HEBREW WORD STUDY – AN INVITATION – QADESH קדש   Qop Daleth Shin

Isaiah 6:2-4:  “Above it stood the seraphims: each one had six wings; with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly.(3) And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, [is] the LORD of hosts: the whole earth [is] full of his glory.(4) And the posts of the door moved at the voice of him that cried, and the house was filled with smoke.”

Last weekend I attended a Hub Convention in Chicago. During the worship service there was the usual contemporary worship songs.  I looked out over the audience and saw a lot of people that were in my age group.  I wondered if many felt like me, “Gee, I wish we would sing at least one old Hymn.”  All of a sudden as if on queue the worship leader started to sing Holy Holy Holy.  “Holy, Holy, Holy, early in the morning our song shall rise to thee.” It has been almost a week but that song still resonates with me.  There are many questions that come to my mind  as I replay this old hymn over and over in my mind. 

This hymn is still song by many churches throughout the world.  It is sort of a corner stone in a worship service for over a century and a half. Yet, this song might have been lost to the ages if not for the wife or widow of the author of this song.

The writer was Reginald Heber, a highly regarded and deeply spiritual minister who served as the Bishop of Calcutta. Reginald Heber was beloved by people throughout the world for his deep love and devotion to God.  When he passed away at the early age of 43 his widow and some friends invested in the publication of 57 hymns that Reginald Heber wrote but never published because they were so personal between Him and God.  They were published just as a memorial or a tribute.  Among these hymns was the song Holy, Holy, Holy.   Every early morning Reginald awoke and the first thing he would do would raise his arms to God and cry: “Holy, Holy, Holy.

The song was taken form Isaiah 65:2-4 we here learn that the seraphims surround the throne of God crying Holy, Holy Holy.  Stop and consider, they have been doing this from time immortal and you would think they would get bored to death just saying “Holy, Holy, Holy.”  You would think Reginald Heber would have gotten bored to death saying; “Holy, Holy, Holy.”   You would think Chaim Bentorah would get tired or bored to death saying: “Holy, Holy, Holy. But I and they do not.   I love it, I anticipate the opportunities to cry “Holy, Holy, Holy.”  Last weekend I cried “Holy, Holy, Holy with several hundred people and wept the whole time.

You know what? I will spend eternity crying: “Holy, Holy, Holy” and I cannot imagine growing tired of doing it.  How many people or Christians even know what it means to cry “Holy, Holy, Holy?”  What does holy mean anyways?

The word in Hebrew for Holy is qadesh which maybe you are all familiar.  We have the Ruch Qadesh, the Holy Spirit.  What does that mean that God’s Spirit is Holy?  In its Semitic root the word qadesh means a preparation.  Some Christians talk of being baptized by the Holy Spirit.  In that sense would mean to receive the Spirit of God to prepare you for service?  Qadesh is also a word used for an invitation.  God’s Spirit is inviting you into His presence.  If we cry Holy we are inviting God into our lives.  If the seraphims cry holy they are inviting everyone to the throne of God. As Christians we don’t have to crash the party.  We have a standing invitation to enter the presence of God, to join our spirit with His Spirit. 

This is absolutely awesome.  The very creator of the universe is giving us an open invitation to prepare for service to Him.   

I recall when the Baptism of the Holy Spirit became a big issue many years ago and turned into almost a fad.  People were wanting to be baptized in the Holy Spirit.  They would pray, weep, beg for the Holy Spirit to fill them.  They were inviting the Holy Spirit into their lives and for some reason many just could not enter into this experience. 

Here’s the crazy thing. They had it backwards.  They were inviting the Holy Spirit into their lives or their spirit when by the very name Holy Spirit, God’s spirit is inviting us into His Spirit. Last Saturday at the Hub meeting I recall one woman sitting in her chair during worship with her arms outstretched repeating over and over; “Come Holy Spirit come.”  Thinking about the Semitic origins of the word Holy, the seraphims circling the throne of God crying out Holy, Holy, Holy or Come, Come, Come to the Father and what I saw was this woman pleading with God to come and God standing there with His arms open wide saying: “ I am here at your request now dear child just come to me.” 

I think for most people they eventually get the hint from God, but way waste so much time. You hear the word Holy, that is an invitation to just jump into His Arms, no matter whether you say it or He says it.