Finally, chapter 27. This
chapter is rather anticlimactic. It deals mostly with how to affix a valuation
to people, or property or animals, and how much it would cost to redeem these
things. When we think about sports, and how much money some of the players
make, it boggles the mind. Read about some of the contracts these guys are
making, how many millions they get—even if they're a second-string bench
warmer. And yet those whose careers make more of a difference in our lives
every day—these people, many times, struggle just to make what they're worth.
But under the Law, every person, in various age ranges, was valued the same.
You didn’t look at one 30-year-old man and say, “He’s worth about 30
shekels” and then look at another and say, “Eh, I’ll give you a couple
shekels for him.” The price of redeeming one man was the same as
another—that valuation did, however, vary by age. We will be using the NASB for
our text.
Leviticus 27:1-8
(NASB)—1 Again, the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, “2 Speak to the
sons of Israel and say to them, ‘When a man makes a difficult vow, he shall be
valued according to your valuation of persons belonging to the LORD. 3 If your
valuation is of the male from twenty years even to sixty years old, then your
valuation shall be fifty shekels of silver, after the shekel of the sanctuary.
4 Or if it is a female, then your valuation shall be thirty shekels. 5 If it be
from five years even to twenty years old then your valuation for the male shall
be twenty shekels and for the female ten shekels. 6 But if they are from a
month even up to five years old, then your valuation shall be five shekels of
silver for the male, and for the female your valuation shall be three shekels
of silver. 7 If they are from sixty years old and upward, if it is a male, then
your valuation shall be fifteen shekels, and for the female ten shekels. 8 But
if he is poorer than your valuation, then he shall be placed before the priest
and the priest shall value him; according to the means of the one who vowed,
the priest shall value him.’”
Those who were between
the ages of twenty and sixty were assigned a higher valuation for one simple
reason—they could work, either in the field, or tending herds or flocks, or
weaving. From five years old to twenty, they were valued slightly less because
they only had potential. They could be trained. From one month old to five
years old—children in this range don’t really do a whole lot, other than eat
and drool and poop and pull their sisters hair, so they’re valued even less.
And anybody from sixty years and older, their days of working in the field (or
the mill, or the loom) were pretty much behind them—but they could still teach
the younger folks. This is a principle that we find even in the New Testament,
in the letter Paul wrote to Timothy, telling him how to instruct the older
widows. 1st Timothy 5:1-10 (NASB)—1
Do not sharply rebuke an older man, but rather appeal to him as a father, to
the younger men as brothers, 2 the older women as mothers, and the younger
women as sisters, in all purity.3 Honor widows who are widows indeed…5 Now she
who is a widow indeed and who has been left alone, has fixed her hope on God
and continues in entreaties and prayers night and day…9 A widow is to be put on
the list only if she is not less than sixty years old, having been the wife of
one man, 10 having a reputation for good works; and if she has brought up
children, if she has shown hospitality to strangers, if she has washed the
saints' feet, if she has assisted those in distress, and if she has devoted
herself to every good work. We should not need Social Security or other
government programs—at least not for the elderly in the church. They should be
taken care of by their family and/or the church. And even the Law stated that
the elderly still had some value.
Now what is the reason
for this list of valuations? In verse 2, God talks about a man who has made a
“difficult vow”. This is probably referring to one of the Peace Offerings found
in chapters 3 and 6. Leviticus 7:16—“‘16 But
if the sacrifice of his [peace] offering is a vow…’” Just to kind of
refresh our memory, there were two different types of “vows” one could make—there
was a vow of devotion (the vow of abstinence [the [קָרְבָּן,
qorban]), and the vow of destruction [the [חֵרֶם,
cherem, or Greek [ἀνάθεμα, anathema]). The “vow of devotion” was basically a promise the
person makes to God. “If God delivers me through this, I will offer Him the
best of my herd.” We used the example of Jacob in Genesis 28:20-21—20 Then Jacob made a vow, saying, "If God will be
with me, and keep me in this way that I am going, and give me bread to eat and
clothing to put on, 21 so that I come back to my father's house in peace, then
the LORD shall be my God." If someone made a “vow of devotion” קָרְבָּן (qorban), it simply meant that the person had set some
possession and had dedicated it to the use of the temple. They may have held
the object in their physical possession—but it belonged to God. The Nazirite
vow was a type of קָרְבָּן
(qorban). The “vow of destruction” (Hebrew [חֵרֶם,
cherem], Greek [ἀνάθεμα, anathema]). We read about
things being declared חֵרֶם (cherem) in Joshua 6. The things dedicated to חֵרֶם
(cherem) were, of course, those things in the city of Jericho that the
LORD commanded them to destroy. We’ll talk more about that when we get to the
end of this chapter.
