Topical Bible: Children: Male: If First Born, Belonged to God and Were Redeemed

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Topical Encyclopedia

In the biblical tradition, the firstborn male child held a special place of significance and was considered to belong to God. This concept is rooted in the events of the Exodus and the subsequent laws given to the Israelites.

Biblical Foundation

The principle that the firstborn male belonged to God is established in the book of Exodus. During the final plague in Egypt, the LORD struck down all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast, but spared the Israelites who had marked their doorposts with the blood of a lamb. This event is commemorated in the Passover, and it established the sanctity of the firstborn among the Israelites.

Exodus 13:1-2 states: "Then the LORD said to Moses, 'Consecrate to Me every firstborn male. The firstborn from every womb among the Israelites belongs to Me, both of man and beast.'"

Redemption of the Firstborn

The consecration of the firstborn was not merely symbolic; it required a specific act of redemption. The firstborn sons were to be redeemed through a ritual that involved a monetary payment or a substitute sacrifice. This act of redemption underscored the idea that the firstborn were set apart for God but could be bought back for service within the family.

Numbers 18:15-16 provides further instruction: "The firstborn of every womb, whether man or beast, presented to the LORD, belongs to you. But you must surely redeem the firstborn of man and the firstborn of unclean animals. You are to pay the redemption price for a month-old male, five shekels of silver, according to the sanctuary shekel, which is twenty gerahs."

Theological Significance

The redemption of the firstborn is a profound theological concept that points to the idea of substitution and atonement. It prefigures the ultimate redemption through Jesus Christ, who is referred to as the "firstborn over all creation" (Colossians 1:15) and the "firstborn from the dead" (Colossians 1:18). In Christian theology, Christ's sacrificial death and resurrection fulfill the redemption that the firstborn sons symbolized.

Cultural and Historical Context

In ancient Israelite society, the firstborn son held a position of privilege and responsibility. He was often the primary heir and assumed leadership of the family upon the father's death. The requirement to redeem the firstborn underscored the importance of acknowledging God's sovereignty and the family's dependence on divine provision.

The practice of redeeming the firstborn also served as a continual reminder of God's deliverance of Israel from slavery in Egypt. It reinforced the covenant relationship between God and His people, emphasizing that all life and blessings ultimately come from Him.

Conclusion

The concept of the firstborn belonging to God and the subsequent act of redemption is a rich and multifaceted theme within the biblical narrative. It highlights the intersection of divine ownership, human responsibility, and the foreshadowing of Christ's redemptive work.

Torrey's Topical Textbook

Exodus 13:12,13,15
That you shall set apart to the LORD all that opens the matrix, and every firstling that comes of a beast which you have; the males shall be the LORD's.
Torrey's Topical Textbook

Library

Scriptural Types.
... a ground whereby all may be justified, if they will ... and again: "Forasmuch then as
the children are partakers ... victims, as relatively inferior to the male sex. ...
/.../barrows/companion to the bible/chapter xxxvii scriptural types.htm

Covenanting Enforced by the Grant of Covenant Signs and Seals.
... "Now therefore, if ye will ... Zadok, that kept the charge of my sanctuary when the children
of Israel ... be the deceiver, which hath in his flock a male, and voweth ...
/.../cunningham/the ordinance of covenanting/chapter xi covenanting enforced by.htm

Selections from the Work against Heresies by Irenaeus, Bishop of ...
... mother, and has no Father nor any male consort; for ... has received from the apostles
and imparts to her children. ... For if what they produce is the Gospel of Truth ...
/.../richardson/early christian fathers/selections from the work against 2.htm

Faustus Rejects the Old Testament Because it Leaves no Room for ...
... the purpose of exciting desire in the male and female ... Instead of thy fathers, children
shall be born to thee ... thou shall be cleansed and restored, if thy shame ...
/.../faustus rejects the old testament.htm

The Immaculate Conception
... a whole ancestral tree of little male and female ... doubted, apart from Catherine
Emmerich's statements, if it is ... days earlier than with other children, and that ...
/.../emmerich/the life of the blessed virgin mary/ii the immaculate conception.htm

Faustus States his Objections to the Morality of the Law and the ...
... the promise was to his seed, thought first of adoption ... If our critics, then, wish
to attain not a spurious ... by sensual desire, and not to beget children; and yet ...
/.../faustus states his objections to.htm

The Miracle of Pentecost and the Birthday of the Christian
... one, whether Jew or Greek, bond or free, male or female ... But if we take the "Sabbath"
in Lev.23 in the ... a whole church"its men, its women, its children"to be ...
/.../schaff/history of the christian church volume i/section 24 the miracle of.htm

From the Close of the General Conference of 1824 to the ...
... would doubtless have ranked among the first ministers of ... for the support of his widow
and orphan children. ... Canada, places which had been seldom if ever visited ...
/.../chapter 8 from the close.htm

An Exposition on the First Ten Chapters of Genesis, and Part of ...
... been endeavours on Satan's part, to mingle his children with the ... But if we take the
heaven for the church, then ... the sun was created; for in the first day God ...
/.../bunyan/the works of john bunyan volumes 1-3/an exposition on the first.htm

Against Jovinianus.
... that created him: where there cannot be male and female ... an image of the propagation
of children, is forbidden ... For if we had two foreskins, or if another could ...
/.../jerome/the principal works of st jerome/against jovinianus.htm