DEDICATION/Dedicating-II—Joshua 6:15-27
The Task Of Dedication
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!
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 begin God-given tasks by wholly devoting them to the Lord.
How are we to devote/dedicate a task to the Lord?
Some Recollections toward fully dedicating ourselves to the Lord.
“Doomed to destruction”
“Accursed”
“Under the ban”
“Devoted to the Lord”
Previously we found that Dedicating you & your world to the Lord recalls/demands...
1. OWNERSHIP(:17a)
2—Dedicating you & your world to the Lord recalls/demands...
DEPENDENCY(:17b, 22-23, 25)
Explanation:(:17b, 22-23, 25)
:17b—...“Only Rahab the harlot shall live, she & all who are with her in the house, because she hid the messengers that we sent.”
Rahab & all with her, were the only things of Jericho to be released from the ban. Therefore she & all with her would be allowed to live.
Rahab was redeemed from the ban because she hid the Israelite messengers/spies.
cf.--Josh. 2:12-13, 17-19—““Now therefore, I beg you, swear to me by the LORD, since I have shown you kindness, that you also will show kindness to my father’s house, & give me a true token, & spare my father, my mother, my brothers, my sisters, & all that they have, & deliver our lives from death.”.....“So the men said to her: “We will be blameless of this oath of yours which you have made us swear, unless, when we come into the land, you bind this line of scarlet cord in the window through which you let us down, & unless you bring your father, your mother, your brothers, & all your father’s household to your own home. So it shall be that whoever goes outside the doors of your house into the street, his blood shall be on his own head, & we will be guiltless. And whoever is with you in the house, his blood shall be on our head if a hand is laid on him.”
Rahab’s faithfulness, though not based on total knowledge of God was faith based on the knowledge she had of God thru God’s presence, His actions with Israel, & thru the word of the spies(cf.-2:1, 8-11).
The Israelites were instructed in no uncertain terms that Rahab & all that was her’s were the only things of Jericho that were NOT “doomed to destruction.”
Rahab & all that she had depended upon her faith’s interaction with the faithfulness of the Israelites & their God.
?Can others depend upon your faithfulness?
?Can others depend upon God’s faithfulness?
Deut. 7:9—“Therefore know that the LORD your God, He is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and mercy for a thousand generations with those who love Him and keep His commandments;”
Hos. 11:12—“Ephraim has encircled Me with lies, And the house of Israel with deceit; But Judah still walks with God, Even with the Holy One who is faithful.”
1Cor. 1:9; 10:13—“God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.”.....“No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.”
2Tim. 2:13—“If we are faithless, He remains faithful; He cannot deny Himself.”
:22-23—“But Joshua had said to the two men who had spied out the country, “Go into the harlot’s house, & from there bring out the woman & all that she has, as you swore to her.” And the young men who had been spies went in & brought out Rahab, her father, her mother, her brothers, & all that she had. So they brought out all her relatives & left them outside the camp of Israel.”
The two unnamed men who had spied out the city(2:1) were summoned by Joshua.
Joshua told the spies to again go into the harlot’s(Rahab) house. They were to bring all present in the house out to safety, because they didn’t fall under the ban due to the promise(2:14). Only those who expressed their kinship(spiritual as well as physical) to Rahab & were willing to believe her were allowed to keep their lives. These would have been gathered in her house knowing that they would be spared(2:17-21).
Josh 2:14—“So the men answered her, “Our lives for yours, if none of you tell this business of ours. And it shall be, when the LORD has given us the land, that we will deal kindly & truly with you.””
:25—“And Joshua spared Rahab the harlot, her father’s household, & all that she had. So she dwells in Israel to this day, because she hid the messengers whom Joshua sent to spy out Jericho.”
Rahab was known as a harlot. If the land was being destroyed because of their wickedness, then how could a harlot be included in those that were spared?—Due to her newfound faithfulness to the Lord!
