In earlier verses of Deuteronomy 15, God instructed them to cultivate generosity, considering the goodness He had shown to them. God not only wanted them to be generous but they must also dedicate all their firstborns of men and beasts to Him. This call to dedicate the firstborns of men and beasts to Him was not new. In fact in Exodus 13, God already instructed Moses to have the people of Israel consecrate all the firstborns of men and livestock to Him. The reason for the instruction was because God spared all the firstborns of Israel when He took all the firstborns of Egypt at that first Passover. He did it so that Pharoah would let His people go. Consequently, He commanded that all the firstborns of the people of Israel, both men and beasts to be consecrated to Him.
In this passage in Deuteronomy
15:22-29, God once again touched on the consecration of the firstborns of their
men and livestock. The purpose was probably to introduce the discussion on the
observation of the Passover in Deuteronomy 16. At the foundation of God’s
instruction was the whole issue of faith and trust in Him. Just as it
required faith to live a generous life, faith would also be required to devote
the firstborns of their livestock to God. It meant that they had to trust Him
that their livestock would produce more after they had offered their firstborns
to Him. It is always easy to give to God out of what we have. But it is not as
easy to give to Him the very first blessing we have received and trust Him to
give us more following it.
For an Israelite, the firstborns of the animals consecrated to God could not be used for their work. The temptation would be to use the firstborn of their bull to work in the field or shear the wool of their firstborn sheep before they were offered in sacrifice to the Lord. There could be a duration before they could go to the place of worship to offer their firstborn animal to the Lord. So while waiting some might be lured to use the animal first. As far as God was concerned, this must not happen. For God, nothing but the best would do. So in verse 21, we see another stipulation. Any firstborn of the flock or herd with blemish should never be offered to the Lord. They could be eaten in the town and not to be taken to the place of worship. But when eating their meat, as instructed earlier, no blood could be eaten.
As we consider this passage, we cannot run away from the call to present to God our very best. Giving to God the best means giving to Him our entire life in total surrender. It means also giving the first and best of everything we have, the first fruits of all that we have. Have we given to God the first part of our day, our time, talents, and treasures? In 2 Timothy 2:15 Paul tells us to do our best to be diligent to present ourselves approved to God. He is worthy to receive them all!
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