DEDICATING/Dedication-I—Joshua 6:17-27
The Task Of Dedication
Attention:
Simple Fix:
For years, parents of a Texas boy believed he was mostly nonverbal because of a brain aneurysm he had when he was 10 days old.
The boy, Mason Motz, 6, of Katy, Texas, started going to speech therapy when he was 1. In addition to his difficulties speaking, he was given a diagnosis of Sotos syndrome, a disorder that can cause learning disabilities or delayed development, according to the National Institutes of Health.
His parents, Dalan & Meredith Motz, became used to how their son communicated.
“He could pronounce the beginning of the word but would not utter the end of the word,” Motz said. “My husband & I were the only ones that could understand him.”
That all changed in April 2017, when Dr. Amy Luedemann-Lazar, a pediatric dentist, was performing unrelated procedures on Mason’s teeth. She noticed that his lingual frenulum, the band of tissue under the tongue, was shorter than is typical & was attached close to the tip of his tongue, keeping him from moving it freely.
Luedemann-Lazar ran out to the waiting room to ask the Motzes if she could untie Mason’s tongue using a laser.
After a quick Google search, the parents gave her permission to do so. Luedemann-Lazar completed the procedure in 10 seconds, she said.
After his surgery, Mason went home. He had not eaten all day. Motz heard him say: “I’m hungry. I’m thirsty. Can we watch a movie?”
The dentist Dedicated her skills to the well-being of the boy.
Likewise, Christians must Be about the business of Dedicating our giftedness to the Lord.
Need:
We must remember that what we do, we do by & for the Lord God who has graced us with salvation by faith in Christ...
...We DEDICATE our lives 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 city of Jericho to the LORD.
Israel began the conquest of Canaan with the dedication of Jericho to the Lord.
God’s people are to wholly devote themselves & their world to the Lord.
How are we to devote/dedicate ourselves & our world to the Lord?
Some Recollections toward fully dedicating ourselves & our world to the Lord.
1—Dedicating you & your world to the Lord recalls/demands...
OWNERSHIP(:17a)
Explanation:(:17a)Firstfruits/Microcosm/Redemption
:17a—“Now the city shall be doomed by the LORD to destruction, it & all who are in it....”
[KJV]—“And the city shall be accursed, even it, & all that are therein, to the LORD:...”
[NASB]—“And the city shall be under the ban, it & all that is in it belongs to the LORD;....”
[NIV]—“The city & all that is in it are to be devoted to the LORD....”
The entire city fell under the umbrella of being “doomed to destruction”(AKA--“accursed”,“the ban”, “devoted”).
Being “Doomed to Destruction” is an act of total Dedication to YHWH’s desire & not to the desire or reasonings of men!
All in the city was to be destined for destruction, dedicated only to the LORD, for His use only.
Why “Doomed to Destruction”?...
“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. They are in the process of taking the land that was promised to them by YHWH(Gen. 17:8).
Mk. 12:28-31—“Then one of the scribes came, & having heard them reasoning together, perceiving that He had answered them well, asked Him, “Which is the first commandment of all?” Jesus answered him, “The first of all the commandments is: ‘Hear, O Israel, the LORD our God, the LORD is one. And you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, & with all your strength.’ This is the first commandment. And the second, like it, is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”
“Whatever is “devoted to destruction” or “banned” is assumed to be consecrated to Yahweh for his exclusive ownership & use. In essence, it has been transferred from the profane realm of humans to the holy realm of Yahweh(Josh. 8:26, 28; cf.Mic. 4:13). As God’s exclusive property, herem[Mrx] enjoys the highest degree of holiness(Lev. 27:28) & cannot be redeemed for return to the profane sphere. Thus the only humans who may possess it are Israel’s priests...”.....“The Old Testament does not understand every Israelite destruction of a city or people as an act of religious herem[Mrx].”.....“only Yahweh himself can designate what is herem.”.....“rather than promote violence as the standard Israelite treatment of foreigners who reside within Israel, Joshua teaches two things: 1)Those who honor Yahweh’s greatness & do not teach Israel idolatry may remain in the land, & 2) rigorous obedience to the law is Yahweh’s supreme expectation for all peoples in the land.”—Robert L. Hubbard, Jr. in ’The NIV Application Commentary’
“Doomed to Destruction” is similar or pictured in personal sanctification—Sanctification describes setting oneself apart from self & from the world so that God alone is glorified.
That ideal is what all born-again believers are compelled by the Holy Spirit to do & strive for, in every moment of every day.
Dedication to the Lord’s Ownership is a witness to God’s sovereignty & your acceptance of it!
*To Redeem the land for Israel, it must be purchased thru God Himself.
What you do & say has everything to do with how GOD is perceived in the world!
