Holiness
Biblical holiness typically has to do with being focused towards God. Godly, good, pure, clean, sacred, consecrated, dedicated, hallowed, unadulterated, uncontaminated, merciful. These terms are interchangeable with holiness depending on the application. God keeps himself holy and expects followers to be as holy as we can so we can appreciate him for who he is. Since God defined our existence, God made us to be life oriented. We can share the values of God by agreeing with him as to what constitutes life and death. The perspective of life from the position of holiness is that life will be better, healthier and cleaner. And of course much more.
Spiritual Israel today is not the same as physical Israel. Spiritual Israel is representative of the covenant children of Abraham leading to Jesus' spiritual body which spans the whole globe and not the physical genealogy. Physical Israel originated out of Abraham and are his physical descendants which may or may not be his covenant promise spiritual descendants. That depends on whether or not they are approaching father God by faith or believing more in their genetic relationship with Abraham.
Exodus 19:3 And Moses went up unto God, and the LORD called unto him out of the mountain, saying, Thus shalt thou say to the house of Jacob, and tell the children of Israel; 4Ye have seen what I did unto the Egyptians, and how I bare you on eagles' wings, and brought you unto myself. 5Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people: for all the earth is mine: 6And ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy(sacred) nation. These are the words which thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel.
The Lord brought a people to himself to treasure them. Imagine an entire kingdom of priests. The Lord wanted the whole nation to be separated to himself. He wants someone to treasure. He wants someone to be special to him. He wants to be special to them. He is looking for relationship with us. He wants to show us off in front of others. We have to obey his voice and keep his covenant in order to be in relationship with the Lord.
Leviticus 11:45 For I am the LORD that bringeth you up out of the land of Egypt, to be your God: ye shall therefore be holy, for I am holy.
The Lord wants to be our God. He wants a "Like father, like child" kind of relationship. The long term goal for God is to end up with children. We must be holy like the Lord is holy. The good news is we can be.
Leviticus 22:3 Say unto them, Whosoever he be of all your seed among your generations, that goeth unto the holy things, which the children of Israel hallow unto the LORD, having his uncleanness upon him, that soul shall be cut off from my presence: I am the LORD.
We cannot enter the state of holiness with uncleanness upon us. We will be cut off from the Lords presence. With Jesus as our mediator we can repent, but we will need to.
Leviticus 22:10 There shall no stranger eat of the holy thing: a sojourner of the priest, or an hired servant, shall not eat of the holy thing. 11But if the priest buy any soul with his money, he shall eat of it, and he that is born in his house: they shall eat of his meat.
People who are not part of the children of spiritual Israel cannot partake of holy things. Only people who are bought into or born into the house of spiritual Israel may partake of holy things.
Leviticus 22:31 Therefore shall ye keep my commandments, and do them: I am the LORD. 32Neither shall ye profane my holy name; but I will be hallowed among the children of Israel: I am the LORD which hallow you, 33That brought you out of the land of Egypt, to be your God: I am the LORD.
The Lord wants to be considered hallowed, or sanctified, or consecrated by his children and he will likewise hallow, or sanctify, or consecrate his children. We will have to let him, of course. The harder we pursue being holy, the faster we will get there. He is working on our side to get us to the goal of being a mature child.
Numbers 15:38 Speak unto the children of Israel, and bid them that they make them fringes in the borders of their garments throughout their generations, and that they put upon the fringe of the borders a ribband of blue: 39And it shall be unto you for a fringe, that ye may look upon it, and remember all the commandments of the LORD, and do them; and that ye seek not after your own heart and your own eyes, after which ye use to go a whoring: 40That ye may remember, and do all my commandments, and be holy unto your God.
The Lord wants us to always remember and do his commandments and keep ourselves holy. We cannot trust our own heart if it is not regenerate. We must have the raised from the dead spirit in us that Jesus became. In the time of the text Jesus hadn't been resurrected yet so they still had the fallen heart of Adam. Now we can use the raised from the dead spirit to remember and do all the Lords commandments out of our heart. Our conflict now would be with our flesh.
Deuteronomy 7:6 For thou art an holy people unto the LORD thy God: the LORD thy God hath chosen thee to be a special people unto himself, above all people that are upon the face of the earth. 7The LORD did not set his love upon you, nor choose you, because ye were more in number than any people; for ye were the fewest of all people: 8But because the LORD loved you, and because he would keep the oath which he had sworn unto your fathers, hath the LORD brought you out with a mighty hand, and redeemed you out of the house of bondmen, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt. 9Know therefore that the LORD thy God, he is God, the faithful God, which keepeth covenant and mercy with them that love him and keep his commandments to a thousand generations; 10And repayeth them that hate him to their face, to destroy them: he will not be slack to him that hateth him, he will repay him to his face.
The Lord chose the children of Israel to be special above all other people on the whole planet. He set his love on us, and if we love him back, he will keep his covenants with us and have mercy on us. The Lord takes covenants seriously. We should remember that the Lord is not constrained by time. A thousand generations is something the Lord can see at one time. We should be cautious about entering into a covenant with the Lord. We shouldn't make up a covenant unless we are going to keep it for our whole life. We do better to stick within the covenant the Lord offers to us.
