The First Holy Thing

By Kenneth Westby

“In the Holy Bible, what is the very first holy “thing” mentioned? Is it holy ground; holy altar; holy vessel; holy water; holy oil; holy people; holy temple; holy mountain; holy apple. No, the first holy thing mentioned is a day.

In the history of the world the first thing labeled “holy” is a day. Not any day, but one specific day in seven—the seventh. Isn’t it surprising that a specific segment of time is the first holy object? Why would a day be the first thing to receive the quality of divine holiness? Is there not some mystery in this?

Holiness is derivative. Biblically, there is only one source of holiness—God. Nothing in creation is inherently holy, but any part of it can, by God’s dictate, be made holy. He can set apart or sanctify a thing, a place, a people, a time as holy. The very first mention of holy in the entire Bible is at the presentation of the crowning capstone to the creation week.

 The climax to creation isn’t some final thing God “made”…it is what God himself did with his own life. The crowning glory of creation is what the Creator personally did…in full view of his creation…”

(this article is an excerpt from the Nov-Dec 1999 edition of the Sabbath Sentinel)To read the rest of this article, which starts on page 16, click this link: https://biblesabbath.org/tss/480/tss_480.pdf