Be Holy


Exodus 19:9-25
9And the Lord said to Moses, “Behold, I am coming to you in a thick cloud, that the people may hear when I speak with you, and may also believe you forever.” When Moses told the words of the people to the Lord, 10the Lord said to Moses, “Go to the people and consecrate them today and tomorrow, and let them wash their garments 11and be ready for the third day. For on the third day the Lord will come down on Mount Sinai in the sight of all the people. 12And you shall set limits for the people all around, saying, ‘Take care not to go up into the mountain or touch the edge of it. Whoever touches the mountain shall be put to death. 13No hand shall touch him, but he shall be stoned or shot [with an arrow]; whether beast or man, he shall not live.’ When the trumpet sounds a long blast, they shall come up to the mountain.” 14So Moses went down from the mountain to the people and consecrated the people; and they washed their garments. 15And he said to the people, “Be ready for the third day; do not go near a woman.” 16On the morning of the third day there were thunders and lightnings and a thick cloud on the mountain and a very loud trumpet blast, so that all the people in the camp trembled. 17Then Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet God, and they took their stand at the foot of the mountain. 18Now Mount Sinai was wrapped in smoke because the Lord had descended on it in fire. The smoke of it went up like the smoke of a kiln, and the whole mountain trembled greatly. 19And as the sound of the trumpet grew louder and louder, Moses spoke, and God answered him in thunder. 20The Lord came down on Mount Sinai, to the top of the mountain. And the Lord called Moses to the top of the mountain, and Moses went up. 21And the Lord said to Moses, “Go down and warn the people, lest they break through to the Lord to look and many of them perish. 22Also let the priests who come near to the Lord consecrate themselves, lest the Lord break out against them.” 23And Moses said to the Lord, “The people cannot come up to Mount Sinai, for you yourself warned us, saying, ‘Set limits around the mountain and consecrate it.’ ” 24And the Lord said to him, “Go down, and come up bringing Aaron with you. But do not let the priests and the people break through to come up to the Lord, lest he break out against them.” 25So Moses went down to the people and told them.

One of the facts that we are going to come to grips with when we pass from this life is the utter and complete holiness of God. I truly believe that we have no concept of what true holiness looks like because everything passes through our sin-filled hearts and minds. Our idea of God’s holiness comes to us through a dark glass. As the Children of Israel stand at the base of Mt. Sinai, they are about to get a lesson in the holiness of Yahweh, the God who brought them out to of slavery and to Himself. God gives them some specific instructions about how to behave when He finally arrives on the scene in all of His terrible power and glory. Only a few chosen people can even dare to come close. Everyone else is commanded to stand back. They can’t even touch the mountain lest they die. That is just a hint of how holy God is and how unholy we are. Even just to stand at the base of the mountain they had to consecrate themselves and refrain from sexual relations. God is serious about His holiness!

Here in the U.S. we are a very “laid back” culture. We wear our casual clothes everywhere and take life pretty easy whenever possible. We respect very little and certainly don’t give each other much regard either. Holiness is a foreign concept for us. We don’t really know how to reverence God because it just isn’t a part of our ethos. That’s why I think that when we pass from this life we are going to totally shocked to find ourselves face down, shoes off, and completely overwhelmed by God’s presence. I think there may be a few things that we can become intentional about here and now as we interact with our holy God. We can spend more time praising Him and declaring His greatness. There is so much to be said about Him and we spend too little time speaking the words. How can the world recognize that God is holy when we spend no time describing Him to those around us or we don’t treat Him as if He holy with our actions?

If you do a quick survey of the holiness of God as described in His Word you will come up with dozens and dozens of references. In 1 Samuel, the holiness of God is made manifest as He strikes down those who would arrogantly look into the Ark of Covenant.

1 Samuel 6:18-20
19And he struck some of the men of Beth-shemesh, because they looked upon the ark of the Lord. He struck seventy men of them, and the people mourned because the Lord had struck the people with a great blow. 20Then the men of Beth-shemesh said, “Who is able to stand before the Lord, this holy God?

This is a God whose holiness is to be taken seriously. I had a friend who once wore a T-shirt that said, “Jesus is my homeboy” on the front. I found it a little offensive. Yes, Jesus is my dear, sweet Friend. But I’m not sure I want to call Him my “homeboy.” That seems to fly in the face of His holiness just a little. At the end of the Bible, we find the holiness of God declared over and over. In the Revelation, the scene before the throne is described in terms that bring only glory to the name of our most Holy God. Imagine that; creatures who only live to declare the holiness of God. This is a huge indicator about God’s holiness.

Revelation 4:8
And the four living creatures, each of them with six wings, are full of eyes all around and within, and day and night they never cease to say, ”Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come!”

Finally, we too are called “to be holy”.

Leviticus 11:44-45
44For I am the Lord your God. Consecrate yourselves therefore, and be holy, for I am holy. You shall not defile yourselves with any swarming thing that crawls on the ground. 45For I am the Lord who brought you up out of the land of Egypt to be your God. You shall therefore be holy, for I am holy.”

At this point we simply must hear the Gospel. We are indeed holy for God has made us so in the blood of Jesus Christ. He calls us to holiness and He provides that holiness. It is circle of His perfect love and the outworking of His perfect plan.

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