What does Hallowed Mean?
Leviticus 22:32
“Neither shall ye profane My holy name;
but I will be hallowed
among THE CHILDREN of Israel:
I am the LORD which hallow you”
As born again believers we have been spiritually adopted into the spiritual nation of Israel (not the fleshly country called Israel).
Galatians 3:29
“And if ye be Christ’s,
then are ye Abraham’s seed,
AND HEIRS according to the promise.”
We are instructed to hallow God so we need to know what that means and how to do that. First let’s look at what God teaches us about the word “hallow” and how He defines it. Here is the first time this word is used by God in the Bible:
1.) Exodus 20:11
“For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.”
God is making associations in our minds. He is teaching us by giving us examples to define what He means. He uses lots of words to build concepts in our minds (cognitive scaffolding). We learn the meaning of words by knowing their synonyms and antonyms.
blessed it
hallowed it
To be blessed is to be hallowed.
To be hallowed is to be blessed.
2.) Exodus 28:38
“And it shall be upon Aaron’s forehead, that Aaron may bear the iniquity of the holy things, which the children of Israel shall hallow in all their holy gifts; and it shall be always upon his forehead, that they may be accepted before the LORD.”
to make holy
to hallow
in order to be accepted
3.) Exodus 29:1
“And this is the thing that thou shalt do unto them to hallow them, to minister unto Me in the priest’s office…”
things that are done to make holy
The words in all caps in Exodus 29:21 are not the same things but are being put together to create associations, links in our minds. Even though these are physical things done under the Old Covenant they actually represent and symbolize the spiritual things that are done under the New Covenant. That was one of the reasons God did it this way, to teach us spiritual things. God wants us to understand Him and His covenant. (Hebrews 8:5 “Who serve unto THE EXAMPLE AND SHADOW OF HEAVENLY THINGS, as Moses was admonished of God when he was about to make the tabernacle: for, See, saith He, that thou make all things according to the pattern shewed to thee in the mount.”)
4.) Exodus 29:21
“And thou shalt take of the BLOOD that is upon the ALTAR, and of the ANOINTING OIL, and SPRINKLE IT UPON Aaron, and upon his GARMENTS, and upon his sons, and upon the garments of his sons with him: and he shall be HALLOWED, and his garments, and his sons, and his sons’ garments with him.”
things done under the Old Covenant to make holy and to be holy
blood on an altar
anointing oil
sprinkled upon man and his garments
to make them holy
5.)Exodus 40:9
“And thou shalt take the anointing oil, and anoint the TABERNACLE, and all that is therein, and shalt hallow it, and all the vessels thereof: and it shall be holy.”
to take anointing oil to anoint and make holy
6.) Leviticus 16:19
“And he shall sprinkle of the blood upon it with his finger seven times, and cleanse it, and hallow it FROM THE UNCLEANNESS of the children of Israel.”
to take blood to cleanse to make hallow to make holy
So far all of these definitions seem to apply to taking things that are unclean and unholy and then making them holy. These types of examples would definitely fit us but not to God because He is always holy. But now look what the LORD teaches us about how to hallow Him.
7.) Leviticus 22:32
“Neither shall ye PROFANE My holy name;
but I will be hallowed
among the children of Israel:
I am the LORD which hallow you”
Here are some scriptures out of the New Testament that are like this one and give us even more information.
Romans 2:21-24
“Thou therefore which teachest another, teachest thou not thyself? thou that preachest a man should not steal, dost thou steal? Thou that sayest a man should not commit adultery, dost thou commit adultery? thou that abhorrest idols, dost thou commit sacrilege? Thou that makest thy boast of the law,
through breaking the law
dishonourest thou God?
For the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles through you, as it is written.”
Titus 1:16
“They profess that they know God;
BUT IN WORKS THEY DENY HIM,
being abominable,
and disobedient,
and unto every good work reprobate.”
These verses in Jude give us more examples of how God’s name is profaned and unhallowed. The LORD is teaching us the opposite of hallowing Him. He is showing us what it looks like when we don’t hallow Him and He warns us so that we won’t do these things.
Jude 1:4-8
“For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men,
turning the grace of our God
into lasciviousness,
and denying the only Lord God,
and our Lord Jesus Christ.
I will therefore put you in remembrance, though ye once knew this, how that the Lord, having saved the people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed them that believed not.
And the angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day.
