Joel M Bradshaw

17Every firstborn male in Israel, whether human or animal, is mine. When I struck down all the firstborn in Egypt, I set them apart for myself. 18And I have taken the Levites in place of all the firstborn sons in Israel.–Numbers 8

“In days to come, when your son asks you, ‘What does this mean?’ say to him, ‘With a mighty hand the Lord brought us out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. When Pharaoh stubbornly refused to let us go, the Lord killed the firstborn of both people and animals in Egypt. This is why I sacrifice to the Lord the first male offspring of every womb and redeem each of my firstborn sons.’ And it will be like a sign on your hand and a symbol on your forehead that the Lord brought us out of Egypt with his mighty hand.” (Exodus 13:14-16)

1. GOD CLAIMED THE FIRSTBORN FOR HIMSELF.
2. FOR ANIMALS, THIS BECAME A SACRIFICE.
3. HUMANS COULD REDEEM THEIR FIRSTBORN BY THE SYMBOL OF THE LEVITES.
4. THE LEVITES THUS BELONGED TO GOD IN PLACE OF ALL THE OTHER FIRSTBORN SONS.
5. GOD SAW THE 10TH EGYPTIAN PLAGUE THROUGH A THEOLOGICAL LENS.
6. ISRAEL WOULD SUPPORT ITS LEVITES WITH GRATITUDE.
7. HOW HAS YOUR LIFE BEEN SET APART TO SERVE AND HONOR GOD?–JMB