The Lord will repay and destroy people that hate him. Notice the "to their face". He will stare right at someone and repay them to his/her face.
Deuteronomy 14:1 Ye are the children of the LORD your God: ye shall not cut yourselves, nor make any baldness between your eyes for the dead. 2For thou art an holy people unto the LORD thy God, and the LORD hath chosen thee to be a peculiar people unto himself, above all the nations that are upon the earth.
The Lord wants the children of Israel to be the most special to himself on the whole planet. The Lord doesn't want us to be making special accommodation for dead people. He is the Lord of the living and wants to be the most predominant thing in our life. He didn't make us with cuts and doesn't want to look at us with cuts where someone dead was more important to us than him.
Deuteronomy 23:14 For the LORD thy God walketh in the midst of thy camp, to deliver thee, and to give up thine enemies before thee; therefore shall thy camp be holy: that he see no unclean thing in thee, and turn away from thee.
The Lord doesn't want to see any unclean thing in our homes or us. If the Lord is going to give up our enemies to us, we have to deserve it and be holy. If we don't want to be holy, the Lord will turn away from us.
Deuteronomy 26:15 Look down from thy holy habitation, from heaven, and bless thy people Israel, and the land which thou hast given us, as thou swarest unto our fathers, a land that floweth with milk and honey. 16This day the LORD thy God hath commanded thee to do these statutes and judgments: thou shalt therefore keep and do them with all thine heart, and with all thy soul. 17Thou hast avouched the LORD this day to be thy God, and to walk in his ways, and to keep his statutes, and his commandments, and his judgments, and to hearken unto his voice: 18And the LORD hath avouched thee this day to be his peculiar people, as he hath promised thee, and that thou shouldest keep all his commandments; 19And to make thee high above all nations which he hath made, in praise, and in name, and in honour; and that thou mayest be an holy people unto the LORD thy God, as he hath spoken.
The Lord dwells in heaven in a holy habitation. The Lord wants us to invite him to be our God. We have to do what pleases him with all our heart and all our soul. The Lord wants all our heart and all our soul to be focused on him. He doesn't make up statutes and judgments to be mean. He fully realizes these statutes and judgments represent him. He isn't trying to make us look foolish. He is trying to make us look like himself. He will then give us a holy habitation here on earth high above all the other nations that he made. He will show us off and boast about us. He wants to give us the best name and honor he can offer.
Deuteronomy 28:1 And it shall come to pass, if thou shalt hearken diligently unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to observe and to do all his commandments which I command thee this day, that the LORD thy God will set thee on high above all nations of the earth: 2And all these blessings shall come on thee, and overtake thee, if thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God. 3Blessed shalt thou be in the city, and blessed shalt thou be in the field. 4Blessed shall be the fruit of thy body, and the fruit of thy ground, and the fruit of thy cattle, the increase of thy kine, and the flocks of thy sheep. 5Blessed shall be thy basket and thy store. 6Blessed shalt thou be when thou comest in, and blessed shalt thou be when thou goest out. 7The LORD shall cause thine enemies that rise up against thee to be smitten before thy face: they shall come out against thee one way, and flee before thee seven ways. 8The LORD shall command the blessing upon thee in thy storehouses, and in all that thou settest thine hand unto; and he shall bless thee in the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee. 9The LORD shall establish thee an holy people unto himself, as he hath sworn unto thee, if thou shalt keep the commandments of the LORD thy God, and walk in his ways. 10And all people of the earth shall see that thou art called by the name of the LORD; and they shall be afraid of thee. 11And the LORD shall make thee plenteous in goods, in the fruit of thy body, and in the fruit of thy cattle, and in the fruit of thy ground, in the land which the LORD sware unto thy fathers to give thee. 12The LORD shall open unto thee his good treasure, the heaven to give the rain unto thy land in his season, and to bless all the work of thine hand: and thou shalt lend unto many nations, and thou shalt not borrow. 13And the LORD shall make thee the head, and not the tail; and thou shalt be above only, and thou shalt not be beneath; if that thou hearken unto the commandments of the LORD thy God, which I command thee this day, to observe and to do them: 14And thou shalt not go aside from any of the words which I command thee this day, to the right hand, or to the left, to go after other gods to serve them.
By us Doing the Lords commandments we are then set in our earthly holy habitation with blessings overtaking us. The Lord will use us as an example to others as to how to act, but we have to set the perfect example. The Lord will use us as a projection of himself on the earth. People will know we represent the name of the Lord. We can use and enjoy the blessings from being holy and not just have them around as a museum showpiece. They actually constitute our life, for our consumption. The Lord will provide us protection so we can enjoy these things in peace. We cannot in any way have any other gods...
