YOU SHALL BE HOLY (Part 4 of 7)

I. What is Holiness?
II. Holiness is a Behavior Not a Covering
III. Teaching Holiness Through the Laws of Cleanliness
IV. The Consequences of Not Being Holy
V. The Challenge for the 21st Century Church
VI. Living as a Holy Person
VII Do Not Wear Clothes of Wool and Linen Woven Together

THE CONSEQUENCES OF NOT BEING HOLY

Why does the LORD God desire His people to be holy? Said another way, what are the consequences for people who are not concerned with maintaining a state of holiness? The Book of Nehemiah ends with the condition of a people who are quickly losing their holiness:

“In those days I saw in Judah some who were treading the wine presses on the Sabbath, and bringing in sacks of grain and loading them on donkeys, as well as wine, grapes, figs and all kinds of loads, and they brought them into Jerusalem on the Sabbath day. So I admonished them on the day they sold food. Also men of Tyre were living there who imported fish and all kinds of merchandise, and sold them to the sons of Judah on the Sabbath, even in Jerusalem.” (Neh 13:15-16)

Nehemiah witnessed a large disregard for the Sabbath. As Gentiles, we might think this is no great sin, yet it is a violation of one of the Ten Commandments given to maintain a separation between the Jewish people and the rest of the world. In other words, the Jewish people were not maintaining their holiness by maintaining the Sabbath, but were becoming common with the world. What do you think would be the consequences of their behavior?

“In those days I saw that the Jews had married women from Ashdod, Ammon, and Moab. As for their children, half spoke in the language of Ashdod, and none of them was able to speak the language of Judah, but the language of his own people…Even one of the sons of Joiada, the son of Eliashib the high priest, was a son-in-law of Sanballat the Horonite, so I drove him away from me. Remember them, O my God, because they have defiled the priesthood and the covenant of the priest hood and the Levites.” (Neh 13:23 & 28-29)

The cause and consequence seem straight forward. The Jewish people stopped performing the commandments that were given to keep them holy, a separate and distinct people. As a result, they begin socializing with the nations of the world to the point where even a son of the high priest was marrying the daughter from a foreign nation. If the people of Israel did not return to the commandments, if they did not become holy, the nation would melt into the mixing pot of the world, cease to be a separate and distinct people, Jesus would not have come, and Gentile believers would lack a redeemer.

The man who restored holiness to the people was the prophet Ezra. It is said of Ezra by the later Rabbis, he “was worthy that the Torah should be given to Israel by his hand, were it not that Moses had forestalled him…(since) when the Torah had been forgotten by Israel, Ezra came up from Babylon and restored it.” This high praise of Ezra has some merit in that Moses gave the Torah and Ezra restored the Torah.

The Bible records how on the first day of the seventh month, “Ezra the priest brought the law before the assembly of men, women and all who could listen with understanding,” (Neh 8:2). Ezra stood on a wooden podium (Neh 8:4), then,

“Ezra opened the book in the sight of all the people for he was standing above all the people; and when he opened it, all the people stood up, Then Exra blessed the LORD the great God. And all the people answered, ‘Amen, Amen!’ while lifting up their hands; then they bowed low and worshiped the LORD with their faces to the ground…they read from the book, from the law of God, translating to give the sense so that they understood the reading,” (Neh 8:5-8).

Ezra understood that it was necessary for national survival that the people commit themselves to the study and application of the words of Moses. Ezra is credited with establishing the weekly Torah portion (parasha) readings that lead the nation through a complete reading of the five books of Moses each year. When believers read the Bible on a regular basis, they follow a pattern established centuries ago, a pattern that would have been followed in the first century synagogues that Jesus attended. The readings of Moses were later expanded to include portions of the prophets, referred to as the Haftarah. Four hundred years after Ezra, in the synagogue in Galilee, Jesus was called upon to read the weekly portion that had been determined centuries earlier.

Tradition relates that, before his death, Ezra was instrumental in the formation of the “Keneser ha-Gedolah.” This name is translated as “The Great Synagogue” or “The Great Assembly”, or even "The Men of The Great Assembly" since it consisted of officials to act for the whole assembly of Israel, (Ezra 10:14). The Great Assembly existed from the middle of the fifth century until about 200 BC, although some believe it may have ended as early as 300 BC.

