Pondering "HOLINESS"

2011

As I read through Old Testament scripture, I keep seeing the word “holy” and something is stirring in my mind.  Something penetrating, causing me to question this word that I have heard and read so many times, and believing that I understood the meaning…at least in part.  What is “holy”?  

God is.  

We cannot be holy.   At least that is the premise of my thoughts on holiness to date.  Like many other words that describe God and make him distinct from man, using words in my own language in spite of their relative insufficiency for the job: perfect, righteous, pure…none of which we can be. 

But as I read through the book of Exodus, I am seeing this word “holy” used as an adjective to describe a variety of things that aren’t God.  The anointing oil which God told the Israelites to create for one very special purpose and to be used for nothing else, never to be replicated; the perfume which God designed for the temple and again set it apart from all other perfumes, never to be made by anyone but the priest, or used outside of the temple; The Ark of the Covenant and the room in which it was to be kept, the “Holiest of Holies”; the Sabbath, or seventh day is also  called holy, to be set apart, distinct from all other days.  What makes these holy?  Is there something intrinsic about any of these things (with the exception of the Sabbath) which have been made by human hands?  

The only commonality among this variety of things called “holy” is that God set them apart.  God himself made a distinction between these things and others like them.  There are many oils commonly used, especially in the days of Moses, but this oil God said was to be set apart for God’s intended use; the perfume likewise.  There were many beautifully hand crafted items within the temple, but the Ark of the Covenant was set aside by God for a distinct purpose.  There are seven days in the week, but the seventh God set apart from the rest for a distinct purpose.  Is it holy because God rested thereon?  Or did God rest thereon to set an example for us, showing us the purpose for that day? 

With these thoughts in mind, what is holiness if not an attribute of God?  Is God like anything else that we humans know, see, hear, or experience?  No.  He is set apart, high above, by far exceeding any other god, man, or other created thing.  He is Holy.

What about us?  What am I to think of the holiness of His people in light of these thoughts?

Actually, it makes so much more sense perceiving our holiness, my own holiness, in light of this... 

We are not holy because of any intrinsic value we hold, or because of anything that we have done or will do, but because God has set us apart from the rest of the world and called us Holy.  Like the oil and perfume of the temple, we are all different blends of the same product, really.  But God has set us apart from the rest for a distinct purpose.  What God has created in the hearts of those whom he has indwelt with His Spirit is something that cannot be replicated by the rest of the world, no matter how hard they try to do the works or be used for the same purpose, they cannot replicate what God has done in those of us who follow him, those whom he has set apart and called Holy…those whom he has planned to use for His purpose.  

This vessel that my soul indwells is nothing special, not very different from many other vessels like it, but God himself has set it aside from the rest for a reason, with a distinct purpose in mind—not to be used for any other.  He has made it fit for that purpose and empowered it to that end. That is what makes me holy.  And that is exciting!