4258—CONSECRATION OF THE FIRST-BORN
Will you kindly give some light on Ex. 13:1, 2, 11-13? You see the Lord tells Israel to set apart the first-born, both man and beast, and they are to continue to do this when they come into the land of Canaan. Notice the change the Lord made in about one year. Num. 3:12, 13, 41. Is there any scripture that tells why He made the change? By an appointment made in memory of the miraculous deliverance of the Israelites from the last judgment which was visited on Egypt, on all the families of the Egyptians, but from which the first-born of Israel were exempt, all the first-born of the Israelites were consecrated to God, and this consecration brought to them distinction in three different points,—the priesthood, the double portion, and the rulership. Of course the father, as head of the family, acted as priest of the family. But his work was the same as that of the high priest in the sanctuary service, which was instituted later, and the eldest son acted as priest under the father; and when the father grew old, or after he had died, these services were performed by the first-born. But on account of the faithfulness of the Levites to God in the affair of the golden calf (Ex. 32:26-29), the Lord specially honored the Levites by transferring the priesthood, which had formerly been committed to the first-born, to the Levites. The designation thus of a special class for this work was wise; for on their settlement in Canaan, the people would be so occupied that they might neglect the service of the sanctuary, but the appointment of an entire tribe to the divine service would insure the regular performance of the rites of religion. But even after the Levites were appointed to this work, the Israelites were required to redeem their first-born, and the proceeds from this redemption went to the Levites. See Num. 3:40-51.