Today we'll conclude Chapter 27 which has to do with dedicating oneself, another person, an animal, or property to the Lord.
We learned yesterday that a person could dedicate an animal to the Lord (through sacrifice) or pledge an animal to the Lord and redeem it with money (pay the value of the animal plus another 1/5 of its value into the sanctuary treasury). A person could sacrifice a clean animal to the Lord or choose to redeem it instead. A person could not sacrifice an unclean animal to the Lord but he could still pledge the animal to Him and redeem it with money. As we begin our study today we'll look at a category of animal that could not be dedicated to the Lord.
"No one, however, may dedicate the firstborn of an animal, since the firstborn already belongs to the Lord; whether an ox or a sheep, it is the Lord's. If it is one of the unclean animals, it may be brought back at its set value, adding a fifth of the value to it. If it is not redeemed, it is to be sold at its set value." (Leviticus 27:26-27) The Lord gave the rule regarding the firstborn in Exodus 13:1-2, "The Lord said to Moses, 'Consecrate to Me every firstborn male. The offspring of every womb among the Israelites belongs to Me, whether human or animal.'" In Exodus 13:11-16, the Lord explains that every man's firstborn son is to be dedicated to Him. In Numbers 18:16 the Lord will tell the men of Israel that when their firstborn sons are born they are to take five shekels of silver to the priest to redeem their sons. Remember, when a person redeems something he retains it. The men are not giving their sons away or sacrificing their sons. They are paying a specified amount into the treasury and are keeping and raising their sons in the reverence of the Lord.
Firstborn animals already belonged to the Lord. Therefore the people could not use them as an extra dedication to the Lord because they were already His. If a person wanted to dedicate an animal to the Lord he would have to choose an animal from his flock that was not a firstborn male. He couldn't use the same animal for both purposes because that would be cheating the Lord. If a person wanted to dedicate an unclean animal to the Lord, he could do so but it could not be sacrificed to the Lord. The person could either redeem the animal and take it back home with him by paying its value plus an extra 1/5, or he could leave the animal with the priest and the animal could be sold for its value and the money put into the treasury.
This next passage, at least in the English translation, may seem a bit confusing at first because it almost appears as if it contradicts the previous material of Leviticus 27. But that has to do with the way the words "dedicate" and "devote" mean practically the same thing in English. But in the original language, the word translated as "dedicate" means to "consecrate or sanctify". The word translated as "devote" means to "doom or destroy". So we see there is a difference. If a person promised to dedicate something to the Lord, he was consecrating it to the Lord but it could be redeemed. He didn't have to irrevocably relinquish his rights to whatever he was dedicating to the Lord. But if a person devoted something to the Lord, he could not redeem it. He also could not change his mind and sell it, for it was no longer his. It belonged to the Lord irrevocably. Keeping this difference of word meanings in mind, we'll look at this next section: "But nothing a person owns and devotes to the Lord---whether a human being or animal or family land---may be sold or redeemed; everything so devoted is most holy to the Lord." (Leviticus 27:28)
If a man pledged a field to the Lord in a vow of devotion, he couldn't pay a redemption price for it and keep it. The same goes for if he devoted an animal or a house or any other property to the Lord. It appears as if a person could devote another person to the Lord, and I assume the person being devoted would have to be someone under the custody or ownership of another, such as a child or a slave. Once that person was devoted to the Lord, their life was to be spent in the service of the Lord.
The case of Hannah, the mother of the prophet Samuel, looks like an example of a person devoting another person to the Lord. In 1 Samuel 1 we find her praying to the Lord to heal her of the infertility that has broken her heart. She has been married for a number of years but has been able to conceive no children. Her husband has another wife and has children by her and this is something that is a thorn in Hannah's side, especially since the other wife loves to rub it in that Hannah is barren. Hannah prays to the Lord and promises Him that if He will give her a son she will "give him to the Lord for all the days of his life". (1 Samuel 1:11) The Lord answers her prayer and gives her a son and she keeps her promise, after he has been weaned, to "take him and present him before the Lord, and he will live there always". (1 Samuel 1:22) Samuel remains with the priests and Hannah visits him every year, according to 1 Samuel 2:19, and the Lord blesses Hannah with three more sons and two daughters.
