Holy Unto The Lord
קֹ֖דֶשׁ לַֽיהוָֽה
Holy to Yahweh
qodesh Yhvh
kedushah/kadushah – Holy Unto The Lord!
Kodesh l’Adonai:
Lord in Hebrew is יהוה, YHWH,
6944 qodesh: apartness, sacredness
Original Word: קֹדֶשׁ
Transliteration: qodesh
Phonetic Spelling: ko’-desh
Holiness Unto The Lord
written in Hebrew
‘Kodesh L’ADONAI’
HOLINESS (holy) UNTO THE LORD;
Sanctum Domino (Vulgate);
Ἅγιον τῷ Κυρίῳ παντοκράτορι (Septuagint).
This was the inscription upon
the golden plate on the mitre of the high priest.
Mitre in Hebrew: mitsnepheth,
something rolled round the head;
the turban or head-dress of the high priest
Exodus 28:4 Exodus 28:37
Exodus 28:39; 29:6.
Exodus 39:30 And they made the plate of the holy crown of pure gold, and wrote upon it a writing, like to the engravings of a signet, HOLINESS TO THE LORD.
Leviticus 8:9
Leviticus 19:1-2
The Israelites were commanded to be
Holy
on account of their relationship with
The Holy One of Israel
K’dosh Yisrael or Qedosh Yisra’el
הקדוש של עם ישראל
The term Holy One of Israel
is used more than 30 times in the Bible.
Bible references: 2 Kings 19:22; Ps. 71:22; 78:41; 89:18; Isa. 1:4; 17:7; 30:11; 41:14; 43:3, 14; 45:11; 47:4; 48:17; 54:5; Jer. 50:29; 51:5 and a total of about forty five times.
Against the Holy One of Israel! 2 Kings 19:22.
The English translation of the word, does not very clearly convey the acurate meaning, as seen in Hebrew. In the English language, the words
one and of
are added to the translation
הקדוש של ישראל,
meaning: the Holy One of Israel.
In Hebrew, it is written as:
Holy Israel – קדוש ישראל,
and the difference is significant.
The English language conveys:
a belonging to,
but also
a distinctly separate association.
The Hebrew, however, communicates
oneness.
Indicating the Shema.
The Lord is One.
In other words, Holy Israel is another name given to Adonai.
He is Holy, and He is also Israel/Yisrael.
The implication is that Yeshua/Jesus,
Who is the Word of God revealed in the flesh,
is called Holy Israel,
and therefore it could be said,
He and Israel are inseparably one.
The Holy One –
The One set apart
as completely perfect and unique,
transcending the realm of the finite, the fallen,
and the imperfect.
Only God is worthy of worship, for He alone is Holy.
Strong’s Hebrew: 6918. קָדוֹשׁ (qadosh) — sacred, holy
holy One, saint.
Or
qadosh {kaw-doshe’}; from qadash; sacred (ceremonially or morally); (as noun) God (by eminence), an angel, a saint, a sanctuary — holy (One), saint. HEBREW qadash.
1Peter 1:13-16; 1Cor. 6:9-20.
The Torah defines a
Holiness Code
that contains more commandments for His children concerning practical ethics beginning with Lev. 19 1-2.
His Spirit is the Ruach Ha Kodesh
the Holy Spirit
Hebrew: רוח הקודש ,
ruach ha-kodesh
Literally: spirit of Holiness Who will always guide us into the Truth and into the Fathers presence by WAY of Messiah Yeshua HaMashiach.
But just what is holiness?
In Hebrew the word: kedushah
means: sanctity or set apartness.
It comes from the root word k d sh
Root: קֹ֫דֶשׁ
qof, dalet, shin
sounds like k’desh/k’dosh
and other words that use this same root include:
kadosh – holy קדוש
Holy: kadosh, kodesh (Strong’s 6918, 6944)
The root word kodesh actually means:
to consecrate.
So the word Holy means:
consecrated, dedicated, set apart…
קָדוֹשׁ. qadosh.
is frequently translated as holy, which is an abstract word.
When we use the word holy, as in a holy person, we usually associate this with a righteous or pious person.
If we use this concept when interpreting the word holy in the Hebrew Bible, then we are misreading the text, as this is not the meaning of the Hebrew word qadosh!
Qadosh literally means:
to be set apart for a special purpose.
A related word, qedesh,
is one who is also set apart for a special purpose
but not in the same way we think of holy. Deut 23:17.
