Leviticus 25: 26-34, “Only the firstling of the beasts, which should be the LORD’S firstling, no man shall sanctify it; whether it be ox, or sheep: it is the LORD’S. And if it be of an unclean beast, then he shall redeem it according to thine estimation, and shall add a fifth part of it thereto: or if it be not redeemed, then it shall be sold according to thy estimation. Notwithstanding no devoted thing, that a man shall devote unto the LORD of all that he hath, both of man and beast, and of the field of his possession, shall be sold or redeemed: every devoted thing is most holy unto the LORD. None devoted, which shall be devoted of men, shall be redeemed; but shall surely be put to death. And all the tithe of the land, whether of the seed of the land, or of the fruit of the tree, is the LORD’S: it is holy unto the LORD. And if a man will at all redeem ought of his tithes, he shall add thereto the fifth part thereof. And concerning the tithe of the herd, or of the flock, even of whatsoever passeth under the rod, the tenth shall be holy unto the LORD. He shall not search whether it be good or bad, neither shall he change it: and if he change it at all, then both it and the change thereof shall be holy; it shall not be redeemed. These are the commandments, which the LORD commanded Moses for the children of Israel in mount Sinai.”
When Israel agreed with the Lord about their contract for living in the Promised Land they committed to doing certain things and the Lord promised them that they would remain in the Land as long as they kept their part of the contract. Now that the Lord had given them an option to make extra offerings out of gratitude for all the good things that He had done for them, He made it quite clear that a person should not pretend that their contract obligations were part of their voluntary offerings. The Lord had already told Israel that the firstborn of any clean animal belonged to Him because He had delivered them, as His firstborn, from slavery in Egypt. If someone tried to offer the firstborn and pretend that it was a voluntary offering then they would be lying to the Lord. The same was true of fruit and grain, it could be offered and then redeemed. A person wasn’t allowed to to offer one thing to the Lord and then change it for any reason. There are people today who want to seem particularly holy and they make sure that everyone knows how good they are in their offerings or the things they do for the Lord but we do well to remember the words of the Lord Jesus Christ, “So likewise ye, when ye shall have done all those things which are commanded you, say, We are unprofitable servants: we have done that which was our duty to do.” (Luke 17: 10) No one can actually do anything that impresses the Lord God Who created the heavens and the earth except come to Him with a humble and contrite attitude (See Psalm 51: 17, “The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.”)
(The view expressed in this blog are my own and should not be taken as inspired in any way.)
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