Read Leviticus 19 here or at Bible Gateway.
The Hebrew paragraphs:
19:1-22 {p} Be holy for YHVH your God is holy / statutes for holiness
19:23-32 {s} Statutes: re the land, to not defile the land / Fear YHVH your God
19:33-37 {p} Statutes re: strangers dwelling with Israel, to not defile the land / I am YHVH
And YHVH spoke to Moses, saying, “Speak to all the congregation of the children of Israel, and say to them, You shall be holy: for I YHVH your God am holy.” Lev 19:1-2
We have an idea that to be holy means “to be sinless.” The Lexicons say it means “to be set apart,” that is, not the same as the world. But the Hebrew Root Word parable tells an even more amazing story.
The primitive root is Strong’s H6942 קדש qadash, “to be holy.” The first letter is a quph, but according to the Ancient Hebrew Lexicon, the quph was transposed from an original chet, because of their similar sounds over time, making the original ancient pictographs chet + dalet + shin. The parables are told by the ancient pictographs of the original Hebrew, not the modern or modified Hebrew.
chet ח = the wall, thus outside, divide, half
dalet ד = the door, thus enter, move, hang
shin ש = two front teeth, thus sharp, press, eat, two, again
The parable: A wall makes a separation (chet) between two parties. When one comes through the wall via its door (dalet), the two (shin) can be joined together. There is a wall separating YHVH God, and His people, from the idols of the nations, and the idolaters of the nations, and the idolatrous practices of the nations. That is what “to be set apart” means. But when one who has been on the other side of that wall, in with the nations and the world, enters through the Door, who is Messiah Yeshua the Righteous (Joh 10:7), then that one is joined to the congregation of the Living God. “To be holy” fundamentally means “to be joined to the congregation of the Living God.” It is not so much a performance word as it is an identity word. Of course, out of that identity in Him, flows walking in His same ways and doing His same works. Identity and walking, working, are intrinsically attached, and is why Messiah Yeshua said, “You will know them by their fruits,” (Mat 7:16).
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