Deuteronomy 28:15 But it shall come to pass, if thou wilt not hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to observe to do all his commandments and his statutes which I command thee this day; that all these curses shall come upon thee, and overtake thee: 16Cursed shalt thou be in the city, and cursed shalt thou be in the field. 17Cursed shall be thy basket and thy store. 18Cursed shall be the fruit of thy body, and the fruit of thy land, the increase of thy kine, and the flocks of thy sheep. 19Cursed shalt thou be when thou comest in, and cursed shalt thou be when thou goest out. 20The LORD shall send upon thee cursing, vexation, and rebuke, in all that thou settest thine hand unto for to do, until thou be destroyed, and until thou perish quickly; because of the wickedness of thy doings, whereby thou hast forsaken me. 21The LORD shall make the pestilence cleave unto thee, until he have consumed thee from off the land, whither thou goest to possess it. 22The LORD shall smite thee with a consumption, and with a fever, and with an inflammation, and with an extreme burning, and with the sword, and with blasting, and with mildew; and they shall pursue thee until thou perish. 23And thy heaven that is over thy head shall be brass, and the earth that is under thee shall be iron. 24The LORD shall make the rain of thy land powder and dust: from heaven shall it come down upon thee, until thou be destroyed. 25The LORD shall cause thee to be smitten before thine enemies: thou shalt go out one way against them, and flee seven ways before them: and shalt be removed into all the kingdoms of the earth. 26And thy carcase shall be meat unto all fowls of the air, and unto the beasts of the earth, and no man shall fray them away. 27The LORD will smite thee with the botch of Egypt, and with the emerods, and with the scab, and with the itch, whereof thou canst not be healed. 28The LORD shall smite thee with madness, and blindness, and astonishment of heart: 29And thou shalt grope at noonday, as the blind gropeth in darkness, and thou shalt not prosper in thy ways: and thou shalt be only oppressed and spoiled evermore, and no man shall save thee. 30Thou shalt betroth a wife, and another man shall lie with her: thou shalt build an house, and thou shalt not dwell therein: thou shalt plant a vineyard, and shalt not gather the grapes thereof. 31Thine ox shall be slain before thine eyes, and thou shalt not eat thereof: thine ass shall be violently taken away from before thy face, and shall not be restored to thee: thy sheep shall be given unto thine enemies, and thou shalt have none to rescue them. 32Thy sons and thy daughters shall be given unto another people, and thine eyes shall look, and fail with longing for them all the day long: and there shall be no might in thine hand. 33The fruit of thy land, and all thy labours, shall a nation which thou knowest not eat up; and thou shalt be only oppressed and crushed alway: 34So that thou shalt be mad for the sight of thine eyes which thou shalt see. 35The LORD shall smite thee in the knees, and in the legs, with a sore botch that cannot be healed, from the sole of thy foot unto the top of thy head. 36The LORD shall bring thee, and thy king which thou shalt set over thee, unto a nation which neither thou nor thy fathers have known; and there shalt thou serve other gods, wood and stone. 37And thou shalt become an astonishment, a proverb, and a byword, among all nations whither the LORD shall lead thee. 38Thou shalt carry much seed out into the field, and shalt gather but little in; for the locust shall consume it. 39Thou shalt plant vineyards, and dress them, but shalt neither drink of the wine, nor gather the grapes; for the worms shall eat them. 40Thou shalt have olive trees throughout all thy coasts, but thou shalt not anoint thyself with the oil; for thine olive shall cast his fruit. 41Thou shalt beget sons and daughters, but thou shalt not enjoy them; for they shall go into captivity. 42All thy trees and fruit of thy land shall the locust consume. 43The stranger that is within thee shall get up above thee very high; and thou shalt come down very low. 44He shall lend to thee, and thou shalt not lend to him: he shall be the head, and thou shalt be the tail.
BUT, there are a whole lot of very creative curses that the Lord will impose upon us if we turn away from him. We can see from history and the treatment of the natural Jewish people what the Lord will do to the spiritual Jews if we turn away from him. This is a very pure and simple jealousy. The Lord went into great detail as to how he will be "In Your Face" if we turn away from him and his word and his ways and his holiness. He will not be misrepresented through people. He will make it clear that someone is not behaving correctly.
Deuteronomy 28:45 Moreover all these curses shall come upon thee, and shall pursue thee, and overtake thee, till thou be destroyed; because thou hearkenedst not unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to keep his commandments and his statutes which he commanded thee: 46And they shall be upon thee for a sign and for a wonder, and upon thy seed for ever. 47Because thou servedst not the LORD thy God with joyfulness, and with gladness of heart, for the abundance of all things;
Here in the middle of the Lords list of consequences is the explanation as to why all these things will happen. It is because we don't remain holy and separated to the Lord and serve him with joy and gladness of heart for all of what he has been doing for us. Notice this is forever. Everything with the Lord can be forever. He is outside of time and is time. He will be somewhere forever. He can hold curses against people forever. If he changes his mind, it will be something else forever. It's always forever.
