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Isaiah 6:1–7
“I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train of his robe filled the temple. Above him stood the seraphim. Each had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. And one called to another and said: ‘Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!’” (vv. 1–3).
Which divine attribute sets the true God of the Bible apart from all the false gods that humans have concocted? The question is vital because in some ways, the gods of other religions bear some similarities to the God of Scripture. For example, other monotheistic religions such as Islam and Judaism agree with biblical Christianity that God is all-powerful and eternal. Does this mean that all these religions serve the same God?
No, these religions do not all serve the same God, and one reason that we say so is that the God of the Bible is unlike false gods in terms of His divine attributes. When we look at which attributes set the God of the Bible apart from other so-called deities, the holiness of God stands out. Scripture stresses divine holiness to such an extent that this attribute distinguishes the true God from all others.
Today’s passage gives us one of the clearest revelations of the holiness of God. During Isaiah’s vision of Yahweh, the covenant Lord of Israel and the one true God, the prophet saw the seraphim praising God and exclaiming, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts” (Isa. 6:3). The angels’ threefold repetition of “holy” is significant. As Dr. R.C. Sproul frequently reminded us, holy is the only divine attribute used in such a way in all Scripture. That threefold repetition takes the attribute of holiness to the superlative degree, drawing our focus to its importance. Clearly, God wants us to understand that His attribute of holiness makes Him unique among all other “gods.”
When we consider the holiness of God, we understand that this attribute is both incommunicable and communicable. Fundamentally, holiness has to do with “set-apartness,” and God’s holiness consists in His being set apart from creation. That God is holy means that He is absolutely transcendent—that is, different from the created order and Lord over it. This is the Creator-creature distinction that cannot be shared with us. On the other hand, while created things cannot be absolutely set apart from creation as God is, while they never lose their creatureliness, they can be set apart from other created things for God’s special use. Thus, objects for use in the temple worship were “holy utensils” (1 Chron. 9:29), and God’s people are distinguished as a holy nation from those who are not His people (Ex. 19:5–6). That type of set-apartness can be communicated to creatures, as can another aspect of divine holiness that we will consider in the days ahead: moral purity.
Coram Deo Living before the face of God
First Peter 2:9 tells us that the church of the Lord Jesus Christ is a holy nation. In saving us, God sets us apart as His special people, and that has consequences for how we should live. Because we have been set apart by God, we must live as He commands us to live. When we do not do so, we are not living up to the reality that we are the Lord’s holy people.
For further study
- Leviticus 11:45
- Deuteronomy 7:6
- Psalm 99
- Revelation 4
The bible in a year
- Deuteronomy 31–32
- Luke 1:1–23