Even as Sodom and Gomorrha, and the cities about them in like manner, giving themselves over to fornication, and going after strange flesh, ARE SET FORTH FOR AN EXAMPLE, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire. Likewise also these filthy dreamers defile the flesh…”
a.) the people God destroyed after He saved and delivered them out of Egypt were the ones who heard the commandments of God but then disobeyed Him, God calls that “unbelief”.
Hebrews chapters 3 and 4 are specifically talking about these people who were first saved but then later they were destroyed because they didn’t CONTINUE to believe and obey God. This is the example the LORD is giving us under the New Covenant. Sin and unbelief are used to describe each other in Hebrews 3:12-13. It says that when we depart from God by sinning, we are no longer believing God; sin is unbelief.
“Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of UNBELIEF, in departing from the living God. But exhort one another daily, while it is called To day; lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of SIN.”
b.) the angels who followed Lucifer didn’t continue to “abide in the truth”; they disobeyed God’s laws. They departed from God the Father who was their habitation and left God by rejecting His truth, His laws. Psalms 119:142 “Thy righteousness is an everlasting righteousness, and Thy law is the truth.”
Lucifer DID NOT CONTINUE
to abide in the truth (laws) of God:
John 8:44 “Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and ABODE NOT IN THE TRUTH, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.”
Jesus warns us that we too are required by God the Father to continue to abide in the truth.
John 15:1-12
“I am the true vine,
and my Father is the husbandman.
Every branch IN ME
that beareth not fruit HE taketh away:
and every branch that beareth fruit,
HE purgeth it,
that it may bring forth more fruit.
Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you.
Abide in Me,
and I in you.
As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself,
except it abide in the vine;
no more can ye, except ye abide in Me.
I am the vine,
ye are the branches:
He that abideth in Me,
and I in him,
the same bringeth forth much fruit:
for without Me ye can do nothing.
If a man abide not in Me,
he is cast forth as a branch,
and is withered;
and men gather them,
and cast them into the fire,
and they are burned.
IF ye abide in Me,
and My words abide in you,
ye shall ask what ye will,
and it shall be done unto you.
Herein is My Father glorified,
that ye bear much fruit;
so shall ye be My disciples.
As the Father hath loved Me,
so have I loved you:
CONTINUE YE IN MY LOVE.
IF YE KEEP MY COMMANDMENTS,
YE SHALL ABIDE IN MY LOVE;
even as I have kept My Father’s commandments, and abide in HIS love. These things have I spoken unto you, that My joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full. This is My commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you.”
Romans 13:8-10
“Owe no man any thing, but to love one another: for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law. For this, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Thou shalt not covet; and if there be any other commandment,
IT IS BRIEFLY COMPREHENDED
in this saying, namely,
Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
Love worketh no ill to his neighbour:
therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.”
We are commanded to hallow God by obeying His laws. And by doing that, we are continuing to live in Him and we are producing the fruit of His Spirit. We learned that the opposite of hallowing God is sinning and that’s how we profane His name and how we deny Him; it is by our works, by our actions, by what we do or don’t do. God says we will be judged by what we have done whether it’s good or bad.
2Corinthians 5:9-10
“Wherefore we labour, that, whether present or absent, we may be accepted of Him. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad.”
Revelation 20:12
“And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, ACCORDING TO THEIR WORKS.”
There is an eternal danger for born again believers who continue living in unrepentant sinning and aren’t continuing to fight against sinning by putting it away daily like in the Lord’s Prayer. Revelation chapters 2 & 3 are New Covenant examples of this. Jesus has warned us all over the New Testament. Remember that God determines our denial of Him based on us doing wicked works and sinning without truly confessing and repenting daily. If we do daily confession and repentance, He calls us righteous even though we make mistakes and sin every day.
Jesus said:
Matthew 10:33
“But whosoever shall deny Me before men, him will I also deny before My Father which is in heaven.”
God doesn’t only mean that we should profess He is our Lord and Savior (remember Matthew 7:22-23). The way God is denied is by our works. He is denied when we sin, that’s why Jesus says watch and pray so we will be ready for His return and He won’t catch us “asleep” dead in our own sins. We are dead in our sins when we haven’t been cleansed from all unrighteousness (1John 1:9). The wages of sin is still death when we depart from God, that’s why He goes into so much detail in Jude warning us NOT TO BE LIKE THOSE EXAMPLES. We must watch and examine ourselves daily to make sure we are living in the faith (in the gospel).
