God's holiness

“Do not come any closer,” God said. “Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.”

¹² Are You not from everlasting, O LORD, my God, my Holy One? We will not die. O LORD, You have appointed them to execute judgment; O Rock, You have established them for correction.

¹³ Your eyes are too pure to look upon evil, and You cannot tolerate wrongdoing. So why do You tolerate the faithless? Why are You silent while the wicked swallow up those more righteous than themselves?

And they were calling out to one another: “Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of Hosts; all the earth is full of His glory.”

¹³ Now when Joshua was near Jericho, he looked up and saw a man standing in front of him with a drawn sword in His hand. Joshua approached Him and asked, “Are You for us or for our enemies?”

¹⁴ “Neither,” He replied. “I have now come as Commander of the LORD’s army.” Then Joshua fell facedown in reverence and asked Him, “What does my Lord have to say to His servant?”

¹⁵ The Commander of the LORD’s army replied, “Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy.” And Joshua did so.

“Speak to the whole congregation of Israel and tell them: Be holy because I, the LORD your God, am holy.

Exalt the LORD our God and worship at His holy mountain, for the LORD our God is holy.

There is no one holy like the LORD. Indeed, there is no one besides You! And there is no Rock like our God.

¹⁵ But just as He who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do,

¹⁶ for it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy.”

“For our God is a consuming fire.”

That day David feared God and asked, “How can I ever bring the ark of God to me?”

²⁹ Ascribe to the LORD the glory due His name; bring an offering and come before Him. Worship the LORD in the splendor of His holiness;

³⁰ tremble before Him, all the earth. The world is firmly established; it cannot be moved.

And this is the message we have heard from Him and announce to you: God is light, and in Him there is no darkness at all.

He alone is immortal and dwells in unapproachable light. No one has ever seen Him, nor can anyone see Him. To Him be honor and eternal dominion! Amen.

That day David feared the LORD and asked, “How can the ark of the LORD ever come to me?”

¹¹ You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will not leave anyone unpunished who takes His name in vain.

¹² Observe the Sabbath day by keeping it holy, as the LORD your God has commanded you.

Who among the gods is like You, O LORD? Who is like You—majestic in holiness, revered with praises, performing wonders?

⁷ You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will not leave anyone unpunished who takes His name in vain.

⁸ Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy.

But the LORD is in His holy temple; let all the earth be silent before Him.

The LORD of Hosts is the One you shall regard as holy. Only He should be feared; only He should be dreaded.

“To whom will you liken Me, or who is My equal?” asks the Holy One.

And each of the four living creatures had six wings and was covered with eyes all around and within. Day and night they never stop saying: “Holy, Holy, Holy, is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come!”

⁶ When they came to the threshing floor of Nacon, Uzzah reached out and took hold of the ark of God, because the oxen had stumbled.

⁷ And the anger of the LORD burned against Uzzah, and God struck him down on the spot for his irreverence, and he died there beside the ark of God.

The appearance of the brilliant light all around Him was like that of a rainbow in a cloud on a rainy day. This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the LORD. And when I saw it, I fell facedown and heard a voice speaking.

¹ In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord seated on a throne, high and exalted; and the train of His robe filled the temple.

² Above Him stood seraphim, each having six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying.

³ And they were calling out to one another: “Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of Hosts; all the earth is full of His glory.”

⁴ At the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook, and the temple was filled with smoke.

⁵ Then I said: “Woe is me, for I am ruined, because I am a man of unclean lips dwelling among a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of Hosts.”

² So fire came out from the presence of the LORD and consumed them, and they died in the presence of the LORD.

³ Then Moses said to Aaron, “This is what the LORD meant when He said: ‘To those who come near Me I will show My holiness, and in the sight of all the people I will reveal My glory.’” But Aaron remained silent.

Who will not fear You, O Lord, and glorify Your name? For You alone are holy. All nations will come and worship before You, for Your righteous acts have been revealed.”

And the anger of the LORD burned against Uzzah, and He struck him down because he had put his hand on the ark. So he died there before God.

¹⁰ And when the priests came out of the Holy Place, the cloud filled the house of the LORD

¹¹ so that the priests could not stand there to minister because of the cloud; for the glory of the LORD filled the house of the LORD.

And he was afraid and said, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God; this is the gate of heaven!”

The priests were unable to enter the house of the LORD, because the glory of the LORD had filled it.

Then the Lord said to him, ‘Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.

But He added, “You cannot see My face, for no one can see Me and live.”

³⁴ Then the cloud covered the Tent of Meeting, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle.

³⁵ Moses was unable to enter the Tent of Meeting because the cloud had settled on it, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle.

²⁰ And wherever they went among the nations, they profaned My holy name, because it was said of them, ‘These are the people of the LORD, yet they had to leave His land.’

²¹ But I had concern for My holy name, which the house of Israel had profaned among the nations to which they had gone.

²² Therefore tell the house of Israel that this is what the Lord GOD says: It is not for your sake that I will act, O house of Israel, but for My holy name, which you profaned among the nations to which you went.

²³ I will show the holiness of My great name, which has been profaned among the nations—the name you have profaned among them. Then the nations will know that I am the LORD, declares the Lord GOD, when I show My holiness in you before their eyes.

And he said to them, “You are the heads of the Levitical families. You and your relatives must consecrate yourselves so that you may bring the ark of the LORD, the God of Israel, to the place I have prepared for it.

¹⁹ But God struck down some of the people of Beth-shemesh because they looked inside the ark of the LORD. He struck down seventy men, and the people mourned because the LORD had struck them with a great slaughter.

²⁰ The men of Beth-shemesh asked, “Who can stand in the presence of the LORD, this holy God? To whom should the ark go up from here?”

And you are to set up a boundary for the people around the mountain and tell them, ‘Be careful not to go up on the mountain or touch its base. Whoever touches the mountain shall surely be put to death.

¹⁶ On the third day, when morning came, there was thunder and lightning. A thick cloud was upon the mountain, and a very loud blast of the ram’s horn went out, so that all the people in the camp trembled.

¹⁷ Then Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet with God, and they stood at the foot of the mountain.

¹⁸ Mount Sinai was completely enveloped in smoke, because the LORD had descended on it in fire. And the smoke rose like the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mountain quaked violently.

Even the priests who approach the LORD must consecrate themselves, or the LORD will break out against them.”

¹³ “Tell the Israelites, ‘Surely you must keep My Sabbaths, for this will be a sign between Me and you for the generations to come, so that you may know that I am the LORD who sanctifies you.

¹⁴ Keep the Sabbath, for it is holy to you. Anyone who profanes it must surely be put to death. Whoever does any work on that day must be cut off from among his people.