Deuteronomy 28:48 Therefore shalt thou serve thine enemies which the LORD shall send against thee, in hunger, and in thirst, and in nakedness, and in want of all things: and he shall put a yoke of iron upon thy neck, until he have destroyed thee. 49The LORD shall bring a nation against thee from far, from the end of the earth, as swift as the eagle flieth; a nation whose tongue thou shalt not understand; 50A nation of fierce countenance, which shall not regard the person of the old, nor shew favour to the young: 51And he shall eat the fruit of thy cattle, and the fruit of thy land, until thou be destroyed: which also shall not leave thee either corn, wine, or oil, or the increase of thy kine, or flocks of thy sheep, until he have destroyed thee. 52And he shall besiege thee in all thy gates, until thy high and fenced walls come down, wherein thou trustedst, throughout all thy land: and he shall besiege thee in all thy gates throughout all thy land, which the LORD thy God hath given thee. 53And thou shalt eat the fruit of thine own body, the flesh of thy sons and of thy daughters, which the LORD thy God hath given thee, in the siege, and in the straitness, wherewith thine enemies shall distress thee: 54So that the man that is tender among you, and very delicate, his eye shall be evil toward his brother, and toward the wife of his bosom, and toward the remnant of his children which he shall leave: 55So that he will not give to any of them of the flesh of his children whom he shall eat: because he hath nothing left him in the siege, and in the straitness, wherewith thine enemies shall distress thee in all thy gates. 56The tender and delicate woman among you, which would not adventure to set the sole of her foot upon the ground for delicateness and tenderness, her eye shall be evil toward the husband of her bosom, and toward her son, and toward her daughter, 57And toward her young one that cometh out from between her feet, and toward her children which she shall bear: for she shall eat them for want of all things secretly in the siege and straitness, wherewith thine enemy shall distress thee in thy gates. 58If thou wilt not observe to do all the words of this law that are written in this book, that thou mayest fear this glorious and fearful name, THE LORD THY GOD; 59Then the LORD will make thy plagues wonderful, and the plagues of thy seed, even great plagues, and of long continuance, and sore sicknesses, and of long continuance. 60Moreover he will bring upon thee all the diseases of Egypt, which thou wast afraid of; and they shall cleave unto thee. 61Also every sickness, and every plague, which is not written in the book of this law, them will the LORD bring upon thee, until thou be destroyed. 62And ye shall be left few in number, whereas ye were as the stars of heaven for multitude; because thou wouldest not obey the voice of the LORD thy God. 63And it shall come to pass, that as the LORD rejoiced over you to do you good, and to multiply you; so the LORD will rejoice over you to destroy you, and to bring you to nought; and ye shall be plucked from off the land whither thou goest to possess it. 64And the LORD shall scatter thee among all people, from the one end of the earth even unto the other; and there thou shalt serve other gods, which neither thou nor thy fathers have known, even wood and stone. 65And among these nations shalt thou find no ease, neither shall the sole of thy foot have rest: but the LORD shall give thee there a trembling heart, and failing of eyes, and sorrow of mind: 66And thy life shall hang in doubt before thee; and thou shalt fear day and night, and shalt have none assurance of thy life: 67In the morning thou shalt say, Would God it were even! and at even thou shalt say, Would God it were morning! for the fear of thine heart wherewith thou shalt fear, and for the sight of thine eyes which thou shalt see. 68And the LORD shall bring thee into Egypt again with ships, by the way whereof I spake unto thee, Thou shalt see it no more again: and there ye shall be sold unto your enemies for bondmen and bondwomen, and no man shall buy you.
After completely trashing us, the Lord sends us back to Egypt where we started from. The relationship is broken off.
Joshua 24:1 And Joshua gathered all the tribes of Israel to Shechem, and called for the elders of Israel, and for their heads, and for their judges, and for their officers; and they presented themselves before God. 2And Joshua said unto all the people, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, Your fathers dwelt on the other side of the flood in old time, even Terah, the father of Abraham, and the father of Nachor: and they served other gods. 3And I took your father Abraham from the other side of the flood, and led him throughout all the land of Canaan, and multiplied his seed, and gave him Isaac. 4And I gave unto Isaac Jacob and Esau: and I gave unto Esau mount Seir, to possess it; but Jacob and his children went down into Egypt. 5I sent Moses also and Aaron, and I plagued Egypt, according to that which I did among them: and afterward I brought you out. 6And I brought your fathers out of Egypt: and ye came unto the sea; and the Egyptians pursued after your fathers with chariots and horsemen unto the Red sea. 7And when they cried unto the LORD, he put darkness between you and the Egyptians, and brought the sea upon them, and covered them; and your eyes have seen what I have done in Egypt: and ye dwelt in the wilderness a long season. 8And I brought you into the land of the Amorites, which dwelt on the other side Jordan; and they fought with you: and I gave them into your hand, that ye might possess their land; and I destroyed them from before you. 9Then Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab, arose and warred against Israel, and sent and called Balaam the son of Beor to curse you: 10But I would not hearken unto Balaam; therefore he blessed you still: so I delivered you out of his hand. 11And ye went over Jordan, and came unto Jericho: and the men of Jericho fought against you, the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Girgashites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites; and I delivered them into your hand. 12And I sent the hornet before you, which drave them out from before you, even the two kings of the Amorites; but not with thy sword, nor with thy bow. 13And I have given you a land for which ye did not labour, and cities which ye built not, and ye dwell in them; of the vineyards and oliveyards which ye planted not do ye eat. 14Now therefore fear the LORD, and serve him in sincerity and in truth: and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the flood, and in Egypt; and serve ye the LORD. 15And if it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD. 16And the people answered and said, God forbid that we should forsake the LORD, to serve other gods; 17For the LORD our God, he it is that brought us up and our fathers out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage, and which did those great signs in our sight, and preserved us in all the way wherein we went, and among all the people through whom we passed: 18And the LORD drave out from before us all the people, even the Amorites which dwelt in the land: therefore will we also serve the LORD; for he is our God.
