Emerging Pastor

In the beginning, we read, God created the heavens and the earth. These places are described as worlds without form, function or present reality, places to be developed and defined.

The Pentateuch, or Torah, is God’s story of how this was accomplished, and how it was all completed according to his will. Through this paper we will discover three things. Firstly, what is holiness insofar as the Pentateuch relates that word to God and then how God’s holiness works its way through the ethical and cultic demands of the Old Testament law. Our primary focus for the cultic treatment will be centered on God’s condescension to the tabernacle in the midst of the worshiping congregation [1] along with the “Holiness Code” specified in Leviticus to examine the ethical dimension of the law. Both of these dimensions are linked with the covenant between God and his people, as we shall explore in greater detail.

Holiness Defined

Let us begin by attempting to gain a greater understanding for what the holiness of God means. “The etymology of the Hebrew word is ‘to cut off’ or ‘mark off.’ It was used to denote that which is separated from regular, everyday use for sacred service.” [2]

Snaith takes an extraordinary look at the holiness of God, taking in differing points of view, evaluating them and finding consensuses of ideas. His breadth and depth on the subject are such that I am compelled to follow through his own conclusions and as such I will not be arguing past them.

The Hebrew word for holiness is qodesh. [3] The word itself is intimately associated with divine. “It has to do, as we shall see, with the very Nature of Deity; no word more so, nor indeed any other as much” [4] We can glean more of the primary significance of qodesh when it is used in comparison with the other two Hebrew words used to speak of the things and affairs in which the interaction of God and man come together. There two other words are “cherem (ban, devoted thing, destruction), and chol (profane, common)” [5]

Qodesh is used in reference to God in a positive sense and not in negative terms to what man is not allowed. It is not something has been set aside from man, rather it has been separated to God.

Cherem is a word for separation used more in the negative sense, it has links back to primitive concepts of taboo. “cherem means nothing if it does not mean ‘forbidden’” [6] The word carries with it the implication of destruction, something that has to be completely removed or is banned by God for any use Such an example is found in Leviticus 27:20, in reference to redemption and such things that can never be redeemed.

“We have seen that clherem is not non-Qodesh to one god because of its association with another god. Chol is no-Qodesh because of its association with man”. [7] Chol can be seen as either profane in that it is the opposite to Qodesh or to can be seen as common because it is not attached to any type of taboo.

Budd also points out the nature of holiness as being critical to the understanding of Leviticus. “Basic distinctions essential to such an understanding [of purity] are set out in Lev.10:10 where two realms, the holy and the common, are recognized”. [8]

You must distinguish between the holy and the common, between the unclean and the clean” (Lev 10:10)

LaSor notes that of Leviticus 10:10: “That which is cultically ‘clean’ is acceptable for the worship of Yahweh, and that which is ‘unclean’ is not. Profanity, then is the taking of a holy thing (such as the Lord’s name) and using it in a profane, or common, way” [9]

Covenantal form

This dismantling of the sacred and the profane is of the utmost importance when trying to uncover the relationship of the holiness of God to how the Pentateuch relays them in ethical and cultic demands of the law. This is because:

The basic vocabulary of religion in the Old Testament is basically a vocabulary of the cult, although we can begin to trace in the study of many of its basic concepts a trend away fro m this cultic association. Such words as ‘holiness/profanity’, ‘cleanness/uncleanness’ and ‘acceptable gift/abomination’ are all terms which belong directly to the cult.” [10]

God’s demand for the holiness of his people is firmly rooted in his own character, “I am the LORD your God; consecrate yourselves and be holy, because I am holy.” (Lev. 11:44), a fact not missed during the time of the Apostles “But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do” (1 Pet 1:15)

This call to what we now understand to be God’s people, the Israelites, comes in a covenantal form. “The covenant is a unique expression of God’s holiness” [11] a covenant that declares God’s people as “a kingdom of priests and a holy nation” (Exod 19:6) [12]

On the terms of the covenant, the Israelites are given the opportunity to experience the holiness of God either through blessing or curses, judgment or salvation.

I believe that the area that has most shaped the Israelites is the blessings and curses formula when associated properly with this history. The formula details the rewards for living in a holy relationship with their Lord while also listing the punishments that they could expect when they went outside the covenant’s boundaries. Hence leaving it up to the individual and nation how they will experience their relationship with God.

This can be most clearly seen in action by reading through the books of Kings. In 2 Kings, the prase “He did evil in the eyes of the LORD” [13] is present no less than twenty times. The author links this disobedience (and corresponding obedience) to the covenant to the health of the nation of Israel.

