Dedicated: Exploring a Life of Commitment to the Creator

1. Dedicated Exploring a Life of Commitment to the Creator El

2. Topics covered Definition of “Dedicated” Love Yahuwah with All Abraham was Dedicated – Yahusha’s call to dedication Joshua’s Declaration of Dedication A Vow of Dedication -Nazir Dedication of temple, house Dedication of child, circumcision, Jeremiah Feast of Dedication - Hanukkah – What did Yahusha teach on this Occasion? Faith/Faithfulness as a Dedicated Way of Life

3. What is Dedication? At least five Hebrew words are used in Scripture with the meaning of Dedication: Ahav, Nazar, Hanak, Qadash, Emunah. (of a person) devoted to a task or purpose; having single-minded loyalty or integrity. (of a thing) exclusively allocated to or intended for a particular service or purpose.

4. Ahav/Love as Dedication This is the word that is used of the love Elohim has for his people and the love that is commanded of us toward Him. But also, ahabfrequently describes love between human beings. The love of father for son is exemplified by Abraham and Isaac (Gen 22:2, yachid) and Israel and Joseph (Gen 37:3). A slave might "love" his master and wish to identure himself to him for the rest of his Life (Exo 21:8). This is the word used in the rule "love your neighbor as yourself" (Lev 19:18). "Love" of the stranger is also incumbent on the faithful (Deut 10:19). Samson had apparently told Delilah that he "loved" her (Jud 14:16; Jud 16:15). Ruth "loved" Naomi her mother-in-law (Ruth 4:15), Elkanah "loved" his wife Hannah (1Sam 1:5), and Rebekah "loved" her son Jacob (Gen 25:28). Hiram's "love" for David illustrates international friendship or irenic polities between the two (1Kings 5:1). Notice that nowhere is the love of children toward parents mentioned. Rather, they are to honor, revere, and obey.

5. Our Dedication to the Almighty 4Hear, Yisrael,Yahuwah our Elohim, Yahuwah is one. 5You shall love Yahuwah your Elohim with all your heartand with all your souland with all your strength. (Devarim [Deuteronomy] 6) Levav- Heart, understanding, mind, the seat of consciousness Nephesh - Life, soul, creature, person, appetite, emotion Me-od - Exceedingly, much, force, abundance, effort, fervency

6. How committed must you be to love Yahuwah your Elohim with all your mind, with all your being and with all your strength? Doesn’t that just mean that there is none that you are more or equally committed to? What are your priorities? Who or what is Elohim in your life? With every decision or choice you make, what is your first consideration?

7. Loving Yahuwah your Elohim How does the Bible define and explain what loving Elohim looks like? Read on in Devarim 6… 6 These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your mind. 7Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. 8Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. 9 Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.

8. How to Love Yahuwah your Elohim 6 "I am Yahuwah your Elohim, who brought you out of Mitzrayim, out of the land of slavery. 7"You shall have no other gods before (besides, on or against my face) me. 8"You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. 9You shall not bow down to them. You shall not worship them. For I, Yahuwah your Elohim, am a jealous El, punishing (taking action on) the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, 10but showing love to a thousand [generations] of those who love me and keep my commandments. (Devarim 5)

9. How to Love Yahuwah your Elohim And he passed in front of Mosheh, proclaiming, "Yahuwah, Yahuwah, the compassionate and gracious Elohim, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children and their children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation.“ (Shemot 34:6-7)

10. How to Love Yahuwah your Elohim Know therefore that Yahuwah your Elohim is Elohim; he is the faithful Elohim, keeping his covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love him and keep his commands. But those who hate him he will repay to their face by destruction; he will not be slow to repay to their face those who hate him. Therefore, take care to follow the commands, decrees and laws I give you today. If you pay attention to these laws and are careful to follow them, then Yahuwah your Elohim will keep his covenant of love with you, as he swore to your forefathers. (Devarim 7: 9-12)

11. How to Love Yahuwah your Elohim I obey your statutes, for I love them greatly.(Psalm 119:167) This is love for Elohim: to obey his commands. And his commands are not burdensome (1 John 5:3)

12. Yahusha’s “Formula” in 4th Gospel 14 15 "If you love me, you will obey what I command. 21Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him." 22Then Yehudah (not Yehudah Iscariot) said, "But, Master, why do you intend to show yourself to us and not to the world?" 23Yahusha replied, "If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. 24He who does not love me will not obey my teaching. These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me. 15:10If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father's commands and remain in his love.

