HEBREW WORD STUDY – HOLINESS – KADUSHAH קדשה    

Ezekiel 36:21: “Therefore say unto the house of Israel, thus says the Lord God, I do not this for your sakes O house of Israel, but for mine holy names sake which you have profaned among the heather, whether you went.”

What is it that makes God great?  Is it His great power, the fact that He is the creator, or that He is all-powerful?   Scripture seems to teach that God’s greatness lies in His Holiness. 

That leads to an even greater question. What is holiness? The word in the Hebrew is kadushah.” This word has as it’s root the idea of separation.   However, this same word is used for a prostitute.  The reference is not to a prostitute as we know them today.   This is referencing a sacred prostitute, such as Rahab.   The goddess Asherah or Anat had sacred prostitutes who were a sexual connection to the supposed goddess.  Sexual relations with a sacred prostitute was considered an act of worship to this goddess.  This is how the word kadushah from the root word kodesh which is a word that came to be connected to a sacred prostitute. When one entered into intimacy with a priestess of a goddess as a sacred prostitute it was the symbol of entering into an intimacy with the actual goddess herself. You would then become one with that goddess and thus open the door to the power of the goddess. This sacred prostitute was to be held separate from all others and you did not approach her (or him) without proper protocols.  You may remember from the story of Rahab where the men came to her door.  They did not force their way in as you would expect with an ordinary prostitute today.  They showed her all due respect and courtesy.  When she told a big whopper of a lie, they believed her. Many Biblical scholars believe Rahab was a kadushah. She was considered holy and thus subject to certain protocols. That is an aspect of holiness that we tend to overlook but is very much a part of the definition of kadushah which is a separateness subject to proper protocols.

The greatness of God lies in the fact that He is worthy of certain protocols and do not follow those protocols is to profane his holiness.  The goal of this holiness is to make intimacy with God something very special. You cannot enter into intimacy with God unless you follow certain protocols.  Ultimately, God is sinless, that is what makes him separate or holy. To enter into an intimacy with God we also must be sinless. Through the finished work of Jesus Christ, we can be made holy through Him and thus enter into an intimacy with God which is something very special.  The house of Israel tried to enter that holiness with their sins and God says that in trying to do so profaned his name. So when God says He does not restore Israel for their sakes but for the sake of His holy name He is saying that He does not restore Israel for their sake because they don’t want a relationship with Him, but he does it for the sake of His “holy name” or because He desires an intimate relationship with them. 

So you worship in church on Sunday morning and you have sin in your life then you are profaning God’s holiness. The word profane is kalal which really means to pollute. You can have a stream of pure water. But when you allow a foreign substance or a contaminate to enter that stream, it becomes polluted.  When we profane the Holy name of God we are allowing pollutants to enter into our relationship with Him and that cuts off all possibilities of intimacy with Him. Not only that it pollutes the worship of others around you. 

Ezekiel’s message applies just as much to us today.  I have always advocated an open altar prior to any church service and/or a time of silent meditation.  Actually, the service should not begin on a drumbeat from the worship team but on a call to silence for the congregation to prepare themselves for worship, to spend a period of time in confession before God to let Him cleanse any sin so when that drum beat hits no one will profane the holiness of God and the worship leader will not have to keep pressing the congregation with: “Come on church, start worshipping…” Once the blood of Jesus cleanses your sin, worship takes care of itself.