Understanding Holiness
10/24/15 (08/10) Video Broadcast
An often misunderstood subject, we examine what all of scripture (Old testament and New Testament) has to say about holiness. An examination reveals a consistent message from Genesis to Revelation, some of which may surprise you.
Video Transcript
This is a direct transcript of a teaching that was presented via video. Due to the fact that we often speak differently than we write, the written text may not flow and/or sound strange in some places. There may also be grammatical errors and unintended mistakes. It is encouraged that you to watch the video to complement this written transcript.
This year at the Feast of Tabernacles we actually had the opportunity to build a replica, or a copy, of the wilderness tabernacle.
And we learned quite a bit through that, the steps that we need to take in order to enter into the presence of Yahweh and enter His gates with thanksgiving, have an alter sacrifice, keep our feet clean from the world and let the light of the Torah illuminate us as the children of Israel, offer up our prayers and enter His presence.
Just the different steps taking us toward Yahweh’s presence. He gives us, to those of us on the earth, the hidden manna, Yahushua Ha Mashiach, His Word, and the testimony of the priesthood and the Torah itself. HalleluYah! Messiah Yahushua, who is the manna coming down from heaven. So many things.
And the one thing that is keeping Yahweh Himself from entering the earth today is: He is too holy. If we were to see His face, we would immediately be destroyed except for it being Yahushua Ha Mashiach who alone would live in us.
So, He is not here in a fullness of His presence in the same way He is in the heavenly places. And there is some significance to these things.
Now I want us to really understand what holiness is and what holiness isn’t, what clean is, what unclean isn’t. There is so, so much confusion today in the world regarding holiness.
If someone were to come to you and say, “I’m a holy person,” a lot of people would look at them and go, “Oh, you’re just prideful and arrogant.”
But, interestingly, in Scripture, the disciples called each other “holy men” and nothing negative was thought about that. In fact, it was a positive attribute of Yahweh’s people.
So all these things about holiness, what really is holiness? That is the question. What is true, genuine holiness? And so, that is our study today: Understanding Holiness.
It is a very, very important topic for us to understand. Yahweh, we know, is holy and He wants us to walk in holiness. He wants us to understand the difference between what is holy and what is not holy.
He wants us to not call the things that are holy and treat them as if they are unholy. He doesn’t want us to treat the things that are unholy and suggest that they are holy. So what is holiness? What is true, genuine holiness?
If there is one thing that should set us apart from the world it is that we are willing to regard the holy things, we are willing to be holy in our speech, our conduct, and in every aspect of our lives.
Scripture says:
Ezekiel 22:26 – Her priests have violated My law and profaned My holy things; they have not distinguished between the holy and unholy, nor have they made known [the difference] between the unclean and the clean; and they have hidden their eyes from My Sabbaths, so that I am profaned among them.
So holy and unholy, unclean and clean. There is a connection, scripturally, between the two.
“And they have hidden their eyes from My Sabbaths.” There is more than one Sabbath. There is the weekly Sabbath, which is a Holy Day, and the seven Holy Days that are scattered throughout the different parts of the year– the ones in the spring and the ones in the fall, early summer– the festivals, which are holy. So there are multiple Sabbaths.
And it says they did not make these distinctions, so that “I am profaned among them.” Literally, Yahweh Himself is profaned because they are not making the distinction. The priests were responsible for making that distinction and they were not doing so.
And we are also called, as believers in Messiah, to make the difference apparent and clear. And, I think, even among us who claim to believe in Torah and want to observe the commandments in Torah (or the Old Testament or the words given by Yahweh through Moshe), sometimes we, also, misunderstand holiness.
And so, we are going to take a journey here through the Scriptures and seek to understand what holiness truly is.
The word translated “holy” means “apartness,” “holiness,” “sacredness,” “separateness” of Elohim, of places, of things.
Hebrew Lexicon for “holy”: 06944 qodesh {ko’-desh} Meaning: 1) apartness, holiness, sacredness, separateness 1a) apartness, sacredness, holiness 1a1) of [Elohim] 1a2) of places 1a3) of things 1b) set-apartness, separateness. Origin: from 06942; TWOT – 1990a; n m.
Usage: AV – holy 262, sanctuary 68, (holy, hallowed,…) things 52, most 44, holiness 30, dedicated 5, hallowed 3, consecrated 1, misc 3; 468.
And so, there is a separation between what is holy and what is not holy. There is a separation happening. Certain things are set apart from the rest. We have a Holy Day, such as today, the Sabbath. It is separate from the rest. It is a different. It is a Holy Day, and therefore we are called to keep this day holy.
Most people in the world today do not regard the holiness of days, but we believe we should.
It is translated “holy” 262 times, “sanctuary” 68 times, and various other translations. And the English word translated “holy,” also, contrary to what is commonly believed today, actually does mean “set apart.” That is the meaning of the word.
English Definition of Holy: 1. Set apart to the service or worship of [Elohim]; hallowed; sacred; reserved from profane or common use; holy vessels; a holy priesthood.
And so, the things that are set apart are the things that are holy. And we are called to holiness. We are called to maybe what is called “set-apartness.” And we are called to understand the difference. And so, we want to. We want to understand what is the difference between the clean and the unclean. Very, very important.
Now in the book of Ezekiel chapter 44, verse 19, this is a prophecy of a future time. We are not yet here. This has never happened, this prophecy in Ezekiel chapter 44, verses 19 through 21. It says, talking about the priests:
Ezekiel 44:19 – When they go out to the outer court, to the outer court to the people, they shall take off their garments in which they have ministered, leave them in the holy chambers, and put on other garments; and in their holy garments they shall not sanctify the people.
20 – They shall neither shave their heads nor let their hair grow long; but they shall keep their hair well trimmed.
Which is kind of interesting.
Ezekiel 44:21 – No priest shall drink wine when he enters the inner court.
And so, there are certain standards that He has. This short hair standard is not mentioned, actually, in the Torah, but it is mentioned as a future requirement for the priesthood.
These are the holy men. They do not drink wine when they enter the inner court. That is a Torah command.
And it goes on to say…
Ezekiel 44:22 – They shall not take as wife a widow or a divorced woman, but take virgins of the descendants of the house of Israel, or widows of priests.
And what are they going to do?
Ezekiel 44:23 – And they shall teach My people [the difference] between the holy and the unholy, and cause them to discern between the unclean and the clean.
24 – In controversy they shall stand as judges, [and] judge it according to My judgments. They shall keep My laws and My statutes in all My appointed meetings, and they shall hallow My Sabbaths.
This is all part of recognizing what’s clean, what’s holy and what’s not holy. We need to understand the difference. And one day they are going to teach everyone on the planet the difference between the clean and the unclean, the holy and the unholy, because we live in a generation that has lost it. Everything has been perverted and corrupted.
We live in a culture today where there have been so many holy things that have been profaned, so many good things that have been perverted and have been corrupted. We have lost the ability to recognize the difference between the holy and the unholy. Even if we saw a difference, we wouldn’t know what to do with it.
