The Holy One of Israel.
'I am the Lord that brought you up out of the land of Egypt, to be
_your God_; ye shall therefore _be holy_, for _I am holy_. I the
Lord which _make you holy, am holy_.'--Lev. xi. 45, xxi. 8.
'I am the Lord Thy God, _the Holy One of Israel_, Thy Saviour.
Thus saith the Lord, your Redeemer, _the Holy One of Israel_: I am
the Lord, _your Holy One_, the Creator of Israel, your
King.'--Isa. xliii. 3, 14, 15.
In the book of Exodus we found God making provision for the Holiness of
His people. In the holy times and holy places, holy persons, holy
things, and holy services, He had taught His people that everything
around Him, that all that would come near Him, must be holy. He would
only dwell in the midst of holiness; His people must be a holy people.
But there is no direct mention of God Himself as holy. In the book of
Leviticus we are led on a step further. Here first we have God speaking
of His own holiness, and making it the plea for the holiness of His
people, as well as its pledge and power. Without this the revelation of
holiness were incomplete, and the call to holiness powerless. True
holiness will come to us as we learn that God Himself alone is holy. It
is He alone makes holy; it is as we come to Himself, and in obedience
and love are linked to Himself, that His Holiness can rest on us.[4]
From the books of Moses onwards we shall find that the name of God as
holy is found but seldom in the inspired writings, until we come to
Isaiah, the evangelist prophet. There it occurs twenty-six times, and
has its true meaning opened up in the way in which it is linked with the
name of Saviour and Redeemer. The sentiments of joy and trust and
praise, with which a redeemed people would look upon their Deliverer,
are all mentioned in connection with the name of the Holy One. 'Cry
aloud and shout, thou inhabitant of Zion, for great is _the Holy One of
Israel_ in the midst of thee.' 'The poor among men shall rejoice in _the
Holy One of Israel_.' 'Thou shalt rejoice in the Lord, and shalt glory
in _the Holy One of Israel_.' In Paradise we saw that God the Creator
was God the Sanctifier, perfecting the work of His hands. In Israel we
saw that God the Redeemer was ever God the Sanctifier, making holy the
people He had chosen for Himself. Here in Isaiah we see how it is God
the Sanctifier, the Holy One, who is to bring about the great redemption
of the New Testament: as the Holy One, He is the Redeemer. God redeems
because He is holy, and loves to make holy: Holiness will be Redemption
perfected. Redemption and Holiness together are to be found in the
personal relation to God. The key to the secret of holiness is offered
to each believer in that word: 'Thus saith the Lord, your Redeemer, the
Holy One of Israel: I am the Lord, your Holy One.' To come near, to
know, to possess the Holy One, and be possessed of Him, is Holiness.
If God's Holiness is thus the only hope for ours, it is right that we
seek to know what that Holiness is. And though we may find it indeed to
be something that passeth knowledge, it will not be in vain to gather up
what has been revealed in the Word concerning it. Let us do so in the
spirit of holy fear and worship, trusting to the Holy Spirit to be our
teacher.
And let us first notice how this Holiness of God, though it is often
mentioned as one of the Divine attributes, can hardly be counted such,
on a level with the others. The other attributes all refer to some
special aspect or characteristic of the Divine Nature; Holiness appears
to express what is the very essence or perfection of the Divine Being
Himself. None of the attributes can be predicated of all that belongs to
God; but Scripture speaks of His Holy Name, His Holy Day, His Holy
Habitation, His Holy Word. In the word Holy we have the nearest possible
approach to a summary of all the Divine perfections, the description of
what Divinity is. We speak of the other attributes as Divine
perfections, but in this we have the only human expression for the
Divine Perfection itself. It is for this reason that theologians have
found such difficulty in framing a definition that can express all the
word means.[5]
The original Hebrew word, whether derived from a root signifying to
separate, or another with the idea of shining, expressed the idea of
something distinguished from others, separate from them by superior
excellence. God is Separate and different from all that is created,
keeps Himself separate from all that is not God; as the Holy One He
maintains His Divine glory and perfection against whatever might
interfere with it: 'There is none holy, but the Lord;' 'To whom will you
liken me? or shall I be equal? saith the Holy One.' As Holy, God is
indeed the Incomparable One; Holiness is His alone; there is nothing
like it in heaven or earth, except when He gives it. And so our holiness
will consist, not in a human separation in which we attempt to imitate
God's,--no, but in entering into His separateness; belonging entirely to
Him; set apart by Him and for Himself.
