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The Holy One of Israel

The Names of God and of Christ

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Snapshot

The Holy One of Israel is the great name for God in the book of Isaiah, joining his transcendent holiness to his covenant nearness to a particular people. He is “the Holy One” — utterly pure, set apart, exalted above all — and yet “of Israel,” bound by covenant to redeem and dwell with a sinful nation. The name holds together what we might think incompatible: blazing holiness and saving grace. “For thus says the One who is high and lifted up, who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: ‘I dwell in the high and holy place, and also with him who is of a contrite and lowly spirit’” (Isa. 57:15).

The Original Language

קְדוֹש יִשְׂרָאֵל (qedosh yisra’el), “the Holy One of Israel,” from קָדוֹש (qadosh), Strong’s H6918, “holy, set apart, sacred.” Holiness in Scripture has a double sense: separateness (God is utterly distinct from and exalted above all creation, transcendent and pure) and moral purity (he is free from all sin, blazing in righteousness). The intensive form in Isaiah’s vision — “Holy, holy, holy” (Isa. 6:3) — is the Hebrew way of expressing the superlative: God is the holiest, holiness itself. To name him “the Holy One of Israel” is to bind this infinite holiness to a covenant relationship: the thrice-holy God is Israel’s God, their Redeemer.

The Name in Its Context

The title is virtually Isaiah’s signature for God, appearing about 25 times in his book (and only rarely elsewhere). Its theological taproot is Isaiah’s call vision in the temple:

“And one called to another and said: ‘Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!’… And I said: ‘Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips… for my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts!’” (Isa. 6:3, 5)

Confronted with God’s holiness, Isaiah is undone — and then cleansed by a coal from the altar (Isa. 6:6–7). This encounter shapes the whole book: God is the Holy One, and his people are unclean and must be redeemed. Yet the very same name becomes the ground of comfort and redemption:

“Fear not, for I have redeemed you… For I am the LORD your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior.” (Isa. 43:1, 3)

The exalted name comforts:

“To whom then will you compare me, that I should be like him? says the Holy One.” (Isa. 40:25)

Where It Appears in Scripture

Concentrated in Isaiah (e.g., 1:4; 5:19; 10:20; 12:6; 29:19; 30:11–15; 40:25; 41:14; 43:3, 14; 48:17; 54:5; 60:9), the title also appears in Psalms (71:22; 78:41; 89:18) and 2 Kings 19:22. The wider theme of God’s holiness pervades Scripture: “Be holy, for I am holy” (Lev. 11:44; 1 Pet. 1:16); “There is none holy like the LORD” (1 Sam. 2:2); “Who shall not fear, O Lord, and glorify your name? For you alone are holy” (Rev. 15:4). The seraphic “Holy, holy, holy” of Isaiah 6 is echoed by the living creatures around the throne in Revelation 4:8 — the unending anthem of heaven. The Holy One who redeemed Israel is “the Holy One of Israel… your Savior” (Isa. 43:3), and Israel’s Redeemer is “the Holy One of Israel” (Isa. 41:14).

What This Name Reveals

This name reveals God’s holiness as perhaps his most comprehensive attribute — the “holiness” of God is the brightness and purity of all his other perfections together. It reveals his transcendence: he is high and lifted up, incomparable, “the One who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy” (Isa. 57:15). It reveals his moral purity: “You who are of purer eyes than to see evil and cannot look at wrong” (Hab. 1:13). It reveals the creature’s proper response to holiness — the cry of “Woe is me!” (Isa. 6:5), reverent fear, and the need for cleansing. And, astonishingly, it reveals God’s redeeming grace: this Holy One is “of Israel,” the Savior who draws near to the contrite, provides cleansing from the altar, and binds himself to an unclean people. The name forbids both a casual familiarity that forgets God is holy and a despairing distance that forgets the Holy One is also the Redeemer.

Seen and Fulfilled in Christ

The New Testament repeatedly calls Jesus “the Holy One.” The demons recognize him: “I know who you are — the Holy One of God” (Mark 1:24; Luke 4:34). Peter confesses, “You are the Holy One of God” (John 6:69). The angel tells Mary, “the child to be born will be called holy — the Son of God” (Luke 1:35). Peter charges the people, “you denied the Holy and Righteous One” (Acts 3:14). Crucially, John tells us that when Isaiah saw the glory of the Holy One in the temple (Isa. 6), “he saw his glory and spoke of him” — that is, of Christ (John 12:41). The thrice-holy LORD of Isaiah 6 is the pre-incarnate Christ. And the coal from the altar that cleansed Isaiah’s unclean lips finds its reality in the cross, where the Holy One bore our uncleanness so that we might be cleansed and brought near. He is the holy High Priest, “holy, innocent, unstained, separated from sinners” (Heb. 7:26), who alone could mediate between the Holy One and an unholy people. In Christ, sinners are made holy (1 Cor. 1:30; Heb. 10:10) and welcomed into the presence of the Holy One.

A Reformed Reflection

“The Holy One of Israel” anchors the Reformed sense of God’s transcendent holiness and the corresponding seriousness of sin. The Westminster Confession confesses God as “most holy… most just… hating all sin” (WCF 2.1–2). Holiness is the attribute that makes the others tremble: it is why sin is not a trifle but cosmic treason, why atonement was costly, why “without holiness no one will see the Lord” (Heb. 12:14). Reformed worship is shaped by this — reverent, awe-filled, conscious that we approach a holy God only through a Mediator. Yet the name also guards grace: the Holy One is “Israel’s” Holy One, the covenant Redeemer who provides the cleansing he requires. This is the gospel logic — God’s holiness creates the problem of sin, and God’s holy love in Christ solves it without compromising his holiness (Rom. 3:26). The proper fruit is the believer’s own pursuit of holiness, “for I am holy” (1 Pet. 1:15–16), and worship that joins the seraphim’s eternal “Holy, holy, holy.”

Application

  • Recover the fear of God. Familiarity can breed a casual God. Let the vision of the Holy One restore reverence: he is high and lifted up, and you approach him on holy ground.
  • Let his holiness expose and cleanse your sin. Like Isaiah, see your uncleanness honestly — then receive the cleansing the Holy One provides at the altar of the cross. Don’t stop at “Woe is me”; go on to “Your guilt is taken away” (Isa. 6:7).
  • Pursue holiness in response. “Be holy, for I am holy” (1 Pet. 1:16). The Holy One has set you apart; live distinctly, in reverent obedience and purity.

Reflection questions:

  1. Has my view of God grown too casual? What would restore holy reverence?
  2. When God’s holiness exposes my sin, do I despair, or run to the cleansing of the cross?
  3. In what concrete way is God calling me to “be holy” this week?

For Prayer and Worship

Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts; the whole earth is full of your glory. Holy One of Israel, you are high and lifted up, of purer eyes than to behold evil — and I am a person of unclean lips. Woe is me. But you have touched me with the coal from your altar, the cross of Christ, and taken my guilt away. I worship you, Holy One and Redeemer. Make me holy, for you are holy. Amen.

Key Scripture References

  • Isa. 6:1–7; Isa. 40:25; Isa. 41:14; Isa. 43:1–3; Isa. 57:15
  • Lev. 11:44; 1 Sam. 2:2; Hab. 1:13; 1 Pet. 1:15–16
  • Mark 1:24; Luke 1:35; John 12:41; Acts 3:14; Heb. 7:26; Rev. 4:8

Further Study

  • Isaiah 6; Isaiah 40; Isaiah 43.
  • R. C. Sproul, The Holiness of God.
  • WCF ch. 2; on the holiness of God and the seriousness of sin.