13. Abraham was Dedicated Yahuwah had said to Avram, "Leave your country, your people and your father's household and go to the land I will show you. "I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you." So Avram left, as Yahuwah had told him; and Lot went with him. Avram was seventy-five years old when he set out from Haran. (Bereisheet [Genesis] 12:1-4)

14. Messiah Yahusha Taught This Kind of Dedication "Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to turn "'a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law-- a man's enemies will be the members of his own household.' "Anyone who loves his father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves his son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; and anyone who does not pull up his stake and follow me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. (Matthew 10:34-39)

15. Reward For Making the Right Choices Kepha answered him, "We have left everything to follow you! What then will there be for us?" Yahusha said to them, "I tell you the truth, at the renewal of all things, when the Son of Man sits on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Yisrael. And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or fields for my sake will receive a hundred times as much and will inherit eternal life. But many who are first will be last, and many who are last will be first. (Matthew 19:27-30)

16. What would you be willing to give up or let go to serve Yahuwah? Would you be willing to leave father, leave mother, leave brother, sister, aunt, uncle, even your own children for the sake of Messiah? Would you give up the family traditions of Christmas, Easter, Halloween? Would you give up a favorite hobby, favorite sporting events, any favorite recreational activity?

17. Joshua’s Declaration of Dedication 14"Now fear Yahuwah and serve him with all faithfulness. Throw away the gods your forefathers worshiped beyond the River and in Mitzrayim, and serve Yahuwah. 15But if serving Yahuwah seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your forefathers served beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve Yahuwah." 16Then the people answered, "Far be it from us to forsake Yahuwah to serve other gods! (Joshua 24)

18. Nazar\Nazir\Nazirite as a Dedication The basic meaning of nazaris to separate. When the word occurs in the Niphal with the preposition min(from) it has the meaning "keep one self away from." The verb is used in the sense of separation in Lev 22:2 where Aaron and his sons were commanded through Moses to keep away from the holy offerings that were presented to the Lord. These were portions of the sacrifices which were set aside for the use of the priests. But they could not use them as long as they were ritually unclean (v. 3). The word is used in the same construction in the sense of separating from idols (Ezek 14:7). It bears the meaning "abstain from" when used with min(from) in the Hiphil in Num 6:3 where it occurs in connection with the Nazirite vow of abstinence. The idea of separation is inherent in the use of the word without min in Lev 15:31 where the Israelites were to be separated from uncleanness incurred as a result of certain physical discharges.

19. A Nazir Vow – Vow of Separation/Dedication (Bamidbar [Numbers] 6) Yahuwah said to Mosheh, "Speak to the sons of Yisrael and say to them: 'If a man or woman does the difficult thing of vowing a vow of dedication to dedicate oneself to Yahuwah, [al'P'] (pala’) vb. denom. Niph. etc., be surpassing, extraordinary. 1. do a hard or difficult thing,make a hard vowNu 6:2. 2. make wonderful, do wondrously. ryzIn"(nazir) n.m.:Gn 49, 26 one consecrated, devoted, dedicated

20. A Nazir Vow – Vow of Separation/Dedication (Bamidbar [Numbers] 6:2-3) he must abstain from wine and other fermented drink and must not drink vinegar made from wine or from other fermented drink. He must not drink grape juice or eat grapes or raisins. As long as he is a Nazirite, he must not eat anything that comes from the grapevine, not even the seeds or skins.

21. 5 "'During the entire period of his vow of separation no razor may be used on his head. He must be holy until the period of his separation to Yahuwah is over; he must let the hair of his head grow long. 6Throughout the period of his separation to Yahuwah he must not go near a dead body. 7Even if his own father or mother or brother or sister dies, he must not make himself unclean on account of them, because the symbol of his separation to Elohim is on his head. 8Throughout the period of his separation he is consecrated (dedicated) to Yahuwah. (cf high priest, Leviticus 21)

22. 9"'If someone dies suddenly in his presence, thus defiling the hair he has dedicated, he must shave his head on the day of his cleansing-- the seventh day. 10Then on the eighth day he must bring two doves or two young pigeons to the priest at the entrance to the Tent of Appointment. 11The priest is to offer one as a sin offering and the other as a burnt offering to make atonement for him because he sinned by being in the presence of the dead body. That same day he is to consecrate his head. 12He must dedicate himself to Yahuwah for the period of his separation and must bring a year-old male lamb as a guilt offering. The previous days do not count, because he became defiled during his separation.

