N18-4: What Your Pastor Never Taught You About Holiness (Because He Has No Idea)-PART ONE

Today we’re going to have a little discussion about HOLINESS.

Unfortunately, most gentile believers today have absolutely no idea what the true Biblical meaning of HOLINESS is.

And who can blame them?

The Pastors who they sit under also have no idea what HOLINESS is.

And why?

The answer is simple.

It is because very little if any attention is paid to studying the TORAH and that is the only place where you’ll find an explanation of HOLINESS.

Too many folks mistakenly assume they can learn what HOLINESS is from the New Testament.

BIG MISTAKE!

While the New Testament affirms HOLINESS, it doesn’t give us a definition of HOLINESS.

For a proper understanding of HOLINESS, again one must study the TORAH.

In the gentile church, most people view holiness as a bunch of maple syrupy and buttery pious behavior.

They think it’s walking around with a heavenly smile plastered on one’s face while saying “God bless you” to everybody.

Or they think it’s donating generous amounts of money to the congregation or charity or praying for hours on end.

While there is nothing wrong with doing good deeds and being extra nice to people, from a true Biblical perspective, those things really have nothing to do with HOLINESS.

Here’s what you’ve got to understand.

HOLINESS is a status that only HASHEM can bestow upon you based on His own terms, rules and boundaries.

Here are two important points about HOLINESS and UNCLEANNESS I know for a fact you’ve never learned and will probably never ever learn in a church.

POINT ONE
HOLINESS AND UNCLEANNESS ARE CONTAGIOUS

POINT TWO
BOTH HOLINESS AND UNCLEANNESS CAN BE DANGEROUS

Let me give you some examples of what I mean.

In Leviticus, we studied how after the meat is cooked on the brazen altar, the metal pots they are cooked in have to be thoroughly washed.

And if the meat was placed inside a clay pot, the clay pot had to be completely destroyed.

Why?

The reason is because the Brazen Altar carried a very HIGH DEGREE OF HOLINESS and infected whatever touched it.

That’s why the metal pot used to cook the meat had to be thoroughly washed and rinsed.

And the reason the clay pot had to be completely destroyed was because clay material is porous making it impossible to wash the holiness out of it.

Here’s another example.

After Aaron, the High Priest, finished performing his ritual duties, he took off his High Priest garments and then thoroughly washed himself.

Why did he have to wash himself?

Because  if he didn’t, the HOLINESS he had acquired from the High Priest garments he was wearing would be transmitted to the COMMON garments he was going to change into and this was a big no-no!

Let’s move on to the question of “Why HOLINESS is dangerous?“.

Here’s the non-negotiable and uncompromisable principle you’ve got to understand.

HOLINESS is very, very, very, very, very, very, very DANGEROUS if contracted by someone who is NOT authorized to contract it.

It’s like dealing with radioactive material.

It’s like what kryptonite is to Superman.

Why do you think Priests can’t perform their duties unless they’re in a CLEAN state?

Because if they touched one of the holy instruments inside the Sanctuary while in an UNCLEAN state they would defile it.

Now think about every one of the stories of rebellion we studied over the last couple of chapters in Numbers.

Every one of these tragic events occurred for basically one reason and one reason only.

God’s HOLINESS was trampled on.

We saw a group of unauthorized people attempt to offer unauthorized incense in a HOLY place to HASHEM.

And what happened?

They were destroyed.

No questions asked.

They entered onto HOLY ground and as a result acquired HOLINESS that they were not authorized to acquire.

It is only the priests who have divine permission from God to offer incense in the Holy Sanctuary.

Again, whatever is HOLY is not allowed to be used in a COMMON manner in a COMMON area.

Whatever is HOLY must stay within the boundaries of the HOLY sanctuary area.

On the other side of the equation, anything that is COMMON is prohibited from being offered to God and cannot be brought into a HOLY place.

If a COMMON person or object acquires HOLINESS without authorization, that person or the object MUST BE DESTROYED.

When Korah and the rebels who joined him attempted to offer incense to God with their fire pans, since they came near to God they ended up acquiring HOLINESS that they had no business acquiring.

What was the result?

First, Korah and the rebels were destroyed.

Second, God had the fire pans melted down and molded into a lid for the Brazen altar to serve as a warning sign to Israel.

Note also that this action kept the holy metal (the melted down fire pans) inside the HOLY area.

Third, since the coals had also acquired HOLINESS they had to be taken and scattered far away from the HOLY Tabernacle grounds.

These coals could never again be used to start up a new fire.

They had to be completely done away with because just like the fire pans, they had contracted unauthorized HOLINESS which is a big time no-no.

We will continue this discussion on HOLINESS from tomorrow.