Category: BIBLE/SCRIPTURE

The Jewish father not only had to redeem his first born child if it were a male child, but he also had to give to the Lord, the firstborn of cattle, or more clearly said, to the priesthood.

This included every animal except a donkey. The lowly donkey was the only Israelite animal that was non-kosher.

Kosher is Hebrew for “fit” or “appropriate” and describes the food that is suitable for a Jew to eat, and therefore was unfit for the sacrifice.

Donkey’s and Pigs are very non-Kosher. Bringing a donkey to sacrifice would be like bringing a pig for sacrifice.

Even though the donkey was unfit for the sacrifice don’t think that they got away without paying any dues.

Actually, if a male colt of a Donkey is the firstborn it must be redeemed with a sheep.

Now if that owner of the colt does not give the priest a sheep, it is ordered that the colt’s neck must be broken to kill that male baby donkey.

Then Scripture turns the subject back to God’s people, the Israelites.

Yes, God is all knowing and He is all wise. He is aware that when these people, who were so happy to be freed from their slavery, could very easily change their minds about freedom when they were faced with war.

Men who have been enslaved for generations are not usually willing to fight for a freedom they never knew.

For this reason God led the people roundabout into the wilderness at the Sea of Reeds.

Moses had taken with him the bones of Joseph. That had been Joseph’s instructions and Moses was assured God would take notice.

They set out from Succoth, and camped at Ethan that was at the edge of the wilderness.

And then we are told that God did not leave them to their own devices.

The Lord led them by way of a pillar of cloud by day, and a pillar of fire by night. That way they could travel both in daylight and also at night.

With the Israelites in pursuit the Lord changed the direction of the Israelites so the Pharaoh will think they have lost their way.

He wants the Israelites to camp facing the sea. He then plans to stiffen Pharaoh’s heart so he, Pharaoh, and his army will pursue the Israelites.

God’s plan is to gain glory through Pharaoh and his host. When God inflicts just revenge on evildoers His name is glorified.

Or said another way, God gains glory by rewarding good and punishing evil. And then and only then will the Egyptians come to know that the Israelites God is the Lord.

God’s plan of turning the Israelites back gave the King of Egypt confidence to pursue the Israelites and put them back into slavery.

Pharaoh was so excited about the prospect that he hitched his own chariot rather than wait for anyone to do it for him.

At this time a chariot was regarded as the most advanced military weapon. This gave Pharaoh an extreme advantage over the Israelites, or so he thought.

He took six hundred of his picked chariots and also the rest of the chariots of Egypt, with officers in every one of them,

The Israelites caught sight of the Egyptians advancing upon them and they were greatly frightened. Their freight make them cry out to the Lord.

Think about the situation of the Israelites. They had been in captivity for 400 years, 200 of which they spent as subjective slaves.

Having been slaves for so long  they did not have the mentality that they were capable of freeing themselves.

This could be why God allowed, or planed, for them to be in the wilderness long enough for them all to die leaving a completely new generation to take over and be in charge.

Freedom requires responsibility and they had not learned or understood the responsibility to be free. Or even learned how to be responsible or self-reliant. They did not have the attitude to defend themselves.

Their fear caused them to question Moses intention for taking them out of Egypt.

They reminded Moses that they never really wanted to leave Egypt but instead were willing to be slaves all along. They would much rather do that than die in the wilderness.

We have heard similar complaints in our own country.

Patrick Henry buoyed the spirits during the American War of Independence when his hue and cry was, “Give me liberty or Give me death”. In contrast we have all heard the term “Better Red than dead”. Thankfully that was countered with “Better Dead than Red”.

The Israelites statement made it clear to Moses that they would put up with anything, including the death of their first born sons,in order to be taken care of.

We, in our country should understand this attitude because we have people who will allow their lives to be dictated by unethical politicians for the advantage of being taken care of from the cradle to the grave.

We know when Scripture talks about freedom it is to be free from the law that enslaves us.

But the apostle Paul does tell us, “stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath mad us free, and be not entangle again with the yoke of bondage.”

⇛ continue reading Exodus – Part 37
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EXODUS 33

In Exodus chapter thirteen, verse 2, the final plague in Egypt was the death of the firstborn of all households. God revealed to Israel the one and only way they would be spared was to sacrifice an unblemished lamb and brush its blood on the lintel and doorposts of their homes.

Only then would the Angel of Death pass over their homes and spare their firstborn. After the Passover the Lord switched to new instructions concerning the first born child in each Jewish family.

These rules preceded the Levites, when a sub group within the Levites, carried out all the rituals involving animal sacrifice that were designated.  In other words, these menwere set aside for temple service. The Lord’s rule was  Sanctify unto me all the first-born.  To “sanctify” means to “consecrate,” to “set apart” from a common to a sacred use.

The foundation of this duty rested on the fact that the Israelites, having had their first-born preserved by a distinguishing act of grace, from the general destruction that overtook the families of the Egyptians, were bound in token of gratitude to consider them as the Lord’s peculiar property.

At that time in Jewish history a mother’s first child was supposed to be dedicated to the priests. They were consecrated to service for God.

Later in the Torah there was a law that designated that 31 days after the child is born the father could pay a priest five silver shekels to “redeem” or free the child from temple work.

A shekel is 14 grams of silver.

A U.S. silver dollar contains 9.83 grams of silver. And we know that the price of the silver in any coin today sells at a very inflated rate, but at this time in history, and even today, the price was never intended to be a large sum of money. It was not to be a burden for poor people to redeem their first born son.

It may seem extreme to have to give your first born to the temple.   But to sanctify unto God all the firstborn was a reasonable demand when you stop to realize that the existing firstborn of Israel, were spared by God when the Egyptian firstborn were destroyed. 

The firstborn should be regarded as God’s and set apart for His service. But the command is limited, when it says “whatsoever openeth the womb”.
To be clear, in that command we learn it says that every child which is the firstborn of his mother.

So if a man had many wives, either together or successively, his first child by every one of these was a firstborn, and, if a male, he was claimed by the Lord. But if a female came first, and afterward a male, that male was not devoted to God, because it was not the firstborn.

Thus the parents were not to look upon themselves as having an interest in their firstborn, if males, till they had first solemnly presented them to God, and received them back from him again, by special right and title, as being by singular favor preserved from the common destruction.

The firstborn of man, if males, were claimed for the sacred ministrations of the priestly office and the firstborn were to be redeemed at a certain rate, which was part of the priest’s maintenance. But after the Jewish commonwealth was formed, the Levites were chosen to officiate in their stead.

The extension of the demand to existing beasts was also reasonable, since they too had been spared. God’s further requirement, that henceforth all the future firstborn should also be His, was intended to perpetuate the memory of the recent deliverance, and to help to fix it in the mind of the nation.

The substitution of a redemption in the case of unclean beasts was necessitated by the circumstances of the case, since they could not be sacrificed; and the redemption of the firstborn sons naturally followed when the Levitical priesthood was established, and their services were no longer necessary.

Can you imagine giving away your firstborn son to be raised by a priest and committed to temple service for God. It wasn’t meant as a punishment, it was meant as a privilege. And it even carried down in our lifetimes when you think about the fact that in many Old Catholic Families it was a privilege to have your first born son become a priest.

First born sons seem to come equipped for special service or position in most families even today.

⇛ continue reading Exodus – Part 36
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