So what would happen was
this: the person would make the vow; they would find it difficult to fulfill
that vow; they would need to be released from that vow. Which makes it pretty
clear that we should be really careful about making vows (see Joshua chapter
9). Ecclesiastes 5:4-5 (NASB)—4 When you
make a vow to God, do not be late in paying it; for He takes no delight in
fools. Pay what you vow! 5 It is better that you should not vow than that you
should vow and not pay. But if you do make that vow you can't pay, you
can be redeemed. You can either pay the valuation based on your age, or, if you
can't afford that, the priest will judge and put a price on you, so that you
may thus fulfill that vow.
Leviticus 27:9-10
(NASB)—“‘9 Now if it is an animal of the kind which men can
present as an offering to the LORD, any such that one gives to the LORD shall
be holy. 10 He shall not replace it or exchange it, a good for a bad, or a bad
for a good; or if he does exchange animal for animal, then both it and its
substitute shall become holy.’” Once you offer your animal for
sacrifice, it belonged to the priest. Period, end of story. If you vowed the next
ox to be born to YHVH, and it is born with some kind of defect or
blemish—perhaps it has a short leg or some scaly patch of skin—you do not go to
the priest and say, “Look, I know I vowed this ox to the LORD, but as you
can see it’s not fit for God’s use. Here, let me give you this better one from
my herd.” You don’t do that. If that one is not fit, and you want to offer
a better specimen, then guess what—both the good one and the bad one
belonged to God. The good one was used for sacrifice; the bad one went to the
family of the priest. “If he does exchange animal
for animal, then both it and its substitute shall become holy.” John
Gill—“Whatsoever was devoted to sacred use was never to be put to any
profane one; and this was also to teach men not to be hasty and fickle in such
things, but to consider well what they did, and abide by it.” Or, as Paul
warned Timothy, Do not lay hands upon anyone too
hastily and thereby share responsibility for the sins of others; keep yourself
free from sin (1st Timothy 5:22 (NASB)).
Leviticus 27:11-13
(NASB)—“‘11 If, however, it is any unclean animal of the kind
which men do not present as an offering to the LORD, then he shall place the
animal before the priest. 12 The priest shall value it as either good or bad;
as you, the priest, value it, so it shall be. 13 But if he should ever wish to
redeem it, then he shall add one-fifth of it to your valuation.’” That
is, if you wanted to give the priest a donkey for him to use—perhaps to use for
travel, or some other use outside of the sanctuary—if you wanted to buy it
back, the priest had to put a value on it, add 20%, and then you could buy it
back. “The priest shall value it, whether it be good or bad, should rather
be rendered, the priest shall estimate it between good and bad, that is, at a
moderate price, as though it were neither very good nor very bad. And so in the
next verse” (Spence and Exell, The Pulpit Commentary).
Leviticus 27:14-25
(NASB)—“‘14 Now if a man consecrates his house as holy to the
LORD, then the priest shall value it as either good or bad; as the priest
values it, so it shall stand. 15 Yet if the one who consecrates it should wish
to redeem his house, then he shall add one-fifth of your valuation price to it,
so that it may be his. 16 Again, if a man consecrates to the LORD part of the
fields of his own property, then your valuation shall be proportionate to the
seed needed for it: a homer of barley seed at fifty shekels of silver. 17 If he
consecrates his field as of the year of jubilee, according to your valuation it
shall stand. 18 If he consecrates his field after the jubilee, however, then
the priest shall calculate the price for him proportionate to the years that
are left until the year of jubilee; and it shall be deducted from your
valuation. 19 If the one who consecrates it should ever wish to redeem the
field, then he shall add one-fifth of your valuation price to it, so that it
may pass to him. 20 Yet if he will not redeem the field, but has sold the field
to another man, it may no longer be redeemed; 21 and when it reverts in the
jubilee, the field shall be holy to the LORD, like a field set apart; it shall
be for the priest as his property. 22 Or if he consecrates to the LORD a field
which he has bought, which is not a part of the field of his own property, 23
then the priest shall calculate for him the amount of your valuation up to the
year of jubilee; and he shall on that day give your valuation as holy to the
LORD. 24 In the year of jubilee the field shall return to the one from whom he
bought it, to whom the possession of the land belongs. 25 Every valuation of
yours, moreover, shall be after the shekel of the sanctuary. The shekel shall
be twenty gerahs.”
