THE BLESSED FIRSTBORN

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

Set apart for the Lord your God every firstborn male of your herds and flocks. Do not put the firstborn of your oxen to work, and do not shear the firstborn of your sheep. Each year you and your family are to eat them in the presence of the Lord your God at the place he will choose. If an animal has a defect, is lame or blind, or has any serious flaw, you must not sacrifice it to the Lord your God. You are to eat it in your own towns. Both the ceremonially unclean and the clean may eat it, as if it were gazelle or deer. But you must not eat the blood; pour it out on the ground like water.

Deuteronomy 15:19-23

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

Today’s scripture serves as a reminder to Israel about God’s expectations for proper treatment and sacrificing of the first born as well as how the Israelites were to deal with animals with defects. Note the importance of keeping the firstborn set apart and dedicated to God…distinguished as His property and only sacrificed and eaten in His presence in the place where He would choose.

We have seen the matter of the firstborn addressed before in the Old Testament. The earliest mention is in Genesis, Chapter 4, during the account of Cain and Abel:

In the course of time Cain brought some of the fruits of the soil as an offering to the Lord. But Abel brought fat portions from some of the firstborn of his flock. The Lord looked with favor on Abel and his offering, but on Cain and his offering he did not look with favor. Genesis 4:3-5

In this passage, we are immediately shown that the Lord expected to receive nothing short of our best. Cain brought some of his fruits but not his firstfruits. In return, God didn’t look on him with favor. Conversely, Abel brought fat from his flock’s firstborn and gained the Lord’s favor.

The Passover placed even stronger significance on the firstborn. The final and most damning curse placed on Pharoah and Egypt was the curse of the firstborn as “every firstborn —both men and animals” were killed as God brought “judgment on all the gods of Egypt.” (Exodus 12:12) The only ones spared were the Israelites who spread the blood of the sacrificed and slain perfect lamb on the sides and tops of their door frames. These homes were passed over by God and the firstborn spared. Soon thereafter, Pharoah would finally do as Moses had demanded earlier when he passed on God’s command to Pharoah saying, “Let my people go.”

The Passover day would become a benchmark for future matters of the firstborn. God gave Israel specific direction to first, “…Consecrate to me every firstborn male. The first offspring of every womb among the Israelites belongs to me, whether man or animal…" (Exodus 13:2) and then “…give over to the Lord the first offspring of every womb…all the firstborn males of your livestock…after the Lord brings you into the land of the Canaanites and gives it to you…” (Exodus 13:11-12) In other words, God wanted Israel’s best and the Passover was to be a day reminding Israel of that. For His sparing of Israel’s firstborn was the first display of His grace and redemption in Egypt, preceding Israel’s release and subsequence deliverance from the hands of Pharoah.

Firstborn sons also gained special privilege in Israelite culture. They would be the ones who would be entitled to a special share in the family inheritance and assume family leadership responsibilities after their father’s death. It was a blessing that belonged to them by birthright.

So there is no doubt that God had established the firstborn as being of absolute importance to Him. He expected the best from His people and later would show that He was willing to give His best as well. We only need to look to Calvary’s cross and our crucified Savior, Jesus, God’s firstborn Son, to see the proof.

Indeed, God took His one and only Son, the perfect, precious Lamb of God, and allowed Him to be slain on the cross so that we might be saved…saved by His shed blood. Paul’s epistle to the Hebrews tells us:

“…without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness. It was necessary, then, for the copies of the heavenly things to be purified with these sacrifices, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. For Christ did not enter a man-made sanctuary that was only a copy of the true one; he entered heaven itself, now to appear for us in God's presence. Nor did he enter heaven to offer himself again and again, the way the high priest enters the Most Holy Place every year with blood that is not his own. Then Christ would have had to suffer many times since the creation of the world. But now he has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to do away with sin by the sacrifice of Himself. Just as man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment, so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many people…“ (Hebrews 9:22-28)

Jesus, God’s unblemished, firstborn Son, was the final sacrifice needed for mankind. Through Him, the sins of God’s people were taken away and they were released from bondage…liberated just as Israel had been set free from Pharoah. In God’s redemption and grace found in Jesus, everyone earned the right to have a part in a special inheritance…the promise of life eternal with the Father and the Son, who ascended into heaven and sits in special honor at the right hand of His Father. All that any person has to do to earn their eternal life is to believe in Jesus (John 3:16), the only name by which one can be saved and the only One through which a person can come to the Father. (John 14:6) Christ’s resurrection paved the way for the rest of us to follow after we travel our respective roadways of life seeking to live in truth…after we finish our own personal exoduses while following Jesus, the blessed firstborn…the One who is the Way and the Truth and the Life. Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

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