It is very difficult to describe holiness without circularity. To be holy means to be set apart for sacred use, but, of course, “sacred” is just another word for holy. Certainly one important characteristic of holiness is set-apart-ness, separation from others of the same kind. The first use of a word meaning “made holy” in the Old Testament is in Genesis 2:3, which declares that God set apart the seventh day and made it holy because he rested from all the work of creating he had done. God made the seventh day unlike the other days by resting from his work, and later on when he gave Moses the Law, he commanded rest on the seventh day for everyone, even immigrants, slaves, and domestic animals1. Throughout the world wherever there is any kind of religion, there are also places, objects, and seasons regarded as holy, set apart from the ordinary and mundane.
Being set apart is a necessary aspect of holiness, but it is not sufficient. A landfill, for example, is set apart for dumping trash and garbage, but it is not holy. In fact, it is almost the opposite of holy, for holiness also implies reverence. We highly esteem what we regard as holy. We treat it with reverence and awe. We don’t esteem it merely because it is set apart but because it is somehow worthy of esteem. When Isaiah describes his prophetic calling, he reports seeing heavenly creatures flying above the throne of God and calling to one another:
“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty;
Isaiah 6:3
the whole earth is full of his glory.”
The threefold repetition signifies the complete certainty of God’s holiness, and the shaking of the foundations of the throne room and its filling with smoke indicate the awesome majesty of God. In his throne room God is highly esteemed. John reiterates the same scene in his Revelation, adding that the twenty-four elders who surround the throne also interpret God’s holiness as worthiness:
“You are worthy, our Lord and God,
Revelation 4:11
to receive glory and honor and power,
for you created all things,
and by your will they were created
and have their being.”
God’s superior worth is explicitly linked to his holiness.
Because God is holy, whatever he touches or claims also becomes holy. Under the Mosaic Law, the altar of sacrifice in the tabernacle was holy to the Lord, and whatever touched the altar also became holy2. Holiness is transmissible by proximity to what is holy.
When God spoke to Moses from the unconsumed burning bush, he told him to take off his sandals because the place where he stood was holy ground3. The ground was holy because of its proximity to the manifestation of God’s presence. It had no particular holiness of its own. By letting his bare feet touch the holy ground, Moses signified his own willingness to be made holy. Though he protests and expresses reluctance, he nevertheless accepts his calling as God’s servant and ends up doing what God told him to do. In doing so, he becomes holy too.
Holiness also denotes purity, freedom from any defect or uncleanness. When God chose Israel, he told Moses to tell them:
Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession. Although the whole earth is mine, you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.
Exodus 19:5-6a
God laid claim to the whole world but designated Israel as special—provided they obeyed him and kept his covenant. The apostle Peter later applied this same language to his readers4, declaring all who follow Jesus to constitute “a royal priesthood [and] a holy nation.” Just before this declaration, Peter exhorted his readers to rid themselves “of all malice and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander of every kind.” The nation Peter envisions is not defined by borders or a particular government but by belonging to God. This is a transnational nation drawn “from every nation, tribe, people and language.”5 God’s endgame is for all creation to partake of his holiness once every evil is eradicated. For it turns out that every ground is holy ground because God’s presence is everywhere. Every person is (potentially) holy. Every moment is holy. Every place is holy. When God’s holiness extends to everything, then everything will be set apart for sacred use. Everything will be holy.
- Exodus 20:8-11. ↩︎
- Exodus 29:36–37. ↩︎
- Exodus 3:5. Removing footwear before entering a holy place is a common practice throughout the world. Since footwear accumulates dust and dirt during use, removing it serves to keep the holy place clean and shows respect for its purity. ↩︎
- 1 Peter 2:1-10. ↩︎
- Revelation 7:9. ↩︎