Hebrew Word Study – Profane – Chalal – חִלְּל֙  Cheth Lamed Lamed 

Ezekiel 36:21: “Therefore say unto the house of Israel, thus says the Lord God, I do not this for your sakes O house of Israel, but for mine holy name’s sake which you have profaned among the heather, whether you went.”

What is it that makes God great? Is it His great power, the fact that He is the creator, or that He is all powerful? Scripture seems to teach that God’s greatness lies in His Holiness. 

That leads to an ever greater question. What is holiness? The word in the Hebrew is kadushah. This word has as it’s root the idea of separation. However, this same word is used for a prostitute. The reference is not to a prostitute as we know them today.   This is referencing a sacred prostitute, such as Rahab. The goddess Asherah or Anat had sacred prostitutes who where a sexual connection to the supposed goddess. Sexual relations with a sacred prostitute was considered an act of worship to this goddess. This is how the word kadushah came to be connected to a prostitute. When one entered into an intimacy with a sacred prostitute it was the symbol of entering into a intimacy with the goddess.  You would then become one with the goddess and thus open the door to the power of the goddess. This sacred prostitute was to be held separate from all others and you did not approach her (or him) without proper protocols. You may remember from the story of Rahab where the men came to her door. They did not force their way in as you would expect with a prostitute today.They showed her all due respect and courtesy.  When she told a big whopper of a lie, they believed her.Rahab was a kadushah. She was considered holy and thus subject to certain protocols.That is an aspect of holiness that we tend to overlook but is very much a part of the definition of  Kadushah which is a separateness subject to proper protocols.

The greatness of God lies in the fact that He is worthy of certain protocols and to not follow those protocols is to profane his holiness. The goal of holiness is intimacy. You can not enter into intimacy with God unless you follow certain protocols. Ultimately, God is sinless, that is what makes him separate or holy. To enter into an intimacy with God we must be sinless. That is why the law was given. Through the finished work of Jesus Christ we can be made “holy” through Him and thus enter into an intimacy with God.  So when God says He does not restore Israel for their sakes but for the sake of His “holy name” He is saying that He does not restore Israel for their sake because they don’t want a relationship with Him, but he does it for the sake of His “holy name” or because He desires an intimate relationship with them. 

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When we sin, we violate or profane God’s holiness. The word profane is chalal which really means to pollute. You can have a stream of pure water. When you allow a foreign substance or a contaminant to enter that stream, it becomes polluted. When we profane the Holy name of God we are allowing pollutants to enter into our relationship with Him and that cuts off all possibilities of an intimacy with Him.

Now this is where the rubber hits the road. Let’s say I am tempted to sin, that is anything which is doing something contrary to the nature of God. What is my first thought? “If I do this God is going to be angry and he might not give me that blessing or answer that prayer that I have been pestering Him with.” It is true, you may not get that blessing or answer to prayer, but not because God is angry with you or punishing you for being bad.  It is because you have made it impossible for him to respond because you have violated or polluted His holiness to the point where you cannot share in His intimacy. 

The word for holy is spelled Qop which represent holiness, Daleth which is a picture of a portal and Shin which shows God’s power and passionate love. We find that the order of the letters in the word kadosh suggest that holiness is the doorway or portal into God’s power. When we violate God’s holiness we close the door to His power. In other words when we pollute his holiness with our sinfulness, he can no longer have an intimate relationship with us and it is that intimacy or holiness that births the answer to our prayers or releases the power of God. 

Well, as always, Jesus put it best: “Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, then all these things will be added unto you.” (Matthew 6:33). Our primary task is to protect the holiness of God. When we do that we can enter into an intimacy with Him and by doing that, we can open the door to His power.

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