And so, understanding the difference was a major problem. Even going back to the first century, it was a major, major problem. But Yahweh wants us to know the difference.
In Matthew chapter 15, verses 1 through 3:
Matthew 15:1 – Then the scribes and Pharisees who were from Jerusalem came to Yahushua, saying,
2 – Why do Your disciples transgress the tradition of the elders? For they do not wash their hands when they eat bread.
They thought that a failure to wash one’s hands would cause whatever you were eating to become defiled. Now that is nowhere commanded in the Scriptures. Nowhere in the Torah does it make that requirement or that distinction. But they say: “Why do Your disciples transgress the tradition? Hey, they are not washing their hands.”
Matthew 15:3 – He answered and said to them, Why do you also transgress the commandment of Elohim because of your tradition?
And He starts to give them examples.
Matthew 15:4 – For Elohim commanded, saying, `Honor your father and your mother’; and, `He who curses father or mother, let him be put to death.’
5 – But you say, `Whoever says to his father or mother, Whatever profit you might have received from me [is] a gift [to Elohim] —
6 – `then he need not honor his father or mother.’ Thus you have made the commandment of Elohim of no effect by your tradition.
Talking about taking care of your parents when they get older and making sure they are provided for. “No, we are going to say, ‘This is a gift to Elohim,’ so we can’t use it for our parents.” See, they come up with their own ideas on reverence.
Matthew 15:7 – Hypocrites! Well did Isaiah prophesy about you, saying:
8 – `These people draw near to Me with their mouth, And honor Me with [their] lips, But their heart is far from Me.
9 – And in vain they worship Me, Teaching [as] doctrines the commandments of men.’
Matthew 15:10 – When He had called the multitude to [Himself], He said to them, Hear and understand:
11 – Not what goes into the mouth defiles a man; but what comes out of the mouth, this defiles a man.
Now is He saying that we can eat pork now? He is talking about whatever might be on your hands while you are eating food is not going to defile you. That is what He is saying.
Now today it gets kind of twisted around: “Oh, He is now correcting them.” Why would He need to correct the scribes and Pharisees if they were following the Torah, because the Torah said: “Don’t eat unclean animals”? Why would He have to correct them when Yahweh clearly gave the commandment not to eat the unclean?
No, He is talking about the things that might be on their hands. Notice He says, “What comes out of the mouth, this does defile a man.” That defiles a man. What comes out of the mouth defiles a man.
Matthew 15:12 – Then His disciples came and said to Him, Do You know that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this saying?
13 – But He answered and said, Every plant which My heavenly Father has not planted will be uprooted.
That is them.
Matthew 15:14 – Let them alone. They are blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind leads the blind, both will fall into a ditch.
Why were they so blind? Because they were making up their own rules, things that Yahweh had not commanded. They were adding to the Word.
Matthew 15:15 – Then Peter answered and said to Him, Explain this parable to us.
16 – So Yahushua said, Are you also still without understanding?
17 – Do you not yet understand that whatever enters the mouth goes into the stomach and is eliminated?
Matthew 15:18 – But those things which proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and they defile a man.
19 – For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies.
20 – These are [the things] which defile a man, but to eat with unwashed hands does not defile a man.
He does not say, “But to eat pork does not.” No, that is not what He said. He said to eat with unwashed hands does not defile a man. Hmmm.
In light of this, we need to be careful about the words that come out of our mouth. What was coming out of their mouth? Vain traditions and doctrines of men– things that Yahweh had never commanded.
And they faulted Yahushua for not being holy. “Why are you eating with unwashed hands?” Whereas, nowhere in Scripture did it say to eat with unwashed hands will defile you. They were creating their own doctrines and by that they were faulting Yahushua Himself with evil thoughts.
And they had murderous intent. They didn’t like the fact that He was getting the attention of the people and they wanted the attention for themselves. In order to do that, they had to pull people away from Scripture and into their own commandments.
James 3:6 – And the tongue [is] a fire, a world of iniquity. The tongue is so set among our members that it defiles the whole body, and sets on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire by hell.
It causes the body to be unclean.
James 3:7 – For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and creature of the sea, is tamed and has been tamed by mankind.
8 – But no man can tame the tongue. [It is] an unruly evil, full of deadly poison.
9 – With it we bless our Elohim and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in the similitude of Elohim.
So he draws our attention to the way one can spiritually defile themselves even to the point to where the body itself is defiled, because of the heart residing within it which is not being dealt with, the very thing Yahushua said: “Out of the heart proceed these evil thoughts.”
But today we live in a society that has assumed that anything in reference to the uncleanness or the defilement of the body, other than sexual sin, somehow has been abolished now and we have no need to even pay attention to those things. But that is not what I read in Scripture.
It is not just the actions of a man that can defile him. It is also disregarding the holiness of the flesh, the body that we have, and also in our spirit. Paul speaks of this in 2 Corinthians chapter 7, verse 1:
2Corinthians 7:1 – Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of Elohim.
What did he say? Flesh and spirit. Both! Both the body and the spirit. We need to perfect holiness. And we will go back to this scripture a little bit later.
Romans 12:1 – I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of Elohim, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to Elohim, [which is] your reasonable service.
2 – And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what [is] that good and acceptable and perfect will of Elohim.
Yahweh wants our bodies to also be holy, acceptable to Him. He wants both, but there is so much confusion today, and I want to address both in this study because we have to understand what Scripture says regarding the difference. We live in a culture that is confused, maybe even willfully confused, about the difference.
Isaiah chapter 5, verse 20 says:
Isaiah 5:20 – Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; Who put darkness for light, and light for darkness; Who put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!
21 – Woe to [those who are] wise in their own eyes, And prudent in their own sight!
Because they have their own standards for what is right and what is wrong. And so, they are wise in their own eyes. They have come up with their own ideas. But, you know, our culture treats holy things as being common, and I am afraid that the church today has marginalized holy things as being trivial, outdated, unimportant.
I had a conversation one time with a man who could hardly believe that Yahweh would institute the death penalty for picking up firewood or sticks or whatever on the Sabbath. They thought it was ludicrous and they just kind of laughed at it. They thought it was silly– that a man would be put to death for picking up wood or sticks on the Sabbath day?
But they don’t understand. They don’t understand that Yahweh made something holy. He made a day holy. And for someone to come along and just treat it with a total disregard and indifference, it is a serious matter in His eyes.
You see, we have the death penalty for many things in Scripture– adultery, murder, and things like that. And we kind of understand these things. But for some reason in our culture today we think of Sabbath breaking as being no big deal. And so, they think it is silly that anyone would be stoned or put to death for violating the Sabbath day.
But Yahweh gave it capital punishment. It is in the Ten Commandments. How much more could He say, “Hey, this is important”?
Now we don’t have any business going around stoning people for murder or homosexuality or adultery or Sabbath breaking. And the fact that the death penalty would exist doesn’t mean that we are required to be the carriers of that penalty.