Here is another example the Lord gives in detail as to how he set a people apart from the rest of the people on the earth. The Lord outlines a lot of history and detail as to how he followed a lineage of people through hundreds of years and how he continued with progressing towards isolating a people he can call special to himself. Notice the Lord uses "I" a lot while describing everything that happened. The perspective the Lord has is that he was making decisions all the time as to Israels fate and destiny. Verse 7 mentions that they dwelt in the wilderness a long season. This long season is more of a corporate way of thinking, because the long season was 40 years. It was while a generation that was already 20 years old or older died off and a new generation was raised in the old ones place. Individually, for some, the story would be "I made you spend the rest of your miserable life in the desert until you died. Then I let your children go on." Notice the Lord wants us to serve him in sincerity and in truth. Serving him is following his commandments. These commandments are good for us and they make the Lord look well represented on the earth as being a God who values life.
Joshua 24:19 And Joshua said unto the people, Ye cannot serve the LORD: for he is an holy God; he is a jealous God; he will not forgive your transgressions nor your sins. 20If ye forsake the LORD, and serve strange gods, then he will turn and do you hurt, and consume you, after that he hath done you good.
It is a challenge to serve the Lord. He is holy and jealous over people he considers close to him. He will turn on us if we forsake him. This protects his holy status and who he is identified with.
Joshua 24:21 And the people said unto Joshua, Nay; but we will serve the LORD. 22And Joshua said unto the people, Ye are witnesses against yourselves that ye have chosen you the LORD, to serve him. And they said, We are witnesses. 23Now therefore put away, said he, the strange gods which are among you, and incline your heart unto the LORD God of Israel. 24And the people said unto Joshua, The LORD our God will we serve, and his voice will we obey.
We must accept this challenge of being holy and not having other gods. We must come into covenant with the Lord and serve him and obey him. Usually this is easy. The Lord knows we are the "people" part of the relationship and not the "God" part. Our role is appropriate for us. It is much easier for us that have the raised from the dead human spirit in us. We look like father God on the inside, so we can see him as "daddy" and not a stranger that is "God".
1 Samuel 2:1 And Hannah prayed, and said, My heart rejoiceth in the LORD, mine horn is exalted in the LORD: my mouth is enlarged over mine enemies; because I rejoice in thy salvation. 2There is none holy as the LORD: for there is none beside thee: neither is there any rock like our God. 3Talk no more so exceeding proudly; let not arrogancy come out of your mouth: for the LORD is a God of knowledge, and by him actions are weighed. 4The bows of the mighty men are broken, and they that stumbled are girded with strength. 5They that were full have hired out themselves for bread; and they that were hungry ceased: so that the barren hath born seven; and she that hath many children is waxed feeble. 6The LORD killeth, and maketh alive: he bringeth down to the grave, and bringeth up. 7The LORD maketh poor, and maketh rich: he bringeth low, and lifteth up. 8He raiseth up the poor out of the dust, and lifteth up the beggar from the dunghill, to set them among princes, and to make them inherit the throne of glory: for the pillars of the earth are the LORD'S, and he hath set the world upon them. 9He will keep the feet of his saints, and the wicked shall be silent in darkness; for by strength shall no man prevail. 10The adversaries of the LORD shall be broken to pieces; out of heaven shall he thunder upon them: the LORD shall judge the ends of the earth; and he shall give strength unto his king, and exalt the horn of his anointed.
No one is as sacred as the Lord. The Lord involves himself with setting people up and knocking them down. We are best off being one of his saintly children or we will be considered an adversary.
1 Chronicles 16:8 Give thanks unto the LORD, call upon his name, make known his deeds among the people. 9Sing unto him, sing psalms unto him, talk ye of all his wondrous works. 10Glory ye in his holy name: let the heart of them rejoice that seek the LORD. 11Seek the LORD and his strength, seek his face continually. 12Remember his marvellous works that he hath done, his wonders, and the judgments of his mouth; 13O ye seed of Israel his servant, ye children of Jacob, his chosen ones. 14He is the LORD our God; his judgments are in all the earth. 15Be ye mindful always of his covenant; the word which he commanded to a thousand generations;
The name of a person is used to describe their nature, character and authority. The Lord considers his name to be holy. We are invited to call upon his name and glory in his name. If we seek the Lord, our hearts can rejoice. We can rely on his strength. The Lord wants us to sing to him and talk good about him. The only way he could appreciate that is if he was close to us. If he was just "out there" somewhere, why would he care if we talked about him or not? He wants us to seek him on the premise that we will find him because he is nearby. The Lord is looking over and making judgements about things all over the earth. The Lord commands people to always keep his covenant in mind.
1 Chronicles 16:26 For all the gods of the people are idols: but the LORD made the heavens.
The Lord considers fake gods to be idols. The Lord reminds us they make nothing and he made the heavens. In fact, fake gods are made of atoms that the Lord made. They can never enter into a relationship with us.
