What does it mean that something is Holy?
Jack Jackson - MinisterWhereYouAre.org

To be holy is to be set apart by God. God Himself is Holy because He is a one of a kind. There is no God like Jehovah; He is Holy, Holy, Holy! So to be holy it must be set aside as "different than others" and must be set apart by God.

You or I can make nothing holy. No groups of men or even a Pope can make anything holy. When god sets up a day as Holy, it is that day which is Holy unto God. Whether anyone observed that day or not, does not change the fact it's Holy unto the Lord. God created days as being periods of time from evening to evening. Today we live in a system which says a day is midnight to midnight, but to God a day ends and another begins with sun down. God's system of days involves seven at a time. In fact He names them day 1, day 2, day 3, day 4, day 5, day 6; and then He actually names the seventh, setting it apart as Holy and calls it Shabbot (Sabbath). In fact Genesis 2:2-3 says God ended His work and rested (Strongs #7673 Shabath) or ceased from creating, the very word used today for that Holy set aside day. The text says God blessed only the seventh day and sanctified it; that is made it Holy, unlike the other six.

In review, can anyone but God make something holy? No! What day did God Himself set apart from the other six? Only the seventh day!

Have you ever heard someone say "Well I keep every day Holy!" Let's think about that statement. Can either you or I or anyone but God set aside a day a holy? No! Also, if everyday was holy, no days would be holy! If every day was set aside by God then no day would be different, or set apart from any other day. Our thinking can be wrong because we think, if only the Sabbath is Holy each week, that would make the rest "unholy" and we see that as "evil days". That is because unholy doesn't mean "evil" it just means normal, not a special set aside day. We each have a birthday, and each other day is just "not our birthday". That doesn't make them bad days, just our special day. Profane, which we get the word profanity, now means "dirty" or "wicked", but actually just means not from the temple (which was a holy place).

Why is this important for us to understand? Because many seem to think that whatever day they decide to make a holy day each week is fine with God. We must remember that it is not us who decide or make a day Holy, only God. God clearly already has a day chosen and set aside called "the Sabbath". In Exodus 20 God commands all standing before Him at Mount Sinai, whether Jews or the Gentiles that were with them, all who heard "Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labor, and do all thy works. But the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it thou shall not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: For in six days the Lord made the heavens an the earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day, and hallowed it." Exodus 20:8-11

This is the longest of the 10 Commandments, with plenty of instruction so we wouldn't get it wrong. It is clear that God Himself made the seventh and the seventh only "the Sabbath", the Sabbath of the Lord and set it aside different from all other days. Do you remember the verse "I God do not change! I am the same yesterday, today and tomorrow." Does God change? No! Neither does those things which He Himself sets aside as Holy. But are we to still "remember it"? Are we really to remember to consider that day special to God and do as He commanded, to not work on it, only on the other six? Isn't that what He said? Wasn't it just set aside for the Jews? No! It was set apart for God by God, so whether you participate or not doesn't change which day is the Holy day.

Some say, I can keep any Holy day I want. Yes, they can decide whether to participate on His appointed days or not, but can't make any other day Holy because they are not God. When we were in the world, we were called out of the world to be set aside to God, so isn't it our reasonable service to keep His Sabbath? (Romans 12:1-2) We must remember that Israel and the other slaves with them were in bondage and had to work every day, so they saw a day a week off as a blessing, not a restriction. When we were children, our Mom's made us take a nap, even when we thought we were not tired. My son will say, "I'm not even sleepy" and is off to sleep is matter of minutes. If father and mothers know what we need best, how much more does our heavenly Father know we need rest, so why fight a blessing? The Sabbath was seen as a blessing to "all" people joined in and to Israel. God through Paul describes Gentiles as being wild olive branches grafted in to the olive tree and its roots. Our joining to Israel brings with it blessing of the Sabbath rest, yet many seem at enmity with the command of God, even when it is meant by God to be a blessing and gift. Imagine what our heavenly must think of all so many children that stick their noses up to His gift of Sabbath? He set aside this day to commune among His people as they turn from the day to day work to spend the day of His choice with us. Since it was a set aside day, when no one would be working, it was also used by God as a day to gather the people together for the Holy convocation on the morning of the Sabbath (Exodus 12:16). This portion of Exodus (12) is where God outlines His other Holy days, also set aside by God, not men. These are the true Biblical Holy Days.

Prophesy declares in the last days the following about Gentiles:

"Oh Lord, my strength, and my fortress, and my refuge in the day of affliction, the Gentiles shall come unto thee from the ends of the earth, and shall say Surely our fathers have inherited lies, vanity, and things wherein there is no profit." Jeremiah 16:19

When will the church obey the calling back to its root? When will we all see the inherited lies of paganism still alive and well mixed into "Christianity" like a moving by men of God's holy day, a changing of His laws, a changing of His time, dates and creating of men's holy days and putting away of God's Biblical ones? Have we Gentiles not inherited lies, vanity, and things wherein (since they are not God's) there is no profit? Isn't it time to go back and tap into our real roots and call Holy only that which God Himself calls Holy? If we are to deny ourselves daily, take up our cross, and follow after a Jewish Messiah, shouldn't we actually walk as He walked, and quit believing inherited lies? Those who have an ear, let them not just hear, but be a doer also.