Yahweh actually says we are all guilty of death… you, me, all of us. Thankfully, we have a Savior who has redeemed us from the Law’s curse. The curse being that we deserve death.
But what I am trying to point out here is the fact that He would even give the death penalty for breaking the Sabbath day. Doesn’t that show you a little bit how important it is to keep the holy things holy?
And, actually, the first four commandments in the Ten Commandments have to do with His holiness. Because we don’t worship other gods and treat them as holy and worthy of our reverence. We don’t worship different mighty ones out there, different idols, different deities.
And we don’t treat Yahweh as if He is some kind of an idol or an object that we worship. He is way far above and beyond that. And we don’t disregard His Holy Day and we don’t disregard His holy name by taking His name in vain. And so, it is all about holiness if you really think about it. It is all about holiness.
And what does the Word say is holy? That is what we need to look at. It is the emphasis we need to be examining, and we have to be willing to say, “Okay, whatever is in my culture, whatever is in my upbringing, whatever this man taught, that pastor said, this person said– what does the Word say?
“Close my eyes to everything and put on the glasses, the tunnel vision, and look straight at the Word of Yahweh. And what does it say?” He is holy.
Don’t mix Him up with a bunch of idolatry. He doesn’t have anything to do with pagan things. He is not any part of that.
People call it Halloween, “All Hallows’ Eve,” but there is nothing holy about it. Nothing whatsoever. And we don’t call it holy because it is not holy, unless it happens to fall on a Holy Day. And then it is holy, not because of the reasons that they have, but because of what Yahweh Himself has said.
He doesn’t want us making an idol out of Him, making images out of Him. He is a holy Elohim. He doesn’t want us to disregard the things He has made holy. And He wants our bodies to be holy also.
Isaiah 65:2 – I have stretched out My hands all day long to a rebellious people, Who walk in a way [that is] not good, According to their own thoughts;
3 – A people who provoke Me to anger continually to My face; Who sacrifice in gardens, And burn incense on altars of brick;
4 – Who sit among the graves, And spend the night in the tombs; Who eat swine’s flesh, And the broth of abominable things is [in] their vessels;
Isaiah 65:5 – Who say, `Keep to yourself, Do not come near me, For I am holier than you!’ These [are] smoke in My nostrils, A fire that burns all the day.
He cannot stand this. People who eat swine’s flesh are not going to be holy. “The broth of abominable things is in their vessels,” it says. And here they are acting like they are holy.
And they are among the graves. Graves are places of defilement. And so, He says they are “provoking Me to anger” every day “continually to My face.” He was so upset with this group of people. He couldn’t stand it.
Have you ever gotten smoke up your nose? I mean, you are like, “Wait! Get away from me!” Right? And so, that is how He looks at it when we claim to be holy, and yet the unholy is disregarded. He can’t stand that.
He dislikes that intensely, and Isaiah 65 doesn’t necessarily look like to me it is talking about a thing in the past. Maybe a thing in the future. And so, this is very important that we understand: Yahweh is holy and He wants us to be holy.
Isaiah 6:1 – In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw YAHWEH sitting on a throne, high and lifted up, and the train of His [robe] filled the temple.
I think, actually, the Hebrew may have “Yahweh” here.
Isaiah 6:2 – Above it stood seraphim; each one had six wings: with two he covered his face, with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew.
3 – And one cried to another and said: Holy, holy, holy [is] YAHWEH of hosts; The whole earth [is] full of His glory!
“Qadosh, qadosh, qadosh.”
Revelation 4:8 – [The] four living creatures, each having six wings, were full of eyes around and within. And they do not rest day or night, saying: Holy, holy, holy, Master Elohim Almighty, Who was and is and is to come!
“Qadosh, qadosh, qadosh.” He is qadosh!! “Asher hayah w’howeh w’yawoh,” declares these four living creatures day and night, night and day. They do not rest, continually in the presence of Yahweh declaring how holy– how “qadosh”– He is. They don’t get tired of it. They don’t rest.
That is the message. Yahweh is holy. He is separate, set-apart. From what? From wickedness. From uncleanness. From the things that are not pure and lovely and good and praiseworthy. From the filth and the scour of the world. And so, Yahweh is holy and there is no comparison to His holiness.
Exodus 15:11 – Who [is] like You, O YAHWEH, among the gods? Who [is] like You, glorious in holiness, Fearful in praises, doing wonders?
1Samuel 2:2 – No one is holy like YAHWEH, For [there is] none besides You, Nor [is there] any rock like our Elohim.
Psalms 22:3 – But You [are] holy, Enthroned in the praises of Israel.
Now that is interesting. Even though He is holy, He will enthrone Himself in our praises if we are sincere in our prayers and our praises to Him.
He dwells in a holy place.
Isaiah 63:15 – Look down from heaven, And see from Your habitation, holy and glorious. Where [are] Your zeal and Your strength, The yearning of Your heart and Your mercies toward me? Are they restrained?
So He lives in a holy and glorious habitation.
Deuteronomy 26:15 – `Look down from Your holy habitation, from heaven, and bless Your people Israel and the land which You have given us, just as You swore to our fathers, a land flowing with milk and honey.’
So Yahweh’s dwelling place is holy.
2Chronicles 30:27 – Then the priests, the Levites, arose and blessed the people, and their voice was heard; and their prayer came [up] to His holy dwelling place, to heaven.
Revelation 8:4 – And the smoke of the incense, with the prayers of the saints, ascended before Elohim from the angel’s hand.
Our prayers are like incense, and we want to make sure our prayers are pure and holy for them to be accepted.
Psalms 103:1 – <> Bless YAHWEH, O my soul; And all that is within me, [bless] His holy name!
He has a holy name, also!
Isaiah 57:15 – For thus says the High and Lofty One Who inhabits eternity, whose name [is] Holy: I dwell in the high and holy [place], With him [who] has a contrite and humble spirit, To revive the spirit of the humble, And to revive the heart of the contrite ones.
16 – For I will not contend forever, Nor will I always be angry; For the spirit would fail before Me, And the souls [which] I have made.
Yahweh will dwell in our praises and He will dwell with the one who has the contrite and humble spirit. Two places He will dwell. To do what? To revive us. To revive the heart of the contrite ones.
So if you want Yahweh’s presence to be among you, humble yourself in the sight of Yahweh. He will lift you up. We have to be humble because He is holy and He is awesome and His name is holy.
Psalms 33:21 – For our heart shall rejoice in Him, Because we have trusted in His holy name.
Why do people think His name doesn’t matter today? Because they don’t recognize the holiness of it, the blessing of it, the separateness of it, the power of it.
And we have to be careful, brothers and sisters, because we are known by some people as “the Yahweh group,” “the Yahweh people, over there.” What kind of impression are we leaving by our actions?
Are people associating the name of Yahweh with righteousness, with love, with the fruits of the Spirit, with goodness, with wisdom, with faith, with humility? What are people associating us with, and thereby, His name with? That is one reason why He says we are a people called by His name.
