What does “Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord God Almighty?” mean in Revelation 4?
In order to unwrap this question, we will look at its context, the meaning of the word holy, and also explore the implications of God’s Holiness on our own lives and our response to it.
“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come.” … “You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honour and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being” (Revelation 4:8,11).
The quote is taken from the apostle John’s account of his vision of heaven. He sees the throne room of heaven with one seated upon the throne. And surrounding the throne are amazing creatures crying “Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord God Almighty.” It is a glorious vision of light and extraordinary things (Revelation 4: 1-11).
Holy, Holy, Holy Is the Lord God Almighty
To answer the question, “What Does it Mean, ‘Holy, Holy, Holy Is the Lord God Almighty’?” we have to first look at what holy means. It is not a commonly used word in today’s society so we must look to the original language of the scriptures to discover its true meaning.
From Strong’s concordance, the Greek root is Hagiós, meaning an awful thing; a feeling of reverential respect filled with fear and wonder. We see the meaning to be as the absolutely Holy one. In His purity, majesty, and glory. Free from every fault — immaculate. And the Greek word hosios, which means harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens (Hebrews 7:26).
So, we are getting a picture of absolute purity and perfection. A being set apart from sin and corruption; there simply is no fault or imperfection. In fact, we are told in 1 Peter 2:22 that Jesus committed no sin, and no deceit was found in his mouth. No wonder they were crying Holy, Holy, Holy!
We have a good example of the awe and fearsomeness of God in Exodus 3 when Moses encounters the burning bush. He is required to remove his shoes for even the ground has become holy because of God’s presence there.
Moses was tending the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian, and he led the flock to the far side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. There the angel of the Lord appeared to him in flames of fire from within a bush. Moses saw that though the bush was on fire it did not burn up. So Moses thought, “I will go over and see this strange sight — why the bush does not burn up.”
When the Lord saw that he had gone over to look, God called to him from within the bush, “Moses! Moses!” And Moses said, “Here I am.” “Do not come any closer,” God said. “Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.” Then he said, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob.” At this, Moses hid his face, because he was afraid to look at God (Exodus 3:1-6).
An Artist’s Response
As an artist, I was inspired to paint from this very vision in Revelation 4 and I found myself asking this question: “If God were to paint this scene, how would He portray the throne room of heaven?” But as I meditated upon the scripture, I began to see that it was one of light and all the colors generated from light in its purest form; pure glory. So, my question became: “How would God, who is light, paint light?”
This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all (1 John 1:5).
Photo Credit: ©Petrina Kent
This painting is the result of my meditation with God. I tried to depict the colors, the light, and the glassy sea surrounding the throne room with the 24 elders worshipping God. But alongside this, I aimed to create space and a way in, because, as we see from the scripture, John saw a door which signifies access!
How Can We Enter Such a Holy Place?
My painting depicts a partially veiled throne room. At the crucifixion of Christ, the veil in the temple was ripped apart from the top to bottom (Mark 15: 38), this veil separated the most Holy place from the outer court and only the sanctified priest might enter there.
Long after Moses encountered the burning bush, he was given instructions for the construction of the Temple. He had to make the Most Holy place in the temple separate from even the Holy Place!
The curtain will separate the Holy Place from the Most Holy Place… (Exodus 26:33).
What Our Great High Priest Did
But when Christ died, something of great significance happened. The curtain or veil in the temple ripped, giving access into the Most Holy place — God’s very presence. Not only for the sanctified priest, but if we confess our sins at the cross of Christ, we too can have access. We can come freely before God, talk to, and walk in relationship with Him. How awesome is that?
Now there have been many of those priests, since death prevented them from continuing in office; but because Jesus lives forever, he has a permanent priesthood. Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them. Such a high priest truly meets our need — one that is holy, blameless, pure, set apart from sinners, exalted above the heavens. Unlike the other high priests, he does not need to offer sacrifices day after day, first for his own sins, and then for the sins of the people. He sacrificed for their sins once for all when he offered himself. For the law appoints as high priests men in all their weakness; but the oath, which came after the law, appointed the Son, who has been made perfect forever (Hebrews 7:26).
And so… we can boldly enter heaven’s Most Holy Place because of the blood of Jesus (Hebrews 10:19).
A Thrice Holy God
We also notice in this verse in Revelation 4 that the heavenly hosts are not just proclaiming “Holy is the Lord God Almighty,” but instead, “Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord God Almighty!” The word holy is used three times. We see, in Scripture, that the number three represents harmony, wholeness, and perfection.
Often, in Scripture, things are stated three times for emphasis, for example, when Jesus asked Peter if he loved him. He did not simply ask once, but three times because He wanted to address Peter’s triple denial of knowing Jesus. There are many sets of three in the Bible, three for emphasis and three for completeness. The context here though is surely reference to the trinity; Father, Son, and Holy Spirit — completeness.
Called to be Holy
But the extraordinary thing in all this is that we are called to be holy!
But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation; (1 Peter 1:15).
But how can that possibly be seeing that the Bible teaches that even our best attempts at it are like filthy rags?
All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all shrivel up like a leaf, and like the wind our sins sweep us away (Isaiah 46:6).
But we have Jesus! And we have God’s wonderful and bountiful grace.
We were by nature deserving of wrath. But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions — it is by grace you have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 2:3).
So, if we were to use our sanctified imagination and look again into that vision of heaven, alongside the extraordinary beasts and the 24 elders worshiping, we would also see those who are raised up with Christ and seated with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus.
Photo Credit: ©iStock/Getty Images Plus/nu1983