Closely connected with this is the idea of Exaltation: 'Thus saith the
High and Holy One, whose name is Holy.' It was the Holy One who was seen
sitting upon a throne high and lifted up, the object of the worship of
the seraphim. In Psalm xcix. God's Holiness is specially spoken of in
connection with His exaltation. For this reason, too, His Holiness is so
often connected with His Glory and Majesty (see 'Sixth Day'). And here
our holiness will be seen to be nothing but the poverty and humility
which comes when 'the loftiness of man is brought low, and the Lord
alone is exalted.'
If we inquire more closely wherein the infinite excellence of this
Separateness and Exaltation consists, we are led to think of the Divine
Purity, and that not only in its negative aspect--as hatred of sin--but
with the more positive element of perfect beauty. Because we are
sinners, and the revelation of God's Holiness is in a world of sin, it
is natural, it is right and meet, that the first, that the abiding
impression of God's Holiness should be that of an Infinite Purity that
cannot look upon sin, in whose Presence it becomes the sinner to hide
his face and tremble. The Righteousness of God, forbidding and
condemning and punishing sin, has its root in His Holiness, is one of
its two elements--the devouring and destroying power of the consuming
fire. 'God the Holy One is sanctified in righteousness' (Isa. v. 16); in
righteousness the Holiness of the Holy One is maintained and revealed.
But Light not only discovers what is impure, that it may be purified,
but is in itself a thing of infinite beauty. And so some of our holiest
men have not hesitated to speak of God's Holiness as the infinite
Pulchritude or Beauty of the Divine Being, the Perfect Purity and Beauty
of that Light in which God dwelleth. And if the Holiness of God is to
become ours, to rest upon us, and enter into us, there must be, without
ceasing, the holy fear that trembles at the thought of grieving the
infinite sensitiveness of this Holy One by our sins, and yet side by
side, and in perfect harmony with it, the deep longing to behold the
Beauty of the Lord, an admiration of its Divine glory, and a joyful
surrender to be His alone.
We must go one step further. When God says, 'I am holy: _I make holy_,'
we see that one of the chief elements of His Holiness is this, that it
seeks to communicate itself, to make partaker of its own perfection and
blessedness. This is nought but Love. In the wonderful revelation in
Isaiah of what the Holy One is to His people, we must beware of
misreading God's precious Word. It is not said, that _though_ God is the
Holy One, and hates sin, and ought to punish and destroy, that
notwithstanding this He will save. By no means. But we are taught that
_as_ the Holy One, _just because_ He is the Holy One, who delights to
make holy, He will be the Deliverer of His people. (See Hos. xi. 9.) It
is Holiness above everything else that we are invited to look to, to
trust in, to rejoice in. The Holy One is the Holy-making One: He redeems
and saves that He may win our confidence for Himself, that He may draw
us to Himself as the Holy One, that in the personal attachment to
Himself we may learn to obey, to become of one mind with Him, to be holy
as He is holy.
The Divine Holiness is thus that infinite Perfection of Divinity in
which Righteousness and Love are in perfect harmony, out of which they
proceed, and which together they reveal. It is that Energy of the Divine
life in the power of which God not only keeps Himself free from all
creature weakness or sin, but unceasingly seeks to lift the creature
into union with Himself and the full participation of His own purity and
perfection. The glory of God as God, as the God of Creation and
Redemption, is His Holiness. It is in this that the Separateness and
Exaltation of God, even above all thought of man, really consists. 'God
is Light;' in His infinite Purity He reveals all darkness, and yet has
no fellowship with it. He judges and condemns it; He saves out of it,
and lifts up into the fellowship of His own purity and blessedness. This
is the Holy One of Israel.
It is this God who speaks to us, 'I am the Lord your God: I am holy: I
make holy.' It is in the adoring contemplation of His Holiness, in the
trustful surrender to it, in the loving fellowship with Himself, the
Holy One, that we can be made holy. My brother! would you be holy?
listen again, and let, in the deep silence of trust, God's words sink
into your heart--'Your Holy One.' Come to Himself and claim Him as your
God, and claim all that He, as the Holy One who makes holy, can do for
you. Just remember that Holiness is Himself. Come to _Him_; worship
_Him_; give _Him_ the glory. Seek not, even from Him, holiness in
yourself; let self be abased, and be content that the Holiness is His.
As _His_ presence fills your heart, as _His_ Holiness and Glory are your
one desire, as _His_ holy Will and Love are your delight,--as the Holy
One becomes all in all to you,--you will be holy with the holiness He
loves to see. And as, to the end, you see nothing to admire in self, and
only Beauty in Him, you will know that He has laid of His glory on you;
and your holiness will be found in the song, There is none holy, but the
Lord.