Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord God Almighty!

What does it mean for God to be “holy?”  Well, the answer to that question would take longer than I have here, but one simple way to explain it is that God is set-apart, different, perfect, etc.  It is easy to bring God down to our level and see him the way we see other people, or even ourselves; maybe just a little bit more powerful.  But, God is so completely different than you and I it should be shocking to hear that He would come as a man to this earth and die on a cross for our sins.  Following is a fun story out of the book of 1 Samuel that shows us how “Holy” God really is…let’s read it and think about the Holiness of God.

Background – The Ark of the Covenant was a physical box covered in gold that contained Aaron’s staff, the ten commandments, and most importantly was where the glory of the Lord resided among the people of Israel.  God told them that he would be their God and would dwell with them.  The Ark was supposed to be kept in the Holy of Holy’s and only the High priest was supposed to even see it, and that only once a year…There were a lot of rules that the people of God had to follow because God was dwelling with them and He is Holy.  One day in battle the Ark of the covenant was taken by the Philistines.  The whole account can be read in 1 Samuel 4-6, but here are a few key passages.

1 Samuel 5:1-6

When the Philistines captured the ark of God, they brought it from Ebenezer to Ashdod.  Then the Philistines took the ark of God and brought it into the house of Dagon and set it up beside Dagon.  And when the people of Ashdod rose early the next day, behold, Dagon had fallen face downward on the ground before the ark of the Lord. So they took Dagon and put him back in his place.  But when they rose early on the next morning, behold, Dagon had fallen face downward on the ground before the ark of the Lord, and the head of Dagon and both his hands were lying cut off on the threshold. Only the trunk of Dagon was left to him.  This is why the priests of Dagon and all who enter the house of Dagon do not tread on the threshold of Dagon in Ashdod to this day.  The hand of the Lord was heavy against the people of Ashdod, and he terrified and afflicted them with tumors, both Ashdod and its territory.

1 Samuel 5:9

But after they had brought it around, the hand of the Lord was against the city, causing a very great panic, and he afflicted the men of the city, both young and old, so that tumors broke out on them.

1 Samuel 6:1-6

 The ark of the Lord was in the country of the Philistines seven months. ² And the Philistines called for the priests and the diviners and said, “What shall we do with the ark of the Lord? Tell us with what we shall send it to its place.” ³ They said, “If you send away the ark of the God of Israel, do not send it empty, but by all means return him a guilt offering. Then you will be healed, and it will be known to you why his hand does not turn away from you.” ⁴ And they said, “What is the guilt offering that we shall return to him?” They answered, “Five golden tumors and five golden mice, according to the number of the lords of the Philistines, for the same plague was on all of you and on your lords. ⁵ So you must make images of your tumors and images of your mice that ravage the land, and give glory to the God of Israel. Perhaps he will lighten his hand from off you and your gods and your land. ⁶ Why should you harden your hearts as the Egyptians and Pharaoh hardened their hearts? After he had dealt severely with them, did they not send the people away, and they departed?

1 Samuel 6:19-21

And he struck some of the men of Beth-shemesh, because they looked upon the ark of the Lord. He struck seventy men of them, and the people mourned because the Lord had struck the people with a great blow. ²⁰ Then the men of Beth-shemesh said, “Who is able to stand before the Lord, this holy God? And to whom shall he go up away from us?” ²¹ So they sent messengers to the inhabitants of Kiriath-jearim, saying, “The Philistines have returned the ark of the Lord. Come down and take it up to you.”

Things to think about:

·      One thing that sets God apart is that he does not share his glory with anyone or anything!  The false god of the Philistines falls to the ground and breaks apart because God is Holy!

·      Another truth about the Holiness of God is that He is powerful and can take care of Himself.  Our God is not a weak god, a god who needs our help, a god who gets stuck.  He allows things to happen, but he shows his glory and his holiness by inflicting tumors on the Philistines.  God can take care of himself, he does not need us, He is Holy.

·      Notice too that even the people of Israel suffered because they didn’t respect the Holiness of God. 

·      How do you respect the Holiness of God?

·      Think about how Holy God is – then think about what an amazing sacrifice it really was for Him to come to this earth and live as a man, dying on a cross for you and I…

What a hypocrite!

One of the main complaints I hear about Christianity is that it is filled with hypocrites.  Have you ever heard that before?  People say, “I don’t go to church because I found people there that were hypocrites, and I don’t like hypocrites…”  My usual response to this statement is, “I agree that churches are filled with hypocrites, why not come and join us, you’ll fit right inJ.”  Let’s be honest, nobody lives what they say all the time; we all make claims that we can’t live up to, right?  Only Jesus did everything that he said he would do and lived up to his own standard all the time.  The rest of us are officially hypocrites!  If you feel bad about being a hypocrite, that fine you should, but don’t feel too bad because even the disciples were hypocrites on occasion.  Read the following passage from Galatians and see how the apostle Peter was a hypocrite.

Galatians 2:11-14

¹¹ But when Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he stood condemned. ¹² For before certain men came from James, he was eating with the Gentiles; but when they came he drew back and separated himself, fearing the circumcision party. ¹³ And the rest of the Jews acted hypocritically along with him, so that even Barnabas was led astray by their hypocrisy. ¹⁴ But when I saw that their conduct was not in step with the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas before them all, “If you, though a Jew, live like a Gentile and not like a Jew, how can you force the Gentiles to live like Jews?”

Background info:

·      “Cephas” is another name for the apostle Peter…

·      A Jew is a person that belongs to the nation of Israel.  They were raised with the Old Testament laws including circumcision which was a sign given to them by God that set them apart from the rest of the world.  It was a huge part of their culture/religion/upbringing to be set apart (holy) for the Lord.  They grew up not eating certain foods, not sitting with certain people, not doing certain things…

·      When Jesus came and offered forgiveness for all people he fulfilled the law.  We are not saved by being a Jew or by living up to any standard that has been set up, we are saved by grace through faith…read the rest of Galatians to get that message.

·      But, what happened in this story is Peter (yes Peter the guy that was with Jesus during his ministry and was called the pillar of the church…etc) came to Antioch where Paul was doing ministry and he started eating with the Gentiles and other believers…but then some different people from Jerusalem came that thought you had to not only believe in Jesus but had to be circumcised and follow the OT laws – so Peter stops eating with the Gentiles because he is embarrassed and feels like he is being judged…

·      Paul calls him a hypocrite to his face!

Things to think about:

·      When was the last time you knew you were being a hypocrite?  Have you ever been called a hypocrite to your face?

·      Have you ever felt peer pressure like Peter felt?  Peer pressure can make us do a lot of things that we feel violates our beliefs. 

·      Notice how quickly things went down hill…first Peter starts to pull away, then Barnabas, and who know how many others…Often when one or two fall into hypocrisy and sin many others fall with them.  Are you pulling others down with your actions?

·      Jesus did not like hypocrites.  He often called them out on their sin.  He calls us out as well…but here is the good news…he loves us so much that in our hypocrisy and sin he died on the cross for our sins and offers us forgiveness and right standing before him…what an amazing gift! 

Have a great week!