From the opening pages of the Bible, the Divine author takes his sovereign pen and dips it into the inkwell of holiness. Like a novelist writing with both simplicity and complexity, yet always with clarity, God reveals Himself in story. Listed below are several passages in the first two books of the Bible where this occurs:

  • In Genesis 3, God expels Adam and Eve from the garden for eating forbidden fruit.
  • In Genesis 6, God sends a universal flood because of mankind’s wickedness.
  • In Geneses 11, God confounds the communication of people because of pride.
  • In Genese 19, God rains fire and brimstone on Sodom and Gomorrah.
  • In Exodus 3, God reveals Himself in a burning bush that remains unconsumed.
  • In Exodus 7-11, God judges His enemies with dramatic and life-threatening plagues.
  • In Exodus 14, God condemns His enemies in a water grave, and
  • In Exodus 19, God shakes Mt Sinai with His presence and the people tremble.

When reading these passages, it is obvious that holiness is not just a theme; rather, it is God’s defining trait. The Old Testament prophet Samuel describes it this way: “There is none holy like the Lord: for there is none besides you” (1 Samuel 2:2). Furthermore, Hebrews 12:14 states that “without holiness, no one will see the Lord.” Combined, these two verses describe man’s problem in a nutshell; Because we are not holy, we cannot see God.

In Exodus 19, the Israelites are in their third month since their exodus from Egypt. Moses climbs Mt. Sinai three times in this chapter. Verse 3 is the first time and occurs before the fire of righteousness and the smoke of holiness are seen. Before the thunder of justice is heard, God’s gentleness is painted and God considers the Hebrews eaglets (Exodus 19:3-4). For up to 100 days, eaglets stay in the nest. In time, mama eagle will stir the nest to make her young fly. If they struggle, she swoops under to catch them on her wings to take them to safety. As the eaglets are to their mother, so Israel is to God. As God says to Moses, if Israel will obey His commands, they will be God’s treasured possession and a kingdom of priests, each with access to God. (Exodus 19: 5-6). Israel’s response: In one voice, we will obey (Exodus 19:8-9). So, how did Israel actually do in their obedience to God. As Exodus 32:1-4 details, not very well. Throughout this chapter, we see that God demands three responses to his Holiness. The first demand is….

God’s holiness demands obedience to His word

Look at the last phrase of verse 9. God descends to the mountain in a thick cloud so “that the people may hear when I speak with you  (Moses), and may also believe you forever.” Why would God talk like this? To learn the answer, let’s look at the following texts from Deuteronomy and Acts.

Deuteronomy 18:15-19: “The LORD your God will raise up for you a prophet like me (Jesus) from among you, from your brothers—it is to him you shall listen—just as you desired of the LORD your God at Horeb on the day of the assembly, when you said, ‘Let me not hear again the voice of the LORD my God or see this great fire any more, lest I die.’ And the LORD said to me, ‘They are right in what they have spoken. I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brothers. And I will put my words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I command him. And whoever will not listen to my words that he shall speak in my name, I will require it of him.”

Acts 7:37-39, 51-52: “This is the Moses who said to the Israelites, ‘God will raise up for you a prophet (Jesus) like me from your brothers.’ This is the one who was in the congregation in the wilderness with the angel who spoke to him at Mount Sinai, and with our fathers. He received living oracles to give to us. Our fathers refused to obey him, but thrust him aside, and in their hearts they turned to Egypt. … “You stiff-necked people, uncircumcised in heart and ears, you always resist the Holy Spirit. As your fathers did, so do you. Which of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? And they killed those who announced beforehand the coming of the Righteous One (Jesus), whom you have now betrayed and murdered.”

Friend, God’s holiness demands that we keep all of the words that come from all of His prophets, with the most important being His final prophet, Jesus, the Son of God. The problem is this; we, like the Old Testament Hebrews (Israelites) cannot do so on our own merit because of our sin (Romans 3:23). So, what is the solution? As Romans 10:9 states, we must accept God’s free gift of salvation!….

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