The word “holy” appears over 600 times in the Bible, and over two thirds of those instances occur in the Old Testament, including 80 times in Leviticus.
“You are to distinguish between the holy and the common, and between the unclean and the clean” (Leviticus 10:10).
The book of Leviticus does just that, indicating that which God has set apart and pointing to his holiness. The Bible often shows how God is separated from us because of his holiness and our sin. The people of Israel were set apart from the other nations to be holy and to enjoy a special relationship with God.
So how can God’s holiness be on display in the New Testament where God comes down and calls all people to himself?
According to Richard Lints, holiness is about “God’s absolute moral purity.” Holy or qadash in Hebrew means “to be set apart” or something sacred, whether a place or an object. Bible Hub explains: "’qodesh’ primarily denotes a state of being set apart for a special purpose, often in relation to God [...], consecrated or dedicated to the divine. In the Old Testament, ‘qodesh’ is frequently associated with the holiness of God, the sanctity of the Tabernacle and Temple, and the consecration of priests and offerings.” During the Old Testament timeline, “holiness” was integral to Israel’s understanding of who they were in relation to God, of their special status compared with other nations and how their status was to impact their behavior.
“The Tabernacle and later the Temple were considered the earthly dwelling places of God's presence, and thus, were deemed ‘qodesh.’ The priesthood, sacrifices, and various rituals were established to maintain the sanctity required to approach God.” Holiness, then, was a spiritual reality which God signified by creating laws around objects and places. These were instituted to remind the Israelites that they were “a people holy to the Lord your God” (Deuteronomy 7:6). They were to love, trust, and honor their God and to reject the pagan idolatry of their neighbors.
Holiness, says Lints, “often carries the connotation of danger as well. It was a great fear within Israel to get too close to God lest they be overwhelmed by his holiness.” God often brought comfort and rescue to Israel, but “one did not lightly or superficially come before God. Usually, the people sought God through “a mediator [...] lest they suffer the consequences of being in the presence of absolute holiness while themselves not being holy.”
By his laws, God made a way for Israel to approach him without denying his righteousness or ignoring sin, and there were consequences when Israel failed to respect his holiness. “If you faithfully obey the voice of the Lord your God, being careful to do all his commandments that I command you today, the Lord your God will set you high above all the nations of the earth. [...] But if you will not obey the voice of the Lord your God or be careful to do all his commandments and his statutes that I command you today, then all these curses shall come upon you and overtake you” (Deuteronomy 28:1,15). Chief among these curses was that he would remove his special protection for a time and Israel’s neighbors would oppress them. Israel frequently failed to honor God’s holiness or to live as those who were “set high above all the nations of the earth.” Consequently, they were enslaved by the likes of Egypt, Assyria, Rome, and others.
But even the mediators failed to understand the purpose of God’s laws, through which were not only to keep unholiness away from the Almighty, but also to invite people closer to Him. They failed to fully comprehend their role in this regard. According to Charles Ellicot’s commentary, the Pharisees held the key to understanding God’s commands, but Jesus’ “charge against them is that the only use they made of the key was to lock the door. They did not enter into the inner meaning of Law or Prophets.” Ellicot remarks on the blending of indignation and sorrow Jesus feels for learned, religious men when he declares “woe” to them.
“But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you shut the kingdom of heaven in people’s faces. For you neither enter yourselves nor allow those who would enter to go in” (Matthew 23:13).
Jesus decried the priests’ hypocrisy which blocked them and the people of Israel from God. They created numerous extra “laws” which made it impossible for anyone to ever be clean or make an appropriate offering. No man could be a truly holy intercessor for the people of God, even though there were some exceptions – individuals who heard Jesus preach, for example, and realized he was the fulfillment of Prophecy, the “Great High Priest” who made a way for people to “approach God’s throne of grace with confidence.” (Hebrews 4:14-16).
Jesus’ holiness was without interruption or blemish. Jesus went even further than any intercessor of Israel, too, by inviting Gentiles to approach the Father through faith in himself. God does not change (Malachi 3:6), so his holiness was not lessened by the arrival of Christ in the form of a baby, nor by this invitation. How can it be that God would create a veil between himself and his people and then come down himself to tear that veil? Richard Lints remarks that God’s holiness had been the “obstacle that separated God from unholy people,” so what had changed?