2Corinthians 13:5
“Examine yourselves,
whether ye be in the faith;
prove your own selves.
Know ye not your own selves,
how that Jesus Christ is in you,
EXCEPT YE BE REPROBATES?”
(Except if you are reprobates,
then Jesus is not in you
if you are living unrepentantly)
1Corinthians 11:31-32
“For if we would judge ourselves,
we should not be judged.
But when we are judged,
we are chastened of the Lord,
that we should not be
condemned with the world.”
We often only think of one type of judgement, God’s final judgment. But this verse proves that we are being judged by God on a daily basis. “Now is the day of salvation”
2Corinthians 6:1-2
“We then, as workers together with him, beseech you also that ye receive not the grace of God in vain. For he saith, I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succoured thee: behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.”
This is why we continue to need Jesus as our high priest to continue to intercede for us in the heavenly sanctuary when we fall and sin. This is why we have the Lord’s Prayer as our example of how to pray because there is a danger that we can become condemned along with the world and the unbelievers (1Corinthians 11:32). God would not be warning us if there were no danger of being destroyed with the wicked.
Here’s that same warning from Jesus Christ. This example is about one servant of God who is first called faithful and wise and he is commanded to do something by God. So then this same servant has a choice to make. His choice determines his outcome of whether he is rewarded with blessings or with the curse of God’s covenant, life or death. He must choose.
Luke 12:42-47
“And the Lord said,
Who then is that faithful
and wise steward,
whom his lord shall make
ruler over his household,
to give them their portion of meat
in due season?
Blessed is that servant,
whom his lord when he cometh
shall find so doing.
Of a truth I say unto you,
that he will make him ruler
over all that he hath.
But and if that servant say in his heart,
My lord delayeth his coming;
and shall begin to beat
the menservants and maidens,
and to eat and drink,
and to be drunken;
The lord of that servant will come in a day when he looketh not for Him,
and at an hour when he is not aware,
and will cut him in sunder,
and will appoint him his portion
WITH THE UNBELIEVERS.
And that servant, which knew his lord’s will, and prepared not himself, neither did according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes.”
(To make unhallowed To make unholy)
Leviticus 19:8
“Therefore every one that eateth it shall bear his INIQUITY, because he hath PROFANED the hallowed thing of the LORD: and that soul shall be cut off from among His people.”
The result of sin is to be separated from God’s inheritance and His fold, His children. By covenant law we inherit eternal life by our inheritance we have when we are living (abiding) in Christ. If we don’t have Christ, then God the Father removes our branch from His tree like He did with the unbelieving Jews, the natural branches, in Romans chapter 11.
Romans 11:21-23
“For if God spared not the natural branches, take heed lest He also spare not thee. Behold therefore the goodness and severity of God: on them which fell, severity; but toward thee, goodness, IF THOU CONTINUE IN His goodness: otherwise thou also shalt be cut off. And they also, if they abide not still IN UNBELIEF, shall be graffed in: for God is able to graff them in again.”
Continuing in God’s goodness is to continue in obedience to His laws, to believe and obey. We believe and obey not only His moral laws, but when we mess up and sin, we then obey His heavenly sanctuary laws of confession, repentance, forgiveness toward others, asking for forgiveness and faith toward the Father and Jesus in who they are, and everything they have promised to us for keeping their covenant, “righteousness by faith”.
There is hope if we will hear, believe and obey God. He has made a way for us to be clean everyday through continued confession and repentance; but we have to believe Him when He tells us that’s the way He wants us to live and what He wants us to do. He says through the apostle Paul “Be Not Deceived”.
1Corinthians 6:9-11
“Know ye not that THE UNRIGHTEOUS SHALL NOT INHERIT the kingdom of God?
BE NOT DECEIVED:
neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God. And such WERE some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.”
Please notice that Paul explained to them that they used to do those things IN THE PAST but NOW because they have heard and believed God, they have stopped doing those things. Because of all these things, they are no longer unrighteous or unclean, they are washed and forgiven.
Who Is Righteous?
1John 3:7, 10
“Little children, let no man deceive you:
he that doeth righteousness is righteous,
even as He is righteous.”
“In this the children of God are manifest,
and the children of the devil:
whosoever doeth not righteousness
is not of God, neither he that loveth not his brother.”