Mat. 21:28-32—““But what do you think? A man had two sons, & he came to the first & said, ‘Son, go, work today in my vineyard.’ “He answered & said, ‘I will not,’ but afterward he regretted it & went. Then he came to the second & said likewise. And he answered & said, ‘I go, sir,’ but he did not go. “Which of the two did the will of his father?” They said to Him, “The first.” Jesus said to them, “Assuredly, I say to you that tax collectors & harlots enter the kingdom of God before you. For John came to you in the way of righteousness, & you did not believe him; but tax collectors & harlots believed him; & when you saw it, you did not afterward relent & believe him.”
We must first accept the Lord Jesus’ payment/forgiveness for our sin before we can deal with our sin on a moment-by-moment basis. Also a reputation built up over years cannot be so easily erased except when supplanted with an eternal dependency. Even that may take time to establish.
Paul’s/Saul’s reputation:
Acts 9:1-2, 10-15, 20-22, 26-27—“Then Saul, still breathing threats & murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest & asked letters from him to the synagogues of Damascus, so that if he found any who were of the Way, whether men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem.”.....“Now there was a certain disciple at Damascus named Ananias; & to him the Lord said in a vision, “Ananias.” And he said, “Here I am, Lord.” So the Lord said to him, “Arise & go to the street called Straight, & inquire at the house of Judas for one called Saul of Tarsus, for behold, he is praying. And in a vision he has seen a man named Ananias coming in & putting his hand on him, so that he might receive his sight.” Then Ananias answered, “Lord, I have heard from many about this man, how much harm he has done to Your saints in Jerusalem. And here he has authority from the chief priests to bind all who call on Your name.” But the Lord said to him, “Go, for he is a chosen vessel of Mine to bear My name before Gentiles, kings, & the children of Israel.”.....“Immediately he preached the Christ in the synagogues, that He is the Son of God. Then all who heard were amazed, & said, “Is this not he who destroyed those who called on this name in Jerusalem, & has come here for that purpose, so that he might bring them bound to the chief priests?” But Saul increased all the more in strength, & confounded the Jews who dwelt in Damascus, proving that this Jesus is the Christ.”.....“And when Saul had come to Jerusalem, he tried to join the disciples; but they were all afraid of him, & did not believe that he was a disciple. But Barnabas took him & brought him to the apostles. And he declared to them how he had seen the Lord on the road, & that He had spoken to him, & how he had preached boldly at Damascus in the name of Jesus.”
Rahab the harlot & her father’s household & all she had, Joshua spared; & she lived in the midst of Israel “to this day”(till the time of the completion of the book of Joshua), for the simple reason that she by faith, hid the messengers whom Joshua sent to spy out Jericho.
You have a dependency upon others of like faith...
Likewise, others have a dependency upon YOUR relationship to the Lord...
And our faith is directly tied to a personal dependency upon God.
Argumentation:
2Cor. 5:17-19— “Therefore if any man is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come. Now all these things are from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ, & gave us the ministry of reconciliation, namely, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, & He has committed to us the word of reconciliation.”
Isa. 31:1—“Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help, And rely on horses, Who trust in chariots because they are many, And in horsemen because they are very strong, But who do not look to the Holy One of Israel, Nor seek the LORD!”
Isa. 30:1-3; 36:6—“Woe to the rebellious children,” says the LORD, “Who take counsel, but not of Me, And who devise plans, but not of My Spirit, That they may add sin to sin; Who walk to go down to Egypt, And have not asked My advice, To strengthen themselves in the strength of Pharaoh, And to trust in the shadow of Egypt! Therefore the strength of Pharaoh Shall be your shame, And trust in the shadow of Egypt Shall be your humiliation.”.....““Look! You are trusting in the staff of this broken reed, Egypt, on which if a man leans, it will go into his hand & pierce it. So is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all who trust in him.”
Ps. 20:7—“Some trust in chariots, & some in horses; But we will remember the name of the LORD our God.”
