Are you not from everlasting,
Habakkuk 1:12
O LORD my God, my Holy One?
We shall not die.
O LORD, you have ordained them as a judgment,
and you, O Rock, have established them for reproof.
Habakkuk addresses the Lord as “my God, my Holy One”. It is on the basis of God’s holiness that Habakkuk is confident that the nation of Israel will not die. What does it mean for someone (or something) to be holy?
Set Apart
At its core, holiness is about separation – someone or something set apart from normal use. People need to treat the holy differently than what is common (not holy). It’s not that the holy is good and the common is bad. Rather, the holy has a special purpose and is expected to always be treated as such.
The word group related to holiness in Hebrew stems from the verb קָדַשׁ (kadash), to be/make holy. It can be a noun (kodesh) or an adjective (kadosh). The word mikdash (sanctuary, a holy place) comes from this root, too. We also find it in the names of the cities Kadesh and Kedesh.
God commands to “distinguish between the holy and the common” (Leviticus 10:10). The Hebrew for “distinguish” (badal, elsewhere translated “separate”) first appears in Genesis 1 when God separated the light from the darkness (Genesis 1:4), the waters above from the waters below (Genesis 1:6, 7), and the day from the night (Genesis 1:17-18). One of God’s complaints against the people before the exile is that the priests “have made no distinction (badal) between the holy and the common” (Ezekiel 22:26).
The Holy One
Now that we’ve established what it means to be holy, the question is: what is holy?
The most obvious, of course, is God himself, as Habakkuk calls him. He is called the “Holy One of Israel” (kedosh Israel) multiple times, predominantly in Isaiah (such as Isaiah 1:4, 10:20, and 43:14). We see other places were people describe him as holy (Psalm 22:3, 1 Samuel 2:2). God’s name is likewise declared holy (Psalm 30:4, 33:21).
Most prominently, when the prophet Isaiah had a vision of seeing God on his throne, he heard the seraphim around the throne calling “Holy, holy, holy (kadosh kadosh kadosh) is the LORD of hosts; / the whole earth is full of his glory!” (Isaiah 6:3). Hebrew uses repetition for emphasis, typically repeating twice. However, God is so separate, so distinct, that his holiness is repeated three times!
Holy Time
Surprisingly, God is not the first to be called holy in the Bible. Rather, it is the Sabbath: “So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it God rested from all his work that he had done in creation” (Genesis 2:3). The first thing declared holy is time! Of all the seven days of the week, the seventh is holy. It is special and different. God would later tell Israel to keep the Sabbath holy by doing no work on it (Exodus 20:8-11).
God sets apart other times to be holy, too. He appoints festivals throughout the year, his “holy convocations” (Leviticus 23:2, 37). The Jubilee year, which happened every 50 years, was to be consecrated (Leviticus 25:10).
Holy Place
We first see holiness applied to a place at the burning bush. When Moses approaches the bush, God tells him to remove his sandals because “the place on which you are standing is holy ground” (Exodus 3:5). This was a special place.
The most important holy place, however, is the tabernacle or temple. However, it is not all the same. Within it there are differing levels of holiness. The whole area of the tabernacle is separated from the common community by a curtain. Inside the tent is the “holy place” and “most holy place” (or “holy of holies”, which matches the Hebrew closer – kedosh kedoshim, using repetition for emphasis), indicating increasing levels of holiness.
On top of that, elements used within the tabernacle were called holy (Exodus 30:26-29). The offerings on the altar were holy (Exodus 29:33). The high priest’s clothing was holy (Exodus 28:2). The anointing oil was holy (Exodus 30:31-32).
Holy People
God called the people of Israel to be holy (Leviticus 11:44, 19:2). What did that mean in terms of everyday life? In the context of those passages, it includes what they ate, how they treated one another, how they approached the Lord, and more. God gave his people instructions on how to live a holy life. They were to be different than the nations around them (Leviticus 18:3).
Much like holy spaces, there are differing levels of holiness of people, too. The Levites were set apart from the broader community of Israel to serve the Lord. The priests were further separated from the Levites to serve in the Tabernacle and Temple. The high priest was the most holy person of them all. Regular people could come into the courtyard of the tabernacle, but only the priests could enter the tent itself. On the Day of Atonement (the most holy day), the high priest (the most holy person) entered the inner sanctuary (the most holy place).
If God called Israel to be holy, what about non-Jewish believers in Jesus? When Jesus taught his disciples to pray, he said to hallow God’s name, i.e. make it holy (Matthew 6:9). Paul refers to the early believers as “saints” (i.e. holy ones). Peter calls believers to act in similar ways, quoting Leviticus: “As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, since it is written, ‘You shall be holy, for I am holy'” (1 Peter 1:14-16). If we are his people, our lives should be different from those around us.
To Ponder…
Are you living a holy life? What should that look like?
What do you treat as holy? Think of examples of holy times and places in your life. What does it mean to treat God as holy?
May you strive to live a holy life to glorify our Holy God! “So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God” (1 Corinthians 10:31).
