Shalom everyone,
This is one of those articles that is of central importance, in order to gain a true knowledge of who and what YHVH is. Unless you have specifically studied Israelite theology yourself, or been through the Talmidaism course, I can almost guarantee that you will never have come across this knowledge of what holiness truly is.
We are drawing ever closer to the Day of Expiations (Yom ha-Kippurim). When I was learning about the Israelite religion, I deliberately focussed on writers and commenters who were experts on pre-exile, Yahwist beliefs and theology, not rabbinic theology. The result is that I now teach not a rabbinic or even a Christian understanding of the Bible, but rather its original Yahwist theology; I do my best to teach the overarching worldview and belief-system held by the original writers of the Hebrew Bible. I believe that is the only way to get close to understanding God in the way the ancients understood God, and comprehending the more enigmatic passages of the Miqra.
Why do we need to understand what God’s Holiness is?
One thing that was an absolute revelation to me was the Yahwist definition of ‘holiness’. There is the general Christian idea of what holiness is, then there is the rabbinic idea of what holiness is, and then, there is the original Yahwist Israelite understanding of what holiness is. The ancient prophets knew and experienced the true Holiness of YHVH, and their lives were shaken and transformed by that experience.
Paullist theology is not interested in knowing these things, because as long as the first person of their trinity is kept mysterious, unknowable and out of reach, they can maintain the supremacy of their Christ. As for the Rabbanites, they no longer possess this ancient knowledge, because Maimonides (‘Rambam‘, 1135-1204 CE), the most influential Talmudic scholar in the entire history of rabbinic Judaism, did not like any supernatural understanding of God; he wanted human beings to be in full control, and for God to be kept at arms‘ length.
Once you know what the original Yahwist idea of holiness is, so much of the narrative of events in the Hebrew Bible begins to make sense, and the God of the Hebrew Bible is no longer automatically seen as a wrathful deity. It even changes your very understanding of the fundamental, inherent nature of YHVH – it helps you to know YHVH.
The Christian and Rabbanite definitions of God’s holiness
When Christians refer to the ‘holiness of God,’ they are describing God’s supreme moral purity, perfect character, and absolute distinction from all creation. This concept encompasses God’s inner moral perfection, sinlessness and perfect righteousness. While this is all true, that’s not what lies at the centre of the Yahwist concept of God’s ‘holiness’.
When Rabbanite Jews talk about God’s holiness, they mean God’s separateness, uniqueness and apartness; if a person or thing is ‘holy to YHVH‘, then it is dedicated only to YHVH, and no other god. While all this is also true, that’s still not what lies at the heart of the Yahwist Israelite understanding of what God’s holiness is. There’s something more, something higher and more incredibly astounding, that both Christians and Rabbanites are missing.
The true meaning of YHVH’s Holiness
Just like how God’s Glory (God’s Divine Radiance) is not a quality of God, but rather an awesome power of God, so too, God’s Holiness is not merely a quality describing God – it is an intensely formidable power of YHVH; Holiness is an ability that only YHVH possesses.
While God’s Glory is what God actively and deliberately sends out into the mortal world to cleanse and purify souls, YHVH’s Holiness is a static power; you experience it by approaching – drawing ever near – to YHVH.
In the Miqra (‘Hebrew Bible’), you will encounter incidents where people drew near to God and died as a result. This was not God being angry – that is not it at all. What is so special about YHVH’s Holiness, is that nothing evil, bad or impure can ever approach the Presence of YHVH, because if it tries, it will automatically be obliterated – it will be ‘consumed’. YHVH does not even have to do anything, or actively try to do anything. Just as someone who gets too close to a nuclear generator will die from the effects of radiation, so too will evil and impurity be obliterated by coming too close to the Holiness of YHVH (I’ve deliberately used a capital letter here, because this type of holiness is unique to YHVH).
The effects of Holiness on the unrepentant
As mortal humans, we can only approach YHVH’s Holiness to be cleansed of sin if we have repented of our sins. Someone who is unremorseful and has no repentance, who then tries to get close to the Holiness of YHVH, will die a slow spiritual death – not through God actively wanting it to happen; it is not God’s fault, just like it is not the fault of a nuclear reactor core that a careless person dies slowly from radiation poisoning.
You have actually met such people – they have warped morals (like religious hypocrisy, calling empathy a sin, having no compassion on others, ill-treating the innocent, and so on). They have no repentance for these sins, yet they still claim they follow God. Every time they approach God in a state of unrepentance, their souls are spiritually damaged, little by little, by the Holiness of God (since anything bad or impure will be utterly consumed). Because they have given over so much of their souls to these corrupted values, they become even colder, harsher, and more ruthless – the worst kind of religious people.
Moreover, the worst sin against God’s Holiness is to commit violence and cruelty in God’s Name; this is therefore the likely reason why Islamist violence is getting worse and worse – they claim closeness to God, but their very souls are dying within them. Eventually, these people will become spiritually dead.
Only the Penitent can approach God’s Holiness safely
Someone, on the other hand, who has examined their souls and who realises their faults, and furthermore, who has a desire to be healed of their past, can safely approach the Holiness of YHVH. In doing so, they are cleansed, healed and restored to full spiritual health by the fire of YHVH’s Glory. With an honest, humble, genuine and loving heart, in prayer we can safely approach the Holiness of YHVH to be healed, without being harmed in any way. The penitent soul is the one that is blest when it approaches the Holiness of YHVH, and thereby becomes a better, more radiant and nobler person.
The wider implications of what Holiness is
The bottom line about the Holiness of YHVH, according to Yahwist Israelite theology, is that nothing evil, bad or impure can possibly approach it, because if it tries, it will be obliterated and utterly consumed. Taking this logic further, this is why in Yahwist theology, there is no devil, no lord of all that is evil. In the spiritual realm, there is only YHVH, along with pure beings who accord with YHVH. Anything that does not accord with the Holiness of YHVH will automatically be obliterated; that’s why the Christian Satan and the Muslim Sheitan cannot possibly exist – nothing evil can even be near our God. If YHVH is a Holy God, then it logically follows that Satan cannot exist. Evil acts are something that are devised in human hearts, not by any devil.
God is ever aware of the great Power of God’s Holiness
The Yahwist definition of holiness also explains why the spirit of God withdraws when we end up in a grievous state of wilful sin – YHVH’s desire is never to harm us, which is what would happen if YHVH’s Presence dwelt in the midst of a rebellious people. So to prevent doing us harm, that is the reason why the holiness of God withdraws from us – to protect us. For example, after the golden calf incident, when God told Moses that if YHVH’s Glory were to travel with the Israelites, it would destroy them, that was not a threat – it was a simple statement of fact (“but I will not go up in your midst, in case I consume you along the way, for you are a stiff-necked people”, Ex 33:3).
Approaching God’s Holiness on the Day of Expiations
In the run-up to Yom ha-Kippurim, the Day of Expiations, think about this aspect of YHVH. Think about the angelic refrain, ‘Holy, holy, holy is YHVH of hosts’. In order to give you the full sense of what that means, a better modern English translation of that would be, ‘Holier than the holiest holiness is YHVH of the heavenly battalions’. YHVH is Holiness, and Holiness is YHVH – you cannot separate the two; they are one and the same, because this type of Holiness is unique to YHVH.
There is nothing holier than what YHVH is, so next month, between Yom Truah and Yom ha-Kippurim, we will be preparing ourselves to draw near to the blessed Holiness of YHVH our living God and True Saviour, in order to be cleansed and purified of the blemish, stain and injury of our sin, by the fire of YHVH’s radiant Glory.