If there is a god whose name “we” have chosen not to remember, then our lack of remembrance is a telling witness to all that the god who is associated with that name is useless to us!
Ps. 33:16-22—“No king is saved by the multitude of an army; A mighty man is not delivered by great strength. A horse is a vain hope for safety; Neither shall it deliver any by its great strength. Behold, the eye of the LORD is on those who fear Him, On those who hope in His mercy, To deliver their soul from death, And to keep them alive in famine. Our soul waits for the LORD; He is our help & our shield. For our heart shall rejoice in Him, Because we have trusted in His holy name. Let Your mercy, O LORD, be upon us, Just as we hope in You.”
Php. 3:2-14—“Beware of dogs, beware of evil workers, beware of the mutilation! For we are the circumcision, who worship God in the Spirit, rejoice in Christ Jesus, & have no confidence in the flesh, though I also might have confidence in the flesh. If anyone else thinks he may have confidence in the flesh, I more so: circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of the Hebrews; concerning the law, a Pharisee; concerning zeal, persecuting the church; concerning the righteousness which is in the law, blameless. But what things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ. Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, & count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ & be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith; that I may know Him & the power of His resurrection, & the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death, if, by any means, I may attain to the resurrection from the dead. Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me. Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind & reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.”
Ps. 123:1-2—A Song of Ascents.— “Unto You I lift up my eyes, O You who dwell in the heavens. Behold, as the eyes of servants look to the hand of their masters, As the eyes of a maid to the hand of her mistress, So our eyes look to the LORD our God, Until He has mercy on us.”
Micah 7:2-8—“The faithful man has perished from the earth, And there is no one upright among men. They all lie in wait for blood; Every man hunts his brother with a net. That they may successfully do evil with both hands--The prince asks for gifts, The judge seeks a bribe, And the great man utters his evil desire; So they scheme together. The best of them is like a brier; The most upright is sharper than a thorn hedge; The day of your watchman & your punishment comes; Now shall be their perplexity. Do not trust in a friend; Do not put your confidence in a companion; Guard the doors of your mouth From her who lies in your bosom. For son dishonors father, Daughter rises against her mother, Daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; A man’s enemies are the men of his own household. Therefore I will look to the LORD; I will wait for the God of my salvation; My God will hear me. Do not rejoice over me, my enemy; When I fall, I will arise; When I sit in darkness, The LORD will be a light to me.”
Look to the Lord!
Illustration:
Cats impatiently waiting for their food/We have discovered that when I feed the cats at night, they let us sleep in/Every evening, not long after it gets dark outside, Cheerwine(one of our cats) will start meowing & rubbing against my leg jumping in my lap & swishing her tail in my face/That means she is hungry & wants me to feed her/I feed both of them after 10:00pm so for a couple hours I tell her, ‘You have to wait!’ & ‘It’s not time yet!”/If we feed them in the morning, they will awaken us way earlier than we prefer/The physical & emotional(?) life they live is dependent upon their owner/If they are not given their necessities, they will not be devoted to the owner & either find another owner or go feral/
*People are vastly more than pets to God/People actually ‘love’ God! & they are dependent upon Him for their home, confidence, ability, future, etc./DEPENDENCY
Do you know who else expresses a Dependency?--Children/They are loved & instructed by all that is connected thru my-your-our lifestyle in relation to them/DEPENDENCY
?What has the greater sway in others lives?...What about you will direct others toward faithfully developing a true dependency upon God?/DEPENDENCY
Application:
?Does your Dedicating/Dedication flow from DEPENDENCY upon God?
?Where does your overall DEPENDENCY lie?
?By & For Whom, do you do what you do?...?Yourself or the Savior?
CONCLUSION:
Action:
Dedicating you & your world to the Lord recalls/demands...
2. DEPENDENCY(:17b, 22-23, 25)
1. OWNERSHIP(:17a)
Pt.#2 only! Presented 01/20/2019pm 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
