The concept of "holiness" begins with separation. God separates between those who are loyal to Him, and those who are not. On the surface, the Law of Moses presents a recognizable standard for seeking holiness. A loyal heart will strive to please God. That ritual and civil loyalty will open the door to a higher spiritual loyalty. Those who will not embrace the external measures cannot claim to be loyal.
A resounding theme throughout prophetic history in Scripture is the Day of the Lord. While we can surely point out times in human history which can be called that, we would surely miss the point to tie it to them. The concept rises far above, and represents any situation where God moves to judge sin. For those who cling to Him, sin is sheered off and they are made more holy. All others cling to sin, and are sheered off with it, destroyed, burned up in God's wrath. For Isaiah to warn God's salvation is about to appear is another way of saying He is about to act against sin, but in another sense, every day is the Day of the Lord. The declaration is not meaningless, but in the standards of ANE cultural background, it serves to warn we should always be watching, keeping an eye on our selves to discern any moment when our motives are impure. This is the nature of God. It also means God is about to judge Judah for failure to keep faith in the Covenant, and a discrete sentence of wrath will come in the Exile. The symbol for Covenant faithfulness is keeping the Sabbath. The larger meaning is in the phrase, "keeps his hand from doing evil."
Anyone can become a Son of the Law, can join himself to the Nation of Israel by entering into the Covenant of Moses. From God's point of view, Israel is defined by the Covenant, not by genetic inheritance. So the foreigner who embraces Moses is surely "Israel" in the eyes of God. And the eunuch, normally forbidden to participate as a man of Israel, can be closer to God in heart than the whole nominal nation. The standard is keeping Moses, not as law, but as the personal call to loyalty. This is about loving His name, a heartfelt desire to serve Him any way it pleases Him. These are always welcome in His presence. Levitical Law may keep certain people out of the Court of Israel, and surely out of the Holy Place. However, in spiritual terms, the loyal servant's heart stands in God's very Presence as a beloved child. Thus, Israel is told very bluntly it is their mission on earth to gather those of Israel who wander astray, but to also gather anyone who wanders close enough spiritually, anyone God draws by His Holy Spirit, from among the vast spread of humanity.
By contrast, there are many among the very leaders of the Nation who are complete enemies. Isaiah draws the picture of sheep herding dogs too lazy to care about the flock. He will invite the beasts of the field to dine on the dogs, which is the same as offering the leadership of Israel to all manner of conquest and predation by utterly unholy pagan nations. The leaders would include kings, nobles, priests, prophets, etc. Their selfishness makes them unfit for their roles. They are no better than idle rich punks bragging how they will party hardy, day after day. Who can stop them? They won't know until God has then dragged away in fetters.
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By Ed Hurst
31 July 2009
COPYRIGHT NOTICE: People of honor need no copyright laws; they are only too happy to give credit where credit is due. Others will ignore copyright laws whenever they please. If you are of the latter, please note what Moses said about dishonorable behavior -- "be sure your sin will find you out" (Numbers 32:23)