This entry is part 1 of 5 in the series Powerful Words

THIS SERIES ON “POWERFUL WORDS” EXAMINES SOME IMPORTANT WORDS USED IN THE BIBLE WHICH PEOPLE DON’T UNDERSTAND ANYMORE. EVEN MANY CHRISTIANS DON’T SEEM TO UNDERSTAND THEIR TRUE MEANING.

HOLY

Leviticus 10:8-11 “And the LORD spake unto Aaron, saying, Do not drink wine nor strong drink, thou, nor thy sons with thee, when ye go into the tabernacle of the congregation, lest ye die: it shall be a statute for ever throughout your generations: And that ye may put difference between holy and unholy, and between unclean and clean; And that ye may teach the children of Israel all the statutes which the LORD hath spoken unto them by the hand of Moses.”

ONE PROBLEM TODAY IS THAT WE HAVE MADE NO DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE HOLY AND UNHOLY.

FIRST TIME THE WORD “HOLY” IS USED IN THE BIBLE.

Exodus 3:5 And he said, Draw not nigh hither: put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground.

STRONG’S CONCORDANCE DEFINES “holy” AS…

06944 שׁדק qodesh ko’- desh

AV-holy 262, sanctuary 68, (holy, hallowed, … ) things 52, most 44, holiness 30, dedicated 5, hallowed 3, consecrated 1, misc 3; 468

1) apartness, holiness, sacredness, separateness

1a) apartness, sacredness, holiness

1a1) of God

1a2) of places

1a3) of things

1b) set-apartness, separateness

A SPECIFIC DAY CAN BE HOLY. FIRST DAY SET ASIDE FOR THE PASSOVER IS HOLY. Exodus 12:16 “And in the first day there shall be an holy <06944> convocation, and in the seventh day there shall be an holy <06944> convocation to you; no manner of work shall be done in them, save that which every man must eat, that only may be done of you.”

CLOTHING CAN BE HOLY. Exodus 29:29 “And the holy <06944> garments of Aaron shall be his sons’ after him, to be anointed therein, and to be consecrated in them.”

MATERIAL OBJECTS CAN BE HOLY. Exodus 30:25 “And thou shalt make it an oil of holy <06944> ointment, an ointment compound after the art of the apothecary: it shall be an holy <06944> anointing oil.”

GOD IS SET APART AND IS HOLY. Exodus 15:9-13 “The enemy said, I will pursue, I will overtake, I will divide the spoil; my lust shall be satisfied upon them; I will draw my sword, my hand shall destroy them. Thou didst blow with thy wind, the sea covered them: they sank as lead in the mighty waters. Who is like unto thee, O LORD, among the gods? who is like thee, glorious in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders? Thou stretchedst out thy right hand, the earth swallowed them. Thou in thy mercy hast led forth the people which thou hast redeemed: thou hast guided them in thy strength unto thy holy habitation.”

GOD’S NAME IS HOLY. IT MUST NOT BE TAKEN OR USED IN THE SAME WAY AS OTHER NAMES. Isaiah 57:15 “For thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy; I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones.”

THE PLACE WHERE GOD DWELLS IS MADE HOLY BY HIS PRESENCE. YOU ARE SET ASIDE FOR GOD’S USE ONCE THE HOLY SPIRIT HAS COME UPON YOU. DON’T TRY TO JUSTIFY ANYTHING ELSE. YOUR BODY IS HIS TEMPLE ! 1 Corinthians 3:17 “If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are.” 1 Corinthians 6:19 “What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own ?

THE WORD “HOLY” AND ALL THAT IT INVOLVES IS IMPORTANT.

As we have seen in Scripture, “HOLY” means to be separate, distinct from all else, and set apart as sacred.”