By tradition, the Great Assembly consisted of 120 scribes, sages, and prophets, “men who were family heads, one from each family division, all of them designated by name,” (Ezra 10:16). These included the men listed in Nehemiah 10:2-29, along with Ezra, Mordecai, Haggai, Zechariah, and Malichi. The Great Assembly is credited with the inclusion of Ezekiel, Daniel, Esther, and the Twelve Minor Prophets in the biblical canon; the establishment of Purim as a Jewish feast; and the development the Jewish liturgy of prayers and blessings. The Great Assembly left the nation with three overriding principles to govern the continued development of faithfulness among the children of Israel: 

Be deliberate in judging, 
Raise up many disciples, and 
Make a hedge around the Torah.

Believe it or not, the policies of Ezra designed to establish holiness within the Jewish people received much criticism through the centuries and even today. To quote Abraham Cohen,

“Ezra’s policy has been criticized and condemned by Christian theologians – also by Jews occasionally – as responsible for the narrowness which, they allege, characterizes Judaism as a religion. But in retrospect it is evident that the policy was dictated by the circumstances of his age. Professor G.G. Moore has justly remarked, ‘The separateness of the Jew was one of the prime causes of the animosity towards them, especially in the miscellaneous fusion of peoples and syncretism of religions in the Hellenistic kingdoms and the Roman world; but it accomplished its end in the survival of Judaism, and therein history has vindicated it.’”

The efforts of Ezra and his contemporaries was to combat the normal forces of history where minorities melt into the existing majorities. Of all the ancient civilizations of history, only the Jewish people survive to the present as a separate and distinct people. The Jewish people survival was only possible through their adherence to the commandments, which separated them from the other civilizations of the world.

Throughout the Hebrew text, God establishes laws and judgments to keep the people of Israel separated from the other nations. Circumcision, cleanliness, kashrut, and the keeping of Sabbath are all intended to maintain a level of separation between the people of Israel and the surrounding nations. To the degree this separation was maintained, the people of Israel remained a unique people. However, from time to time when these walls of separation were torn down, the people would begin to assimilate with the nations around them. Over time, many Jews ceased to be a separate and distinct people dedicated to the LORD God. In history when complete assimilation was close, the LORD God brought persecution on the Jewish people from the days of Egypt to Spain to Germany in the 20th century.

(to be continued - Scott)

YOU SHALL BE HOLY (Part 3 of 7)

I. What is Holiness?
II. Holiness is a Behavior Not a Covering
III. Teaching Holiness Through the Laws of Cleanliness
IV. The Consequences of Not Being Holy
V. The Challenge for the 21st Century Church
VI. Living as a Holy Person
VII. Do Not Wear Cloths of Wool and Linen Woven Together

TEACHING HOLINESS THROUGH THE LAWS OF CLEANLINESS

“Distinguish between the holy and the common, between the unclean and the clean.” (Lev 10:10-11)(Ezek 44:23)

To help teach the principle of holiness to the people of Israel, the LORD God set forth the commandments related to “clean” and “unclean.” The laws of cleanliness were given to teach the believer to “distinguish between the holy and the common, between the unclean and clean.” In other places the distinction is referred to as “the holy and the profane,” (Ezek 22:26). Paul draws on this understanding encouraging believers to,

“Cleanse ourselves…perfecting holiness in the fear of God,” (2 Cor 7:1).

The term “unclean” is not synonymous with “sinfulness” because people can become unclean through the normal activities of life and not due to any fault of their own. “Clean” and “unclean” teach us that God makes distinctions even in areas where the average person would not make a distinction. Historically, believers gloss over distinctions in the Bible because we are “All one in Christ Jesus,” (Gal 3:28).

However, oneness does not mean sameness. God is a God of distinctions. One of His names is “Hamavdil,” The One Who separates. He formed the earth separating light from dark, the waters above from the water below, separating sea from dry ground, male from female…between the holy and profane…between the seventh day and the six days of work. Clean and unclean are important distinctions which God has chosen to make in scripture because they teach us to distinguish between the holy and the common.

Becoming clean and maintaining a state of cleanliness is seen by the Jew as an important step on the path toward developing holiness that allows a person to receive the Spirit of God.

“Zeal leads to cleanliness, cleanliness to ritual purity, ritual purity to self-control, self-control to holiness, holiness to humility, humility to fear of sin, fear of sin to saintliness, and saintliness to the Holy Spirit.” (Sot. IX:15) (Everyman’s Talmud, “Revelation,” page 121)

The original commandments were given to prepare each Israelite to come into the presence of the LORD, Who dwelt above the mercy seat in the temple, as it is written, “Do not touch what is unclean; and I will welcome you,” (2 Cor 6:17). In the wilderness, the people did not approach the holy mountain of the LORD until they first became clean. Preparing to approach the LORD in a clean condition remains an unchanging principle in scripture. The writer of Hebrews draws on this understanding instructing each believer to draw near to God “with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts, sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water,” (Heb 10:22).

