YHWH Qadosh (Ka dosh^) God Holy
Psalm 99:3
Let them praise your great and awesome name— he is holy.
Are you ready to explore, to study, and maybe be even humbled by the most sacred name of God? Are you ready? Kadosh -Holy,
-Holy beyond any level you can measure with, exceeding the very limits of holiness
-Holy, exceeding all amounts of goodness, purity, and moral perfectness
-Holy, Kadosh, it is a moment to bow your head because our God is thrice Holy, YHWH is Holy, Holy, Holy Kadosh Kadosh Kadosh El Shaddai, tremble before this holiness.
Psalm 96:9 NIV
Worship the LORD (YHWH) in the splendor of his holiness; tremble before him, all the earth.
-just to slightly glimpse His holiness is to disorientate us, weaken all self-pride and it will humble us -we see Holy God and we see ourselves
-God is so separate from us, so Holy and we are not
-yes, God is morally perfect but holiness is much richer and deeper than moral perfection -all that God is and does is HOLY, perfect in every way and separate from us, we are human, God is not -He is unique and separate, -we fail, we sin, GOD does not -He is uniquely Holy.
God’s love is perfect, it is Holy, unique and unmatched
God’s judgements are perfect, true, and just -they are Holy
God’s salvation will be accomplished, because God is faithfully Holy
No part of God’s plan, no part of God’s work and no part of God’s being is unholy because God IS HOLY
Psalm 22:3 as God sits on his heavenly throne He bears a name:
Yet you are enthroned as the Holy One; you are the one Israel praises.
Psalm 30:4 God’s names are HOLY
Sing the praises of the Lord, you his faithful people; praise his holy name.
Psalm 77:13 God’s ways are Holy
Your ways, God, are holy. What god is as great as our God? -none
Psalm 99:5
Exalt the Lord our God and worship at his footstool; he is holy.
What does the Hebrew word for holy mean?
The Hebrew word for “holy”, kodosh, means to be set apart for a specific purpose.
-It could be a holy object ie. The Tabernacle’s Laver, Menorah or Table of Showbread.
-It could be a Holy location Ie. The Holy of Holies in the Tabernacle, Mt Sinai, the Holy mountain
Q- But what does God mean when he says He is holy? God's holiness means He is SEPARATE, distinct, and unique. This means that God is unlike us; He is unique to Himself (I am that I am); He is in a category of His own, there is no one beside Him. He is totally perfect in every way HE IS Holy.
There is a scene in the NT when Jesus walked among us.
Luke 4:33-35 NASB Jesus enters a synagogue
33 In the synagogue there was a man possessed by the spirit of an unclean demon, and he cried out with a loud voice, 34 “Leave us alone! What business do You have with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have You come to destroy us? I know who You are—(then this name is spoken) the Holy One of God!”
-in the OT a prophesy about Jesus occurs where by Jesus is not left in in death nor will Jesus see decay -listen to the name given Jesus
Psalm 16:10 NKJV
10 For You will not leave my (Jesus) soul in Sheol (death-a resurrection) Nor will You allow Your Holy One to see corruption.
God's holiness sets Him apart from all else. Because He exists in perfect purity and is eternally consistent with Himself. People grow, mature, and age, but God remains the same. He is morally pure, without the slightest hint of evil, and the Lord is faithful and true (Revelation 19:11).
The holiness of God distinguishes God as God and reveals how we are not. It communicates His transcendent sovereignty and flawless purity, His overwhelming right to rule, and His stainless character.
Psalm 145:3
Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised, and his greatness is unsearchable.
Human beings cannot begin to measure God’s holiness, and yet, God has revealed His glory and holiness to us in His Word:
-John 1:14; and we beheld His glory -this holy glory
-Hebrews 1:3; The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word.
-2 Corinthians 4:6 For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of God’s glory -this holy glory- displayed in the face of Christ.
Because of Jesus, Christians can know God through His attributes.
-God’s holiness is the crown of His attributes.
God is holy and tells us to be holy, separate, unique, set apart, like God
1 Peter 1:15
But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do;
Stories are sometimes the best way to begin to understand so I would like to relate Bible stories where people came into God’s presence which meant witnessing His holiness and the overwhelming effect it would cause.
