After the Lord brings you into the land of the Canaanites and gives it to you, as he promised on oath to you and your ancestors, you are to give over to the Lord the first offspring of every womb. The instruction about the firstborn is now applied to the future life in the land. The oath-promise to the ancestors — Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob — is the basis of the land gift. The firstborn consecration in the land will be the living reminder that the God who gave the land is the God who spared Israel's firstborn in Egypt. Every firstborn animal offered and every firstborn son redeemed will be a liturgical act connecting the present agricultural life in the land to the night of liberation in Egypt. Romans 8:23 says believers have the firstfruits of the Spirit — the firstborn consecration of Exodus 13 is the type of the consecration to God that characterizes all of new creation life.

COMMUNITY REFLECTIONS

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