Cultic practice

Insofar as cultic practice is dealt with within the Book of Leviticus, we can see that the practice of sacrifice was based on the covenant relationship in that “God’s holiness insisted that for fellowship to be enjoyed, sin must be dealt with, and on terms acceptable to him. Leviticus… spelled out the terms of that fellowship” [14] In Leviticus, we find the undeniable revelation of God’s redeeming love, a love that asks the Israelites to love the sinner but hate the sin. It says that in this relationship, forgiveness can be found, but it always comes at a cost. A cost of sacrifice.

When speaking of the cultic requirements of the law, we should quickly aside to bring an understanding of what we mean by the word cult since today the word carries with it many negative connotations to do with incorrect beliefs and practices. In essence, cult and cultic are all to do with how a religion is practiced. “By the word ‘cult’ we mean the observable actions of a people, singly or in a community, in which people engage in conjunction with their religion” [15]

The tent of meeting or tabernacle can be easily singled out as a centre of cultic worship, not only was it the place where the aforementioned sacrifices were offered, but it stood as a place of meeting for God and his people.

“For the generations to come this burnt offering is to be made regularly at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting before the LORD. There I will meet you and speak to you; there also I will meet with the Israelites, and the place will be consecrated by my glory.” (Ex 29:42-43 emphasis mine)

Previous to these pronouncements, we can read in Exodus of God’s instructions for how his tent of meeting is to be constructed, the inner rooms and their dimensions, the materials to be used and who can administer there. “Then have them make a sanctuary for me, and I will dwell among them. Make this tabernacle and all its furnishings exactly like the pattern I will show you.” (Ex 25:8-9) Martens reminds us that “Dwelling” is significant because it is used in the active sense of “living with” and is different from the words used for sitting or staying. s [16]

This structure as an astute reader may have already picked up, has three names: Tabernacle, tent of meeting and sanctuary. Significantly, the Hebrew word for the latter is miqdos which is a derivative of holy qodos. The word sanctuary may have come into use because “of the two parts into which the facility was divided: the holy place and most holy place. The designation, like the name given to the rooms, reinforces the notion of holiness or separateness.” [17] The architecture giving testimony to God’s holiness by it’s structure, not only that the name told all who approached that this place was special to God and set apart for his use, thus God’s holiness influences the cultic aspect of the early Jewish religious practices.

Ethical practice

It can not go unnoticed that I have linked the action of God to the action of his people and there response to him. Even McConville notes “the theology of Deuteronomy is fundamentally one of response to Yahweh’s prior action” [18] Deuteronomy employs a rich cultic vocabulary that emphasizes its own theology and ethical understanding. In fact in order to understand the ethics of the Old Testament, it is easily demonstrated that it lays squarely in the imitation of God. “The ethical directions and morality of the Old Testament were grounded, first of all, in the nature of God directly” [19]

Each and every moral command from God to his people through the covenant was given through the theme that “I am the LORD” or “Be holy as I the LORD your God am holy)” (Various references from Lev 18:5, 6, 30; 19:2, 3, 4, 10, 12, 14, 18ff).

We may call the moral laws (those laws that are based on the character and nature of God) [20] immutable, since that they are a reflection of God’s character and unchanging in their nature.

Both x and y link the action of man and God’s command of holiness to what may be termed the “Holiness Code” [21]. This is Leviticus 17-26. Israel as a nation was to be separated to the rest of the nations just as God is separated to the world. [22] They are to be the Qodesh of the ancient world set apart for God’s service to the world. According to the Holiness Code, the whole nation is made holy (sanctified) not just the priests in temple service, again for the whole nation to be in God’s holy service. [23]

“If the people Israel are to be holy, thy ‘must abide by a more rigid code of behavior than that practiced by the nations, just as the priest lives by more stringent standards than those applying to common Israelites’” [24]

Conclusion

One scholar notes that: “the sphere of the holy was wider than cult. The holy is therefore a pre-ethical term… it is a concept that posits ethical values” [25] God’s holiness informs, and shapes the Israelite understanding of the world and how God would have us act in his world.

This statement would be a fair evaluation for what we have uncovered. God’s holiness permeates through the bounds of the law and ethical practice, and underpinning the how the cultic aspects of the Israelite religion is practice.

We have seen this in the worship in the tabernacle, the covenant with Israel and in the Holiness Code of Leviticus.