Isaiah 6
Uzziah became king at 16 years of age and ruled for 50 years. He made many good spiritual reforms in Israel but died a Shakesperean tragedy as he violated some of his own reforms.
-the king dies and Isaiah has a vision, maybe more of a revelation as God draws back the curtain of heaven and Isaiah literally sees into Heaven itself with YHWH Kodosh, Holy God, sitting on His throne.
Isaiah 6
In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord, high and exalted, seated on a throne; and the train of his robe filled the temple. 2 Above him were seraphim, each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying. 3 And they were calling to one another:
“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty;
(Kodosh, Kodosh, Kodosh El Shaddai)the whole earth is full of his glory.”
4 At the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook and the temple was filled with smoke.
5 “Woe to me!” I cried. “I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty.” (King Maleki, LORD YHWH, Almighty -El Shaddai)
6 Then one of the seraphim flew to me with a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar. 7 With it he touched my mouth and said, “See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for.”
2 things -HOLY, HOLY, HOLY -the thrice Holy God
Repetition was a form of emphasizes, underlining or italicizing something that was very important. -this is the only 3X in the Bible
Jesus when he would emphasize would say Truly, truly I say unto you
What ever Jesus was about to say was extremely important
God is HOLY< HOLY< HOLY
2ndly -the seraphim flew to Isaiah with a burning coal and touched his lips and said your guilt is gone and your sin atoned for. Isaiah would not die because he saw God but rather God would purify him, the purity was being transferred or imputed. Just like Christ’s righteousness is imputed to us, we wear the righteousness of Christ. We, sinners and unholy, can not be in God’s holy presence so God takes action and the purity of God and it’s forgiveness is applied to our shame and guilt -they are all atoned for.
-a coal touches our mouths, it is the blood of Christ removing our sin
It is the holiness of God that forbids us in His presence.
BUT it is His great love for us that compels a willing God to send Jesus to die in our place.
God wins, He is perfect, He is Holy
God satisfies His own Holy justice and God will collect all of His children to be with Him one day. No believer left behind.
The other great text beside Isaiah’s where man comes into the glory, the presence and the holiness of God is in Revelation.
Revelation 1
8 “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God (Kurios -Lord, Master), “who is (existing forever), and who was (continually existing in the past), and who is to come, the Almighty ( Pan^ do dee amoos {dynamos} clarifies Lord as divine God) (the Omnipotent one -the Ruler of all),.”
10 On the Lord’s Day I was in the Spirit, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet, 11 which said: “Write on a scroll what you see and send it to the seven churches: to Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia and Laodicea.”
12 I turned around to see the voice that was speaking to me. And when I turned I saw seven golden lampstands, 13 and among the lampstands was someone like a son of man, dressed in a robe reaching down to his feet and with a golden sash around his chest. 14 The hair on his head was white like wool, as white as snow, and his eyes were like blazing fire. 15 His feet were like bronze glowing in a furnace, and his voice was like the sound of rushing waters. 16 In his right hand he held seven stars, and coming out of his mouth was a sharp, double-edged sword. His face was like the sun shining in all its brilliance.
17 When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. Then he placed his right hand on me and said: “Do not be afraid. I am the Alpha (the beginning) and the Omega (the last). 18 I am the Living One; I was dead, and now look, I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades.
The apostle John saw Holy God and simply crumbled and collapsed.
God is holy and His Holy presence it is weighty, overwhelming and potent.
4 things to consider:
-God’s Holiness is Incomparable, it is an impossible task to describe God’s Holiness, God is incomparably and supremely Holy
-God’s Holiness is Infinite, He is eternally consistent with Himself.
The same yesterday, today and forever
-God’s holiness is His crown, and it makes God himself, the treasure of all treasures. Angels in heaven sing praise to God for all that He is and all that He has done, and God desires men and women to join God in living holy lives. To be SEPARATE, distinct, and unique. To be pure and righteous and followers of The Way -following Jesus’s perfect Holy example.
1 Peter 1:15
But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do;
Although we are neither righteousness or holy in and of ourselves, our righteousness, our holiness, is given to us, imputed to us by Christ and we are to reflect that holiness in the way we live, everyday and in every way.
YHWH the God who is ….. HOLY, Kadosh.
Live your life, like God is ….. HOLY, Kodosh.
March 5, 2023
