Isaiah 65:5 - Bad Social Distancing, Part One

Throughout the streets of Florence, Italy, there are "tabernacolo"... little alcoves in the exterior walls of buildings that contain frescoes, paintings or statues of saints. I asked someone about the significance of these "tabernacolo" and was told that perhaps the owner of the building claimed a particular saint as their patron saint. Or they simply hoped it would protect their building and whoever was inside.

One alcove that had an unusual terra cotta figure. It was just the head of a woman, face turned upward in disdain, pinching her nostrils. From her perch twelve feet above the sidewalk, it was as if she was telling everyone walking below her to stay away, "You stink." Atop the very hand she used to pinch her nose, sat a hideous creature--a toad or rat, I couldn't tell.

Apart from any intent of the artist, it reminded me of the phrase, "Holier than thou." Here's the context of that expression; it comes from Isaiah 65--God reproving the arrogant hypocrisy of some people:

2 All day long I opened my arms to a rebellious people. But they follow their own evil paths and their own crooked schemes. 3 All day long they insult me to my face by worshiping idols in their sacred gardens. They burn incense on pagan altars. 4 At night they go out among the graves, worshiping the dead. They eat the flesh of pigs and make stews with other forbidden foods. 5a Yet they say to each other, ‘Don’t come too close or you will defile me! I am holier than you!’ ... (Isaiah 65:2–5, New Living Translation, 2015)

Everything these people were doing violated the Law of Moses. During the day, they worshipped pagan gods in gardens dedicated to idolatry. Even touching a dead body made a Jewish person unclean. Yet the night time found them in cemeteries worshipping the dead.

And to round off their offenses, they ate pork and other forbidden foods. Then, even with guilt on their hands, they turned up their nose because they could always compare themselves to someone "not as holy" as they were.

Father, Deliver us from any such "social distancing" that views others as untouchable because we're so holy. Give us the genuine holiness of Jesus Christ, that comes with true purity, honest respect, and sincere love. In His name we pray, Amen.