This section doesn't
really need much commentary; we have already discussed either all that is
covered here, or at least the principle behind these words. Basically, if you
wanted to buy back what you had dedicated to YHVH, you had to add 20% to the
price. The valuations were prorated based on the number of years until Jubilee.
If you don’t redeem it by the Year of Jubilee, or you sell it to another man,
you don’t get it back. And the shekel that was to be used, the shekel of the
sanctuary, was twenty gerahs. “What’s a gerah”? A gerah was equivalent
in weight to about 16 coffee beans. If you want to do a home study on your own
and weigh them yourself, feel free.
Leviticus 27:26-27
(NASB)—“‘26 However, a firstborn among animals, which as a
firstborn belongs to the LORD, no man may consecrate it; whether ox or sheep,
it is the LORD's. 27 But if it is among the unclean animals, then he shall
redeem it according to your valuation and add to it one-fifth of it; and if it
is not redeemed, then it shall be sold according to your valuation.’”
Again, simple. The firstborn among any animal that could be sacrificed to YHVH
could not be redeemed. On the night of the first Passover, Exodus 13:1-2
(NASB)—1 Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,
2 "Sanctify to Me every firstborn, the first offspring of every womb among
the sons of Israel, both of man and beast; it belongs to Me." Now,
if you did not want to redeem that firstborn of unclean animals, and you
couldn’t find a buyer for it, God gave instructions for just such a situation
in Exodus 13:11-13 (NASB)—“11 Now when the
LORD brings you to the land of the Canaanite, as He swore to you and to your
fathers, and gives it to you, 12 you shall devote to the LORD the first
offspring of every womb, and the first offspring of every beast that you own;
the males belong to the LORD. 13 But every first offspring of a donkey you
shall redeem with a lamb, but if you do not redeem it, then you shall break its
neck; and every firstborn of man among your sons you shall redeem.” The
firstborn belonged to God, period, paragraph, end of story. This concept of the
firstborn belonging to God is echoed in Christ. Colossians 1:15 (NASB)—He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over
all creation. 1st Corinthians 3:23 (NASB)—You belong to Christ; and Christ belongs to God. Now,
it’s true that Christ belonged to God long before He became flesh and made His
tabernacle among men. And He has been given the preeminence as the Firstborn of
God because God has made us brothers and sisters of Christ. Romans
8:29 (NASB)—For those whom He foreknew, He also
predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be
the firstborn among many brethren.
Leviticus 27:28-29
(NASB)—“‘28 Nevertheless,
anything which a man sets apart to the LORD out of all that he has, of man or
animal or of the fields of his own property, shall not be sold or redeemed.
Anything devoted to destruction is most holy to the LORD. 29 No one who may
have been set apart among men shall be ransomed; he shall surely be put to
death.’” This would be talking
about the sacrifice of a Peace Offering—specifically, a Peace Offering of a
vow, and even more specifically, the Peace Offering of a vow of destruction, or
חֵרֶם (cherem) (Greek ἀνάθεμα, anathema). Now, let’s not get ahead of ourselves and ask, “But,
does this mean that Yitzhak could offer his servant as a חֵרֶם
(cherem) and that servant would be put to death?” No, that is NOT what this means. The
חֵרֶם (cherem) was not to be used in that manner. (Jephthah
learned that lesson the hard way in Judges 11). Only God could set someone
aside for destruction. And He did. Joshua 6:17-18 (KJV)—“17 And the city shall be accursed (חֵרֶם [cherem]), even it, and all that are therein, to the LORD…18 And
ye, in any wise keep yourselves from the accursed thing (חֵרֶם
[cherem]), lest ye make yourselves accursed (חָרַם [cherem]), when ye take of the accursed
thing (חֵרֶם [cherem]), and make the camp of Israel a curse (חֵרֶם [cherem]), and trouble it.” Nothing that God had put under
the ban (חֵרֶם [cherem]) could be redeemed. It had to be destroyed. Anything
devoted to destruction for the glory of God was to be destroyed. We have
already studied this in detail when we looked at chapter 3 and the Peace
Offering, so if you want to read more about it, you can do so there.
And finally, Leviticus
27:30-34 (NASB)—“‘30 Thus all the tithe of the land, of the seed of the land or of
the fruit of the tree, is the LORD's; it is holy to the LORD. 31 If, therefore,
a man wishes to redeem part of his tithe, he shall add to it one-fifth of it.