Israel was qadosh
because they were separated from the other nations as:
servants of Elohiym.
The furnishings in the tabernacle were also qadosh, as they were not to be used for anything except for the work in the tabernacle. While we may not think of ourselves as holy, we are in fact
set apart from the world to be Elohiym’s servants
and His representatives/ambassadors.
Holiness could be described as a:
state of consecration produced by ethical separation from profane culture when viewed in practical terms relating to human beings and their relationship to the Father.
Kadosh
encompasses the whole sphere of the sacred and
set apart things that are totally separate
from anything that is profane and sinful.
According to
Isaiah 57:15/Is 40:25
this means:
elevated and lofty and
beyond all comparison
and utterly unique, entirely righteous
Is 57:15 glorious and awesome
Ps 99:3 full of light and power
Is 10:7 and is chosen and favored as Gods own
Ezek 22:26.
Holiness is a name for the Lord Himself:
Ha kadosh barukh hu – the Holy One blessed is He.
Isa. 40:25
The idea of holy therefore suggests: separation..
meaning:
the realm of the holy
is entirely set apart from
the common, the habitual, or the profane.
The holy is singular, awe inspiring, even terrible or dreadful.
Neh 1:5 Ps 68:35
As the Holy One, God is
utterly unique, distinct, sacred and set apart as
the only One of His kind.
Only God is worthy of worship, for He alone is Holy – Kadosh.
As the Holy One ( ha’kadosh ),
the Lord of Hosts ( Adonai Tzeva’ot)
He alone is worthy of true worship and adoration, since He alone is peerless, without rival and stands in relation to the world as Creator and Lord.
Only the Lord is infinitely and eternally
known to Himself as Anochi.
Ezek. 3:15
I am that I am.
Holiness then implies more than an abstract separation as is often suggested but rather means:
separation from that which is common, mundane or evil,
(evil meaning: out of harmony with God).
In other words
holiness implies: absolute moral goodness and perfection.
God is not just Holy…
He is
Holy, Holy, Holy!
Isaiah 6:1-3
In the year of King Uzziah’s death I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, lofty and exalted, with the train of His robe filling the temple. Seraphim stood above Him, each having six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew.
And one called out to another and said,
“Holy, Holy, Holy, is YHWH of hosts, the whole earth is full of His glory.”
“Kadosh, kadosh, kadosh, YHWH Tsabaoth, melo kal ha’aretz ke-vodoh”
In Scripture, finding the same three words in a row is rare. Two other instances are in Jeremiah and Ezekiel.
This use of this grammatical emphasis, is most often with double words and occurs frequently in the Hebrew scriptures. It is a way of emphasizing the point and by repeating the same word; it was like putting an exclamation mark today. Seeing the same three words one after the other, was like shouting.
In the B’rit Chadashah/New Testament, John/Yocahannes used this word repetition too, and he experienced a vision similar to Isaiah’s:
Revelation 4:8
And each of the four living creatures had six wings and was covered with eyes all around and within. Day and night they never stop saying: “Holy, Holy, Holy, is the Lord God Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come!”
Kadosh – Holy, holy, holy As the Holy One ( ha’kadosh ), the Lord of Hosts ( Adonai Tzeva’ot)
Kadosh, kadosh, kadosh, YHWH Tsabaoth, melo kal ha’aretz
We are to be a reflection of Our Heavenly Father God’s Holiness!
Holy is not a word that we should flippantly and disrespectfully throw around, like the terms of exclamation like: “holy cow” or “holy guacamole”.
Holy is rich in meaning and it is one of the main descriptors of Our Heavenly Father/God. To those who have a relationship with Him, it is a descriptor of us too. WHY? Because He calls us to be Holy and because we are to be a representation of His glory on earth. That’s a great responsibility which we should not take lightly!
Leviticus 19:2-4
“Speak to all the congregation of the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘You shall be holy, for I YHWH your God am holy.’
Every one of you shall reverence his mother and his father, and you shall keep My sabbaths; I am YHWH your God. Do not turn to idols or make for yourselves molten gods; I am YHWH your God.”
Leviticus 20:26
‘Thus you are to be holy to Me, for I YHWH Am Holy; and I have set you apart from the peoples to be Mine.’
The Call to Holiness
Various practical commandments are given in the Torah through which His people were sanctified or set apart, to be kadosh/holy; and therefore prepared to enter a relationship with God.