We have chosen to do what Scripture says and just do exactly what it says: Call on the name of Yahweh. We have chosen to do that and we have to do that. And we are not going to take the name of Yahweh out of His own book– the holy Scriptures. We don’t go along with that kind of program.
Some people will put Yahweh’s name on bumper stickers of their car. Okay, but you better be driving in a way that is becoming of holiness and righteousness and goodness.
And that means obeying the ordinances of the laws of the land and not causing occasion for Yahweh’s enemies to blaspheme His name or driving in a way that is not kind to your neighbor. So you have to be careful. Keep the name of Yahweh holy to a place it is esteemed, to regard it as holy among the nations.
And that is one reason why Yahweh for the most part, when He sees people using His name, He starts showing them His commandments, because He wants His name to be associated with righteousness.
Very rarely do I see one calling upon Yahweh’s name out of conviction and they disregard the commandments. They come together. They come together because, as Psalm 23 tells us: “He leads me in the paths of righteousness for His name’s sake.”
Now Yahweh’s Spirit is also holy. Psalm 51, verse 11 says:
Psalms 51:11 – Do not cast me away from Your presence, And do not take Your Holy Spirit from me.
Isaiah 63:11 – Then he remembered the days of old, Moses [and] his people, [saying]: Where [is] He who brought them up out of the sea With the shepherd of His flock? Where [is] He who put His Holy Spirit within them,
See, they had the Holy Spirit, too, in those days. It wasn’t just now. It wasn’t missing in those days. It was not MIA (missing in action). They had the Holy Spirit. It is not quite the same manifestation we have today, but they had the Holy Spirit. They did. The Spirit was there.
The angels are also holy. It says:
Matthew 25:31 – When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory.
32 – All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides [his] sheep from the goats.
He is going to separate the holy from the unholy. With His holy angels He is going to gather the people.
So the angels are holy. They are clean spirits. They are not unclean spirits. Unclean spirits are the unholy fallen angels. They are unclean because of their actions.
In Isaiah chapter 53, verse 1, it talks about the Arm of Yahweh.
Isaiah 53:1 – Who has believed our report? And to whom has the arm of YAHWEH been revealed?
2 – For He shall grow up before Him as a tender plant, And as a root out of dry ground. He has no form or comeliness; And when we see Him, [There is] no beauty that we should desire Him.
3 – He is despised and rejected by men, A Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And we hid, as it were, [our] faces from Him; He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.
This is Messiah Yahushua. He wasn’t the most beautiful looking man on the outward. He looked like probably just like a regular person. Maybe that is why they really rejected Him. They were expecting someone looking more glorious.
But notice, to whom has the Arm of Yahweh been revealed?
Isaiah 52:10 – YAHWEH has made bare His holy arm In the eyes of all the nations; And all the ends of the earth shall see The salvation of our Elohim.
All the Gentiles. So the salvation that occurred through Yahushua the Messiah, the holy Arm of Yahweh, all the nations would see it. And Yahushua is that holy Arm who has been revealed to us, but has not yet been revealed to the modern day Jewish people. Although, that is slowly changing.
Acts 4:27 – For truly against Your holy Servant Yahushua, whom You anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles and the people of Israel, were gathered together
28 – to do whatever Your hand and Your purpose determined before to be done.
Yahushua is holy. And, therefore, we also see Yahweh’s Word is holy.
Romans 1:1 – Paul, a bondservant of Yahushua Messiah, called [to be] an apostle, separated to the gospel of Elohim
2 – which He promised before through His prophets in the Holy Scriptures,
Holy Scriptures.
2Timothy 3:14 – But you must continue in the things which you have learned and been assured of, knowing from whom you have learned [them],
15 – and that from childhood you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith which is in Messiah Yahushua.
Romans 7:12 – Therefore the law [is] holy, and the commandment holy and just and good.
Therefore, if we want to be holy and just and good, we will do what Yahushua did, who was also holy and just and good, and we will follow the commandments that were given to us.
And the Word is holy. How much more so ought we not to just start taking things out of there like HIs holy name?
It is not treating the Word of Yahweh with the appropriate level of holiness that when the text in the Hebrew says “Yahweh” we go along and flip it and make our own ideas, our own commandments, our own ordinances, and follow our own traditions and put “the LORD” there when the text says “Yahweh.”
And sometimes people think, “Well, we are treating Yahweh’s name as holy by doing that.” You are not doing so! You are doing the very thing that you are seeking to avoid– not regarding the holiness of His name. Yahweh chose Himself to put His name in His Word. He chose it. He decided that. That was His decision.
To take His name out of His own book? That is to disregard His holiness. To cause His name to no longer be associated with His actions and the things that He did to the extent that many people today do not even realize He has a name? It is unconscionable. It is not regarding the holiness of His name.
His name is holy. His Word is holy. What are you going to do? Since His Word is also holy, are you going to take the whole Scriptures out and replace it with your own words? That is pretty much what is going on in many circles today. We have to be careful about that.
We have to be careful and treat Yahweh’s Word with an appropriate level of care and holiness and preserve it just as He inspired it. In fact, the third commandment says not to take His name in vain.
The word “vain” in Deuteronomy chapter 5 is the Hebrew word “shav,” which means “falsify.” In fact, the same word is translated “false” as in “false witness.”
And what they have actually done in taking the name of Yahweh out of the Scriptures and putting their own thing in there, they have falsified His name to the extent that you have Scripture saying things like, “Call upon My name. My name is the LORD.”
His name is not “the LORD.” It isn’t. His name is Yahweh, and we call upon His name. We don’t falsify His Word. We treat it with respect because it is holy.
The firstborn in Scripture are also considered holy.
Deuteronomy 15:19 – All the firstborn males that come from your herd and your flock you shall sanctify to YAHWEH your Elohim; you shall do no work with the firstborn of your herd, nor shear the firstborn of your flock.
The first things were holy. Now most of you reading that today probably don’t have herds. You probably don’t have flocks that you use to till the land or anything like that. But, you know, until 70 years ago, most people did have herds and flocks and used them to till the land and things.
And you can go further back. Our culture was actually at one time dominated by an agrarian lifestyle and most cultures were dominated by that kind of lifestyle. It was only the cosmopolitan Romanesque kind of cities where you have people starting to live their life very differently.
And so, when we look, where did Yahweh put man? I mean, did He put man in a big city in the garden? No, He put man in the garden. He created Adam, put him in the garden, told him to till it and keep it. But we don’t have that today, do we?
Well, we see here, the firstborn of the flock was considered to be holy. The firstfruits of the harvest was considered to be holy. So what do you do with them?
Well, they were commanded to bring them to the priest. He would wave them. He would do different things. But what do we do today? We don’t have a priest to give it to.
But He says in Scripture that we can give our holy things to the poor. And so, the firstborn of your flock, the firstfruits of your garden– give it to the poor. And that is where it would go. Because the tithe would end up going to the priesthood and also to the poor.
