Lately I have been reflecting on just how little I know of holiness.
R.C. Sproul makes an insightful observation from Isaiah 6:
“The Bible says that God is holy, holy, holy. Not that He is merely holy, or even holy, holy. He is holy, holy, holy. The Bible never says that God is love, love, love, or mercy, mercy, mercy, or wrath, wrath, wrath, or justice, justice, justice. It does say that He is holy, holy, holy, the whole earth is full of His glory.”
To be holy is to be set apart, distinct, in a class by oneself….meaning God is transcendentally separate. Sproul goes on to say that “He is so far above and beyond us that He seems almost totally foreign to us.” To be holy is to be “other.”
A.W. Tozer beautifully writes:
“We cannot grasp the true meaning of the divine holiness by thinking of someone or something very pure and then raising the concept to the highest degree we are capable of. God’s holiness is not simply the best we know infinitely bettered. We know nothing like the divine holiness. It stands apart, unique, unapproachable, incomprehensible and unattainable. The natural man is blind to it. He may fear God’s power and admire God’s wisdom, but His holiness he cannot even imagine.”
We can’t even use the word holy as an attribute to describe God. Purity is contained within the idea of holiness but even the purest form of purity is still not pure enough to even capture the smallest part of what it means to be holy.
Earlier this year when I was doing some heavy reading through the Old Testament, I was quite literally (and ironically) struck with awe when I read 2 Samuel 6:1-11. David and his chosen thirty thousand men were bringing the Ark of God to Jerusalem. As the Law specified, they set the Ark on a new cart –not just any cart –which was carried by men of Kohath –not just any men.
As the oxen pulled the cart over the threshing floor, the Ark suddenly became unsteady. Then Uzzah stuck out his hand to help steady the Ark. Uzzah unintentionally violated the “do not touch any holy thing, lest you die” principle; therefore, God struck him for his tragic error.
I am pretty sure I shared in some of David’s anger over the Lord’s outbreak against Uzzah when I first read this. I mean I am pretty sure most of us would have done exactly as Uzzah did. If you saw that the Ark of God was about to come crashing to the floor wouldn’t you have unconsciously reached out your hand to help steady it to avoid a catastrophe? I know I would have.
The instant anger I initially shared with David upon first reading this passage just goes to show that we can’t even begin to comprehend God’s holiness. God’s ways are so much higher than our ways and His thoughts are so much higher than our thoughts.
I think this passage also reminds us to be constantly mindful of the holiness of God in our everyday lives. So often I find myself rushing to God in prayer or sometimes rushing through prayers….it is in these instances that I have to pause and remind myself that I am speaking to the Most Holy of Holies.
It is so hard for us to understand God’s holiness because where God is holy is where we are most unlike God….His very name means the “wholly other.” Where He is most holy, we are most unholy; yet, in all His incomprehensible holiness, He has somehow allowed us to share in His holiness by paying for our sins without tainting any part of His own holiness with our un-holiness. Reflecting on this helps me to feel like I understand less of God’s holiness which in turn helps me to genuflect in greater awe of just how infinitely holy He is and how infinitely un-holy I am.
