The remainder of Chapter 15 deals with consecrating (setting apart) the firstborn male animals from the flocks and herds to the Lord.
In Exodus the Lord said to Israel, "Consecrate to Me every firstborn male. The first offspring of every womb among the Israelites belongs to Me, whether human or animal." (Exodus 13:1-2) And He said, "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. All the firstborn males of your livestock belong to the Lord." (Exodus 13:11-12) These consecrated animals were offered to the Lord, or they could be redeemed (kept by the owner by offering a substitute allowed by the Lord), and of course the firstborn sons were not offered to the Lord but were redeemed. About these procedures the Lord said, "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 the firstborn of both people and animals in Egypt. This is why I sacrifice to the Lord the first male offspring of every womb and redeem each of my firstborn sons.' And it will be like a sign on your hand and a symbol on your forehead that the Lord brought us out of Egypt with His mighty hand." (Exodus 13:14-16)
We see that the purpose of setting aside as an offering the firstborn male of each female farm animal is to commemorate the delivery of Israel from Egypt. When the Lord sent Moses to Pharaoh to ask for Israel's release, He told Moses to say to Pharaoh, "This is what the Lord says: Israel is My firstborn son....Let My son go, that he may worship Me." (Exodus 4:22-23a) Pharaoh refused to heed the Lord and the Lord said, "But you refused to let him go; so I will kill your firstborn son." (Exodus 4:23b) The offering of the firstborn male animal not only commemorates Israel's deliverance from Egypt but also symbolizes Israel's blessed position as the Lord's firstborn. In addition, it is a reminder of how the Lord had to strike down all the firstborn of Egypt to humble the wicked Pharaoh enough to let the people go.
The Lord said that these animals are to be consecrated to Him after He has brought the people into the land of Canaan. The time is at hand and Moses is going back over this information for the sake of the generation that is about to enter the land. Forty years have passed since the Lord delivered Israel from Egypt and, due to the rebellion of that first generation, the entire congregation has dwelt in the wilderness until the first generation (aged twenty and up at the time of their emergence from Egypt) has passed away (with the exception of Joshua and Caleb who will enter the promised land due to their faith in the Lord and their refusal to rebel against Him). As he has been doing throughout the book of Deuteronomy, Moses is teaching a refresher course to the new generation because they were either not born when these things happened or were still minor children at the time these things happened.
"Set apart for the Lord your God every firstborn male of your herds and flocks. Do not put the firstborn of your cows to work, and do not shear the firstborn of your sheep." (Deuteronomy 15:19) These animals were dedicated to the Lord and were not to be used to perform work and were not to be used for their wool. They wholly belonged to the Lord and their owners could not use them in any way to benefit themselves.
As with most offerings brought to the Lord, the bringer of the offering retains a portion to eat with his family. As we've discussed before, the meal is to be eaten in a spirit of joy and thankfulness. It is to be eaten reverently as if the Lord is sitting at the table with them. "Each year you and your family are to eat them in the presence of the Lord your God at the place He will choose." (Deuteronomy 15:20)
Only the best can be given to God. If anything is wrong with the firstborn male animal, it cannot be offered to the Lord. Its owner can slaughter it for food if he chooses but not as a sacrifice. He would be eating it in the same ordinary way he would eat any other animal of his flock or any wild game he killed while hunting. "If an animal has a defect, is lame or blind, or has any serious flaw, you must not sacrifice it to the Lord your God. You are to eat it in your own towns. Both the ceremonially unclean and the clean may eat it, as if it were gazelle or deer. But you must not eat the blood; pour it out on the ground like water." (Deuteronomy 15:21-23) Because an animal with a defect cannot be offered to the Lord, it doesn't matter whether the people attending the meal are in a state of ceremonial cleanness. But the rule about blood applies to all meat. The blood cannot be eaten, whether the meal is ceremonial or whether the meal is casual.
The Lord referred to Israel as His firstborn. Because Pharaoh refused to release the firstborn of the Lord, the Lord took the life of Pharaoh's firstborn. To commemorate the mighty deliverance of the Lord, the Israelites are to consecrate the firstborn males of their flocks and herds to the Lord as a memorial of what the Lord did for them. In addition to this, the offering of the firstborn male animal pointed forward to the day when the Lord would give His literal firstborn---God the Son---to deliver mankind from the power of sin and death. God planned to give His very best to ransom the souls of the humans He created: the Lamb without blemish or defect. (1 Peter 1:19) Therefore, no one in Israel is to offer to the Lord a lamb or any other animal that has a blemish or defect.
We owe the Lord our best because He didn't withhold His best from us. He asks far less of us than He asked of Himself. We owe Him our love, our thanks, and our obedience.
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