Q2. Consecration

[Irmela]

Q2. (Joshua 3:5)

Why did the Israelites need to consecrate themselves?

God was going to do a great work among them and so they were to separate themselves for this. It was to get themselves prepared spiritually. They were to prepare themselves for a manifestation of the God of all the earth.  

What might this entail?

At Mt Sinai they were given instructions to wash their clothes (possibly also ensure that they themselves were clean) and then also abstain from sexual intimacy so they would be ceremonially clean. 

In what ways do you personally need to reconsecrate yourself? 

You dedicate / give yourself to God.  Separate or stay away from defiling sin.

What would this require of you?   What would your congregation need to do to reconsecrate itself?

Spend time specifically before the Lord and ask Him to reveal anything that is separating me / us from a closer walk with Him and then to sort it out so that I /we am / are one with Him. In fact this should be a way of life of a child of God.  It should be done . How else do we cleanse ourselves.  How do we get to live  the life He expects.  "Be ye holy, for I am holy".

[Krissi]

I don’t consecrate myself before major undertakings or changes in direction, but perhaps I should. This makes me think …

The Israelites were about to have their lives upended forever – they were entering the promised land … finally. Thus, God wanted them to be spiritually attuned and ready for this event. Though I don’t see how clean clothes and no sex purifies them, perhaps in their mind and culture, cleanliness on the outside indicted holiness on the inside. I recall Moses being asked to remove his shoes when on “holy ground” – standing in the hot, rocky desert was what God wanted. Muslims remove their shoes in their temples today.

In other Christian traditions and in an earlier time in Western Christianity, monks and priests lived an “aesthetic” life. Life, itself, was to be consecrated by giving up or abstaining that which give them pleasure. They ate very little. Slept infrequently. Had hours-long prayers. They owned nothing and seemed to want for nothing. They didn’t marry and weren’t supposed to have sex. The idea was self-denial in order to concentrate on God in an undistracted manner. Other religions emphasize asceticism as well.

In the New Testament, John the Baptist wore rough clothes and ate weird food as a part of his prophetic calling. Many of the prophets of the OT, too, had similar aesthetic lifestyles. There must be some sort of logical connection between getting close to God in a mystical way and self-denial, though I can’t explain it.

I tend to think that Western Christianity has moved beyond acts of consecration and aestheticism. I tend to think, therefore, that the symbolic acts of faith don’t matter as long as the heart is correct before Him. But, historically, this has not been the case: outward acts have symbolized or somehow suggested holy consecration. Wearing hats or covering a woman’s hair comes to mind. It’s not a sin to NOT cover/cut hair, but is there some value in doing these acts? I think the point of aestheticism is to overcome the base desires and replace them with higher ones. I’m writing myself into circles, here. Sorry.