Monday, November 19, 2012

Redemption's High Price


Numbers 3: 44-51 -  The LORD also said to Moses,  "Take the Levites in place of all the firstborn of Israel, and the livestock of the Levites in place of their livestock. The Levites are to be mine. I am the LORD.  To redeem the 273 firstborn Israelites who exceed the number of the Levites,  collect five shekels for each one, according to the sanctuary shekel, which weighs twenty gerahs.  Give the money for the redemption of the additional Israelites to Aaron and his sons."  So Moses collected the redemption money from those who exceeded the number redeemed by the Levites.  From the firstborn of the Israelites he collected silver weighing 1,365 shekels, according to the sanctuary shekel.  Moses gave the redemption money to Aaron and his sons, as he was commanded by the word of the LORD.

 

After  Moses led the people from Egypt…God required that they give all their first born males to be dedicated to his service…this act of obedience from Exodus 13:2…showed their great thankfulness for what he did…a way of paying God back…redeeming their freedom from slavery. God required this very costly thing in order to remind them of the great cost of the redemption he had provided for each of them. It was in addition to all the sacrifices they were required to give….and the giving of these firstborn males was very costly to each family.

 

But as usual…God had a bigger plan in mind…and now he is going to widen their views of what redemption means. The Lord told Moses that the Levites could redeem…or take the place of the first born males of the whole Israelite nation.  Male for male…except for the 273 extra.  And to prove his point even more… God even made a way for each of them to be redeemed. Each family had to pay 5 shekels of silver…to redeem these extra firstborn males…so these families would never have to dedicate any of their children again…for now all the males of the Levite tribe had redeemed them…or paid the price for their freedom. They would continue to do God’s work in the tabernacle…to offer the sacrifices that would allow them to stay in relationship with Jehovah.

 

God continues to widen my view of just what my redemption cost God….and the son he sent to die for my sins.  I just can’t seem to wrap my head around why God loved me so much that he gave his only son to redeem me for my sins. …and how Jesus loved me so much that he gave himself a willing sacrifice to redeem all mankind. Thank God I don’t really have to understand it…I just have to reach out and accept his payment for me. …and as I do…his love invades my heart and begins to transform it into a vessel of his love.  His loves invades me and allows me to deepen my relationship with him…not because I deserve it…but because I accept him into my heart…and allow him to transform me from the inside out.

 

Father…you are more than good to me…to redeem me…to love me in spite of the many sins I commit each day. I thank you for the love you showed these Israelites…that allowed them to be redeemed by their brothers in the Levite tribe.  I thank you for sending your son to change this way of worship …and allowing your son to pay the high cost of our final redemption by shedding his blood on the cross. Help me to always keep in mind that my redemption was costly…and remember to always give you praise for this wonderful gift I could never repay. Amen.

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