Let us go back to Exodus 40:34. This is probably what she thought of. It is the same type of language, and I am sure Gabriel was speaking in Aramaic, and it made these scriptures pop into her head.
Now remember, Gabriel had told her, the Lord is with you. That was one of the first things he told her. And then when she asked, How am I supposed to conceive without having had any sexual intercourse with a man? he told her that the glory of the Lord would come upon her. This is basically what he meant when he said that the power of God will overshadow you, just like the cloud in the wilderness provided shade for the Israelites in their journey. It was a comforting thought that God would be above them like an eagle in the nest, with its wings outspread, protecting, providing, helping, and also doing miracles on their behalf.
What is it that we think of when we think of the Israelites in the wilderness? The constant miracles that happened. If it was not dividing the Red Sea, it was providing manna. If it was not providing manna, it was providing quail. If it was not providing quail, it was providing water. If it was not providing water, it was providing shade. If it was not providing shade, it was providing that their shoes and clothes did not wear out. If it was not that, it was providing security. It was providing defeat of their enemies. It could go on and on.
Through Gabriel, God was telling her, I'm going to take care of all this. You don't have to worry, Mary. The glory of the Lord will take care of it all for you. He'll provide for you, He'll do the miraculous impregnation. You don't have to worry. It's not going to hurt a bit, because God's got this base covered.
It was very comforting I am sure for her to know that her God would overshadow her during this time, and walk with her everywhere she went, that there would be no problems because this was the most important Being ever to be born.
This is a Hebraism. I just want to give you this clue right now, early on in this sermon. These are two parallel clauses right here. They mean exactly the same thing. The cloud covered the tabernacle of meeting, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle.
Do you see what matches what?
What Moses is saying here is that the cloud is the glory of the Lord. Now, this is not exact. But, the cloud certainly represents the glory of the Lord. Just wanted to let you know that, because this is going to become important.
That is the Shekinah, the glory of the Lord, the cloud. And Moses was not able to enter the Tabernacle of Meeting because the cloud rested above it and the glory of the Lord filled the Tabernacle. You know when you compare that with Mark, back in the ninth chapter, at the transfiguration:
