And the spirit took me up, and I heard behind me the voice of a great commotion, saying: Blessed be the glory of the Lord, from his place.
וַתִּשָּׂאֵ֣נִי ר֔וּחַ וָאֶשְׁמַ֣ע אַחֲרַ֔י ק֖וֹל רַ֣עַשׁ גָּד֑וֹל בָּר֥וּךְ כְּבוֹד־יְהוָ֖ה מִמְּקוֹמֽוֹ׃
3 Church Fathers comment on this verse
The cherubim proclaim, "Blessed be the glory of the Lord from His dwelling," not implying that God is limited to a specific location—may it be so that there is none—but rather in our human understanding: wherever He exists or however He manifests, if it is permissible to express such thoughts regarding the Divine, given the limitations of our language.
The Almighty, of whom it is said, 'The Lord receives the meek' (Psalm 146:6), also took up the prophet who operated not in the flesh but in the spirit. As he walked in the spirit, he did not perform the deeds of the flesh, for the Spirit of God was within him. Therefore, esteeming the things of earth lightly, he was lifted up in the spirit and heard a voice behind him, accompanied by a tremendous trembling, forgetting what had come before and pressing on toward what lay ahead, leaving the schemes of his adversaries behind. A similar account is found in Exodus (Ex. 14), where Pharaoh and his entire army chased after Israel. The angel who was in the pillar of cloud withdrew from the forefront of the camp and stood between Israel and the Egyptians throughout the night.
Once the enemies were struck with fear, Israel heard: 'Blessed be the glory of the Lord from His place.' The presence of the Lord exists wherever He is welcomed. Indeed, the Son serves as the dwelling for the Father, just as the Father dwells within the Son, as affirmed by our Lord, 'I am in the Father, and the Father in Me' (John 14:11). Micah similarly reveals: 'Behold, the Lord will descend from His place and come down to the heights of the earth; the mountains will shake beneath Him, and the earth will melt like wax in the presence of fire, like waters that pour down' (Micah 1:3-4). The coming of our Savior and His manifestation from the Father caused the high places of the earth and the mountains to tremble, while the deepest valleys became fluid. This is the dwelling of the glory of the Lord, in the unapproachable light, of which the apostle speaks: 'He alone has immortality and dwells in unapproachable light' (1 Tim. 6:16). When we contemplate the former judgments of God in our hearts, we perceive a voice amidst a great shaking. As we turn our thoughts to the future, we hear a voice calling from ahead and from what lies before us.
Upon receiving these directives, the Prophet states, I swiftly set out to carry out the ministry, being unable to walk on my own but rather being lifted by divine aid to those I was sent to serve. He also felt an inherent sense of timidity, which led him, gripped by fear, to fulfill his task. When overcome by this cowardice, he sang the hymn, Blessed be the glory of the Lord from His place, as taught directly by God, as the prophet revealed. To the esteemed Moses, who sought to witness and comprehend God's presence, the Lord declared, No man shall see my face, and live (Ex. 33:20). He further instructed, Behold, this place is with me, and I will place you in a cleft of the rock, and I will cover you with my hand, and you shall see my back; but my face shall not be seen (Ex. 33:21-23).
This was not due to any separation of the face and the back within the divine nature, but rather, the face symbolizes the essence of God, while the back signifies God's divine actions and the various blessings bestowed upon us. Consequently, the Prophet refers to His place as goodness, through which the incomprehensible God becomes accessible to those deemed worthy, to the extent that it is possible for them to comprehend.
Passages read together with this verse.
THEOSIS