Exodus Leaders Notes Session 5

This session focuses in on God’s command to offer up every first born male (of both animals and people) to God. There are ways to redeem some of the first born and others that must be redeemed. What is God doing here? Why this focus on the first born? As Dr. Smith says in the video, there is a strong connection with the last plague that killed the first born males of the Egyptians. God is building into the life of the nation a way for them to remember what God had done in redeeming Israel out of slavery. But it is also a way for them to honor God with their “first-fruits.” They only have these first born animals and children because of what God did in rescuing them. As their nation grows in both numbers and prosperity, they are to give an offering from that growth as a way to honor and worship the LORD. At first glance, this seems like a pretty irrelevant set of commands for our lives. But when we consider the principles behind the commands, we find that they are extremely relevant. How are we remembering what God has done? Are we honoring and worshipping God through giving our “first-fruits” to Him?