Consecrate קָדַשׁ

We are in chapter nineteen of Exodus with our word for today. We looked at the adjective a few days ago with holy nation. Today we will look at the verb. קָדַשׁ be holy, remove from common use, subject to special treatment, be set apart, consecrate, sacred. It is used 171 times in the Old Testament. A good example of our word is the first time it is used in the Bible along with the first thing God sets apart or consecrates. Genesis 2:3 And on the seventh day God finished his work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had done. So God blessed the seventh day וַיְקַדֵּ֖שׁ and made it holy, because on it God rested from all his work that he had done in creation. God is showing us what our word means by his example he is doing something different than he had been doing the other six days. He was working now on the seventh day he is resting. He is making this day special or not common by acting differently or in an uncommon way on this special day. This is how the idea of holiness, being set apart, or consecrating works. It is setting it apart from common use. This helps us understand how our word is used in our chapter today. Our word is used in the sense of preparing oneself to meet God. Which is not a common thing but very special. Let’s look at our passage. Exodus 19:10-15, 17 the Lord said to Moses, “Go to the people וְקִדַּשְׁתָּ֥ם and consecrate them today and tomorrow, and let them wash their garments and be ready for the third day. For on the third day the Lord will come down on Mount Sinai in the sight of all the people. And you shall set limits for the people all around, saying, ‘Take care not to go up into the mountain or touch the edge of it. Whoever touches the mountain shall be put to death. No hand shall touch him, but he shall be stoned or shot; whether beast or man, he shall not live.’ When the trumpet sounds a long blast, they shall come up to the mountain.” So Moses went down from the mountain to the people and consecrated the people; and they washed their garments. And he said to the people, “Be ready for the third day; do not go near a woman.”… Then Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet God, and they took their stand at the foot of the mountain. Did you catch all of the activities that the people were to do? They were to wash their garments, there was limits to where they could go, what they could touch, and what they could do. These are not normal activities for a common everyday events in their lives. No something special and unique was going to happen. They were going to meet God himself. 

God requires that we make changes before he acts or makes himself know to us. We see this over and over throughout the Bible. The reason why people complain that they can’t see God or that God doesn’t’ even exist is because of the effect that sin has on us. Sin affects our ability to see what is really going on and our desire to connect with God. Romans 1:18...who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. The rest of the chapter makes the case that God has made himself know to us but we suppressed this truth wanting other alternatives to God. This continues to make us unable to see God and want to connect with him. The good news is that God acted first to save us before we made any decision towards him (Romans 5:8). This doesn’t mean that God’s salvation is automatic it requires our desire to accept it. This is also true of our becoming like God. The idea of holiness. God is the one who does the work of transforming us into his image our work is to open our hearts to let him do this work. 1 John 1:7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light...the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. Notice that becoming like Christ does involve my action of walking in the light and as I do this it is Jesus who cleanses me and makes me more like himself. 1 Peter 1:14-16 But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do.