The
Holiness of God
By
Stephen Terry
Sabbath
School Lesson Commentary for January 28 – February 3, 2012
“Then
God blessed the seventh day and made it holy…” Genesis 2:3, NIV
Who has not known the experience of being “It” in a game
of tag? Your sole purpose at that moment becomes catching up to someone else so
you can touch or “tag” them. Then they become “It” and you are no longer
burdened with all that “Itness.” While there are many variations on the game,
the central theme remains the same. If you are “It,” tag someone else. If you
are not “It,” avoid getting tagged by the one who is. No doubt there are those reading
this who are still “It” from games played long ago, because someone was always “It”
whenever the game stopped.
What does this have to do with the holiness of God? When
we look at the Bible, we can see that holiness means that God is always “It” in
a way. The “Itness” in this case is His holiness. What God touches with His
presence becomes holy. We can see this in the story of Moses before the burning
bush. (See Exodus 3:1-6) God appeared to Moses via the bush, and because of His
presence, Moses was told the place was holy. His response to that was the same
as all men and women have responded in God’s presence since the fall in Eden.
He hid. Just as a child might avoid getting tagged in a game by hiding, we
avoid the holiness of God, because it heralds His presence.
This can be problematic when God is trying to
communicate with us. God intends His presence to be a blessing, but had Moses
avoided the bush because of God’s presence, he could not have been blessed with
the opportunity for service that God extended to Him. Even then he sought to
avoid the calling with excuses. But as He does for all his children, God
answered Moses’ excuses with enablings. He continues this for each of us today.
God is all about enabling those who will give Him their hearts.
The very first instance when God made something holy in
the Bible is in Genesis. “Then God blessed the seventh day and made it holy,
because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done.” Genesis
2:3, NIV It is interesting that in the
Hebrew, the word (שָׁבַת֙)
we have often translated as “rest” is more subtly nuanced than we see in the English.
It might be more properly rendered as “stood still.” While God actively passed
through the other days of creation, on the seventh day He “stood still.” His
presence remained with that day, and that presence made that day holy in a unique
manner. This is why Hebrews 4 refers to a Sabbath rest yet to be entered into.
It is referring to an invitation continually extended by God to enter into His
presence.
Jesus told us that the Sabbath was made for man. (See
Mark 2:27) It is a blessing received as a gift. It was given before man had
done a week of work. Instead of being the week end as we say today, it was the
week beginning. With God’s presence making it holy, His simply standing still
was a reminder to us that for the coming week, “you need only to be still.” Exodus
14:14, NIV As we come into His presence
and experience that holiness, we take something of that Sabbath encounter into
the week ahead. That experience of holy centering of our being in the presence
of God then travels with us and enables our “standing still” in reliance on Him
rather than the reliance on our own strength, our own will to deal with the
rest of creation during the coming week.
Sadly, we have an unfortunate tendency to worship the
creation rather than the Creator. We see the strength of our animation and
confuse it with God’s will. Especially in youth, we have a desire to equate the
strength of our being and of our will with the very power and will of God. Yet,
it is in stillness that we experience the holiness of God. We should not
presume to confuse the two. When we see God as being “on our side,” supporting
what we do simply because He has granted us favor, we are in danger of that presumption.
This was the case when Uzzah reached out to steady the Ark of the Covenant.
(See 2 Samuel 6:3-8) He felt that God’s presence in Israel as represented by
the Ark could not survive without his human intervention on God’s behalf.
Instead, he found that the power of God is beyond the need for human assistance
and that in his impure state, he could not survive the undiluted holiness of
God. Like two baseball players colliding under the ball while shouting “I’ve
got it!” Uzzah collided with God in
attempting to save the day.
God has far too many children, today, who do not
understand the need to be still in holiness. Like Phinehas in the camp of
Israel, they want to be running through the camp, spearing those whom they
judge to be offending God. (See Numbers 25:6-8) It is a fearful thing to take
such responsibility on oneself. It is not the way of the Lord’s anointed,
however.
When David was anointed by Samuel to be king over
Israel, he could have said “This is the Lord’s will, so I will slay King Saul
and establish my kingdom instead of his. After all, what he is doing is an
offense to Samuel and God.” But David was not such a man. “God testified
concerning him: ‘I have found David son of Jesse, a man after my own heart…’” Acts
13:22, NIV Instead, David chose to be
still about the matter, refusing to lift up his hand against Saul. (See 1
Samuel 24) When Saul was no longer willing to follow the Lord and traveled
beyond the protection that relationship provided, that path came to its
inevitable conclusion. His own understanding was unable to be a safety and
salvation in the day of battle.
David’s patience is marvelous. We often do not wish to “wait
upon the Lord.” Psalm 37:9, KJV We wish
to rush in and purge the evildoer with a spear of sharp criticism without
considering that the Lord might be yet working with that individual. We do this
at our own peril as well. The Greek word for devil is “διαβολος”
which literally means “one who thrusts through with a spear.” When we sharply
impugn others, whose work are we really doing? King David never did this even
when his own sons rose up against him. In the case of Absalom, for instance, he
specifically gave instructions to spare him. David had a deep understanding of
the need to “be still” in the presence of God’s holiness and God honored that
understanding with the recognition of Jesus as a “Son of David.” (See Matthew
21:8-9)
In Hebrews 9:27, we read “…people are destined to die
once, and after that to face judgment.” NIV
God was not willing to push Saul into judgment. He allowed him many
opportunities to return to a relationship of reliance on God’s love and
guidance. David understood that and was unwilling to push Saul into the
judgment as well. Sometimes we see in the failings of others, great evil and
rather than choosing to be still and allow God to work His will in their lives
in His time and place, we wish otherwise. Convincing ourselves that we are
righteous in our cause, in our minds and hearts, we already consign them to the
hottest part of the lake of fire as sinners beyond reclamation.
But the Bible tells us that for God’s children the
Spirit of Christ dwells in their hearts. (See Romans 8:9-11) As we have already
mentioned, with God’s presence comes holiness. But what does that mean? Some
confuse holiness with perfection. However, to live in God’s holiness is not
about perfection. It is about the self being still in the presence of God’s
power and love. And as we come into that presence and live in that atmosphere
of holiness, that reliance on God as opposed to our own will and understanding,
we will progressively change in character now and in physical appearance
finally that we might become fully reliant on God.
Holiness comes only from God and His presence. It does
not come from us. It follows then that we are unable to bring about holiness in
our lives and certainly not in the church. We might strive mightily to
accomplish these things, but in all our striving, the Holy Spirit speaks to us
and tells us we need to lay that burden down and simply be still. In that
stillness is the hope of our deliverance. In that stillness is the hope of
holiness for the church as well. For in that stillness is the very presence of
God. No longer will He simply be moving through our lives. Instead, He will
come to stand and fight on our behalf. He will be victorious where we could
not. “The LORD will fight for you; you need only to be still.” Exodus 14:14,
NIV
This Commentary is a Service of Still
Waters Ministry
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