In Exodus 31:13 God spoke to the people of Israel through Moses instructing them as a Father to His child, calling on them to follow His ways, and introducing Himself as Jehovah Qadash or Mikkadesh, meaning “The Lord who sanctifies you”. To sanctify is to be, make, pronounce, or observe as being set apart or consecrated. God demands that His people be set apart as holy unto Him, and Leviticus 20:8 repeats that He is the sanctifier His children. Then in 1 Corinthians 1:30 we learn that “…Christ Jesus…is made unto us wisdom from God, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption”. The Bible also says that by God’s will “we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.” Hebrews 10:10. Paul addresses the Corinthian church as “those who are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints” 1 Corinthians 1:2. God demands a holy people and a separate people; He is the great sanctifier without whom we cannot achieve this sanctification! However there is also the other side of sanctification when after God has saved us we must decisively make the decision to follow His instructions in Leviticus 11:44 He said, “You shall therefore consecrate yourselves, and you shall be holy; for I am holy.” Yes, this means that we are to possess our “vessel…in sanctification, and honor” 1 Thessalonians 4:4, and to “cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God” 2 Corinthians 7:1. Jesus prayed “Sanctify them by your truth, Your word is truth” John 17:17; and 2 Peter3:18 says “grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.” He is Jehovah Mikkadesh” the one that sanctifies us, but our side of sanctification is a continuing process as we receive God’s word and purposely act upon it! He cannot live His life of holiness through us unless we submit to Him, neither can we live His life of holiness unless we submit to Him!
Our Jehovah God
Part eleven by Rose Hill
I am the God who sets you apart,
To bring service to Me with all your heart.
Come out of the world and come, up higher,
I am Jehovah Mikkadesh your sanctifier!
I am that! That’s who I am!
Scripture quotations are from the New King James Version copyright …1982 by Thomas Nelson Co. used by permission.