What Does it Mean That the Lord Is Holy?

　　What does “Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord God Almighty?” mean in Revelation 4?

　　In order to unwrap this question, we will look at its context, the meaning of the word holy, and also explore the implications of God’s Holiness on our own lives and our response to it.

　　“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come.” … “You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honour and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being” (Revelation 4:8,11).

　　The quote is taken from the apostle John’s account of his vision of heaven. He sees the throne room of heaven with one seated upon the throne. And surrounding the throne are amazing creatures crying “Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord God Almighty.” It is a glorious vision of light and extraordinary things (Revelation 4: 1-11).

Holy, Holy, Holy Is the Lord God Almighty

To answer the question, “What Does it Mean, ‘Holy, Holy, Holy Is the Lord God Almighty’?” we have to first look at what holy means. It is not a commonly used word in today’s society so we must look to the original language of the scriptures to discover its true meaning.

　　From Strong’s concordance, the Greek root is Hagiós, meaning an awful thing; a feeling of reverential respect filled with fear and wonder. We see the meaning to be as the absolutely Holy one. In His purity, majesty, and glory. Free from every fault — immaculate. And the Greek word hosios, which means harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens (Hebrews 7:26).

　　So, we are getting a picture of absolute purity and perfection. A being set apart from sin and corruption; there simply is no fault or imperfection. In fact, we are told in 1 Peter 2:22 that Jesus committed no sin, and no deceit was found in his mouth. No wonder they were crying Holy, Holy, Holy!

　　We have a good example of the awe and fearsomeness of God in Exodus 3 when Moses encounters the burning bush. He is required to remove his shoes for even the ground has become holy because of God’s presence there.

　　Moses was tending the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian, and he led the flock to the far side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. There the angel of the Lord appeared to him in flames of fire from within a bush. Moses saw that though the bush was on fire it did not burn up. So Moses thought, “I will go over and see this strange sight — why the bush does not burn up.”

　　When the Lord saw that he had gone over to look, God called to him from within the bush, “Moses! Moses!” And Moses said, “Here I am.” “Do not come any closer,” God said. “Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.” Then he said, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob.” At this, Moses hid his face, because he was afraid to look at God (Exodus 3:1-6).

An Artist’s Response

As an artist, I was inspired to paint from this very vision in Revelation 4 and I found myself asking this question: “If God were to paint this scene, how would He portray the throne room of heaven?” But as I meditated upon the scripture, I began to see that it was one of light and all the colors generated from light in its purest form; pure glory. So, my question became: “How would God, who is light, paint light?”

　　This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all (1 John 1:5).

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