009 - 13 - Lesson 13: The Holiness of God

16 But when he was strong, he grew proud, to his destruction. For he was unfaithful to the Lord his God and entered the temple of the Lord to burn incense on the altar of incense. 17 But Azariah the priest went in after him, with eighty priests of the Lord who were men of valor, 18 and they withstood King Uzziah and said to him, “It is not for you, Uzziah, to burn incense to the Lord, but for the priests, the sons of Aaron, who are consecrated to burn incense. Go out of the sanctuary, for you have done wrong, and it will bring you no honor from the Lord God.” 19 Then Uzziah was angry. Now he had a censer in his hand to burn incense, and when he became angry with the priests, leprosy broke out on his forehead in the presence of the priests in the house of the Lord, by the altar of incense. 20 And Azariah the chief priest and all the priests looked at him, and behold, he was leprous in his forehead! And they rushed him out quickly, and he himself hurried to go out, because the Lord had struck him. 21 And King Uzziah was a leper to the day of his death, and being a leper lived in a separate house, for he was excluded from the house of the Lord. And Jotham his son was over the king’s household, governing the people of the land.

That failure to recognize the boundaries of holiness is ironic in light of this vision.

Isaiah sees a vision of God in the temple, at which the heavenly creatures known as seraphim sing, “Holy, Holy, Holy” (Isa 6.3).

This is the way the Hebrew language expresses the superlative degree (good/better/BEST). HOLIEST in other words. This is the only quality of God repeated like this in Scripture.

The word “holy” basically means “apartness” (see Lev. 10:10).

Leviticus 10:10 ESV

10 You are to distinguish between the holy and the common, and between the unclean and the clean,

Isaiah describes God as “The Holy One of Israel” 25 times in the book.

One sense of God’s “apartness” is his status as Creator. God is “high and lifted up” (Isa. 6:1).

Isaiah 6:1 ESV

1 In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train of his robe filled the temple.

He is separate from creation, qualitatively different from all else (eternal, self-sufficient, omnipotent, etc).

Some passages that emphasize this aspect of God’s holiness include Ex. 15:11; 1 Sam. 2:2; Ps. 99:1-5.

Exodus 15:11 ESV

11 “Who is like you, O Lord, among the gods? Who is like you, majestic in holiness, awesome in glorious deeds, doing wonders?

1 Samuel 2:2 ESV

2 “There is none holy like the Lord: for there is none besides you; there is no rock like our God.

Psalm 99:1–5 ESV

1 The Lord reigns; let the peoples tremble! He sits enthroned upon the cherubim; let the earth quake! 2 The Lord is great in Zion; he is exalted over all the peoples. 3 Let them praise your great and awesome name! Holy is he! 4 The King in his might loves justice. You have established equity; you have executed justice and righteousness in Jacob. 5 Exalt the Lord our God; worship at his footstool! Holy is he!

Another sense of God’s “apartness” is his moral perfection. In his presence the seraphim hide their eyes and feet (Isa. 6:2), and Isaiah is despondent (Isa. 6:4-5).

Isaiah 6:2 ESV

2 Above him stood the seraphim. Each had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew.

Isaiah 6:4–5 ESV

4 And the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and the house was filled with smoke. 5 And I said: “Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!”

God is separate from sin, completely free of any moral impurity.

Some passages that emphasize this aspect of God’s holiness include Num. 20:12; Josh. 24:19; Ps. 78:41.

Numbers 20:12 ESV

12 And the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “Because you did not believe in me, to uphold me as holy in the eyes of the people of Israel, therefore you shall not bring this assembly into the land that I have given them.”

Joshua 24:19 ESV

19 But Joshua said to the people, “You are not able to serve the Lord, for he is a holy God. He is a jealous God; he will not forgive your transgressions or your sins.

Psalm 78:41 ESV

41 They tested God again and again and provoked the Holy One of Israel.

Be Holy As I Am Holy

Obviously we cannot be holy in the absolute sense like God, but we can be holy like God is to a certain degree (Lev. 11:44; 1 Peter 1:15-16).

Leviticus 11:44 ESV

44 For 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.

1 Peter 1:15–16 ESV

15 but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, 16 since it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.”

We just can stand apart from the world (Deut. 7:6; 1 Peter 2:9), and apart from sin as we pursue holiness (1 Thess. 4:1-4).

Deuteronomy 7:6 ESV

6 “For you are a people holy to the Lord your God. The Lord your God has chosen you to be a people for his treasured possession, out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth.

1 Peter 2:9 ESV

9 But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.

1 Thessalonians 4:1–4 ESV

1 Finally, then, brothers, we ask and urge you in the Lord Jesus, that as you received from us how you ought to walk and to please God, just as you are doing, that you do so more and more. 2 For you know what instructions we gave you through the Lord Jesus. 3 For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you abstain from sexual immorality; 4 that each one of you know how to control his own body in holiness and honor,