Jon: You've probably heard the word "holy" before or at least sang it in a church song once or twice. And for most people, this idea is really
just connected to being a morally good person... So… God is 'holy' because he's morally perfect. Tim: Yeah, that is part of it... but in the Bible the idea of 'holiness'
is even bigger and more rich. What it's really describing is how God is
the creative force behind the whole universe. He's the one and only being with the power
to make a world full of such beauty and life. And so all these abilities they may God utterly unique,
which is the meaning of the word 'holy'. A helpful way to think about God's
holiness is by using the sun as a metaphor. The sun is unique, at least
within our solar system, And its really powerful. Its the source of all this
beautiful life on our planet. And so you could say that the sun is 'holy'. And you can actually take this metaphor even further in that the whole area around the sun is
also 'holy'. Jon: Yeah because the closer you get to
the sun the more intense it gets. Tim: yeah, exactly. So that very power and goodness
that generates all this life is also dangerous. I mean the sun, if you get too close, will annihilate you. And in the same way there's this paradox
at the heart of God's own holiness because if you're impure his presence is dangerous to you and not because it's bad, but because its
so good. And so the first time we see this paradox of God's holiness,
it's in the story of Moses and the burning bush. Jon: So God tells Moses to take off his
sandals because he's standing on holy ground. And Moses covers his face in fear and God says "hey don't come any closer". Its intense.
likely that intensity of God's holiness Tim: It's actually that intensity of God's holiness
that's explored even more in the stories of Israel's temple which was the main place where
God's holy presence was located and at the center the temple was this
room called the Most Holy Place it's the hotspot of God's presence. and whether you're an Israelite
living in the land around the temple or a priest working right in the temple,
you are in proximity to God's holy presence. which is dangerous. Jon: Yeah, this is a problem.
So how is it supposed to work? Tim: Well in the Bible the solution is
that you need to become "pure". Jon: So like being Morally Pure? Tim: Yeah, and that's easy enough to understand... ...but the Bible spends a lot of time
talking about another kind of purity being Ritually Pure which is a state where you separate yourself
from anything related to death like touching things like diseased skin, or dead bodies,
or even certain bodily fluids. all these make you impure. And becoming ritually impure isn't necessarily sinful. What's wrong is waltzing into God's presence
when you're in an impure state. And so that's why God gave the Israelites
very clear instructions for knowing when they were impure... steps to become pure, so that they could
go into the temple again. Jon: So that's what the book of Leviticus is about. Tim: Right. But it doesn't stop there.
This idea keeps developing So later in the scriptures we find this
really interesting story by a prophet named Isaiah. And he has this crazy vision where he's in
the temple and he's right in God's presence. He's
totally terrified. Jon: Yeah. He knows the rules.
He shouldn't even be in there. And he's worried about being destroyed. Tim: And then this crazy creature called a Seraphim. Jon: Yeah, that is a crazy creature. Tim: Totally. So it flies over with a hot coal. And then it sears Isaiah's lips with the
coal and says something really weird... "Your guilt is taken away and your
sin is atoned for." Jon: So this burning coal somehow makes Isaiah pure. Tim: Yeah, its remarkable because normally if you touch something impure
it transfers its impurity to you. But now here's this new idea where you have this coal, this very holy and pure object,
and it touches Isaiah and it transfers its purity to him. Isaiah is not destroyed by God's holiness,
he's transformed by it. I mean the implications of this are just huge. But there's one more development, this
time from another prophet, Ezekiel. And he has this vision where
he's standing at the temple and he sees water trickling out from it. And then that water turns into a stream and then a grows into a deep river that
starts flowing through the desert leaving this trail of green trees behind it. And then it flows into the Dead Sea
making everything fresh and alive. Jon: So, instead of becoming pure first
and then going into the temple... ...here God's holiness comes out from the
temple making things pure bringing them to life. What does it all mean? Tim: So, we don't know.
Until we meet this man Jesus. And he claims that he's fulfilling all of these ancient visions
but in surprising new ways. So Jesus, he went around touching people who are impure... ... people with skin diseases,
a woman with chronic bleeding, or dead people... and when he touches them,
their impurity should transfer over to Jesus ... ... but instead, Jesus' purity transfers to them
and actually heals their bodies. Jon: Jesus is like that holy coal in Isaiah's vision. Tim: Right. And Jesus claimed that he was
the human embodiment of God's own holiness. and that he and his followers were now
God's temple so that through them God's holy presence
would go out into the world and bring life and healing and hope. And so this is why Jesus described his followers
as having streams of living water flowing out of them. Jon: So this is our part of the story where
we find ourselves now, but where is it all heading? Tim: so the last pages of the Bible end
with a final vision about God's holiness... This time it's by a guy named John. And in his vision we see the whole world made completely new. The entire earth has become God's temple. And Ezekiel's river is there flowing out of God's presence, immersing all of creation, removing all impurity and bringing
everything back to life.
