THE BLESSED FIRSTBORN

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In Christ, Mark

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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 our reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

As we see in today’s scripture passage, Moses is continuing to provide guidance to the Israelites right before they get set to enter the Promised Land, not under his leadership but rather Joshua’s.

As we look at our text, we see the main focus is on 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. We should note here the importance of keeping the firstborn set apart and dedicated to God, for they had been distinguished by Him as His special property that would only be sacrificed and eaten as He dictated, in His presence at the place where He would designate.

This isn’t the first place we have seen God mention the unique nature of the firstborn. The earliest this happens is in the Book of 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, Bible readers are immediately shown that the Lord expects to receive nothing short of their best. Cain brought some of his fruits but not his firstfruits and in return, he didn’t gain God’s favor. Conversely, Abel brought fat from his flock’s firstborn and this was pleasing to the Lord.

Moving onto the Book of Exodus, we find the Lord instituting the Passover and placing even stronger significance on the firstborn. You’ll recall that He had sent a series of curses on the nation of Egypt, trying to convince its leader, Pharaoh, to release the Israelites from their captivity. The tenth and last of those curses was the worst, 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 in Egypt were God’s chosen ones, the Israelites, who had spread the blood of a sacrificed perfect lamb on the sides and tops of their homes’ door frames. As a result, these homes were passed over by God and the Jewish firstborn were spared. Soon thereafter, Pharaoh, having lost his own firstborn son, finally did as Moses had demanded earlier when he passed on God’s command, “Let my people go” (Exodus 10:3).

From that time forward, the day of Passover would become a benchmark for future matters of the firstborn. For in the thirteenth chapter of Exodus, we find this from the Lord:

The Lord said to Moses, “Consecrate to Me every firstborn male. The first offspring of every womb among the Israelites belongs to Me, whether human or animal.”

“After the Lord brings you into the land of the Canaanites and gives it to you, as He promised on oath to you and your ancestors, 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.”

Exodus 13:1-2, 11-12

Again, we see God making it clear that He wanted Israel’s best and the Passover was the appointed day to remind them of this. Their firstborn, the firstfruits from the womb, were to be set apart for Him and 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 Pharaoh.

After this, firstborn sons would gain special privilege in Israelite culture. They would be the ones 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 their birthright.

The scriptures clearly show us that God established the firstborn as being of absolute importance to Him. Just as He always gave His people the best, He expected the same from them in return. In regard to the former, we need only look to the cross of Calvary to see how far God was willing to go to help His beloved ones for it was there that He willingly and willfully gave up His own firstborn Son, Jesus, so anyone who believed in Him wouldn’t perish but gain eternal life (John 3:16).

Indeed, God surrendered His one and only Son - the perfect, precious, unblemished Lamb of God - and allowed Him to be sacrificed in our place so we could have the opportunity to be saved from our sins, washed clean by His shed blood. In support of this, look at this passage from Paul’s epistle to the Hebrews:

“…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)

The Bible’s message is clear.

Jesus, God’s firstborn Son, was the final sacrifice needed for mankind. Through Him, the sins of anyone who believed in Him, those who then became the children of God, were taken away. This released them from the bondage of their transgressions, liberating them just as Israel had been set free from Egypt’s Pharaoh.

Further, through God’s redemption and grace found in Jesus, every saved sinner has earned the right to have a part in a special inheritance, co-heirs with Christ (Romans 8:17) who have gained the blessed assurance of eternal life where they were abide with God the Father and Jesus, His Son, forever.  

In the end translation, Christ’s resurrection paved the way for the rest of us to follow after we travel our respective journeys in life where we seek to walk in His divine footsteps, the One who is the Way and the Truth and the Life and the only One who can bring anyone to God (John 14:6).

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.