Jehovah Mekoddishkem is the name for the Lord who
sanctifies and makes you holy. The anglicized version is “yeh-ho-vaw' M-qadash”.
Mekoddishkem is derived from the Hebrew word “qadash” which means “holy” or
“sanctify”. The Septuagint denotes this name, Jehovah Mekoddishkem, as “the Lord
who sanctifies you”. This name can literally be translated as "the Lord who sets
you apart." God is referred to as Jehovah Mekoddishkem only two times in the Old
Testament. The first is in Exodus 31:13. “Say to the Israelites, ‘You must
observe my Sabbaths. This will be a sign between me and you for the generations
to come, so you may know that I am the Lord, who makes you holy.'” (NIV). The other is in
Leviticus 20:8. “Keep my decrees and follow them. I am the Lord, who makes you holy.” (NIV). As we draw closer to
Him and live obedient lives following His Word, we are set apart and
sanctified.
Sanctification is
derived from the Greek word “hagios”, which means “set apart for holiness”. This
word refers to the day-by-day growing process that separation to God brings.
“But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do” (1 Peter 1:15,
NIV). As you separate your life from the things that would desecrate your life
in Jesus Christ, you grow closer to the Lord and are in the process of being
changed into His likeness—holy and set
apart of His purposes.
In John 17 Jesus
prays for his disciples and for believers that are to come. “They are not of the
world, even as I am not of it. Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth.
As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world. For them I
sanctify myself, that they too may be truly sanctified” (John 17:16-19, NIV).
Jesus set his own life apart (sanctified himself) for the purpose for which His
father sent Him. He is our example. We are called to do the same. He sends us
into the world to share His gospel of redeeming love, and we must set ourselves
apart (sanctify ourselves) for His purpose. To be sent in His power, we must be
set apart for His purpose. We are to sanctify ourselves by the truth of His
Word. The call to share His Word and the call to be separated to God are
inseparable. They go hand-in-hand. We can't share the love of a holy and
forgiving Lord without living it ourselves.
Paul prays in
1 Thessalonians 5:23 for us to live holy lives until the day Jesus returns. “May
God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole
spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus
Christ”(NIV). To live a holy life until the day He comes promises a
great future “When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear
with him in glory” (Colossians 3:4, NIV). “But we know that when Christ appears,
we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is” (I John 3:2b, NIV). In that
moment He appears, we shall be totally separated from sin that has plagued us in
this life. Completely and forever separated to Him, we will know Him as He has
always known us. We will live with Him forever.
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