The LORD said to Moses, "Consecrate to me every firstborn male. The first offspring of every womb among the Israelites belongs to me, whether man or animal."
Why would the Lord have given Moses such a stern command, and what, if any, significance does it have for us today?
In Moses' recorded remarks to the people of Israel before setting out from the land of Egypt, we hear God's reasonings clearly stated:
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 every firstborn in Egypt, both man and animal. This is why I sacrifice to the LORD the first male offspring of every womb and redeem each of my firstborn sons.'
Exodus 13:14-15
I wonder if those of us in the body of Christ understand even a hint of the significance of these passages. You see, the blood of the Egyptian children was precious and real--and I do not believe it was something the Lord wanted to shed.
Think about it for a moment. In Matthew 18, we find Jesus (the Son of God) saying that "whoever welcomes a little child like this in my name welcomes me" (v. 5), but "if anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a large millstone hung around his neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea" (v. 6). Why? Because "their angels in heaven always see the face of my Father in heaven" (v. 10).
Do you think that God loved the children of ancient Egypt any less than He loved the children of first century Judea?
The firstborn of every womb in Israel was, in light of God's great sacrifice, the very least that the people of Israel could give back in return for their freedom . . . just as the heart, body, and soul of every believer in Christ is the least that you and I can give back in return for the freedom we have through the sacrifice of Christ Jesus on the cross. If children were so dear to God, and if it was such a heartbreaking act for Him to kill so many of them in Egypt, how much more heartbreaking would it have been for Him to sacrifice the Son of God on the cross 2000 years ago? I don't claim to know all the mysteries of the Trinity, ladies and gentlemen, but I do know this: The Crucifixion caused God pain.
That is why Paul writes so eloquently in Romans 12:1, "Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship." Note that Paul does not say, "Offer your time to God," or "Offer your best wishes to God," or "Offer your most honorable intentions to God"--he says "bodies" . . . your hands, your feet, your physical strength and manliness, your physical beauty and femininity, your eyes, your nose, and (yes) your reproductive organs.
We live in a church culture today that would have Americans believe that they are, in Christ, free to pursue all of the material vices of the world--with some socially unacceptable exemptions--because, it is presumed, the crucifixion represents one giant meal ticket for believers. Just say a prayer, mumble all the "right" words, and you can have a life of "freedom" in which you can do, essentially, everything you did before, with the possible exception of drugs, alcohol, or criminal activity. The postmodern church has, it seems, ditched the hard message of the Gospel for a theology that uses the cross of Christ Jesus to allow parishioners to pursue socially acceptable sins.
I hear it all the time on the Christian radio.
"Did you get a divorce? That's covered by God's grace--you can go on with your life now, free as a gazelle."
"Did you teach your children all the wrong things? Don't worry--God's grace will cover that, too, and you can go on with your life in the knowledge that God doesn't hold you accoutable anymore."
"Did you sacrifice your family for a business promotion? God feels your pain. Here, just hold fast to God's grace, and you won't have as much trouble looking at yourself in the mirror when you get up tomorrow."
Ladies and gentlemen, our Lord calls us to a higher standard of holiness than the rest of the world--and I believe that if you are really committed to the Lord, then you feel a stirring inside of your heart as you read this post, knowing that yes, there is a deeper Christianity than the Sunday/Wednesday tradition of superchurch attendance, nice sermons, and shallow lives. The believers in first century Judea were holy men who led lives that would drive any one of us to shame: healing dirty, poverty-stricken men and women with sores and moans and pressing needs as great as any suffered by a denizen of the Third World, fending off crowds of hungry people starving for a loaf of bread and yearning for spiritual insight, and hunted day and night by people who had the authority to imprison, torture, and kill.
I wonder where their spiritual descendants lost their fortitude?
When my wife and I were living in Fort Worth, Texas, we noted that it seemed every city block had at least one church building on it, if not two--and with so many churches (and presumably so many Christians), Fort Worth should have been an oasis for the poor and the homeless, right? Sadly, Fort Worth has as many miserable, starving, and desperate homeless people as any other city does.
It often seemed to my wife and me that if you had money or power, you were looked upon by many superchurch attenders with respect--but if you were poor, you were looked upon as an inconvenience or a project . . . when you were looked upon at all.
Our bodies are what the Lord is asking for--not simply our songs, our church buildings, and our prayers--and I believe that a day may well come, ladies and gentlemen, when the Lord holds the church in America to account for its lack of humility and love.
Healing the sick, bringing love to the poor and outcast, visiting those in need--these are standing orders in God's kingdom, and Christ Himself uttered them. If we are not doing likewise as the ancient disciples did (either before or after the Resurrection of Christ) then it is not simply because we are "weak" or because we live in a world that makes it "hard to follow Christ's commands."
It is because we have sinned.
Disobedience is sin, my friends--and it is only atoned for when, by God's grace, we are willing to turn away from it.
If we are to become part of that remnant which will meet Christ in the air someday, we must be willing to obey Christ in every respect--whether He is speaking to us from the Gospels or from the book of Leviticus. I am not saying that we must be utterly sinless--we are redeemed, after all, not perfect--but I am saying that we must be willing to pursue lives that, while socially vile to the rest of the world, exhibit the love and the power of Christ's kingdom on Earth. If we are at least willing, that is enough in God's sight.
You may feel secure in knowing that you gave God your time and your prayers--but it is also your body that God wants.
Will you give it to him?
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