Word of the Week: HALLOW

In our Word of the Week, Pastor Rob Sauers defines the word “hallow.”  The word hallow is a synonym of the word saint.  We see it in the word “Halloween” which is a shortened form of “All Hallows’ Eve” or “All Saint’s Eve.”  We are probably most familiar with the word “hallow” when we’re praying the Lord’s Prayer.  In the Old Testament, the Hebrew word means to “set apart,” “devote,” “consecrate,” “make holy.” So the word is often used of people or things in connection with the worship of God (See Exodus 29:21 and Exodus 40:9).  Everything that was used in the worship of God in the Old Testament was to be hallowed, sanctified, set apart – and this was meant, in part, to drive home the fact that God alone is holy.

When Jesus teaches His disciples to pray, he begins by saying, “Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be Your name.” (Matthew 6:9). So how do we hallow God’s name? First of all, we hallow God’s name when we preach and teach what God’s Word says in all of it’s truth and purity. Secondly, we hallow God’s name by living a godly life. And so we pray that God would grant that we would hallow His name in all we say and do.