(76) “I will be treated as holy!”

As we have seen from several passages of scripture related to the holiness of God, there is a very clear emphasis on uniqueness. God is unique, distinct in all He is. His nature is unique, His thoughts are unique, His ways are unique, His power is unique, His presence is unique. We could go on & on! God is the one! The only one. God is all that!

Who indeed is like Him . . . majestic in Holiness? There is no one holy like the Lord! What God is like our God? “To whom should you liken me that I should be his equal” says the Holy One!”

We have seen that God takes holiness seriously. We now discover that God takes the worship, honor, and protection of His holiness very seriously.

Do not profane my holy name. I must be acknowledged as holy by the Israelites. (Leviticus 22:32 NIV)

You remember when Aaron’s two sons were struck dead by God while serving in the Tabernacle? We are told that they offered “unauthorized” or “strange” fire before the Lord. We don’t know exactly what their error was, but we do know it was not in keeping with God’s commands. We do know that fire from the Holy Place instantly incinerated them. We also know why God responded so quickly and so strongly.

Then Moses said to Aaron, "It is what the LORD spoke, saying, 'By those who come near Me I will be treated as holy, And before all the people I will be honored."' So Aaron, therefore, kept silent. (Leviticus 10:3 NAU)

Nadab and Abihu had dishonored God. They treated God and His commands as though they were unimportant or optional. They disregarded God and His instruction on how to worship Him. They thought they could approach God and worship Him however they wanted to. They lowered God to their level. They failed to view God as holy. And God took their lives.

This is not the only time we see God punishing His people because they did not honor His holiness. In fact, the profaning of God’s holiness was the chief sin that resulted in Israel being taken into captivity. God explains this through the prophet Exekiel. As you read these verses, notice that Israel had “profaned” or treated as common God and His commands. Notice also how strongly God reacts to this and His passion that He be seen as the holy, unique, one-and-only God.

The word of the LORD came to me: "Son of man, when the house of Israel lived in their own land, they defiled it by their ways and their deeds. Their ways before me were like the uncleanness of a woman in her menstrual impurity. So I poured out my wrath upon them for the blood that they had shed in the land, for the idols with which they had defiled it. I scattered them among the nations, and they were dispersed through the countries. In accordance with their ways and their deeds I judged them. But when they came to the nations, wherever they came, they profaned my holy name, in that people said of them, 'These are the people of the LORD, and yet they had to go out of his land.' But I had concern for my holy name, which the house of Israel had profaned among the nations to which they came. "Therefore say to the house of Israel, Thus says the Lord GOD: It is not for your sake, O house of Israel, that I am about to act, but for the sake of my holy name, which you have profaned among the nations to which you came. And I will vindicate the holiness of my great name, which has been profaned among the nations, and which you have profaned among them. And the nations will know that I am the LORD, declares the Lord GOD, when through you I vindicate my holiness before their eyes. (Ezekiel 36:16-23 ESV)

God is intense about being regarded, responded to, and worshiped as holy. He cannot be seen or treated like any other being for He is unique. He is majestic and highly exalted in infinite uniqueness. When He is not treated as holy, He will act to make it crystal clear that He alone is God and there is no other.

God is God and we dare not treat Him as anything but infinitely unique, highly exalted, one-of-a-kind. We dare not think we can approach Him and treat Him any way we see fit. We must guard against irreverent or ignoble thoughts of God. We must be passionate about seeing Him as He truly is as revealed in scripture, not a product of our human reasoning in our puny minds. Who is your God?

Next:  (76) Encountering the Holiness of God