be made known. That knowledge comes through the Word, which the Holy Spirit makes effective in human hearts, while miraculous manifestations do not replace or surpass the Word. The worldwide spread is commanded by the same Voice that commanded light at creation, and it is not to be confined to a few places but to cover the whole earth in the last days.
It advances from centers such as Nashville through preaching of the Word and through publishing books large and small, with workers of missionary spirit going forth as heralds of the morning while Christ, heaven's Conqueror, is in their midst, and truth and righteousness live and continue to shine amid the darkness of this degenerate age. It is God's wonderful truth brought to people through the Bible being opened and the gospel preached to all nations, which is the highest education and the truth by which the earth will be covered. It is fulfilled as believers made full of deep, far-reaching benevolence and intense longing by the Holy Spirit are aroused to do their part, go to the ends of the earth testifying of the cross of Christ, give the message of mercy to those in the darkness of error and unbelief, and add to the church those who will be saved, with the same power given at Pentecost continuing today to reap fields white unto the harvest and carry the work to the regions beyond.
The filling happens during the proclamation of the third angel's message with great power and the loud cry, when another angel comes down from heaven and the earth is lightened with his glory. Then the Spirit of the Lord graciously and universally blesses consecrated human instrumentalities, so that men, women and children open their lips in praise and testimony and share the knowledge of salvation. So the church, aided by the providential interpositions of her exalted Lord, diffuses the knowledge of salvation and present truth so abundantly through intensely active agencies crowned with success by the renewing Spirit that light is communicated to every city and town and is seen flashing everywhere, while those who have held the beginning of their confidence firm unto the end are wide-awake. Medical missionary work will broaden and deepen at every point of its progress because of the inflowing of hundreds and thousands of streams until the whole earth is covered as the waters cover the sea.
Though sin has marred the world with its curse, the Lord is mercifully carrying out His plan to fill the earth with His glory, and His goodness and inexhaustible bounty provide ample means for the work of making the light of truth shine throughout the world. The filling will come soon when the clouds with which human agencies have covered the truth are dissipated and the Sun of Righteousness beams forth to penetrate every depth and reach every height. Then the truth that has not been clearly discerned and is now obscured will be clearly revealed and opened before those who search for it as hidden treasure, and the Holy Spirit will descend in power upon His people explaining many mysteries, so that all know Him and dissension and strife and selfish thoughts are put away.
Call to Missionary Service
The promise that the knowledge of the Lord's glory will spread throughout the earth as completely as water covers the sea calls for missionary work to be distributed among many localities rather than concentrated in one place. The work of sharing that knowledge is to reach many places instead of being gathered into one center. The Lord is not glorified when mission work and spiritual resources are concentrated in one place while other parts of the field are left without them, and the work should spread through many localities so that people everywhere can know God.
That worldwide filling is to be accomplished by the whole church, not only by people in positions of responsibility, with every member serving under Christ's guidance and power as part of a united, active missionary agency. It is the result toward which the church's witness works, for the truth is to reach all nations, bringing people to salvation. God's design is for the standard of truth to cover the earth as the waters cover the sea, and the gospel and the last message of warning are to reach the whole world. Misuse of resources entrusted by God hinders that work and keeps people from receiving the message.
The time when the whole earth shall be filled with the light and the glory of the Lord calls for a special work to be done now. God's people are now to pray for the Holy Spirit's guidance and to seek the Lord with the whole heart that they may find Him. Having received the light of the three angels' messages, they are to come decidedly to the front and take their position on the side of truth. This hope that the knowledge of God's glory will fill the whole earth as completely as waters cover the sea calls people of every age to search God's Word.
Conditions and Spiritual Life
The earth is filled with the Lord's glory when people stop trusting in human wisdom and make God their source of strength. This is seen when God's people cease to trust in man and make God their efficiency, presenting the cross of Calvary and crying to every soul to behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. That keynote vibrates to every soul and brings joy to the heavenly intelligences. This worldwide display is connected with preparing a people for the day of God and proclaiming the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus, with the cross of Christ at the center.
The filling comes when the human will is given up to God's will in unreserved consecration and entire surrender to God. It requires leaning upon Him and looking to Him for wisdom, gaining efficiency and power from Him, with the talents He has entrusted placed under the control of one holy power so that the earthly blends with the heavenly. The earth becomes filled with God's glory when men and women give themselves wholly to being a blessing to others, which is the way to be most happy. This was taught by Jesus through teaching and healing in the region around the Sea of Galilee.
The light of the knowledge of God's glory is shining now, but those who reject Jesus as personal Savior and cling to a legal religion will not understand it. Accepting Christ's free gift opens the way to receive that light. The impartation of Christ's justifying righteousness is the blessing through which this glory filling the whole earth is revealed. Praise and thanksgiving from those who receive it, including God's commandment-keeping witnesses, mark them as precious in His sight.
The truth is to spread throughout the earth and fill it with God's glory, with every action magnifying and exalting the God of truth. As Christ is magnified through a person, that person's self-importance decreases. God gives each person work and calls each worker to plan and cooperate with Him. He is gathering a people for Himself and calls human beings to cooperate with Him in His work of restoration without forcing them, and their future welfare depends on their choice.
The whole earth being filled with God's glory is the highest earthly aim that all must keep in view, requiring a life that measures with the life of God with no plans for independent action. For a minister of the gospel it demands no evasion of truth and righteousness but decided change, thorough reconversion, and use of his God-pledged life in working out the only plan whereby men must be saved. Those who share in the overcomer's disappointments, joys and successes here will share the reward of the faithful in the great hereafter.