11-5-06 Baby Dedication

11-5-06 Baby dedication

This week we are going to take a small break from Acts and talk about Baby dedications.

What is a baby dedication, or many people would say a baby consecration.

Well lets define some words according to Webster’s Dict.

con•se•crate           : dedicated to a sacred purpose

ded•i•ca•tion   1: an act or rite of dedicating to a divine being or to a sacred use                   2: a devoting or setting aside for a particular purpose

We are dedicating or consecrating babies or children unto God, for His glory and honor.  As they grow they will seek Him and commit their own lives to Jesus Christ.

How did this all get started?

Well The Israelites had just come out of Egypt, and God told them to Consecrate the first born. This was to be done to remember the last plague used to persuade the Pharaoh to let God’s people GO.

Ref Ex chap 13. For this topic Ex 13: 1-2 & 12-16

EX 13   1The Lord said to Moses, 2 “Consecrate to me every firstborn male. The first offspring of every womb among the Israelites belongs to me, whether man or animal.”

12 you are to give over to the Lord the first offspring of every womb. All the firstborn males of your livestock belong to the Lord. 13 Redeem with a lamb every firstborn donkey, but if you do not redeem it, break its neck. Redeem every firstborn among your sons. 14 “In days to come, when your son asks you, ‘What does this mean?’ say to him, ‘With a mighty hand the Lord brought us out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. 15 When Pharaoh stubbornly refused to let us go, the Lord killed every firstborn in Egypt, both man and animal. This is why I sacrifice to the Lord the first male offspring of every womb and redeem each of my firstborn sons.’ 16 And it will be like a sign on your hand and a symbol on your forehead that the Lord brought us out of Egypt with his mighty hand.”

Also Ref Num 3:11-13 

How was it done?

Well this was a pretty big process that coincided with birth.

Lev 12: 6-8  6 “ ‘When the days of her purification for a son or daughter are over, she is to bring to the priest at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting a year-old lamb for a burnt offering and a young pigeon or a dove for a sin offering. 7 He shall offer them before the Lord to make atonement for her, and then she will be ceremonially clean from her flow of blood. “ ‘These are the regulations for the woman who gives birth to a boy or a girl. 8 If she cannot afford a lamb, she is to bring two doves or two young pigeons, one for a burnt offering and the other for a sin offering. In this way the priest will make atonement for her, and she will be clean.’ ”

Wow aren’t we lucky now, especially you woman?

Examples for us to follow;

Hannah Dedicates Samuel 

1Sam 1:21-28     21 When the man Elkanah went up with all his family to offer the annual sacrifice to the Lord and to fulfill his vow, 22 Hannah did not go. She said to her husband, “After the boy is weaned, I will take him and present him before the Lord, and he will live there always.” 23 “Do what seems best to you,” Elkanah her husband told her. “Stay here until you have weaned him; only may the Lord make good hisa word.” So the woman stayed at home and nursed her son until she had weaned him. 24 After he was weaned, she took the boy with her, young as he was, along with a three-year-old bull,b an ephahc of flour and a skin of wine, and brought him to the house of the Lord at Shiloh. 25 When they had slaughtered the bull, they brought the boy to Eli, 26 and she said to him, “As surely as you live, my lord, I am the woman who stood here beside you praying to the Lord. 27 I prayed for this child, and the Lord has granted me what I asked of him. 28 So now I give him to the Lord. For his whole life he will be given over to the Lord.” And he worshiped the Lord there.

Also the parents of Jesus brought Him to the temple to be consecrated and dedicated to God His Father.

Lk 2:21-24   21 On the eighth day, when it was time to circumcise him, he was named Jesus, the name the angel had given him before he had been conceived. 22 When the time of their purification according to the Law of Moses had been completed, Joseph and Mary took him to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord 23 (as it is written in the Law of the Lord, “Every firstborn male is to be consecrated to the Lord”), 24 and to offer a sacrifice in keeping with what is said in the Law of the Lord: “a pair of doves or two young pigeons.”  

Back to definition;

ded•i•ca•tion   1: an act or rite of dedicating to a divine being or to a sacred use                   2: a devoting or setting aside for a particular purpose  

We are here today to set apart these two babies for the purpose of dedicating their lives to Christ. Lets get started.

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