The cleanliness laws have received much criticism from the modern believer as to “legalistic” and “outdated” for a salvation gospel that focuses primarily on the LORD’S mercy and man’s inadequacy. While the laws of cleanliness should not be seen as a complete means to an end, meaning they should not take precedent over loving my neighbor or worshipping God, they should be seen as profitable in developing a level of discipline that is very much lacking in the present day believers life. Am I saying that we are commanded to maintain the laws of cleanliness above all else? Certainly not!!!

What I am saying is that the laws of cleanliness, along with the laws of Kashrut, and observance of the Sabbath, all develop discipline in our life to the degree we purpose in our heart to keep them. “Godliness” is closely associated with “holy conduct” (2 Pet 3:11), which is achieved through a lifestyle of discipline, as Paul wrote to Timothy,

“Discipline yourself for the purpose of godliness; for bodily discipline is only of little profit, but godliness is profitable for all things, since it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come.” (1 Tim 4:8)

(to be continued - Scott)

YOU SHALL BE HOLY (Part 2 of 7)

I. What is Holiness?
II. Holiness is a Behavior Not a Covering
III. Teaching Holiness Through the Laws of Cleanliness
IV. The Consequences of Not Being Holy
V. The Challenge for the 21st Century Church
VI. Living as a Holy Person
VII. Do Not Wear Cloths of Wool and Linen Woven Together

HOLINESS IS A BEHAVIOR NOT A COVERING

The phrase “You shall be holy, for I the LORD your God am holy” occurs throughout scripture, but the most frequent occurrences are in the Book of Leviticus.  The phrase is the solution to the conclusion of Exodus, when the glory of the LORD filled the temple and no person, not even Moses, could enter, (Ex 40:35).  To enter a holy place and stand in the presence of a Holy God, the priests themselves would have to become holy.   

Peter’s statement “Be holy yourselves also in all you behavior; because it is written, ‘You shall be Holy, for I Am Holy’” (1 Peter 1:15-16), expresses the understanding that this responsibility is not limited to the priests alone, but remains in effect on the individual believer even in the Greek text.  "Be holy" speaks to individual responsibility, which the rabbis understood:

“If you make yourselves holy, I ascribe it to you as though you had sanctified Me; but if you do not make yourselves holy, I ascribe it to you as though you have not sanctified Me.” (Everyman's Talmud, page 24)

So how is the holiness of the priest achieved in the Book of Leviticus?   The call to “Be Holy, for I Am Holy,” is subsequently connected to an action that results in holiness, such as, 

“Speak to all the congregation of the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘You shall be holy, for I the LORD your God am holy. Every one of you shall reverence his mother and his father, and you shall keep My Sabbaths; I am the LORD your God.” (Lev 19:20-21)

It is obedience to the commandments, referred to as “holy and righteous and good” (Rom 7:12), that make the people of God holy, as it is written,

“Remember to do all My commandments and be holy to your God,” (Num 15:40)

Even the apostle Paul saw the attainment of holiness as a process achieved through the actions, not the faith, of believers.

“Let us cleanse ourselves from all defilement of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.” (2 Cor 7:1) AND

“Put on the new self, which is the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth.” (Eph 2:24)

In both of the statements, Paul saw holiness as an act manifested by the believer following the pattern of the Creator. Believers are called to serve the LORD God in a manner of holiness, as Zacharias prophesized at the birth of John the Baptist, we are called to “Serve Him without fear, in holiness and righteousness before Him all our days,” (Luke 1:72).

Holiness is not defined by a single action or group of actions, but, in the words of Peter, a "behavior" expressed in the words of Paul.

“Blameless and innocent, children of God above reproach in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among who you appear as lights in the world, holding fast the world of life, so that in the day of Christ I will have reason to glory because I did not run in vain.” (Phil 2:15-16)

(to be continued - Scott)

YOU SHALL BE HOLY (Part 1 of 7)

   I.  What is Holiness?
  II.  Holiness is a Behavior Not a Covering
 III.  Teaching Holiness Through the Laws of Cleanliness
 IV.  The Consequences of Not Being Holy
  V.  The Challenge for the 21st Century Church
 VI.  Living as a Holy Person
VII.  Do Not Wear Cloths of Wool and Linen Woven Together

WHAT IS HOLINESS?

