– Giving sacred character to someone or some object implies voting, dedicating, assigning that person or thing as God’s property.
Thus, today we speak of the consecration of a bishop, of a church, of a chalice with its paten.
– In the OT there are several passages that give examples of consecration.
– The people were consecrated to God, of which circumcision was a sign:
Judg 14,3 : You are barren, and you never had children, but you will conceive and give birth to a son.
– The Sabbath was consecrated to the Lord:
Ex 20,9-11 : But on the seventh day, which is a rest in honor of the Lord your God, you shall not do any work.
Deut 5:12 : You shall keep the Sabbath day and hallow it, as the Lord your God has commanded you.
– Ezekiel speaks of a wall that surrounded the temple and separated the sacred from the profane:
Ez 42,20 : He had thus measured the circuit of the wall, by the four sides: extension, five hundred cubits.
– The Levitical priests approached the altar of the Lord in consecrated garments:
Ez 44,17-19 : When passing through the gates of the inner court, they must be dressed in linen.
– The king was anointed of the Lord and consecrated to him:
1 Sam 24:7 : By stretching out my hand against the anointed of the Lord, my lord, for he is holy to the Lord!
– In Numbers it is written about the Nazirite vow, in which the hair was consecrated to the Lord:
Numbers 6.5 : During the entire time of your Nazirite vow, the razor will not pass over your head.
– In the NT, Jesus is Christ, the one who was anointed, consecrated, and also sanctifies his disciples:
Jn 10:36 : How do you accuse him of blasphemy whom the Father sanctified and sent into the world?
Jn 17:17-18 : Sanctify them through the truth. […] As you sent me into the world, I also sent them into the world.
– See CIRCUMCISION, SABBATH, MESSIAH.