23. 13 "'Now this is the law for the Nazirite when the period of his separation is over. He is to be brought to the entrance to the Tent of Appointment. 14There he is to present his offerings to Yahuwah: a year-old male lamb without defect for a burnt offering, a year-old ewe lamb without defect for a sin offering, a ram without defect for a fellowship offering, 15together with their grain offerings and drink offerings, and a basket of bread made without yeast-- cakes made of fine flour mixed with oil, and wafers spread with oil.

24. 16 "'The priest is to present them before Yahuwah and make the sin offering and the burnt offering. 17He is to present the basket of unleavened bread and is to sacrifice the ram as a fellowship offering to Yahuwah, together with its grain offering and drink offering. 18"'Then at the entrance to the Tent of Appointment, the Nazirite must shave off the hair that he dedicated. He is to take the hair and put it in the fire that is under the sacrifice of the fellowship offering. 19"'After the Nazirite has shaved off the hair of his dedication, the priest is to place in his hands a boiled shoulder of the ram, and a cake and a wafer from the basket, both made without yeast.

25. 20 The priest shall then wave them before Yahuwah as a wave offering; they are holy and belong to the priest, together with the breast that was waved and the thigh that was presented. After that, the Nazirite may drink wine. 21"'This is the law of the Nazirite who vows his offering to Yahuwah in accordance with his separation, in addition to whatever else he can afford. He must fulfill the vow he has made, according to the law of the Nazirite.'"

26. Shimshon (Samson) the Nazirite (Dedicated) A certain man of Zorah, named Manoah, from the clan of the Danites, had a wife who was sterile and remained childless. 3The angel of Yahuwah appeared to her and said, "You are sterile and childless, but you are going to conceive and have a son. 4Now see to it that you drink no wine or other fermented drink and that you do not eat anything unclean, 5because you will conceive and give birth to a son. No razor may be used on his head, because the boy is to be a Nazirite, set apart to Elohim from birth, and he will begin the deliverance of Yisrael from the hands of the Philistines.“ (Judges 13)

27. Shimshon (Samson) the Nazirite (Dedicated) 6 Then the woman went to her husband and told him, "A man of Elohim came to me. He looked like an angel of Elohim, very awesome. I didn't ask him where he came from, and he didn't tell me his name. 7But he said to me, 'You will conceive and give birth to a son. Now then, drink no wine or other fermented drink and do not eat anything unclean, because the boy will be a Nazirite of Elohim from birth until the day of his death.'"

28. Chanak/Chanakah as a Dedication Hebrew %n:x' ((chanak) vb. train up, dedicate -- 1. train, train up a (the) youth. 2. dedicate, of formal opening of a new house; dedicate, consecrate temple; of midwife rub palate of new-born child with oil, etc., before it begins to suck From chak the mouth or palate

29. Train Up a Child Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it. (Proverbs 22:6) Rubbing the palate of a newborn is just the beginning of training a child. Parents responsibility of raising their children.

30. Dedicating Your Child The Case of Vaccinations The Case of TV as a Babysitter The Case of Santa Claus or any Christmessy Thing The Case of Fear and Anxiety, Unbelief, Course Jesting, Sarcasm, “Soft” Porn, Anger, Rejection, etc. Whatever you impose on your child, whatever you expose to your child, whatever you teach your child and whatever you model before your child is the thing you are dedicating your child to.

31. Circumcision as a Biblical Dedication This is my covenant with you and your descendants after you, the covenant you are to keep: Every male among you shall be circumcised. You are to undergo circumcision, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and you. For the generations to come every male among you who is eight days old must be circumcised, including those born in your household or bought with money from a foreigner-- those who are not your offspring. Whether born in your household or bought with your money, they must be circumcised. My covenant in your flesh is to be an everlasting covenant. (Bereisheet [Genesis] 17:10-13)

32. Shemuel’s Dedication Elkanah and Hannah 24After he was weaned, she took the boy with her, young as he was, along with a three-year-old bull, an ephah of flour and a skin of wine, and brought him to the house of Yahuwah at Shiloh. 25When they had slaughtered the bull, they brought the boy to Eli, 26and she said to him, "As surely as you live, my master, I am the woman who stood here beside you praying to Yahuwah. 27I prayed for this child, and Yahuwah has granted me what I asked of him. 28So now I give him to Yahuwah. For his whole life he will be given over to Yahuwah." And he worshiped Yahuwah there. (1 Samuel 1)

33. Hanukah the Feast of Dedication Chanok – “Enoch” Chanukah - hK'nUx] n.f. dedication, consecration; dedication of wall of Jerusalem. by sacrifices and processions, with music; of altar in temple; of 'the house', i.e. the temple (re-dedication by Judas Maccab.)