Leviticus 25:11 – `That fiftieth year shall be a Jubilee to you; in it you shall neither sow nor reap what grows of its own accord, nor gather [the grapes] of your untended vine.
12 – `For it [is] the Jubilee; it shall be holy to you; you shall eat its produce from the field.
Sadly, I think our generation, to this day, we have lost and we have disregarded the land Sabbath. The seventh year is a year when the land is supposed to rest and we just eat what grows of its own accord rather than planting and harvesting. And every seventh year is a land Sabbath and most people disregard that.
They don’t think it is anything important. But the farmers today, if they would practice the land Sabbath, they would have much fewer problems with the soil being overworked like it is now. And so, we need to at least every seventh year let our gardens lie fallow and not till or plant or sow.
And since sin is the transgression of the Law, we want to not transgress this commandment.
Some say, “Well, when is the land Sabbath?” We don’t know if there was specifically a year named “the land Sabbath year,” but if there was, it might be actually this fall going into next spring, and quite possibly, it could have been just every seven years.
They all came into the land at the same time, so I don’t know what kind of impact that would be. Probably all had the same year. But for us, we do at least every seventh year need to rest our gardens, because we are called to walk in holiness.
Everything that Yahweh does– His Word, His presence, His Spirit– everything about Him is holy. Even His promises are holy.
Psalms 105:42 – For He remembered His holy promise, [And] Abraham His servant.
43 – He brought out His people with joy, His chosen ones with gladness.
44 – He gave them the lands of the Gentiles, And they inherited the labor of the nations,
Psalms 105:45 – That they might observe His statutes And keep His laws. Praise YAHWEH!
It is talking about when He brought Israel into Egypt, from the promise of Abraham. He brought them out to where they would keep His commandments.
Well, He has also called us to a place where we have been given stewardship. Our particular property where we happen to live on– whether it is a one bedroom studio apartment or fifty acres of land– we need to bring that place under the stewardship of our Elohim and make that a place that is in accordance with His statutes and His laws.
In Psalm chapter 89, Yahweh says He swears by His own holiness.
Psalms 89:35 – Once I have sworn by My holiness; I will not lie to David:
36 – His seed shall endure forever, And his throne as the sun before Me;
For that reason the Jewish people have not lost their identity.
Amos 4:2 – The Master YAHWEH has sworn by His holiness: Behold, the days shall come upon you When He will take you away with fishhooks, And your posterity with fishhooks.
3 – You will go out [through] broken [walls], Each one straight ahead of her, And you will be cast into Harmon, Says YAHWEH.
Psalms 5:7 – But as for me, I will come into Your house in the multitude of Your mercy; In fear of You I will worship toward Your holy temple.
So everything about Him is holy. As we spoke of earlier, His day is also holy.
Exodus 16:23 – Then he said to them, This [is what] YAHWEH has said: `Tomorrow [is] a Sabbath rest, a holy Sabbath to YAHWEH. Bake what you will bake [today], and boil what you will boil; and lay up for yourselves all that remains, to be kept until morning.’
So it is not a day for cooking. We are supposed to remember the Sabbath day, and sanctify it.
Exodus 20:8 – Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.
Interestingly, the one day He tells us to remember is the one day everybody forgets. “Oh, I’ll go shopping today.” “Let’s go have a pork roast and a rummage sale at our church on Sabbath.”
Yahweh’s Word is written in stone. As far as I know, no one has scratched it out, and said, “Nope, a different day is holy now.” He never says, “Now I am going to make the first day of the week My day of rest.”
There is no point in keeping a day holy when it is not even holy to begin with. Yahweh decides which day is holy, not us. He is the One that blessed the Sabbath day at the beginning of creation and sanctified it.
And, yes, we can trace the modern day seventh day of the week, known as Saturday, all the way back to the first century when Yahushua Himself kept that day.
Actually, the Romans, they said they attacked Israel in Jerusalem on their Sabbath, and they identified that as “the day of Saturn,” or “Saturday,” on their own calendar and in their own mentality.
So the day has not been lost. Yahweh made sure it was preserved. He says, “Don’t forget it.” He says, “Remember it. I meant what I said. I wrote this in stone with My own finger.” And yet, most people in the world today disregard it and forget it.
It is a tendency in man to want to do his own thing, make up his own rules. But if we are doing something different than everybody else, let me tell you something right now. We are in good company, because the priesthood is holy.
Leviticus 21:6 – `They shall be holy to their Elohim and not profane the name of their Elohim, for they offer the offerings of YAHWEH made by fire, [and] the bread of their Elohim; therefore they shall be holy.
They were holy men. Now they were a level of holiness higher than the common people were, but Yahweh has called us to be holy, too.
Luke 1:68 – Blessed [is] YAHWEH Elohim of Israel, For He has visited and redeemed His people,
69 – And has raised up a horn of salvation for us In the house of His servant David,
70 – As He spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets, Who [have been] since the world began,
His prophets are holy.
Revelation 18:20 – Rejoice over her, O heaven, and [you] holy apostles and prophets, for Elohim has avenged you on her!
Apostles and prophets are holy.
The New Yerushalayim, in which we will one day dwell, is also a holy place, having the glory of Elohim.
Revelation 21:10 – And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me the great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from Elohim,
11 – having the glory of Elohim. Her light [was] like a most precious stone, like a jasper stone, clear as crystal.
It is a holy place. In fact…
Revelation 21:27 – But there shall by no means enter it anything that defiles, or causes an abomination or a lie, but only those who are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life.
Nothing that defiles shall enter it. So if we want to be in a place in which nothing defiled will enter, nothing that causes an abomination will enter, nothing that causes lies will enter, then what do we need to be?
He told Yisrael in Leviticus 11:45:
Leviticus 11:45 – `For I [am] YAHWEH who brings you up out of the land of Egypt, to be your Elohim. You shall therefore be holy, for I [am] holy.
And some people are saying, “Well, we weren’t brought up out of Egypt.” Oh, yes, you were brought up out of Egypt!
Spiritually, Egypt represents the world led by a Pharaoh, known as Satan, and inflicting people with task masters, known as demons. And He brought us all out of the land of Egypt, out of the world, and saved us by the blood of the Lamb, washed us in the Red Sea, baptizing us in Yahushua’s name.
And now we are in the wilderness and we are called to be holy unto Him. And we are Yisrael.
Leviticus 19:2 – Speak to all the congregation of the children of Israel, and say to them: `You shall be holy, for I YAHWEH your Elohim [am] holy.
If we are going to walk in His image and be His reflection, then we are called to walk in holiness: “Be holy, for I am holy.”
Leviticus 20:26 – `And you shall be holy to Me, for I YAHWEH [am] holy, and have separated you from the peoples, that you should be Mine.
So we are holy to Yahweh. We are separate from the common people, that we should be His, that we should belong to Him. We are to be separate from the common people. We are not like the common people.