God is not unreachable because He encompasses all of creation but those who are called into presence must be holy themselves.
Practical holiness results in sanctification which is gained through obedience to His commandments. These commandments include both those directing us to do something and those telling us to stop from doing something. In addition decrees are given that further separate the Israelites from the customs and profanity of the nations surrounding them.
The call to holiness is given
3 times in Leviticus 19:2; 20:7; 20:26.
Because the Lord is Holy, the Israelites could not be in relationship with Him if they had been involved in idolatrous or profane practices.
They were
called to be separate
from all that was unholy
Lev. 22:44-45.
The call to holiness was based on the fact that they were Gods possession because He had separated them from the Nations.
Lev. 20:26
Yes, we are to be Holy, but how do we live up to that?
Are we worthy enough to be His reflection on earth?
Messiah Yeshua/Jesus was.
He was, and is, the perfect reflection of God.
Throughout the B’rit Chadashah /New Testament, Yeshua /Jesus is referred to as the
Holy One of God,
from the very announcement of His birth:
Luke 1:28-35
“How can this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?”
The angel replied, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the Holy One to be born will be called the Son of God.
We are called to holiness through the letters of Shaul/Paul in 1 Corinthians 6:19-20a
Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price.
and reminded of holiness once again in Revelation, where those around the throne cry
קָדוֹשׁ. Qadosh holy.
and from the prophets statements…
“In that day shall there be upon the bells of the horses, HOLINESS UNTO THE LORD; and the pots in the LORD’S house shall be like the bowls before the altar. Yea, every pot in Jerusalem and in Judah shall be holiness unto the LORD of hosts.” Zechariah 14:20-21
קֹ֖דֶשׁ HOLY qō-ḏeš
לַֽיהוָ֑ה Yah-weh; TO YAHWEH
The word holy in the Hebrew means to set-apart or separateness. While godly behavior is the result of being made holy unto the Lord, IT IS NOT a requirement to receive salvation, we come as we are.
When we become born again by His Holy Spirit, Yeshua HaMasiach/ Jesus Christ’s righteousness and holiness is IMPUTED to us.(meaning it is accredited to our account.)
We are set apart unto the Lord as vessels for His use, in the same way as God set apart pots and vessels under the old testament/Tanakh, to be used in his service.
The Holy Spirit is called the Spirit of holiness, because He is the sanctifier of all our Father’s vessels and makes them acceptable for His use by the washing of the word and regeneration of His Spirit of Holiness.
When the scriptures say:
Without holiness, no man shall see God. Heb. 12:14.
This means being born of His Holy Spirit into new life in Yeshua/Jesus. Without being born again of the Spirit of holiness one cannot be made Holy and therefore we would have no inheritance in the kingdom of God.
God’s indwelling Spirit empowers His children to live lives that please Him. The scriptures tell us that all who seek to be justified by the law are not holy but defiled, defiled by the sinful nature whose works are as filthy rags in God’s sight.
Even as David also describeth the blessedness of the man, unto whom God IMPUTETH righteousness without works. Romans 4:6
IMPUTED: attributed/given on behalf of another.
Yeshua/Jesus places His righteousness on our record,
when we trust upon Him for salvation
and this is what makes us holy
and not our behavior, whether we are good or bad.
Holy is the Greek is hagios
which means:
to be in awe, venerate, regenerated.
When we are regenerated and set free from sin, we become holy vessels unto the Lord.
Faith in Yeshua/Jesus is our righteousness
and our fruit is then holy.
Lev. 20:26 you shall be holy to me for I the lord am holy and have separated you from the peoples that you should be mine.
Western Christianity has sadly earned the title of being a cheap religion. For onlookers, many so called christian lifestyles do not look any different from the non believers in the world.
This world revolves around and caters to the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life. These things may please the flesh in the short term, but they work death. The Bible says that the pleasures of sin are only for a season. They are short lived. They do not satisfy. They do not give peace. They end in death. They fool us. Satan is the ruler of this world. The world that we are living in is his kingdom.
Keeping the 10 sayings is not impossible as the scriptures tell us the rich young ruler had kept them from his youth, and Elizabeth and Mary among others had also kept them.
Yet today so many say that we aren’t able to keep them and we are under grace not law!
We are to be perfect as our Father in heaven is perfect and it is possible through Jesus/Yeshua,
if we will choose to follow Him.