34. Hanukkah / the Feast of Dedication (1 Maccabees 4) 41 Then Yehudah detailed men to fight against those in the citadel until he had cleansed the sanctuary. 42He chose blameless priests devoted to the law, 43and they cleansed the sanctuary and removed the defiled stones to an unclean place. 44They deliberated what to do about the altar of burnt offering, which had been profaned. 45And they thought it best to tear it down, so that it would not be a lasting shame to them that the Gentiles had defiled it. So they tore down the altar, 46and stored the stones in a convenient place on the temple hill until a prophet should come to tell what to do with them. 47Then they took unhewn stones, as the law directs, and built a new altar like the former one. 48They also rebuilt the sanctuary and the interior of the temple, and consecrated the courts.

35. Hanukkah the Feast of Dedication 49 They made new set-apart vessels, and brought the menorah, the altar of incense, and the table into the temple. 50Then they offered incense on the altar and lit the lamps on the menorah, and these gave light in the temple. 51They placed the bread on the table and hung up the curtains. Thus they finished all the work they had undertaken. 52Early in the morning on the twenty-fifth day of the ninth month, which is the month of Chislev, in the one hundred forty-eighth year, 53they rose and offered sacrifice, as the law directs, on the new altar of burnt offering that they had built. 54At the very season and on the very day that the Gentiles had profaned it, it was dedicated with songs and harps and lutes and cymbals. 55All the people fell on their faces and worshiped and blessed Heaven, who had prospered them. 56So they celebrated the dedication of the altar for eight days, and joyfully offered burnt offerings; they offered a sacrifice of well-being and a thanksgiving offering.

36. Yahusha’s Teaching at the Feast of Dedication Then came the Feast of Dedication at Yerushalayim. It was winter, and Yahusha was in the temple area walking in Shlomoh's Colonnade. The Yehudim gathered around him, saying, "How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Messiah, tell us plainly." Yahusha answered, "I did tell you, but you do not believe. The miracles I do in my Father's name speak for me, but you do not believe because you are not my sheep. My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father's hand. I and the Father are one.“ (4th Gospel 10:22-30)

37. Yahusha’s Teaching at the Feast of Dedication (cont.) Again the Yehudim picked up stones to stone him, but Yahusha said to them, "I have shown you many great miracles from the Father. For which of these do you stone me?" "We are not stoning you for any of these," replied the Yehudim, "but for blasphemy, because you, a mere man, claim to be Elohim." Yahushaanswered them, "Is it not written in your Law, 'I have said you are gods'? If he called them 'gods,' to whom the word of Elohim came-- and the Scripture cannot be broken-- what about the one whom the Father set apart as his very own and sent into the world? Why then do you accuse me of blasphemy because I said, 'I am Elohim's Son'? Do not believe me unless I do what my Father does. But if I do it, even though you do not believe me, believe the miracles, that you may know and understand that the Father is in me, and I in the Father." Again they tried to seize him, but he escaped their grasp. (4th Gospel 10:31-39)

38. Qadash/Holy as Dedication Qadashqodeshqadoshmiqdash – holy, separated, set apart For a special, exclusive purpose

39. The Dedication of the Alter When Mosheh finished setting up the tabernacle, he anointed it and consecrated (kadash) it and all its furnishings. He also anointed and consecrated (kadash) the altar and all its utensils. 2Then the leaders of Yisrael, the heads of families who were the tribal leaders in charge of those who were counted, made offerings. 3They brought as their gifts before Yahuwah six covered carts and twelve oxen-- an ox from each leader and a cart from every two. These they presented before the tabernacle. Numbers 7:1-3

40. The Dedication of a House, Land, Field Leviticus 27 14 "'If a man dedicates his house as something holy to Yahuwah, the priest will judge its quality as good or bad. Whatever value the priest then sets, so it will remain. 15If the man who dedicates his house redeems it, he must add a fifth to its value, and the house will again become his. 16"'If a man dedicates to Yahuwah part of his family land, its value is to be set according to the amount of seed required for it-- fifty shekels of silver to a homer of barley seed. 17If he dedicates his field during the Year of Yovel, the value that has been set remains. 18But if he dedicates his field after the Yovel, the priest will determine the value according to the number of years that remain until the next Year of Yovel, and its set value will be reduced. 19If the man who dedicates the field wishes to redeem it, he must add a fifth to its value, and the field will again become his.