And yet, there are too many of us worried about being too different than the rest. They look around. They are afraid. They are afraid of what people will think of them, too worried about looking different, acting different, doing things different and being separate and different.
Yet, we are supposed to be different. We are supposed to be separate and different from what normal people do. And we can rejoice in that.
Now I am not saying being different just for the sake of being different. That has nothing to do with holiness. But I do mean holy in conduct, in speech, in attitudes. I don’t mean being prideful in our holiness, but glory in it because we are reflecting the Father in heaven’s own glory and His own holiness.
I am not saying, “Oh, look at me. By my own power, by my own righteousness, I am holy.” I am not talking about that. But don’t be ashamed of Yahweh. Don’t be ashamed of His presence in you and the reflection of holiness that that ought to exhibit.
Do you know what the word “saint” means? The word “saint” is the noun of “holy” (“qadosh”). The same word. The word “saint” simply means “holy.” If you are a saint, that means you are holy. You are different than the world.
And you can rejoice in that and that you are doing things different. You are regarding the difference between the holy and the unholy. You are rejecting the unrighteous things which are unholy. You want to cleave to the righteous things which are holy. And so, we need to be holy in our conduct.
I’m not saying look at everybody around you, and go, “Sorry, I can’t talk to you. I am too holy.” That is unholy in and of itself.
To not love is to not be holy. To fail to love, to fail to manifest the Messiah and teach people about Messiah, is a failure in holiness.
Yahweh is holy. His Son was holy. He ate with sinners. He walked among them. And it is in the darkest places that His light shines the brightest. And that is what we are looking for. We are looking for dark places to shine the light of Messiah to them.
We are in the world, but we are not of the world, and we are going to do things that are different. And people may laugh at you. The unholy may laugh at you, especially if you do things that Yahweh says to do to help you become and be more holy like Him… such as wearing the tzitzit (or tassels).
Numbers 15:38 – Speak to the children of Israel: Tell them to make tassels on the corners of their garments throughout their generations, and to put a blue thread in the tassels of the corners.
39 – And you shall have the tassel, that you may look upon it and remember all the commandments of YAHWEH and do them, and that you [may] not follow the harlotry to which your own heart and your own eyes are inclined,
40 – and that you may remember and do all My commandments, and be holy for your Elohim.
This is part of holiness, doing these things. And, of course, the purpose of them is to lead us to righteousness. And so, this is one of the commandments. Messiah Himself wore these.
The woman who had the issue of blood was healed by touching this tassel that Messiah had worn. Look up the word in the Greek there for “hem” (of the garment). It is talking about the tassel.
Now the scribes and Pharisees made their tassels extra big and long and everything so as to appear more holy. Now we are not supposed to be doing that. We are not supposed to be boasting and being arrogant and prideful and looking down at everybody else.
But listen, Scripture says (1 John 3:4) sin is the transgression of the Law. By the Law is the knowledge of sin. I would not have known sin except by the Law.
Look, if the Law tells you to wear tassels, who said it was done away with? And if the most perfect Savior, who was filled with the fullness of Yahweh’s Sprit, still wore them? He is our example. We want to reflect Him.
His commandments are not “helpful hints.” They are not “suggestions.” They are commandments. Yahushua obeyed this commandment and Yahweh did mighty wonders with it. It says as many as touched the tassel of His garment were healed. They didn’t even have to touch Him. They didn’t have to have Him touch them– just touch His tzitzit.
Well, He lives in us. He is the same yesterday, today and forever. If He kept the commandment about the tassels yesterday, He wants to keep that commandment in you today, and we will all keep them forever. There is significance to it and probably something spiritual more than meets the eye.
Maybe there is something about it that empowers us to observe the commandments even better. Maybe there is something about it, just by looking at it and being reminded of it, maybe we see something. Maybe someone will get healing as a result. Maybe we are lacking the power of Elohim in some circles by not having healing.
You know, there were nine people who were prayed over during the Feast of Tabernacles event here recently in Steelville and every single one of them were healed. Every single one of them.
And I am not saying, “Come to us. We are the only healers on the planet.” We are not saying we are even doing it. It is Yahweh doing it. And maybe it is because we understand holiness, we understand how we are supposed to live, or maybe it is because we are trying to walk as Messiah walked and Yahweh is honoring that.
It is not because of our own righteousness. Our own righteousness is filthy gobbledygook. It is junk. But maybe Yahweh cleanses us, and so we understand. We are called to be holy. And we want to be holy.
Deuteronomy 14:2 – For you [are] a holy people to YAHWEH your Elohim, and YAHWEH has chosen you to be a people for Himself, a special treasure above all the peoples who [are] on the face of the earth.
He says we are holy. If we say we are, are we boasting? No, we are just restating what He says. Yahweh has chosen us to be “a people for Himself, a special treasure above all the peoples who are on the face of the earth.”
What does He say right after that?
Deuteronomy 14:3 – You shall not eat any detestable thing.
Because you are holy! That is why we avoid the unclean things.
We don’t eat unclean things. We want to be holy. He is calling all of us believers in Messiah.
I am not saying that if you misunderstand or don’t do everything we do, or are not convicted on everything we do, you are not accepted by Messiah and by the Father. I am only saying, “Look, this is what Scripture says about holiness and we are willing to listen.” Are we?
He made us to be special. He made us to be a special treasure. He has chosen us to be a people for Himself, to be our Mighty One.
Now people say, “Oh, Tom, that is Old Testament stuff. That is talking about those people way back when.” Hmm…
1Peter 2:9 – But you [are] a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light;
What nation is that you are a part of? What nation? Yisrael! “His own special people.”
All this verbiage. Doesn’t it sound familiar? Go back (Deu. 14:2)… “special treasure”… “chosen you”… “holy people.”
1Peter 2:10 – who once [were] not a people but [are] now the people of Elohim, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy.
We were once Gentiles, but now are the people of Elohim. So we proclaim His praises. He is the One who made us holy. To deny our own holiness is to deny what He has done in us, to deny the work of Yahushua the Messiah in us.
We are a holy people, a holy nation, a special people, a special treasure above all the peoples who are on the face of the earth, and we are calling people to become a part of the people of Elohim as we are.
We are calling people to obtain mercy from our Father in heaven just as we have obtained mercies– because of His mercy, not because of anything we have done.
So we are a priesthood. We are a “royal priesthood.” That is a kingly priesthood. The priesthood of the Levites was not royal. It was not a ruling priesthood. But the priesthood of the Messiah is the Melchizedek priesthood.
“A holy nation.” Brothers and sisters, we are a part of a great nation! We are a part of the seed of Abraham. Galatians 3:29 says: “If you are Messiah’s, you are Abraham’s seed and heirs according to the promise.” If we are Abraham’s seed, that means we are Israelites! That is the nation we are a part of.
Exodus 19:6 – `And you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These [are] the words which you shall speak to the children of Israel.
