Dedication-6

DEDICATING/DEDICATION-VI—Joshua 6:15-27

The Task Of Dedication

Attention:

That Fellow from Morton:

The merchandising manager of a large food chain was on his vacation. While driving through rural Arkansas, he developed a bad headache & decided to stop in the next town & buy some aspirin. Stopping at a small grocery store, more out of habit than anything, he walked around to see how it was merchandised.

To his amazement, only about two of the ten isles in the store were devoted to the basic staples, while the other eight isles were filled with Morton brand salt. He had never seen anything like this in his life, & wondered what caused this huge demand for Morton salt in a small rural town in Arkansas.

Seeing the proprietor in the rear of the store he said, “My, you sell a lot of Morton salt!”

At which the owner said, “Who me? I hardly sell any Morton salt!...But that fellow from Morton -- does HE know how to sell Morton salt!”

What has God ‘sold’ you on, so that your ‘shelves’ are stocked with ‘His’ desire rather than your own? Is it obvious to others that you are Dedicated to Him?

What is demanded of us, is to dedicate every aspect of our lives to the Lord!

Need:

We must remember that whatever we do, we do by the Lord’s direct instruction, & thus ‘for’ Him who has graced us with salvation by faith in Christ...

...God’s people DEDICATE their lives & our surroundings to Him!

2Cor. 10:3-6—“For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments & every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ, & being ready to punish all disobedience when your obedience is fulfilled.”

The children of Israel were to dedicate the entire pagan city of Jericho—inanimate & animate—to the LORD.

Nothing concerning Jericho was to belong to themselves.

God’s people are to begin God-given tasks by wholly dedicating/devoting them to the Lord.

How are we to devote/dedicate ourselves, our ministries, & our world to the Lord?

Some consideration toward fully dedicating ourselves to the Lord.

Previously we’ve found that Dedicating you & your world to the Lord demands the considerations of...

1. OWNERSHIP(:17a)

2. DEPENDENCY(:17b, 22-23, 25)

3. PURITY(:18a)

4. EFFECT(:18b)

5. The TREASURY(:19)

6—Dedicating you & your world to the Lord demands consideration of...

OPPONENTS(:21, 24a)

Explanation:(:21, 24a)Outsiders/Lost/Hindrances

:21—“And they utterly destroyed all that was in the city, both man & woman, young & old, ox & sheep & donkey, with the edge of the sword.”

:24a—“But they burned the city and all that was in it with fire...”

Jericho is “Doomed to Destruction” because no man, woman, or child can be ‘forced’ to love...& no one can be ‘forced’ to trust...in the true God. Israel is in the process of taking the land that was promised to them by YHWH. God made this promise to Israel despite/regardless of the response of those native/aboriginal/indigenous to the land or currently in the land.

The heart of a Dedication to Destruction or to the Ban was to emphasize YaHWeH’s ‘exclusive ownership.’ And God’s ‘exclusive ownership’ demands ‘exclusive adherence’ to His perfect determination. YHWH owns & seals the fate of everyone & everything in Jericho.—TNIVAC

Israel was to take the place of(usurp/replace) the ‘native’/aboriginal/indigenous population in the land because the people of the land of Canaan had become corrupted. They had turned away from God, but were currently living in the land wherein YHWH had chosen for His name to dwell.

All evidence of estrangement from God was to be completely eradicated in the city.

**Keep in mind that Canaan’s eradication was NOT a furtherance or an advancement of politically ‘imperialistic’ fervor on the part of Israel.

•It was done in order to secure a specific land for the children of Israel. Theocratic government(rule by God alone) was the goal.

•God Himself had chosen both His people Israel, as well as their central geographic boundaries—the promised land...the land of Israel.....

•That possession of & limitation to certain ‘geographic boundaries’ is NOT for Christians. The church, people of God, are above & beyond any human governance!

.....CHILDREN OF ISRAEL:

Deut. 7:6-8—“For you are a holy people to the LORD your God; the LORD your God has chosen you to be a people for Himself, a special treasure above all the peoples on the face of the earth. The LORD did not set His love on you nor choose you because you were more in number than any other people, for you were the least of all peoples; but because the LORD loves you, & because He would keep the oath which He swore to your fathers, the LORD has brought you out with a mighty hand, & redeemed you from the house of bondage, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt.”