Isaiah 6

Isaiah 6:1-5   In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train of his robe filled the temple.  ² 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.  ³ And one called to another and said: "Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!"  ⁴ And the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and the house was filled with smoke.  ⁵ And I said: "Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts!"

The other day I was having a conversation with a friend around Bible translations.  We agreed that some translations are better than others, some are easier to understand and some do a better job of getting to the point of what the original texts intended.  The challenge is that without knowing the original language, some of the nuances of Hebrew (Old Testament) and Greek (New Testament) are lost in translation.

One of the things we spoke about relates to today’s passage.  In Hebrew, they did not have punctuation.  They also did not have a similar word for “very.”  So if someone speaking Hebrew wanted to punctuate their point, instead of saying “very pretty” or “pretty!” they repeated the word; pretty pretty.  So if someone was very smart, they would be “smart smart.”  If someone’s house was really small, it would be “small small.”

The author of Isaiah utilized this principle, but he took it to the next level.  Isaiah didn’t say God was “holy holy,” he said God was “holy holy holy” (vAdßq' vAd±q' ŸvAdôq').  God is so holy, Isaiah had to go beyond what typical grammar allowed for and said it three times; really punctuating his point.

Holy is one of those words that we use in church, but sometimes don’t really know what it means.  I think the best definition for holy is something that is worthy to be worshiped and praised.  We serve a God that is not just “kind of worthy” to be worshiped, but one that is amazingly worthy!!  There is none like our God!!

Praise God today – for He is Holy, holy, holy – and worthy of our praise!

Pastor Amy