1 Chronicles 16:35 And say ye, Save us, O God of our salvation, and gather us together, and deliver us from the heathen, that we may give thanks to thy holy name, and glory in thy praise.
The Lord is inviting us to call on him to save us from unholy people. He loves the relationship with us and the thanks and the praise.
1 Chronicles 22:19 Now set your heart and your soul to seek the LORD your God; arise therefore, and build ye the sanctuary of the LORD God, to bring the ark of the covenant of the LORD, and the holy vessels of God, into the house that is to be built to the name of the LORD.
Today, the sanctuary we are to build for the Lord is ourselves. We are to be the sanctuary of the Lord in our spirit, mind and body. We have to seek the Lord with our heart and our soul to become this sanctuary in our heart and our soul.
2 Chronicles 23:6 But let none come into the house of the LORD, save the priests, and they that minister of the Levites; they shall go in, for they are holy: but all the people shall keep the watch of the LORD.
The Lord wants only holy people in his house and if we are his house, we have to be holy people.
Nehemiah 1:5 And said, I beseech thee, O LORD God of heaven, the great and terrible God, that keepeth covenant and mercy for them that love him and observe his commandments:
The Lord has mercy on those of us that love him and keep his commandments. The Lord has the ability to control things from heaven to enable him to keep his covenants. From our position, we cannot control things enough to guarantee we can keep any covenant we want to.
Nehemiah 8:8 So they read in the book in the law of God distinctly, and gave the sense, and caused them to understand the reading. 9And Nehemiah, which is the Tirshatha, and Ezra the priest the scribe, and the Levites that taught the people, said unto all the people, This day is holy unto the LORD your God; mourn not, nor weep. For all the people wept, when they heard the words of the law. 10Then he said unto them, Go your way, eat the fat, and drink the sweet, and send portions unto them for whom nothing is prepared: for this day is holy unto our Lord: neither be ye sorry; for the joy of the LORD is your strength. 11So the Levites stilled all the people, saying, Hold your peace, for the day is holy; neither be ye grieved. 12And all the people went their way to eat, and to drink, and to send portions, and to make great mirth, because they had understood the words that were declared unto them.
When we come to find out what the Lord wants of us we realize our old life was not that good in his eyes. We should not mourn that we find this out. We should be glad that we know to change and move on. The Joy of the Lord is our strength. The Lord wants to strengthen us by giving us his teachings. He does not want to weaken us or grieve us. We all start off spiritually dead. We either stay that way or it gets better for us from there.
2 Chronicles 29:5 And said unto them, Hear me, ye Levites, sanctify now yourselves, and sanctify the house of the LORD God of your fathers, and carry forth the filthiness out of the holy place. 6For our fathers have trespassed, and done that which was evil in the eyes of the LORD our God, and have forsaken him, and have turned away their faces from the habitation of the LORD, and turned their backs. 7Also they have shut up the doors of the porch, and put out the lamps, and have not burned incense nor offered burnt offerings in the holy place unto the God of Israel. 8Wherefore the wrath of the LORD was upon Judah and Jerusalem, and he hath delivered them to trouble, to astonishment, and to hissing, as ye see with your eyes. 9For, lo, our fathers have fallen by the sword, and our sons and our daughters and our wives are in captivity for this. 10Now it is in mine heart to make a covenant with the LORD God of Israel, that his fierce wrath may turn away from us. 11My sons, be not now negligent: for the LORD hath chosen you to stand before him, to serve him, and that ye should minister unto him, and burn incense.
Sanctify means to clean, consecrate and dedicate. We have to clean, consecrate and dedicate ourselves as the house of the Lord. We must remove all filthiness from our lives. We must walk away from generational history no matter what our families may have done in the past so we can move forward. This means we must put our commitment to the Lord above our families and ancestry. We need to break ties with old wine skin types of people that don't also want to become holy. We must commit to being holy and following the Lord to eliminate generational curses that may be on us. This dedication will affect us and our families and children and grandchildren in a positive, life oriented way.