Same words. Same thing. We are still a holy nation Yahweh chose, a seed of Abraham. And so, we are a holy congregation.
Ephesians 1:3 – Blessed [be] the Elohim and Father of our Master Yahushua Messiah, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly [places] in Messiah,
4 – just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love,
5 – having predestined us to adoption as sons by Yahushua Messiah to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will,
Who are we? Do you believe that? Before Yahweh even created the world, He already chose you to be holy. He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy as He is holy.
Before He created the heavens and the earth, the sea and everything that is in them, He made you and I to be holy, to be without blame in love.
Love for Yahweh, love for our fellow man, that is a blessing, a predestination to adoption as sons.
Adoption? At one time we were children of the devil. Now we are children of Elohim.
Ephesians 2:11 – Therefore remember that you, once Gentiles in the flesh– who are called Uncircumcision by what is called the Circumcision made in the flesh by hands–
We were once Gentiles in the flesh.
Ephesians 2:12 – that at that time you were without Messiah, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope and without Elohim in the world.
At one time you were aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, but what are you now? If you are no longer an alien from the commonwealth of Israel, what are you now? You are Yisrael.
At one time you were strangers from the covenants of promise. Who were the covenants given to? Yisrael.
Ephesians 2:13 – But now in Messiah Yahushua you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Messiah.
Near to what? To the commonwealth of Israel. Life is in the blood. His life is now in you. You are now taking on His identity. Verse 19…
Ephesians 2:19 – Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of Elohim,
With the “HOLY ONES,” the “SAINTS.” Called to be holy, called to be saints, called to be different, He chose you before the foundation of the world. Before anything was ever created, He created you to be different, to be set apart from the world, from the things that are common.
Colossians 3:12 – Therefore, as [the] elect of Elohim, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering;
13 – bearing with one another, and forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint against another; even as Messiah forgave you, so you also [must do].
Holy and beloved. Since you are the elect, holy and beloved, act like you are the elect– being merciful, being kind, being humble, being meek, being longsuffering, bearing with one another, and forgiving one another. That is holy conduct.
If anyone has a complaint against another, even as Messiah forgave you, so you also must do. To fail to do this is to defile yourself. Put on tender mercies. Don’t walk around with a holier-than-thou attitude, but a humble attitude and a meek attitude. That is humbleness. That is holiness.
Humbleness is holiness; meekness is holiness; being merciful is holy conduct… Holy attitudes… Kindness is holiness; love is holiness.
I mean, Yahushua, He bore the filth and disgust and yuck of this world, and became as unclean at times. And where did He come from? He came out of the birth canal. He was, obviously, unholy physically in the flesh, in terms of the flesh being defiled, and so on.
Yes, He is the holy Son. He became unclean for our sakes, bearing our sin. But because His conduct was righteous, He is able to deliver us.
Listen, we can’t go around like Pharisees in first century Judaism, and say, “Oh, I can’t touch that person.” Yahushua touched the leper, right? He was in a grave, right? I mean, you know, we must never use our desire to be clean as an excuse to fail in tender mercies.
So we need to balance things out here, bearing with one another and forgiving, bearing with one another in love, bearing with one another in holiness.
We are created in the image of Elohim. Yahweh’s image is a holy image. We are called to be holy as He is holy. There is nothing we can do about the fact that we live in an unclean world. And things will invariably cause us to become unclean, but it is not a sin to be unclean. It is a sin to do nothing about it. But that is another subject altogether.
1Thessalonians 4:7 – For Elohim did not call us to uncleanness, but in holiness.
Do you understand clean/unclean, holy/unholy are connected? We are called to be holy brethren.
1Thessalonians 5:27 – I charge you by YAHWEH that this epistle be read to all the holy brethren.
Imagine someone writing a letter, and says, “Hey, go read this to all the holy brethren.” It almost seems a little bit prideful to call each other “holy brothers.” But that is what they were doing, and they were not being arrogant to say, “These are holy brothers. You are holy. I am holy.”
But we have certain cultural connotations. If I say you are a holy brother and that is a holy sister and that we are holy people and I am a holy person, there is nothing prideful in saying that. That is just stating the fact that Yahushua Ha Mashiach and the work He has done in us has caused us to be holy. Nothing prideful or boastful or arrogant.
In fact, it is a glory to what Messiah is able to do. He took me, a pile of broken filth, and put me back together, and used me as a vessel for His glory and caused me to be holy. That is a testimony of His grace to say “I am a holy person” and “you are a holy person.” It is not pride. It glorifies Him.
1Peter 1:13 – Therefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and rest [your] hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Yahushua Messiah;
Don’t be afraid to say so: “His grace has made me holy.”
1Peter 1:14 – as obedient children, not conforming yourselves to the former lusts, [as] in your ignorance;
15 – but as He who called you [is] holy, you also be holy in all [your] conduct,
16 – because it is written, Be holy, for I am holy.
What is he quoting from? He is quoting from the Torah here, where Yahweh said, “Be holy as I am holy. Don’t eat the detestable things.” Don’t put unclean things into your body because you are called to walk in holiness with your body.
So we are called to be “qadosh,” to be holy, to have a different spirit about us than the spirit that is in the world. It is going to be a holy spirit.
1Corinthians 2:12 – Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from Elohim, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by Elohim.
So don’t walk in the spirit of the world and all its trappings and all the ugliness and the things that they value, the things that they think are important. Instead, follow the Holy Spirit so that you can understand and know the things Yahweh has given to us.
He has given to us His commandments. He has given to us His grace. He has given to us His Son. He has given many things to us. Everything we have and do and own is given from Him.
Because the thorns will corrupt us, will trap us, and we need to keep ourselves unspotted, unstained by the world.
That doesn’t mean you don’t go to the ones who are unbelievers and reach them, but we can’t love the things that they love when the things that they love are not the things that Yahweh loves. He despises the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, the pride of life, which is not of the Father, but it is of the world.
And so, we are not going to like those things. If we want to be undefiled, not just in the physical uncleanness and unholiness, but also in our conduct, here is pure and undefiled faith:
James 1:27 – Pure and undefiled religion before Elohim and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, [and] to keep oneself unspotted from the world.
Unspotted or unstained. Have you ever felt stained by the world? I remember visiting a relative years ago and they had this worldly music playing. Worldly television… worldly movies… anything worldly was coming out of that “Satan box,” you know? Constantly sending messages and glorifying things that are contrary to the will of Elohim.
And I couldn’t sit there more than ten minutes before I already felt stained. And for some reason after that moment I didn’t feel like reading the Word anymore. It was like I had been beat up, embattled, because the things they value are not the things we value, and we don’t want to be stained by the things they are stained by.
So what do we do? We pray: Yahweh, as I visit this person who I know does not fear You, does not value the holy things and the pure, undefiled things, let it be Your Spirit that you have placed in me to influence them, not the spirit that is coming from their household or from these people we are visiting that influences me.
