Is it hard to believe that God is holy? Ever think about that? If you ever do I recommend that you search the scriptures in Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. “Oh but those are Old Testament. We live in the New testament” you might say. But God’s word is both Old and New Testament and all of it is relevant today.
The following excerpt is taken from an article written by Arthur W. Lindsley, Senior Fellow for Apologetics, CSLI on September 2, 2008:
“One of the most important attributes for understanding God and ourselves is God’s holiness.
When we catch a vision of God’s holiness, we can regard many things in our lives as holy. When we lose a sense of God’s holiness (as many have), then we lose the realization that anything is holy or unholy. In this latter case, we also lose a sense of our own sinfulness, our need for God’s grace, and the desperate plight of our culture.
The Hebrew word for holy is quadosh, and the Greek word is hagios. In both cases, the meaning is separateness or being set apart from that which is unclean. An encounter with God always produces awe and dread that leads to separation from sin.
In Isaiah 6:1-8, we see Isaiah’s vision of God in the temple. He sees the Lord “sitting on a throne lofty and exalted” (vs. 1). Seraphim surround Him calling to each other, “Holy, Holy, Holy, is the Lord of hosts, the whole earth is full of his glory” (vs. 3). This triple repetition of a divine attribute is without parallel in the rest of the Bible. Scripture never says that God is “justice, justice, justice” or even “love, love, love,” but it does say that He is “holy, holy, holy.”
Similarly, when God is described as “holy, holy, holy,” it underlines his utter purity. He is set apart, One who inspires awe and is worthy of worship. The foundations of the temple start to tremble (vs. 4) and so does Isaiah himself. He cries out, “Woe is me, I am ruined! Because I am a man of unclean lips and I live among a people of unclean lips” (vs. 5). This is the only time in Scripture that a prophet pronounces the prophetic judgment “woe” on himself. As Isaiah encounters God’s holiness, he is acutely aware of his sin and the sinfulness of the society around him. Any vision of God’s holiness leads to a sense of our own sin and makes us sensitive to the unholiness of the culture around us.”
In Exodus alone you will be amazed of God’s holiness and absolute power. Yes, the Israelites were indeed a stiff necked people and God punished them. God also showed them unending love. Let’s take a look at some of what the Israelites went through.
In Chapter 3 we see where God declares his love for the Israelites. God told Moses that he had heard the cries of His people and intended to get them out of Egypt and move them to a land flowing with milk and honey. So, God intended to do good for His people.
Moses was chosen by God to lead the people out of Egypt. Moses was less than willing. He gave many excuses why he should not be the one to do this but God prevailed. He and Aaron asked Pharaoh to let their people go but he would not relent. Then, Aaron threw his staff down and it turned into a snake. Pharaoh’s sorcerers did the same; however, the snake from Aaron’s staff swallowed the sorcerers’ snake. Pharaoh held firm and would not let the people go. God had told Moses to go to Pharaoh and ask him to let the people go but he was going to harden his heart so he would not let them go.
You might think it kind of strange for God to say what to do but then say it won’t work. Actually, that was all part of the plan. God sent 10 plagues to Egypt. Throughout these plagues the scripture repeatedly said that the plagues were kept away from His people. Love and mercy abounded.
It wasn’t until the last plague that Pharaoh let the people go. This, of course, was the death of all first born and as always, God saved the Israelites by having them put blood over the doorposts so that death would Passover them.
The road to their destination wasn’t an easy one. The Israelites brought trouble on themselves. In Numbers 13:1 Moses was instructed to send men to explore the land of Canaan. The Israelites were discouraged by the report. All but Caleb said they could not defeat the people there. Caleb, on the other hand, said they should go and take the land. These 12 men were out for 40 days to explore Canaan. As a result of their disobedience, the men who gave the bad report were struck down by a plague and died. In addition, God said that none of the men over 20 would see the Promised Land and would die in the desert. God punished the disobedience by having the Israelites travel in the desert for 40 years; one year for each day the 12 had explored Canaan.
There are many other examples of God’s mercy, grace, and, yes, wrath. I intend to get into them in future posts. God always held the Israelites accountable just as he does us. Many times today we don’t see as quick a punishment as the Israelites did, but beware because God’s holiness is unchanged, and He will always require a reckoning.