Ezra 9:1 Now when these things were done, the princes came to me, saying, The people of Israel, and the priests, and the Levites, have not separated themselves from the people of the lands, doing according to their abominations, even of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Jebusites, the Ammonites, the Moabites, the Egyptians, and the Amorites. 2For they have taken of their daughters for themselves, and for their sons: so that the holy seed have mingled themselves with the people of those lands: yea, the hand of the princes and rulers hath been chief in this trespass. 3And when I heard this thing, I rent my garment and my mantle, and plucked off the hair of my head and of my beard, and sat down astonied. 4Then were assembled unto me every one that trembled at the words of the God of Israel, because of the transgression of those that had been carried away; and I sat astonied until the evening sacrifice. 5And at the evening sacrifice I arose up from my heaviness; and having rent my garment and my mantle, I fell upon my knees, and spread out my hands unto the LORD my God, 6And said, O my God, I am ashamed and blush to lift up my face to thee, my God: for our iniquities are increased over our head, and our trespass is grown up unto the heavens. 7Since the days of our fathers have we been in a great trespass unto this day; and for our iniquities have we, our kings, and our priests, been delivered into the hand of the kings of the lands, to the sword, to captivity, and to a spoil, and to confusion of face, as it is this day. 8And now for a little space grace hath been shewed from the LORD our God, to leave us a remnant to escape, and to give us a nail in his holy place, that our God may lighten our eyes, and give us a little reviving in our bondage. 9For we were bondmen; yet our God hath not forsaken us in our bondage, but hath extended mercy unto us in the sight of the kings of Persia, to give us a reviving, to set up the house of our God, and to repair the desolations thereof, and to give us a wall in Judah and in Jerusalem. 10And now, O our God, what shall we say after this? for we have forsaken thy commandments, 11Which thou hast commanded by thy servants the prophets, saying, The land, unto which ye go to possess it, is an unclean land with the filthiness of the people of the lands, with their abominations, which have filled it from one end to another with their uncleanness. 12Now therefore give not your daughters unto their sons, neither take their daughters unto your sons, nor seek their peace or their wealth for ever: that ye may be strong, and eat the good of the land, and leave it for an inheritance to your children for ever. 13And after all that is come upon us for our evil deeds, and for our great trespass, seeing that thou our God hast punished us less than our iniquities deserve, and hast given us such deliverance as this; 14Should we again break thy commandments, and join in affinity with the people of these abominations? wouldest not thou be angry with us till thou hadst consumed us, so that there should be no remnant nor escaping? 15O LORD God of Israel, thou art righteous: for we remain yet escaped, as it is this day: behold, we are before thee in our trespasses: for we cannot stand before thee because of this.
This is a story from Jewish history where the people that were supposed to be holy instead mingled themselves with and intermarried with people of other races. In Christianity this is called marrying out of yoke. People who marry others that are non-Christians usually find it difficult to get a good spiritual relationship going. They each are of two different spiritual seeds. Looking at the physical instead of the spiritual is not the same as looking at the relationship aspect as most important. The land the Hebrew Children were allowed to go in and possess was full of filthy things left behind by the previous occupants. Likewise, when we commit to accepting and taking the raised from the dead Christ spirit in us to raise our spirit from the dead, we must not mingle with our old life and the unclean abominations we used to enjoy with our death oriented spirit and our flesh. When we continue to mingle with our old life we will be under chastisement until we repent. Not everyone repents. Not everyone even knows they need to, but a remnant will continue on to represent the Lord and the holy life associated with him.
Psalm 11:4 The LORD is in his holy temple, the LORD'S throne is in heaven: his eyes behold, his eyelids try, the children of men. 5The LORD trieth the righteous: but the wicked and him that loveth violence his soul hateth. 6Upon the wicked he shall rain snares, fire and brimstone, and an horrible tempest: this shall be the portion of their cup. 7For the righteous LORD loveth righteousness; his countenance doth behold the upright.
Here the word "try" means test. The Lord will test good people to train them and improve them. The Lord will destroy the wicked.
Psalm 22:3 But thou art holy, O thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel. 4Our fathers trusted in thee: they trusted, and thou didst deliver them. 5They cried unto thee, and were delivered: they trusted in thee, and were not confounded.
The Lord inhabits the praise of his spiritual Israel, the Christians. The Lord has delivered people in the past and is offering to do it again if we trust in him.
Psalm 33:18 Behold, the eye of the LORD is upon them that fear him, upon them that hope in his mercy; 19To deliver their soul from death, and to keep them alive in famine. 20Our soul waiteth for the LORD: he is our help and our shield. 21For our heart shall rejoice in him, because we have trusted in his holy name. 22Let thy mercy, O LORD, be upon us, according as we hope in thee.
Here the word "hope" has the aspect of patience. If we revere the Lord we can hope/wait for his mercy. When we trust in the name-nature-character-authority of the Lord we receive mercy.
Psalm 51:6 Behold, thou desirest truth in the inward parts: and in the hidden part thou shalt make me to know wisdom. Psalm 51:8 Make me to hear joy and gladness; that the bones which thou hast broken may rejoice. 9Hide thy face from my sins, and blot out all mine iniquities. 10Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me. 11Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy holy spirit from me. 12Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free spirit. 13Then will I teach transgressors thy ways; and sinners shall be converted unto thee. 14Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God, thou God of my salvation: and my tongue shall sing aloud of thy righteousness. Psalm 51:16 For thou desirest not sacrifice; else would I give it: thou delightest not in burnt offering. 17The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.
The Lord desires that we hold truth in our hearts. Wisdom in our hearts comes from the Lord. The Lord may have to break some bones, but he can make them rejoice. The spirit the Lord gives us to replace our death oriented Adam spirit is holy. The Lord doesn't need animal sacrifices. Jesus became our blood sacrifice that applies to us humans. He needs us to sacrifice our pride so our hearts can be humble.
Psalm 86:2 Preserve my soul; for I am holy: O thou my God, save thy servant that trusteth in thee.
When we are holy we can call on God to protect us.
Psalm 105:3 Glory ye in his holy name: let the heart of them rejoice that seek the LORD. 4Seek the LORD, and his strength: seek his face evermore.
We don't need our own strength. We can seek the Lord and rejoice and glory and share his strength.