41. The Dedication (more) Leviticus 27 20If, however, he does not redeem the field, or if he has sold it to someone else, it can never be redeemed. 21When the field is released in the Yovel, it will become holy, like a field devoted to Yahuwah; it will become the property of the priests. 22"'If a man dedicates to Yahuwah a field he has bought, which is not part of his family land, 23the priest will determine its value up to the Year of Yovel, and the man must pay its value on that day as something holy to Yahuwah. 24In the Year of Yovel the field will revert to the person from whom he bought it, the one whose land it was. 25Every value is to be set according to the sanctuary shekel, twenty gerahs to the shekel. 26"'No one, however, may dedicate the firstborn of an animal, since the firstborn already belongs to Yahuwah; whether an ox or a sheep, it is Yahuwah's.

42. Jeremiah was Dedicated as a Child (1:4-10) The word of Yahuwah came to me, saying, "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations." "Ah, Adonai Yahuwah," I said, "I do not know how to speak; I am only a child." But Yahuwah said to me, "Do not say, 'I am only a child.' You must go to everyone I send you to and say whatever I command you. Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you and will rescue you," declares Yahuwah. Then Yahuwah reached out his hand and touched my mouth and said to me, "Now, I have put my words in your mouth. See, today I appoint you over nations and kingdoms to uproot and tear down, to destroy and overthrow, to build and to plant."

43. Emunah/Faith/Faithfulness as Dedication hn"Wma/,  pronounced e-mu-nah The Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament defines this word as "firmness, fidelity, steadiness."  The BDB Hebrew Lexicon defines it as "firmness, steadfastness, fidelity."  And the Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon of the Old Testament says, "steadfastness, trustworthiness, faithfulness, honesty, permanent official duty."

44. Elohim is Faithful Would we render the word emunah as faith when we speak of the character of Elohim? What would that look like? What exactly does Elohim have to believe in order to have faith? The demons… (James) So emunah does not mean faith in the Greek sense of what is in the mind. It means faithful or steadfast, always firm and unchanging. Loyal.

45. The Just Shall Live By Faith Habakkuk 2:4 hy<)x.yIAtðn"Wma/B, qyDIÞc;w> ~O de. di,kaiojevkpi,stewjzh,setaiÅ (Romans 1:17) “The righteous one by faithfulness shall live.” Hebrew emunah here translated “faithfulness” or “faith”

46. Faith/Faithfulness is an Action Word Emunahis not mere mental assent to a thing or believing that something exists.  It does not mean "to agree in mind only."  It is not wishing something or "believing" it is so. Emunahis an action word.  It embodies the doing of a thing.  It suggests complete steadfast obedience and fidelity to this thing "believed" in. Emunah is a word of substance. It does not refer to the thoughts of the mind, but to the actions performed by the person.

47. Faithfulness is Covenant Loyalty Then Mosheh went up to Elohim, and Yahuwah called to him from the mountain and said, "This is what you are to say to the house of Ya'acov and what you are to tell the people of Yisrael: 'You yourselves have seen what I did to Mitzrayim, and how I carried you on eagles' wings and brought you to myself. Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession. Although the whole earth is mine, you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.' These are the words you are to speak to the sons of Yisrael.“ (Exodus 19:3-6)

48. A Biblical Understanding of Faith/Faithfulness Our “faith” is not what we believe. Faith is a dedication to the Almighty to do what he commands us. Faith is faithfulness to perform what we have agreed to do in the covenant he has established. Elohim has stipulated how we can have relationship with him and how we can receive eternal life. When we keep our part in the agreement, we reap the benefits of that covenant. And Elohim will be faithful to perform what he has promised. Thus, faithfulness is an expression of Dedication

49. Summary Dedication is about being wholly, completely and immovably committed to a course of action. When we are dedicated to Yahuwah, we will be fully compliant with his will, including his commands and instructions about how we will live.