This is important in every day life. Vitally important. Imagine what would happen in the following situations…

If your doctor just removes a rapidly spreading cancer from one patient, and then used the same scalpel on you, it would not be nice.
If your husband went to the kitchen, and took your new expensive food mixer, and decided to mix a bucket of paint with it, you can imagine the implications of it.
If a man pours transmission fluid into the oil intake port of his car.
If a woman was pumping gasoline for the first time, and she put diesel fuel into her car which ran on gasoline.
A woman brought some scraps out to her small herd of pigs. She was scraping the bowl into the dirty pig pen when one of the pigs bumped her leg, and she dropped the wooden spoon into the feeding frenzy of muddy pigs. She left it there for a while, then went out there after an hour and retrieved her wooden spoon, and used it to mix the soup for the family that night.

SOME THINGS ARE DESIGNED FOR A SPECIFIC PURPOSE. WHEN THEY ARE USED FOR SOMETHING ELSE, THEY BECOME POLLUTED, AND ARE NO LONGER USEABLE FOR THEIR ORIGINAL PURPOSE. THEY HAVE LOST THEIR HOLINESS.

GOD HAS MADE THE JEWISH PEOPLE HOLY. SET ASIDE TO SEE HOW GOD WORKS WITH HUMAN BEINGS. Deuteronomy 14:2 “For 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.”

CAN SOMETHING, OR EVEN PEOPLE THAT WERE ONCE HOLY LOSE THAT HOLINESS ? HOW CAN THAT HAPPEN ?

ISRAEL CUT OFF BECAUSE OF UNBELIEF. Romans 11:17 “And if some of the branches be broken off, and thou, being a wild olive tree, wert graffed in among them, and with them partakest of the root and fatness of the olive tree; Romans 11:20 Well; because of unbelief they were broken off, and thou standest by faith. Be not highminded, but fear:”

CAN A PERSON THROW AWAY HIS HOLINESS ? Hebrews 10:29 “Of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace?”

WHAT WOULD IT TAKE TO RESTORE SOMETHING THAT ONCE WAS HOLY BUT LOST ITS HOLINESS ? ONLY A MIRACLE. AND ONLY GOD CAN PULL IT OFF.

GOD HAS MADE A PEOPLE THAT ARE NOW HOLY. 1 Thessalonians 5:27 “I charge you by the Lord that this epistle be read unto all the holy brethren.”

WE ARE HOLY BY OUR OWN CHOICE. WE MAKE THE DECISION TO HAVE MULTIPLE PURPOSES, OR TO BE HOLY TO THE LORD ALONE. 1 Peter 1:15-6 “But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation; Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy.” 1 Peter 2:5 “Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.”

SOME OF GOD’S CREATION IS HOLY. ANGELS ARE. Luke 9:26 “For whosoever shall be ashamed of me and of my words, of him shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he shall come in his own glory, and in his Father’s, and of the holy angels.”

YOUR BEHAVIOR IS SUPPOSED TO BE HOLY. IT SHOULD BE SET ASIDE FOR GOD’S GLORY. WHATSOEVER YOU DO ! 2 Peter 3:11 “Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness,” Colossians 3:23 “And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men;”

PEOPLE MUST MAKE THEIR OWN CHOICE TO FOLLOW GOD’S PLAN OF HOLINESS OR NOT. Revelation 22:11 He that is unjust, let him be unjust still: and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still: and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still: and he that is holy, let him be holy still.

YOU ARE CLEANSED BY FAITH WHICH RESULTS IN OBEDIENCE. Luke 17:14 “And when He saw them, he said unto them, Go shew yourselves unto the priests. And it came to pass, that, as they went, they were cleansed.”

YOU ARE CONTINUALLY CLEANSED BY BEING IN THE WORD OF GOD, HEARING IT AND OBEYING IT. John 15:3 “Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you.”

There is Power in the Word of God ! When you trust God, repent of your sins, Jesus cleans you. Simply by Him speaking the Word, it is done !

“Powerful Words: ‘HOLY’ ”

A Bible Study with Dr. Ed J. MacWilliams

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