Acts 4:29 And now, Lord, behold their threatenings: and grant unto thy servants, that with all boldness they may speak thy word, 30By stretching forth thine hand to heal; and that signs and wonders may be done by the name of thy holy child Jesus.
Jesus is the holy child of father God. In Jesus' name we can have boldness to be ministers to others. By Jesus' name father God can show us miracles.
1 Corinthians 15:45 And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a life-giving spirit. 46Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual. 47The first man is of the earth, earthy: the second man is the Lord from heaven.
The Lord is the last Adam and was made into a life-giving spirit by becoming human, then a dead human, then a raised from the dead human. Since Jesus died with no sin on his soul, he was legally allowed to be raised from the dead.
John 3:1 There was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews: 2The same came to Jesus by night, and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him. 3Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. 4Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother's womb, and be born? 5Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. 6That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.
Once Jesus was raised from the dead, we are now able to receive/take his raised from the dead, life-giving human spirit into our dead (death oriented) spirit to make us spiritually raised from the dead. The kingdom of God is in us. We can only enter it with our raised from the dead spirit.
1 Peter 1:22 Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently: 23Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever.
Jesus is the incorruptible seed by which we can be born again. This is how we become born into the spiritual house of the children of spiritual Israel. We become born into a priests house when we become born again. We become the spiritual children of father God. We have to use this spirit to purify/make clean/sanctify our soul.
Luke 11:13 If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask(aiteō - require of) him?
In the New Testament, holiness is given to us in spirit form such that we can live by a holy spirit that wasn't available under the previous covenant. Those of us who have received/taken Christ' raised from the dead spirit can ask/demand of father God to give us the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is also called the "comforter" and he can help lead us to use our raised from the dead spirit to live a holy life.
Hebrews 12:14 Follow(diōkō - pursue) peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord:
Romans 14:19 Let us therefore follow(diōkō - pursue) after the things which make for peace, and things wherewith one may edify another.
2 Corinthians 7:1 Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.
We can use fear, or reverence, towards God to purify both our flesh and our spirit from immorality. If we draw ourselves into this reverence, we have a much easier job of perfecting our holiness. It is open end as to how holy we can become. Father God will love every sincere effort on our part to pursue holiness. The holier we get the more we can see the Lord.
2 Timothy 2:22 Flee also youthful lusts: but follow(diōkō - pursue) righteousness, faith, love, peace, with them that call on the Lord out of a pure heart.
Our spirit is ageless. If we call on the Lord out of our spirit we become ageless in our intent. We don't have to be subject to our physical body. We might think it is a challenge that we deny our "oat sowing" years when we are young. We can see that we are invited to become a child of father God when we are any age. If we are "called", father God has a program, or life, or agenda, or itinerary for everyone no matter what age we are. How we approach this will determine our success and personal fulfillment. In a way, we never have to give up our personal youth at any age. We always remain children to father God. We may need to learn the difference between childish and childlike. The excitement of the forbidden doesn't have to die when we get older. It has to die now. Any aspect of our youth can have a good manifestation. Father God can replace forbidden excitement with fulfilling excitement. We can be fulfilled all the way from our heart on outward and not just in our flesh where our heart was never really involved. God made us that way.
1 Thessalonians 5:15 See that none render evil for evil unto any man; but ever follow(diōkō - pursue) that which is good, both among yourselves, and to all men.
We oppose ourselves when we tear down other members of Jesus' body and the people that we are wanting to minister to. We might not know how to deal with others. Maybe we can't. There are times when Jesus walked away from people. In Matthew 15:14 Jesus said "Let them alone: they be blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch." Jesus didn't pursue tearing them down. They have until the end of their life to have come into our family. We do better to take the high road and either help them with father God's resources that he is deliberately and knowingly providing, or leave them alone. Paying someone back with evil is a form of following evil, in that we would be using evil to resolve a situation rather than adding life or walking away. By being holy, separated unto father God, we are closer to him than to others. Our relationship with him is more important than our relationship with others.
1 Timothy 6:11 and thou, O man of God, these things flee, and pursue(diōkō - pursue) righteousness, piety, faith, love, endurance, meekness;
3 John 1:11 Beloved, follow not that which is evil, but that which is good. He that doeth good is of God: but he that doeth evil hath not seen God.
We can use Jesus' raised from the dead spirit as our spirit and be led by the Holy Spirit to live in peace and holiness. We see that the expectations haven't changed to live a holy life from the Old Testament to the New Testament. We are expected to not do evil, not pursue lusts, be righteous, and pursue peace, love, faith, meekness and holiness. Father God expects no less from us who want to become his mature children.
Philippians 3:8 Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ, 9And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith: 10That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death; 11If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead. 12Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect: but I follow(diōkō - pursue) after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus.
Coming into the fullness of Christ will take all we have. We can share with the Lord at a level that the children of Israel never could. They never had access to the raised from the dead human spirit because it had not been earned yet by the Lord. The Lord had to earn the right to create his kingdom of raised from the dead people by dieing without sin and becoming raised from the dead himself. The Lord then began making his kingdom out of us one spiritual resurrection at a time. We want to make sure that we are resurrected, so we must pursue the Lord with all our heart and all our mind. This is becoming holy unto the Lord.