Though many say, no one is perfect, it’s really a way out, and to condone sin and compromise away from the standard Messiah sets for all who would be His talmidim/disciples. And in His words, how are we to do greater works than these, if we are not walking as He walked? We have His spirit within us now, since Pentecost; before then all generations who kept Torah did it without His indwelling spirit… so we have little to no excuse today. Not a welcome statement for those who still choose to live their own life on their own terms and still believe they are saved in their own understanding of salvation based on their own terms.
It is impossible that the Holy One could tolerate sin since this would invalidate the distinction between the sacred and profane and thereby weaken the nature of Holiness itself. That which is Holy, is in total opposition of the profane and therefore the Lord God has to hate and oppose that which violates the sacred and holy.
Where there is no fundamental change and no sacrificial putting away of ungodly habits and behavior, there can be no holiness. Many claim salvation and holiness by grace alone; neither understanding, nor appreciating, the cost involved and the seriousness of our precarious position before a Holy God; before Whom no sin can be present. It is only through Jesus/Yeshuas’ sacrifice that we can even dare to think that we can approach the Holy Creator and King of the universe. This was only possible by way of all the statutes and ordinances in the Torah until He died and shed His blood in our place.
We take this relationship so lightly and often without the reverential respect which we should willingly show from a humble, repentant and grateful position.
We are called to holiness, just as the priest wore upon his head the band with that word inscribed upon it; we are grafted in by His mercy and grace, into the family of His chosen children. This is a Hebrew Book and He is the Hebrew Messiah. Salvation is of the Jews, it was given to them first and we are privileged to be among those gentile nations offered the gift of eternal life and restoration relationship with a Holy God.
Now as the scripture says, we are priests unto the Lord, called to minister to and for Him while we remain here on the earth.
Are we truly making ourselves able to wear the band upon our foreheads, saying, Holiness unto the Lord?
Are we doing all that we are required to do? We are not to throw out the commandments He gave, but to apply them to our lives and to walk a set apart sanctified life before Him. Don’t let’s be of those accused of following a cheap religion with no cost to ourselves. We are to lay down our life, to lose it for Him and for the gospel; and in so doing find it through a life of being
kedushah – Holy Unto The Lord!
Strong’s Hebrew: 6944. קֹ֫דֶשׁ (qodesh) — apartness, sacredness
From qara’; something called out,
מִקְרָא miqrei callings
miqra
קודש לאל
קָדוֹשׁ. Qadosh holy
kaw-doshe’
אַתָּה ʼattâh, at-taw’;
you are holy ata kadosh
קָדוֹשׁ. Qadosh holy
Strong’s Hebrew: 5844. עָטָה (atah) — self
atah: self. Original Word: עָטָה.
Part of Speech: Verb.
Transliteration: atah.
Phonetic Spelling: (aw-taw’)
Definition: to wrap oneself, enwrap, envelop oneself.
the word
ata
in the Hebrew language is
אתא
H859 – ‘atâ – Strong’s Hebrew Lexicon (kjv)
אַתָּה ʼattâh, at-taw’; or (shortened);
אַתָּ ʼattâ at-taw’; or אַתֵּנָה
Strong’s Concordance. atah: self.
Original Word: עָטָה.
Phonetic Spelling: (aw-taw’)
Definition: to wrap oneself, enwrap, envelop oneself.
In the passage from 1Peter, the call to holiness is established on the hope that will be brought to us at the revelation of Messiah in the end of days and in 1Cor., Paul outlines the same moral restrictions that determine
a called out people of God.
Believers in the Jewish Mashiach/Messiah are to be free from sin that pervades surrounding culture and in particular from sexual immorality, which is idolatry. The follower of the Mashiach Yeshua/Jesus, is not exempt from
the call to personal holiness
since Messiah and His Father are the
same yesterday today and forever.
Our carnal nature always will lean to a meaning and understanding that ‘let’s us off the hook’ so to speak; one that makes it easier for us to live a compromised lifestyle and still think we can get all the blessings and benefits here and now and also eternal life in heaven.
We need to wake up toreality and count the true cost of Who and what we truly believe and follow.
As the days grow darker and the morals of the world become increasingly in complete opposition to all that our Heavenly Father requires for His family; there is a call for sobriety and being genuine, we must make the effort to be authentic in our lives and to walk in the fullness of the calling upon us.
That call is to
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