This was one of my favorite names of God that I studied this past year. I think it was because I don’t remember studying it before when I went through this book. I also was struck by how we don’t hear this name talked about often.
We hear about how God provides or how He hears or how He is our All-Sufficient One or how He is our Shepherd — but we don’t usually hear much talk about how He has set us apart and expects us to live a holy life. The encouraging fact of this name of God is that He is the One who sanctifies — we cannot be holy in and of ourselves; but He can enable us to be holy.
This name of God, Jehovah-mekoddishkem, will take us a couple of weeks to study, but it is a wonderful name of God!
The word Mekoddishkem (or Mekaddishkem) means holy, sanctified, separate. Some definitions may be “to consecrate, to dedicate, to become holy, to hallow.”
The words “holy” or “sanctify” are used in various forms at least 700 times in the Old Testament. Therefore, we see that holiness is very important to God.
The Israelites would come to know Jehovah as Jehovah-mekoddishkem through observing the sabbaths. Just as God set apart the seventh day of the week as a memorial to Himself, so He also sanctified the Israelites as a nation devoted to Him. In fact, that is the context where we first see God’s name as Jehovah-mekoddishkem in Exodus 31:13.
Speak thou also unto the children of Israel, saying, Verily my sabbaths ye shall keep: for it is a sign between me and you throughout your generations; that ye may know that I am the Lord that doth sanctify you.
God does not reveal Himself to the Israelites as Jehovah-mekoddishkem until after He has set them free from the Egyptians. This is very important to notice. Holiness cannot happen in their lives until they have been set apart unto Him.
This is a picture for us as believers. We too cannot be holy until we have been set apart unto God through salvation. Sanctification follows redemption.
Another key Scripture where we see this name of God is in Leviticus 20:8:
And ye shall keep my statutes, and do them: I am the Lord which sanctify you.
It is God who sanctifies us. It is He who makes us holy. Holiness is not an option; it is a requirement for every child of God. In the Old Testament, those who did not keep the Sabbath holy were to be put to death! Today, we are not under the law, but we study the Old Testament to learn from it. We learn from the law that God is holy, that He expects and demands holiness, and it is He that enables us to live holy lives.
Next week, we will start looking at many New Testament verses that talk about holiness and sanctification and how we can apply this name of God to our lives. For me, this Bible study was convicting — and encouraging! I will also have printables to go with this name of God next week.
Here is a great quote by A. W. Tozer concerning the holiness of God:
Holy is the way God is. To be holy He does not conform to a standard. He is that standard. He is absolutely holy with an infinite, incomprehensible fullness of purity that is incapable of being other than it is.
- Names of God (List of books I used to study for this series)
- Elohim, The Creator God (free printables)
- El Elyon, The God Most High (free printables)
- El-Roi, The God Who Sees (free printables)
- El-Shaddai, The All-Sufficient One (free printables)
- Adonai, The Lord (free printables)
- Jehovah, The Self-Existent One, Part 1
- Jehovah, The Self-Existent One, Part 2 (free printables)
- Jehovah Jireh, The Lord Will Provide, Part 1
- Jehovah Jireh, The Lord Will Provide, Part 2 (free printables)
- Jehovah-Rapha: The Lord Who Heals, Part 1
- Jehovah Rapha: The Lord Who Heals, Part 2
- Jehovah Rapha: The Lord Who Heals, Part 3 (free printables)
- Jehovah Nissi: The Lord My Banner, Part 1
- Jehovah Nissi: The Lord My Banner, Part 2 (free printables)
- Jehovah-mekoddishkem: The Lord Who Sanctifies You, Part 1
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