Holiness
Psalms 96:9
“Oh, worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness! Tremble before Him, all the earth.”
“Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come”. These are the words of the four Living Creatures in chapter 4 of the book of Revelation. Stationed around God’s throne, they do not rest day or night, but stand before Him eternally, saying: “Holy, Holy, Holy”. In the book of Isaiah, chapter 6, we see a similar vision. This time, the Seraphim (an order of Angels), call to one another from God’s throne room: “Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord Almighty; the whole earth is full of His glory”.
As they call out these words, it is written that the thresholds of the very place they were standing in began to shake, “and the temple was filled with smoke”. Such was the power and intensity of God’s Holiness. It’s worth noting that the Angels in heaven could have chosen any word to praise and worship God. They could have said “mighty” or “powerful” or “wonderful”, but instead they chose “Holy”. Above all other attributes of the Lord, they chose to praise His Holiness.
So, what is Holiness? What makes something or someone Holy? In the Old Testament the term “Holy” is translated from the Hebrew word “Kadosh”, which means “set apart” or “consecrated”, among other things. This means that to be Holy is to be cut off from the ordinary. To be Holy is to be uncommon or to be made separate from the majority. The interesting thing about Holiness is that it isn’t only applicable to living things, but objects and even certain locations, can be made Holy.
In the book of Exodus, we see God declaring a number of places, things and items of clothing to be Holy. Exodus chapter 28 verse 2 reads: “And you shall make holy garments for Aaron your brother, for glory and for beauty.” Aaron was the brother of Moses, and the high priest of the Israelites. Here, God was giving instruction on how he wanted the priesthood to operate and present themselves.
In chapter 29, God goes on to instruct the people to consecrate the altar, and then He says, “the altar will be most holy, and whatever touches it will be holy”. As well as this, the place where God’s presence was said to dwell among the Israelites was also declared Holy. In fact, it was called the Holy of Holies, or the Most Holy place. This was located at the centre of the tabernacle, or the tent of meeting, which was the Israelite place of worship. It was said to be the dwelling place of God’s presence on earth, before the building of the temple and ultimately, the tearing of the veil, at the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. It's important to know that these holy places, things and clothes, weren’t simply set apart for the sake of being set apart, but each served a particular purpose.
2 Timothy 2:20-21
“In a large house there are articles not only of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay; some are for special purposes and some for common use. 21 Those who cleanse themselves from the latter will be instruments for special purposes, made holy, useful to the Master and prepared to do any good work.”
So, we see that Holiness involves not only being set apart, but being set apart for a “special purpose”. As it said in the scripture, out of the common vessels, some had been separated, made “Holy”, or in some versions “Sanctified” for God, the Master, who is then able to use those vessels for every good work. In other words, God does not make things or people Holy in vain, but always for the accomplishment of a particular assignment. For example, the garments of Aaron were designed to be a mark of distinction for him. To set him apart as God’s representative to the people, and as the people’s representative to God.
The passage also states that his garments were made “for glory and for beauty”. So, God also purposed that in wearing those priestly garments, Aaron’s appearance would be glorified and beautiful, in order to reflect the glory and beauty of God himself, to the people of Israel. Likewise, the altar needed to be consecrated unto God so that it would be made holy for the purpose of presenting sacrifices unto God. And the Holy of Holies, the most Holy place, needed to be kept pure and undefiled for the purpose of housing the presence of God Himself.
So, we see that defining Holiness involves both status and purpose. To be Holy is to have the status of being set apart or consecrated, for the fulfilment of a specific purpose, set by God. Now, we’ve explored what it means to be Holy in a general sense, but some questions still remain. What exactly does it mean for God to be Holy? Why is God Holy, and what is the nature of His Holiness? And how can we, as fallen beings, become Holy too? Look out for the next edition of The Daily Crusade for part 2 of this meditation on Holiness, to find out.