Monday, November 16, 2015
Blessings And Dedications
Bible Questions Answered:
“Pastor, I saw on a film, a priest
blessed a newly purchased house because its occupants believed it to
be evil. Is this teachings from the bible, my wife thinks yes, and I
am not sure...”
Ondrei/ Sydney, Australia New South
Wales
Bible Answer:
Bible Texts:
Leviticus 27:9-29 MSG
9-13 “If
he vowed an animal that is acceptable as an offering
to God, the animal is given to God and becomes the
property of the Sanctuary. He must not exchange or substitute a good
one for a bad one, or a bad one for a good one; if he should
dishonestly substitute one animal for another, both the original and
the substitute become property of the Sanctuary. If what he vowed is
a ritually unclean animal, one that is not acceptable as an offering
to God, the animal must be shown to the priest, who will set its
value, either high or low. Whatever the priest sets will be its
value. If the owner changes his mind and wants to redeem it, he must
add twenty percent to its value.
14-15 “If
a man dedicates
(Sanctify*-
KJV)
his house
to God, into the possession of the Sanctuary, the priest
assesses its value, setting it either high or low. Whatever value the
priest sets, that’s what it is. If the man wants to buy it back, he
must add twenty percent to its price and then it’s his again.
*Sanctify-Hebrew:
Qadash (Kaw-dash): To
consecrate, dedicate, hallow, keep holy, purify, sanctify.
16-21 “If
a man dedicates to God part of his family land,
its value is to be set according to the amount of seed that is needed
for it at the rate of fifty shekels of silver to six bushels of
barley seed. If he dedicates his field during the year of Jubilee,
the set value stays. But if he dedicates it after the Jubilee, the
priest will compute the value according to the years left until the
next Jubilee, reducing the value proportionately. If the one
dedicating it wants to buy it back, he must add twenty percent to its
valuation, and then it’s his again. But if he doesn’t redeem it
or sells the field to someone else, it can never be bought back. When
the field is released in the Jubilee, it becomes holy to God,
the possession of the Sanctuary, God’s field. It goes into the
hands of the priests.
22-25 “If
a man dedicates to God a field he has bought,
a field which is not part of the family land, the priest will compute
its proportionate value in relation to the next year of Jubilee. The
man must pay its value on the spot as something that is now holy
to God, belonging to the Sanctuary. In the year of Jubilee it
goes back to its original owner, the man from whom he bought it. The
valuations will be reckoned by the Sanctuary shekel, at twenty gerahs
to the shekel.
26-27 “No
one is allowed to dedicate the firstborn of an animal; the firstborn,
as firstborn, already belongs to God. No matter if it’s cattle
or sheep, it already belongs to God. If it’s one of the
ritually unclean animals, he can buy it back at its assessed value by
adding twenty percent to it. If he doesn’t redeem it, it is to be
sold at its assessed value.
28 “But
nothing that a man irrevocably devotes to God from what
belongs to him, whether human or animal or family land,
may be either sold or bought back. Everything devoted is holy to the
highest degree; it’s God’s inalienable property.
29 “No
human who has been devoted to destruction can be redeemed. He must be
put to death.
Leviticus
27:1,34 MSG
1 God spoke
to Moses: He said, “Speak to the People of Israel.
34 These are
the commandments that God gave to Moses on Mount Sinai for the
People of Israel.
Leviticus 27, are God's laws concerning vows (Dedications, and
their redemption.) regarding people, animals, houses and lands of
Israel.
Thee important thing to note here is that, yes houses and lands
could be “dedicated to The Lord,”
that is *Sanctify-Hebrew: Qadash (Kaw-dash): To
consecrate, dedicate, hallow, keep holy, purify, sanctify.
It is also interesting to note that our Lord instructed His disciples
to pronounce the following blessing over every house that they were
invited into.
Luke 10:5 KJV
And into
whatsoever house ye enter, first say, Peace be to this house.
May a house, etc, be prayed over, dedicated and blessed?
Yes!
What would happen, if every Christian would pause in their home and
at the vestibule of their church every Sunday, and with all of their
heart pray....”Peace be to this house.”