Consecrate yourselves and the temple
"Hear me, Levites! Now sanctify yourselves, sanctify the house of the Lord God of your fathers, and carry out the rubbish from the holy place." (2 Chronicles 29:5)
According to the Miriam-Webster dictionary, the definition of consecrate is to set apart for a special and often higher end. In the Bible, the word consecration means "separation of oneself from things that are unclean, especially anything that would contaminate one's relationship with a perfect God".
Both definitions link the act of consecration to being set apart from the norm for a higher purpose/being/calling i.e. "higher end", "Perfect God". I remember when I was growing up, we used to have a storage cabinet in the kitchen where my mum stored special utensils set apart from the rest that were only to be used when we had very special guests. (They ended up gathering dust because they were rarely used, ha!).
The act of consecration is normally in two parts. The first is a loving, merciful and favourable act of God, where He does the initial consecration and a great example of this is in Jeremiah 1:4-5, "The word of the Lord came to me, saying, 'Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart.'" This aspect is also seen in this passage in (V11), where Hezekiah admonishes the children of Israel, "My sons, do not be negligent now, for the Lord has chosen you to stand before him and serve him, to minister before him and to burn incense." (This follows the Miriam-Webster Dictionary definition & my mum's example of being set apart.)
The second part is what our human response should be i.e. an act of worship unto the Lord in recognition of what he has done above, which follows the biblical definition of consecration mentioned earlier i.e. "separation of oneself from things that are unclean, especially anything that would contaminate one's relationship with a perfect God." In 2 Chronicles 29 :6-7, we see the realisation by Hezekiah that the children of Israel's response to God's act of mercy, love and favour had been wrong.
And his response to this was to correct the wrong from the onset of his reign (V3).
"In the first month of the first year of his reign, he opened the doors of the temple of the Lord and repaired them. He brought in the priests and the Levites, assembled them in the square on the east side and said: Listen to me, Levites! Consecrate yourselves now and consecrate the temple of the Lord, the God of your ancestors. Remove all defilement from the sanctuary."
And due to his response, service to the Lord was re-established in the temple (V35) & he had a good testimony before the Lord (V2).
During this fasting period let's take time to remind ourselves of God's love, mercy and favour in setting us apart for himself. Let us also take time to re-evaluate what our response to him has been and, just like Hezekiah, be swift with the help of the Holy Spirit to make the necessary amends as we consecrate ourselves for him.
- Andrew Mumo
According to the Miriam-Webster dictionary, the definition of consecrate is to set apart for a special and often higher end. In the Bible, the word consecration means "separation of oneself from things that are unclean, especially anything that would contaminate one's relationship with a perfect God".
Both definitions link the act of consecration to being set apart from the norm for a higher purpose/being/calling i.e. "higher end", "Perfect God". I remember when I was growing up, we used to have a storage cabinet in the kitchen where my mum stored special utensils set apart from the rest that were only to be used when we had very special guests. (They ended up gathering dust because they were rarely used, ha!).
The act of consecration is normally in two parts. The first is a loving, merciful and favourable act of God, where He does the initial consecration and a great example of this is in Jeremiah 1:4-5, "The word of the Lord came to me, saying, 'Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart.'" This aspect is also seen in this passage in (V11), where Hezekiah admonishes the children of Israel, "My sons, do not be negligent now, for the Lord has chosen you to stand before him and serve him, to minister before him and to burn incense." (This follows the Miriam-Webster Dictionary definition & my mum's example of being set apart.)
The second part is what our human response should be i.e. an act of worship unto the Lord in recognition of what he has done above, which follows the biblical definition of consecration mentioned earlier i.e. "separation of oneself from things that are unclean, especially anything that would contaminate one's relationship with a perfect God." In 2 Chronicles 29 :6-7, we see the realisation by Hezekiah that the children of Israel's response to God's act of mercy, love and favour had been wrong.
And his response to this was to correct the wrong from the onset of his reign (V3).
"In the first month of the first year of his reign, he opened the doors of the temple of the Lord and repaired them. He brought in the priests and the Levites, assembled them in the square on the east side and said: Listen to me, Levites! Consecrate yourselves now and consecrate the temple of the Lord, the God of your ancestors. Remove all defilement from the sanctuary."
And due to his response, service to the Lord was re-established in the temple (V35) & he had a good testimony before the Lord (V2).
During this fasting period let's take time to remind ourselves of God's love, mercy and favour in setting us apart for himself. Let us also take time to re-evaluate what our response to him has been and, just like Hezekiah, be swift with the help of the Holy Spirit to make the necessary amends as we consecrate ourselves for him.
- Andrew Mumo
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