Just a quick note today; It is fascinating to me that when God visits destruction upon the land of Egypt by sending an angel of death to take the lives of all the firstborn sons, He told the Israelites how to avoid this fate. By marking their doorposts. And so these firstborn sons were spared.
And after this, the Lord said that all firstborn sons were to be offered to Him (and obviously purchased back with another offering), recognizing that the most valuable “first fruits” were the Lord’s.
On an apologetic note, this isn’t because God finds males to be more valuable than females, it’s merely because the PEOPLE at that time (and for a great many years to follow, sadly) valued the males more than the females, and the firstborn were the elite of that group as well.
Anyhow, here again we see foreshadowing of Jesus, as the Lord no longer requires the firstborn male of each family be offered to Him. Instead the Levites (the priests) will stand in for the firstborns.
Hmmm… a firstborn priest who will stand in our place. Very interesting!
Don’t take for granted the price paid to purchase you! God loves you very much. And go share that love with someone else this weekend!