Holy Ground

In Exodus 3:5 God said to Moses, “Do not come near; take your sandals off your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.” The ground there was holy because God was there “in person”. The “Holy of holies” in the Tabernacle and Temple was holy ground because God was there “in person” between the cherubim on the Mercy Seat of the Ark of the Covenant. 

The Hebrew word for “holy” in Exodus 3;5 is “qōḏeš”, meaning set-apartness, holiness, sacredness, separateness; a sacred place, sanctity:—consecrated, dedicated (thing), hallowed, most holy, sanctuary. The 1928 Webster’s dictionary defines the word “holy” as: Hallowed; consecrated or set apart to a sacred use, or to the service or worship of God.

 

In Matthew 16:15-18 Jesus asked the 12 disciples, “Who do you say that I am?” Simon Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” And Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” Christ’s church was born; the Christian church, centered on the Lord and Savior of the world. Every Christian church has a sanctuary where praise and worship, preaching and sacred ceremonies are performed in the presence of Christ, for Jesus proclaimed in

Matthew 18:20, “For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them.” Therefore, the church of Jesus Christ is holy ground. There is reverence for the church in every community for it is the House of God. But, not by all.

Last Thursday night and into early Friday morning our little community church was targeted and burglarized by two individuals (caught on security cameras) who had no fear of God and no reverence for the holy ground of sacred worship, as they entered the locked and secured church campus, then specifically walked to one room in the Education Wing which housed the Band instruments for the Youth Ministry and the Audio/Video equipment for them and my Small Group Bible Study, stealing over $4000 in vital gear needed for ministry. When the holy ground of Christ church, the sacred house of worship for the Creator of heaven and earth is violated, you experience the reality that we live in a fallen in sin world with many that reject God, love the darkness of unbelief and blindly worship themselves.

 

The world needs repentance, redemption, and transformational rebirth in Jesus Christ. He is the Way, the Truth and the Life. Salvation and changed hearts are found in no other. That is why the Lord Jesus commissioned all His followers in Matthew 28:19-20 to “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen. So get up and get out there. Give them the Gospel and give them heaven!

 

In God We Trust.

In Christ, Brian