32 For every tenth part of herd or flock, whatever passes under the rod, the
tenth one shall be holy to the LORD. 33 He is not to be concerned whether it is
good or bad, nor shall he exchange it; or if he does exchange it, then both it
and its substitute shall become holy. It shall not be redeemed.’” 34 These are
the commandments which the LORD commanded Moses for the sons of Israel at Mount
Sinai. What is one of
the most controversial subjects in the church? The tithe. I'm gonna say it from
the outset; get it out of the way so you know where I'm coming from. Here goes:
the church, under the new covenant (Hebrews 8:6-13) is not—not—bound
by any 10% tithe. But what do we always hear from pulpits of those churches
that teach that the church, even though not under the Law is under the tithe? “You're
robbing God!” And to whom do they run for their refuge? Malachi.
Specifically Malachi 3:8—“Will a man rob God?
Yet you are robbing Me! But you say, 'How have we robbed You?' In tithes and
offerings.” And they read that verse and they declare, “SEE!!”—and
they speak in all capital letters—“SEE!! MALACHI SAYS YOU'RE ROBBING GOD IF
YOU DON’T TITHE!!” And they have taken that verse out of context in order
to prop up their flawed doctrine. If they were to read that verse in its proper
context, they would (if they were so convicted) cease to teach the “give
your 10% or God will curse you” tithe.
In fact, next time someone
asks you, “Do you believe in the tithe?” you should ask them this simple
question—“Which tithe?” And they will look at you like you’ve got three
eyeballs. “Well, what do you mean ‘which tithe’? The 10% tithe!” And
when you ask them to show you, from the Scripture, where it says that the
church, under the new covenant, is bound neck and heel to give 10% of their
income to the preacher, they may drag you to Hebrews 7, where the writer talks
about Abram tithing to Melchizedek. And then you ask them, “What did Abram
tithe from?” And they will once again look at you like you have three
eyeballs. Then you elaborate and ask, “Did he tithe, one time, from the
spoils of war—or did he tithe from everything he made for the rest of his
life?” Of course he did not give Melchizedek 10% of everything he ever made
for the rest of his life. It was a one-time deal. But then, they will pull out
(what they think is) their trump card, and say, “Aha! But we must tithe
because the tithe was in force before the Law!” Really. So Abram was under
compulsion to give Melchizedek 10% of the spoils of war? Let’s
think about this a second. If the Law was not in place, how could Abram be
under compulsion to give Melchizedek the tithe? And, one more way to answer
this last objection—ask them another question: was the Sabbath in place before
the Law? If they say “Yes,” then ask them if they keep the Sabbath. If they
don’t, then ask them “Well, the Sabbath was in place before the Law, but you
don’t keep the Sabbath. And yet the tithe, which existed before the Law, you
place around people’s necks like a millstone?”
I hate to say “We’ll
talk more about the tithe when we get to it”—but I have to. Because under
the Law there were actually three tithes (the Malachi Tithe® was actually that
which was set aside for the widows and orphans, and you actually ate one of the
other tithes), and they are all in the book of Deuteronomy, so you'll have to
wait on that. But before we leave this topic, let me say this—should we, the
church, be giving? Absolutely. Do we do it because we are under compulsion to
do so? Absolutely—NOT. 2nd Corinthians 9:6-7
(NKJV)—6 But this I say: He who sows sparingly
will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap
bountifully. 7 So let each one give as he purposes in his heart,
not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver.
Was the tithe of necessity to the Israelite? Yes. So we are to give, not of
necessity, then are we bound, by Law, to the tithe? No. If you want to read an
excellent treatment of the subject of tithing, read Jim McClarty’s book “A
Guide to New Covenant Giving” (You can read the free PDF at http://www.salvationbygrace.org/uc/sub/docs/grace_giving.pdf )
One more thing: We are
taught to tithe off the top. And to make sure it’s the very best. But what was
it that belonged to God? Leviticus 27:32-33—“32
For every tenth part of herd or flock, whatever passes
under the rod, the tenth one shall be holy to the LORD. 33 He is not to be
concerned whether it is good or bad.” You simply hold out a rod, have
your animals file underneath it one at a time, and count as they pass under the
rod. And every tenth animal that passed under that rod belonged to God, and
therefore went to the priests and Levites. And you don’t check it to see if it
had a blemish. You simply count it, and hand it over. This was God’s way of
saying “Everything belongs to Me. The good, the bad—it’s all mine. And I
will do with it as I please.” The fact that God commanded they not be
concerned whether it was good or bad served a purpose, however. Whenever the
priests and Levites were in a sinful state, God could very easily blight the
herds and flocks, and give the blighted animals the priests’ and Levites’
portions.
So that concludes our study of the book of Leviticus. We will now, naturally, move directly on to the book of Numbers, which is more of a narrative, although there are many theological implications and applications which we will glean from the texts. I hope you have enjoyed this study, and that you will enjoy Numbers.
