Would you give God your first-born?

 

Deuteronomy Chapter 15, part 3: Law of the First-born

Deuteronomy 15:19-23 – Gems and Thoughts from the Passage

Imagine being a rancher and having to give to God, or to consecrate to him, every first-born male offspring that any animal of your herd or flock has. And you are to let them be. You don’t work with them so they can be of use to work otherwise. You don’t shear them to get their wool, if they were sheep.

Instead, you are to eat them (or part of them) once a year where the Lord God tells you to eat them, after you have turned them over to the priests as a sacrifice to God. (If you are a successful rancher, that’s a lot of eating once a year.)

But wait, there’s a caveat. If there is any blemish whatsoever on or with respect to the animal, then it is not to be sacrificed to God, but it is still to be eaten. Just don’t “eat its blood”.

David Guzik has three interesting takes on why this was the case for the Israelites:
1. Israel was God’s First-born (Exodus 4:22), and this honored the fact.
2. The firstborn was thought to be the best, and the best was always given to God.
3. As a reminder to all generations of when God redeemed Israel, His first-born.

Wrap-up

Short, sweet, and to the point. Don’t forget who gives you your blessings.  Don’t forget He comes first in everything. Including your first-born.

On a personal note, some of you know that I have two daughters and one son. By God’s mercy, my son and his wife and family are well.  I did not have to give him up in any way, but God knew that I would have.  However, my dear son and his wife did lose their first-born and a male.  God only let us have him for a few hours.  At that time, they gave God their very best.  But God did not abandon them.  Yesterday my wife and I enjoyed a full day of taking their two children which God blessed them with soon after (a girl now aged six and a boy aged 3) to two parks, out for lunch, and then back to our place, and then home where we all had supper together. What a blessing, what a day. Our son told us today that his little guy put on his knapsack and got ready because he wanted to have another day with “Nanna and Pappou”.  God is good. Make Him first in your life.

It would be great if you would share your thoughts or questions on this blog in the comments section below or on social media.