We can’t be weaklings. We have to go to those who are not walking in Messiah and love them. But the things that we love, the things that we find beautiful and praiseworthy, that is what we need to focus on and not let those things entrap us and ensnare us.
It is Messiah who lives in us, and therefore we will value the things Messiah values, love the things He loves, and we will love His Word. We will not be afraid of being different and peculiar, and in the eyes of the world, odd and strange.
In fact, we glory in it if the things that make us odd and strange to them are the things that are of Yahweh, because we are called to this. We are called to holiness. We are called to this.
And we are going to glorify Him with our conduct. We are not going to be ashamed of calling upon His holy name. In fact, we are going to say:
Psalms 103:1 – <> Bless YAHWEH, O my soul; And all that is within me, [bless] His holy name!
1Chronicles 16:10 – Glory in His holy name; Let the hearts of those rejoice who seek YAHWEH!
Psalms 30:4 – Sing praise to YAHWEH, You saints of His, And give thanks at the remembrance of His holy name.
Do we glory in His holy name or are we ashamed of it? Let’s give thanks. Not just the vocalization of His name, but also His character. Let’s not fail in holiness. Holy people will call upon His holy name. Holy people remember His Holy Day, to keep it holy, and the Feast Days, too.
Exodus 20:8 – Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.
9 – Six days you shall labor and do all your work,
10 – but the seventh day [is] the Sabbath of YAHWEH your Elohim. [In it] you shall do no work: you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger who [is] within your gates.
Exodus 20:11 – For [in] six days YAHWEH made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that [is] in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore YAHWEH blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it.
And we will not defile our bodies with abominable things and creeping things that creep or the things that make ourselves unclean, lest we be defiled.
Leviticus 11:43 – `You shall not make yourselves abominable with any creeping thing that creeps; nor shall you make yourselves unclean with them, lest you be defiled by them.
44 – `For I [am] YAHWEH your Elohim. You shall therefore consecrate yourselves, and you shall be holy; for I [am] holy. Neither shall you defile yourselves with any creeping thing that creeps on the earth.
Do not eat the unclean things nor defile yourselves with these things. That is part of holiness, too. It is not the only thing. It is just part of it.
So we are not going to eat squirrels and rodents and things that are unholy– they are unclean– and make ourselves unclean with them and defile ourselves with them.
Do you see what I’m getting at here?
I’m not saying just the Old Testament stuff that most people disregard is what we are going to pay attention to. I’m saying the whole spectrum. The whole counsel of Yahweh’s Word and what it teaches us about holy conduct I want to embrace. It is a New Testament idea. Believe me, it is.
Yahweh does say in the Prophets, in Isaiah 52, verse 10:
Isaiah 52:10 – YAHWEH has made bare His holy arm In the eyes of all the nations; And all the ends of the earth shall see The salvation of our Elohim.
This holy Arm is Yahushua the Messiah.
It says:
Isaiah 52:11 – Depart! Depart! Go out from there, Touch no unclean [thing]; Go out from the midst of her, Be clean, You who bear the vessels of YAHWEH.
This is actually quoted. It is quoted in 2 Corinthians chapter 6, verse 17:
2Corinthians 6:17 – Therefore Come out from among them And be separate, says YAHWEH. Do not touch what is unclean, And I will receive you.
18 – I will be a Father to you, And you shall be My sons and daughters, Says YAHWEH Almighty.
Why? Because we are walking in holiness. He is holy. Therefore, we are His children.
2Corinthians 7:1 – Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of Elohim.
Talking to us. These are promises to us right here (verse 18). “Beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit.” Both! Both are important.
Make sure we are keeping our bodies clean. If it becomes unclean, we have not sinned, unless we willfully eat things that make it detestable. But we have to separate ourselves from the unclean things and not touch the things that Yahweh says don’t touch.
Do you know most leather Bibles are made out of pig? Most of them are. Chances are it is pig. “Don’t touch it,” He says. New Testament Scripture.
“Having these promises, cleanse yourself from all filthiness of flesh and spirit.” New Testament idea.
Part of holiness is embracing the clean things, not touching the unclean. So we cleave to the holy Feast Days, the holy Sabbath day and the holy name. And the tzitzit we do wear because it directs us toward holiness. It is a part of holiness. We will not put the broth of abominations into our bodies, into our blood vessels.
Antiochus Epiphanes, December 25th, he went into the temple and defiled it. He put a pig all over the walls of the temple. That is the day everybody celebrates as Christmas while they cover the insides of their blood vessels with the broth of abominable meats.
I hate to be a little harsh. Some cold hard truths you find as you begin to study these things. I am not trying to condemn anyone. It is just part of the facts. I am just saying, “Look, we have to be paying attention to what holiness is, because Yahweh is holy. We don’t want to fill our bodies with unholy, unclean things.”
We want to regard holiness as Yahweh regards holiness, because in the Kingdom of Yahweh, that is what is going to be there– holiness– and the people will be taught the difference between the clean and the unclean. And so, I am doing it now so you don’t have to be taught later, so that we will already embrace holiness now, because Scripture says:
Revelation 21:27 – But there shall by no means enter it anything that defiles, or causes an abomination or a lie, but only those who are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life.
So let’s not make our bodies abominations or defiled through sexual sin, through eating the broth of abominable meats or by refusing to control our tongue. Because Scripture says our body is defiled by the unruly tongue and we curse the people of Elohim and we grumble against one another.
We need to walk in holiness with our heart, with our mouth, with our body. Yahweh has given us this body. This body belongs to Him. It is His. And we are called to walk as the body of Messiah.
Are we willing to do that and perfect holiness in the fear of Elohim? If we want to enter Yahweh’s presence right now, we can do so with a humble and contrite heart.
Abba Yahweh, in Yahushua’s name, we thank You for Your Word, which instructs us in holiness and cleanness in both conduct and the body You have given us. Father, we want our bodies to be set apart for Your service. We want our bodies to be holy, fit for use, and a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to You.
Let us do so. Show us, Father Yahweh, any ways that we are defiling ourselves and don’t even realize it. Open our eyes to see that we need to be like You, a reflection of You. No way are we even comparable to You, but You have created us in Your image and we want to walk in that image, Your image.
We want to live as Yahushua, Your holy Son, lived. We want to glorify You in our conduct, in the way we love one another and the way that we treat each other, the way we are longsuffering and merciful as You are longsuffering and merciful.
Teach us Your ways. Forgive us for any ways in which we have not walked in holiness. And perfect holiness in us, Your holy people. Thank You for Yahushua who cleanses us, causes us to be taken from a state of filth and scour and cleanses us and purifies us.
We know if we confess our sins, You are faithful and just to cleanse us of our sins and make us holy again and forgive us of all our transgressions. And for that, we praise You, and we thank You for all You continue to do in our lives.
For truly Yours is the Kingdom and power and glory and majesty, and all praise, honor and worship belongs to You, Yahweh our Mighty One, Yahweh Elohenu, forever and ever. In Yahushua’s name. Amein.