Main news for 7 October 2025

What kind of holiness does God command His people? Does He not demand the impossible? After all, not everything God is capable of is available to a human being.

In the land of Egypt Israel was enslaved; Abraham's descendants were forced to submit to Pharaoh, and more than that, to belong to him and worship him as a god. The Lord frees the people from slavery so that they can return to their God, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. This is where the word "holiness" appears, qadosh in ancient Hebrew. What is holy, qadosh, is what belongs to no one and nothing in this world, what is set apart from this world. That is exactly what God Himself is. He is not of the world at all, and therefore what belongs to Him or is dedicated to Him is also qadosh.

So this is what God wants from His people after their liberation: never again to become slaves to anyone or anything in this world, but to dedicate themselves to the Lord, inwardly separating themselves from every kind of ungodliness. Is this possible? To some degree, yes, of course. It is especially possible to desire it and strive for it.