Lints explains that, “in the New Testament, divine holiness is most clearly attached to the Spirit of God.” The Holy Spirit was also present in the Old Testament, but takes a more obvious place in the New Testament narrative, showing us that his constant presence is required in us individually to restore the original closeness we enjoyed in the Garden. No effort of law keeping would suffice. “The holiness of God [...] was now lodged in the person of the Trinity that was poured out on his unholy people and by which God’s holiness took up residence in human hearts. The Holy Spirit brought holiness where there was none.” Why did God not simply give us his Spirit from the beginning and cut straight to the events which begin with the birth of Jesus?
God permitted his people to create a legacy demonstrating our need for Jesus to come and make us holy by his Spirit. The history of Israel’s relationship with God and their inability to keep his laws shows us that we cannot do anything in our own strength to be holy. According to David Schrock, there are times when historical people and events represent the ideal established before Genesis 3. Though these “types” are frequently encouraging and inspiring, they are imperfect shadows of the ideal.
Joseph was put in prison because he would not break God’s commandment and commit adultery. Joseph shone a spotlight on God’s glory in Genesis 41:25, explaining “the dreams of Pharaoh are one and the same. God has revealed to Pharaoh what he is about to do.” He was a man of integrity, and God would reward his patient commitment to himself by exalting Joseph and using him as the instrument by which God would rescue Israel. He set Joseph apart individually as a symbol of the coming Christ, yet we know he was not a totally righteous man. “No one is good — except God alone” (Mark 10:18). Joseph was a good example, but an imperfect man. Only Jesus is sinless and holy in his own right which is why he alone is worthy of worship.
Lints summarizes this way: “God’s driving passion from the beginning of Genesis to the end of Revelation is to make the universe a holy dwelling place for himself” starting with “the original garden of Eden (Gen 2–3) when God created a place of fruitful goodness.” Although all seemed lost in Genesis 3, it was “redeemed most fully in Jesus — namely, a people for God’s own possession that would be ‘at home’ in his presence and holiness.” He would be both holy and approachable.
Perhaps the hardest concept to grasp is how God, being holy, could come down as a man and permit himself to be crucified. How could the one who metes out justice take upon himself the injustice that was the denial of himself as Messiah while he fulfilled Old Testament prophecy, healed the sick, and brought forgiveness? How could the cross restore a relationship between the Father and sinful men and women?
Lints poses the question: “Would God put aside his justice in order to show his love? Would one half of God’s character (righteousness/justice) be sacrificed for the other half of God’s character (mercy/love)? The answer to all of these questions rested in an adequate understanding of God’s holiness — which did not sacrifice his justice nor undermine his mercy.”
Jesus at the cross demonstrated mercy, which by definition is never deserved (that is, we are unholy, so we desperately need it.) Yet, in taking the punishment, “divine justice was not obliterated by divine mercy, but neither was his mercy impeded by his justice. The great mystery of the cross is the reality that it is the full satisfaction of divine justice and the full display of divine mercy (Romans 3, 4).” Justice and mercy were served at the cross. God’s holiness was never in danger.
If we left Jesus in the tomb, it would seem that God’s righteousness was buried at Calvary also. We can say with confidence, however, that the creating God is also the resurrecting God. His power is completed in the resurrection of Christ. He is “the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end” (Revelation 22:13).
God’s holiness, set out in the Old Testament, is fully realized in Christ, not diminished by his humility, and if we live in and through him, we stand out as those who are set apart by our relationship with God in Christ. Without his righteousness, available through the Holy Spirit, we cannot come to the throne of God where his mercy resides. But through faith, we receive Christ’s righteousness and a redeemed relationship with God.
“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9).
Sources
https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/essay/the-holiness-of-god/
https://biblehub.com/hebrew/6944.htm
https://biblehub.com/commentaries/matthew/23-13.htm
https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/essay/the-relation-of-the-old-and-new-testaments/
Candice Lucey is a freelance writer from British Columbia, Canada, where she lives with her family. Find out more about her here.
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