A Holy, Holy, Holy God

Today's lesson was on God's holiness--what it means to be holy and what a holy God expects of us in our relationship with Him. The discussion centered on Isaiah chapter 6, quoted here from the NIV version of the Bible.

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 were seraphs, each with 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 to one another:
"Holy, holy, holy is the LORD Almighty;
the whole 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 "Woe to me!" I cried. "I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the LORD Almighty."

6 Then one of the seraphs flew to me with a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar. 7 With it he touched my mouth and said, "See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for."

8 Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, "Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?"
And I said, "Here am I. Send me!"

9 He said, "Go and tell this people:
" 'Be ever hearing, but never understanding;
be ever seeing, but never perceiving.'

10 Make the heart of this people calloused;
make their ears dull
and close their eyes. [a]
Otherwise they might see with their eyes,
hear with their ears,
understand with their hearts,
and turn and be healed."

11 Then I said, "For how long, O Lord?"
And he answered:
"Until the cities lie ruined
and without inhabitant,
until the houses are left deserted
and the fields ruined and ravaged,

12 until the LORD has sent everyone far away
and the land is utterly forsaken.

13 And though a tenth remains in the land,
it will again be laid waste.
But as the terebinth and oak
leave stumps when they are cut down,
so the holy seed will be the stump in the land."

[a] Isaiah 6:10 Hebrew; Septuagint 'You will be ever hearing, but never understanding; / you will be ever seeing, but never perceiving.' / 10 This people's heart has become calloused; / they hardly hear with their ears, / and they have closed their eyes

We learned the word holy means "morally pure or perfect"--a state that is impossible for us to achieve. In Isaiah's vision, the train of God's robe signifies his greatness, greater than any other King. That the seraphs covered their faces in the presence of God tells us even they were unworthy to look upon His face. Verse 5 tells us Isaiah most certainly viewed himself unworthy to stand before God.

In verse 6 we see He is a forgiving God, but the end of the chapter shows He also punishes those who don't obey Him. One of the discussion questions in the lesson was, "Does God as the avenger of evil deeds taint your view of God as love? Why or why not?"

We compared God's role as disciplinarian to that of a parent who punishes a child. It's not that the parent wants to punish, but wants the child to obey. Examples of children raised with and without discipline were brought up as evidence that a lack of discipline can be terribly harmful to a child.

God wants us to live a holy life, but recognized that we are imperfect beings. Therefore, He sent His son to die for our sins so that we may be forgiven. Our discussion guide referred us to the following New Testament verses that tell us how to live a holy, sanctified life:

• Philippians 2:12-13
• Philippians 4:6-8
• 1 Thessalonians 4:1-7
• 2 Peter 1:2-3