Certain types of persons cannot be dedicated or devoted to the Lord, and these are persons upon whom a death sentence has been passed due to them having committed a capital crime. "No person devoted to destruction may be ransomed; they are to be put to death." (Leviticus 27:29) Suppose a man's relative is in prison awaiting execution and the man wants to spare his condemned relative's life by devoting him person to the Lord for the rest of his life or by dedicating him to the Lord and paying a redemption price for him. This is not acceptable to the Lord. A person under sentence of death cannot be devoted or dedicated as someone "holy to the Lord".
We're not going to get into a discussion about capital punishment here, but we'll just remind ourselves that the Lord said no one in Israel could be put to death unless his capital crime is witnessed by two or more persons. (Deuteronomy 17:6) This law was intended to prevent innocent persons from being put to death. I am certain under our own legal system that there have been times when innocent persons were put to death. They were convicted with enough evidence to make a jury feel they were guilty, but not necessarily because two or more persons witnessed their crime and could positively identify them as the perpetrator. We sometimes hear of cases where convictions are overturned when evidence is retested by modern science and the DNA evidence proves that someone other than the convicted person committed the crime. Considering this, we know that there have been people on death row who weren't guilty, but because they were convicted in an era before DNA evidence was available, they were executed. No one could test DNA in Old Testament times. People didn't even know DNA existed. The Lord wanted to prevent innocent persons from being executed and that's why death penalties could not be handed down unless two or more persons actually saw the accused person committing the crime. So when we look at verse 6 which regards persons under sentence of death, we can be reasonably certain that they actually committed the crime. The Lord will not accept the dedication or devotion of such persons to His service. Therefore no one can take them off death row and give them to the Lord as a means of saving their lives.
A tenth of everything the people grow belongs to the Lord. This is where we get the concept of giving to the Lord a "tithe" (a tenth) of our income. "A tithe of everything from the land, whether grain from the soil or fruit from the trees, belongs to the Lord; it is holy to the Lord. Whoever would redeem any of their tithe must add a fifth of the value to it." (Leviticus 27:30-31) A person could give a tenth of his seeds to the Lord or he could pay the price of the seeds plus an additional 1/5 into the treasury. He would still be coming out ahead even if he pays the extra 1/5 because when he plants the seeds he will reap far more than that which he put into the ground. A tenth of the fruit belonged to the Lord but a man could redeem it by paying the price for it plus the extra 1/5. This would still leave the man in a profitable situation because let's say that instead of giving to the Lord a tenth of his grape crop, he pays the price of a tenth of his grape crop plus an extra 1/5. He still has the grapes with which he can make wine, which he would sell and still come out ahead. The Lord isn't asking anyone to put themselves in poverty. He's not taking food out of anyone's mouth. They will still have plenty of food on their tables and they will still have money in their pockets after giving the Lord the share that is His for providing them their crops in the first place. Not only does the Lord intend to provide for them abundantly, He promises to provide even more abundantly for anyone who has the faith to give Him their tithes: "'Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in My house. Test Me in this,' says the Lord Almighty, 'and see if I will not open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it.'" (Malachi 3:10)
The food paid into the storehouse was to feed the priests and their families. The priests didn't raise crops or herds or flocks. Their job was to serve the Lord and minister to His people Israel. Their pay was these tithes. If the people didn't tithe, how were the priests and their wives and children to eat? A person could buy back their seed by paying for it plus an extra 1/5 of its value, and this would allow the priests to use the money to buy things like fruits and vegetables and grains. But we'll see in our next passage that animals aren't treated the same way as fruits and vegetables and grains. A tenth of all the animals must also be given, but they can't be redeemed by paying their value plus 1/5. A tenth of these animals automatically go into the possession of the priests. "Every tithe of the herd and flock---every tenth animal that passes underneath the shepherd's rod, will be holy to the Lord. No one may pick out the good from the bad or make any substitution. If anyone does make a substitution, both the animal and its substitute become holy and cannot be redeemed." (Leviticus 27:32-33) The people are forbidden to cheat by giving only the worst of their flocks and herds. They must walk through their flocks and herds and count out every tenth animal for the Lord. This ensures that there is a fair mix of animals given to the Lord and a fair mix of animals retained by their owners. If a person is caught substituting a good animal for a bad animal, he suffers the loss of both animals as his penalty for being dishonest.
The people are to obey these laws because they are holy laws given by a holy God. "These are the commands the Lord gave Moses at Mount Sinai for the Israelites." (Leviticus 27:34)
This concludes Chapter 27 and the book of Leviticus. Join us tomorrow as we begin the book of Numbers.
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