Here is his blog on "The Glory of God".
The first mention of the appearance of the glory of God is found in the story of the Exodus. God appeared to the entire congregation of Israel on Mount Sinai. Beforehand, they were warned not to approach the mountain because anyone or anything (including animals) would die immediately if they even touched the base of the mountain. In that situation, it was the first and only time God appeared and spoke directly to such a large gathering of people. The appearance of the glory of God and the sound of His voice was so intense and terrifying to the people, they begged Moses to ask God not to talk to them directly any more but to speak to them through Moses.
The glory of God also led them daily through the wilderness and dwelt in the tabernacle during their time of wondering. Every time Moses spoke to God, he had to cover his face afterwards because his face shown with the reflection and exposure to the glory of God
There is also a story in Exodus when two of Aaron’s sons decided they had the authority and position to approach the Holy of Holy’s uninvited. They were struck down (killed) on the spot.
This was the light that the shepherds experienced on Christmas night and why they were so afraid.
Tradition says that these shepherds were probably watching the Jerusalem temple’s flock of sacrificial sheep, so these were no ordinary shepherds. They were probably very familiar with the stories of unworthy people suffering the consequences of approaching the presence of God uninvited.
So, when they were surrounded and enveloped by the shekinah light of Gods glorious presence, they had every reason to be afraid for their lives (and it wasn’t because of aliens). It wasn’t because they were just startled by a bright light in the darkness, although that can be very disconcerting. It was the fear of a powerful and Holy God whose very presence reveals our shortcomings and fallibility. But it was this very God, whose perfect completeness exposes our lack, that chose to encompass Himself in vulnerable baby flesh. He clothed His all consuming light in this tiny body in order to cover our shame, our shortcomings, our fallibilities and everything we lack, so we could experience freedom from fear and death and take part in His amazing gift of peace and grace.
This was the message the angel of the Lord shared with the shepherds: Do not fear but take part in the peace, grace and love your Heavenly Father has given you through the sacrifice of His son that was born this very day in Bethlehem.
May His peace cover you this Christmas and remind you that He has covered all that has separated us from Himself and we can approach him without fear and partake in the peaceful light of His Glory.
