And one called to another and said: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!” Isaiah 6:3
Here the word ‘holy’ is ‘qadosh’, (phonetic spelling: kaw-doshe’) in Hebrew, meaning from ‘qadash‘; sacred (ceremonially or morally); (as noun) God (by eminence), an angel, a saint, a sanctuary — holy (One), saint.
In Greek the word ‘holy’ is ‘hagios’, (phonetic spelling: hag’-ee-os), meaning from ‘hagos’ (an awful thing) (compare hagnos, thalpo); sacred (physically, pure, morally blameless or religious, ceremonially, consecrated) — (most) holy (one, thing), saint.
Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers says of this verse … “And one cried unto another.—So in Psalm 29:9, which, as describing a thunderstorm, favors the suggestion that the lightnings were thought of as the symbols of the fiery seraphim, we read, “in his temple doth every one say, Glory.” The threefold repetition, familiar as the Trisagion of the Church’s worship, and reproduced in Revelation 4:8 (where “Lord God Almighty” appears as the equivalent of Jehovah Sabaoth), may represent either the mode of utterance, first antiphonal, and then in full chorus, or the Hebrew idiom of the emphasis of a three-fold iteration, as in Jeremiah 7:4; Jeremiah 22:29. Viewed from the standpoint of a later revelation, devout thinkers have naturally seen in it an allusive reference to the glory of Jehovah as seen alike in the past, the present, and the future, which seems the leading idea in Revelation 4:8, or even a faint foreshadowing of the Trinity of Persons in the Unity of the Godhead. Historically we cannot separate it from the name of the Holy One of Israel, which with “the Lord of hosts” was afterwards so prominent in Isaiah’s teaching.”
Isaiah’s vision was awesome beyond words, yet he was allowed to describe it in a way that simplified it so that we would have some understanding. To be allowed to see and experience the heavenly spiritual realms is an experience that is like no other. I am immediately reminded of the scripture in Luke 12:48 “Everyone to whom much was given, of him much will be required, and from him to whom they entrusted much, they will demand the more.” All of these types of experiences carry ‘costs’ the receiver never really completely knows at the time.
These ‘touches’ by God on a person’s life are … HOLY. They change a person like nothing else can. Why? HE is our Creator and Life. These experiences are like ‘pearls of great price’ given to an individual, like when Jesus says in Matthew 7:6, “Do not give dogs what is holy, and do not throw your pearls before pigs, lest they trample them underfoot and turn to attack you.” These ‘touches’ by God on your heart are to be treasured like Mary in Luke 2:9, “But Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart.”
Those of us who have the HOLY mystery of the Holy Spirit dwelling within us …is literally a mystery behind our own understanding to ourselves and others. This mystery of being inhabited by GOD is revealed step by step as we begin to interact and ask Him to ‘teach’ us throughout our lives. The Holy Spirit can ‘touch’ us in the deepest part of our being that is beyond words. Yet after those experiences we ‘know’ in our soul — beyond our own mind’s understanding that we’ve been ‘touched’. These things and experiences are HOLY.
Abba Father — teach us what Holiness is. Touch us Father, we so desire You. Jesus come and hug us, we so long for Your touch. Holy Spirit lead us in Your ways, teach us what it means to know You.