“Like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your behavior; 16 because it is written, ‘You shall be Holy, for I Am Holy.’” (1 Peter 1:15-16)

The words of Peter call all believers to mirror the attributes of “the Holy One” and to “be holy yourselves also in all your behavior.” In my limited observation, typical believers have two difficulties with Peter’s statement.

First, believers can not easily define “holiness” nor provide a list of attributes that demonstrate “holiness.” Second, while believers appreciate that holiness is a characteristic of God who is referred to as “holy, holy, holy” (Isa 6:3), most hold to a position that the LORD bestows this holiness on believers through faith independent of any obligation on their part. This is simply not the scriptural understanding since individual holiness is not a covering, but as Peter describes it, a “behavior,” (1 Peter 1:15).

The Hebrew word for “holy” is “qodesh” meaning sacred or apartness. The act of separating or setting apart, a person, place, or article for use by God, makes it holy. In reference to the nation of Israel, the LORD said, “Thus you are to be holy to Me for I the LORD am holy; and I have set you apart from the people to be Mine,” (Lev 20:26). The first reference to “holy” in scripture was in regards to the place where Moses stood in the presence of the LORD,

“Do not come near here; remove your sandals from your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground,” (Ex 3:5).

The area of the burning bush was “holy ground” because it was set apart with the LORD from the rest of creation. The apostles were referred to in scripture as “holy” (Eph 3:5), in part, because they were set apart for the preaching of the gospel, “The Holy Spirit said, ‘Set apart for Me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them,’” (Acts 13:2).

The Greek word for holy is “hagios,” which is understood to be the absence of any fault or impurity. In reference to the Creator, both the Hebrew and Greek definitions are applicable. The LORD God stands apart from everything that defiles in a state of absolute perfection. Holiness begins with the LORD God; “Holy, Holy, Holy the LORD God, the Almighty, Who was and Who is And Who is to come,” (Rev 4:8). The LORD God is “Holy, Holy, Holy,” because the Creator is separate and perfect. This perfection is beyond the attainment of any human being. From Everyman's Talmud,

“In the text, ‘For He is a holy God’ (Josh 24:19), the adjective has a plural form, which is explained to mean, ‘He is holy with all kinds of holiness,’ i.e. He is the perfection of holiness.” (Ber 13a)

The problem with only applying the Greek definition, independent from the original Hebrew, is that the obligation for holiness is placed completely upon the Creator since man is not capable of perfection. The Greek understanding alone would make it impossible to fulfill the commandment, “Be Holy, for I Am Holy,” because that level of perfection is unobtainable by mankind. However, Peter defines holiness in terms of what a person can do, “be holy yourselves also in all your behavior.” Since we can control many aspects of our behavior, we can take steps to become holy.

The word “sanctification” (Greek – hagiazo) is closely connected in scripture to “holiness” (Greek - hagios). Believers often call the place of meeting the “Sanctuary” because we have separated this place from the rest of the world. To sanctify is to separate for the purpose of using in God’s service, which is to make holy. Believers are called to be separated (sanctified) from the common for “It is God’s will that you should be sanctified,” (1 Thes 4:3). How important is sanctification? The Hebrew writer warns believers that

“without (sanctification, i.e, holiness)…no one will see the LORD,” (Heb 12:14).

That theological understanding goes against the grain of most believers who feel that their access to the LORD is independent of their own behavior.  In the typical mindset, believers see no need to strive toward holiness, but without holiness, "no one will see the LORD."

In scripture, holiness is ascribed to those created beings, places, or articles that the LORD God has called to be separated from the world for His purpose. The following are a few examples referred to in scripture as holy:

Angels (Rev 14:10),
Apostles and prophets (Eph 3:5),
John the Baptist (Mark 6:20),
Faith is called Holy (Jude 20),
The nation of Israel (Lev 20:26)
The church is referred to as holy and blameless (Eph 5:27),
The covenant with Abraham (Luke 1:72),
Women in former times who hoped in God (1 Pet 3:5),
The law (Rom 7:12), and the commandments (2 Pet 2:21),
The scriptures (Rom 1:2),
The city of Jerusalem from above (Rev 21:2),
The Temple (Heb 13:11, Eph 2:21),
The priesthood, (1 Pet 2:5),
God’s servant Jesus (Mark Acts 4:27),
The Father (John 17:11), and of course the Holy Spirit (2 Pet 2:21).

(Howdy from Austin.  Pray all is going well.  Scott)