YHWH is telling Joshua & Joshua is telling Israel: ‘This is not your city, these are not your things, this is not your fight’...This & these all belong to the Lord God Almighty, Maker of heaven & earth & our gracious Bringer of salvation by Christ Jesus thru faith.
*“Doomed...to Destruction/Accursed/Under the Ban/Devoted”—Mrx che’-rem OR--(Zech. 14:11)Mrx cheh’-rem—Noun Masc.—1) A thing devoted, thing dedicated, ban, devotion; 2) A net, thing perforated; 3) Have been utterly destroyed, (appointed to)utter destruction. Strong—physical(as shutting in)--A net(either literally or figuratively); usually a doomed object; abstractly--Extermination. Used 38X.?From—Mrx khaw-ram'; a primitive root; To seclude; specifically(by a ban)--To devote to religious uses(especially destruction); physical & reflexive--To be blunt as to the nose.
Argumentation:
Ps. 100:3—“Know that the LORD, He is God; It is He who has made us, & not we ourselves; We are His people & the sheep of His pasture.”
Dan. 9:7—[Daniel confesses in prayer]““O Lord, righteousness belongs to You, but to us shame of face, as it is this day--to the men of Judah, to the inhabitants of Jerusalem & all Israel, those near & those far off in all the countries to which You have driven them, because of the unfaithfulness which they have committed against You.”
Lk. 10:1-2—“After these things the Lord appointed seventy others also, & sent them two by two before His face into every city & place where He Himself was about to go. Then He said to them, “The harvest truly is great, but the laborers are few; therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.”
YaHWeH is the Lord of the: harvest, battle, conquest, all...
Ps. 50:10-11—“For every beast of the forest is Mine, And the cattle on a thousand hills. I know all the birds of the mountains, And the wild beasts of the field are Mine.”
To Israel:
Isa. 43:1—“But now, thus says the LORD, who created you, O Jacob, And He who formed you, O Israel: “Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by your name; You are Mine.”
And thus to the Church:
Gal. 3:26-29—“For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s seed, & heirs according to the promise.”
Gal. 4:3-7—“Even so we, when we were children, were in bondage under the elements of the world. But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying out, “Abba, Father!” Therefore you are no longer a slave but a son, & if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.”
2Tim. 2:3-4—“You therefore must endure hardship as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. No one engaged in warfare entangles himself with the affairs of this life, that he may please him who enlisted him as a soldier.”
Lk. 9:57-62—“Now it happened as they journeyed on the road, that someone said to Him, “Lord, I will follow You wherever You go.” And Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.” Then He said to another, “Follow Me.” But he said, “Lord, let me first go and bury my father.” Jesus said to him, “Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and preach the kingdom of God.” And another also said, “Lord, I will follow You, but let me first go and bid them farewell who are at my house.” But Jesus said to him, “No one, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.””
Are you really prepared & willing to enter into life with Jesus?
1Cor. 7:22-23—“For he who is called in the Lord while a slave is the Lord’s freedman. Likewise he who is called while free is Christ’s slave. You were bought at a price; do not become slaves of men.”
1Cor. 6:20—“For he who is called in the Lord while a slave is the Lord’s freedman. Likewise he who is called while free is Christ’s slave. You were bought at a price; do not become slaves of men.”
Illustration:
We had a minivan a few years back which was completely paid for—we owed no money on it/We had the title/No one else could use the car without our saying so/No one could rightly take our keys & drive off with the car because it was ours!/In a court of law, the car would be recognized as belonging only to my wife & I/As a result of that ownership—We determine what goes in it & on it, what kind of fuel it uses, how many people ride in it, which people ride in it, who can drive it, who cannot drive it, when it gets washed, when & how the interior gets cleaned, etc...because we are the owners!/OWNERSHIP
I know someone who owns their house outright—no leins, no mortgage!/They have painstakingly paid it all off!/The neighbors cannot come onto that property & take plants, or cut down trees, or harvest fruit from the fruit trees or from out of the garden, or use the lawnmower in the garage, or sleep in the beds, or cook in the kitchen, or paint the walls, or replace the furniture—Those things are to be done only at the owner’s discretion/OWNERSHIP
Application:
?Does your Dedicating/Dedication flow from God’s OWNERSHIP?
?Who really OWNS your situation? Have you given OWNERSHIP to God thru Christ Jesus?
?By & For Whom, do you do what you do?...?Yourself or the Savior?
CONCLUSION:
Visualization:
The dentist who released/freed up Mason Motz’ tongue, Dedicated her skills to his well-being.
Action:
Dedicating you & your world to the Lord recalls/demands...
1. OWNERSHIP(:17a)
Pt.#1 only Presented 10/07/2018am to:
FBC Cbelle
206 Storrs Ave. SW(SE Ave. A)
Carrabelle, FL 32322
Pts. 1-4 Presented 04/09/2000pm to:
Providence Baptist Church
975 Providence Rd.
Whigham, GA 31797
