Prepare
Opening Prayer
Father, thank you for your Word. By your Holy Spirit, teach us, show us Jesus in this passage, and help us understand.
Read
Scripture Passage
Redeeming Persons and Property Dedicated to God
27 Now the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: ‘When a man consecrates by a vow certain persons to the Lord, according to your valuation, 3 if your valuation is of a male from twenty years old up to sixty years old, then your valuation shall be fifty shekels of silver, according to the shekel of the sanctuary. 4 If it is a female, then your valuation shall be thirty shekels; 5 and if from five years old up to twenty years old, then your valuation for a male shall be twenty shekels, and for a female ten shekels; 6 and if from a month old up to five years old, then your valuation for a male shall be five shekels of silver, and for a female your valuation shall be three shekels of silver; 7 and if from sixty years old and above, if it is a male, then your valuation shall be fifteen shekels, and for a female ten shekels.
8 ‘But if he is too poor to pay your valuation, then he shall present himself before the priest, and the priest shall set a value for him; according to the ability of him who vowed, the priest shall value him.
9 ‘If it is an animal that men may bring as an offering to the Lord, all that anyone gives to the Lord shall be holy. 10 He shall not substitute it or exchange it, good for bad or bad for good; and if he at all exchanges animal for animal, then both it and the one exchanged for it shall be holy. 11 If it is an unclean animal which they do not offer as a sacrifice to the Lord, then he shall present the animal before the priest; 12 and the priest shall set a value for it, whether it is good or bad; as you, the priest, value it, so it shall be. 13 But if he wants at all to redeem it, then he must add one-fifth to your valuation.
14 ‘And when a man dedicates his house to be holy to the Lord, then the priest shall set a value for it, whether it is good or bad; as the priest values it, so it shall stand. 15 If he who dedicated it wants to redeem his house, then he must add one-fifth of the money of your valuation to it, and it shall be his.
16 ‘If a man dedicates to the Lord part of a field of his possession, then your valuation shall be according to the seed for it. A homer of barley seed shall be valued at fifty shekels of silver. 17 If he dedicates his field from the Year of Jubilee, according to your valuation it shall stand. 18 But if he dedicates his field after the Jubilee, then the priest shall reckon to him the money due according to the years that remain till the Year of Jubilee, and it shall be deducted from your valuation. 19 And if he who dedicates the field ever wishes to redeem it, then he must add one-fifth of the money of your valuation to it, and it shall belong to him. 20 But if he does not want to redeem the field, or if he has sold the field to another man, it shall not be redeemed anymore; 21 but the field, when it is released in the Jubilee, shall be holy to the Lord, as a devoted field; it shall be the possession of the priest.
22 ‘And if a man dedicates to the Lord a field which he has bought, which is not the field of his possession, 23 then the priest shall reckon to him the worth of your valuation, up to the Year of Jubilee, and he shall give your valuation on that day as a holy offering to the Lord. 24 In the Year of Jubilee the field shall return to him from whom it was bought, to the one who owned the land as a possession. 25 And all your valuations shall be according to the shekel of the sanctuary: twenty gerahs to the shekel.
26 ‘But the firstborn of the animals, which should be the Lord’s firstborn, no man shall dedicate; whether it is an ox or sheep, it is the Lord’s. 27 And if it is an unclean animal, then he shall redeem it according to your valuation, and shall add one-fifth to it; or if it is not redeemed, then it shall be sold according to your valuation.
28 ‘Nevertheless no devoted offering that a man may devote to the Lord of all that he has, both man and beast, or the field of his possession, shall be sold or redeemed; every devoted offering is most holy to the Lord. 29 No person under the ban, who may become doomed to destruction among men, shall be redeemed, but shall surely be put to death. 30 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 to the Lord. 31 If a man wants at all to redeem any of his tithes, he shall add one-fifth to it. 32 And concerning the tithe of the herd or the flock, of whatever passes under the rod, the tenth one shall be holy to the Lord. 33 He shall not inquire whether it is good or bad, nor shall he exchange it; and if he exchanges it at all, then both it and the one exchanged for it shall be holy; it shall not be redeemed.’ ”
34 These are the commandments which the Lord commanded Moses for the children of Israel on Mount Sinai.
The New King James Version (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1982), Le 27:1–34.
A — About
What Is This Passage About?
The Lord regulates how Israel may dedicate people, animals, houses, fields, and tithes to him, including how some dedicated things may be redeemed. As covenant King, God determines how his redeemed people respond to him.
B — Best Verse
A Verse That Summarizes the Passage
Leviticus 27:28
Distilled from the devotional exposition; the speaker did not explicitly name a best verse.
Every devoted offering is most holy to the Lord.
The transcript contains no explicit Best Verse selection. This sentence distills the chapter's governing theme that what is devoted to the Lord belongs to him as holy.
C — Called or Christ
C — Called to Do & Christ Connection
Remember that God redeemed us at the immeasurable price of his Son. Respond to that redemption with hope, joy, and a life dedicated to him.
Devotional Study
Transcript of the devotion. Minor transcription errors may remain.
Good morning, good morning, good morning. Welcome to Coffee and Devotions. This is where every weekday morning you and I, we get together, we have a little bit of coffee. We get into God's Word and we grow in our love for the Lord together. And this year, 2023, we have made it from Genesis through Leviticus. Hey Deborah, can you hand this to her? Right now we haven't done all the work. Oh, we're on the last chapter of Leviticus. This is next to a miracle. We actually finished. Yeah, like, if we hadn't finished in about two weeks, we'd have missed it. No, it's the last week of December. Yeah, if we didn't get it done in about two weeks. Okay, let's have some coffee, we'll pray, and we'll get into God's Word. I need to get my book down. Okay, go ahead. Alright, let's pray.
Father, we thank you so much for this day. We thank you for your word. We thank you for your word. Father, we pray that your Holy Spirit would please teach us. We pray that you would show us Jesus in this passage. and that you would help us to understand what it means in Jesus' name. Amen.
Alright, so we're at Leviticus chapter 27. We'll give Dan Dan a second. He's spilt a little bit of milk. So, Leviticus chapter 27. Alright. Here we go. Maybe we should split this up. You're on the wrong page. I already had it on Leviticus 27 for you. Maybe we should split this up. Alright, here we go. You can come over, Dan. Now the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them, He's good, come on. Just go ahead and put it down, and then we'll clean it. Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them, When a man consecrates a vow, certain persons, sorry, a man consecrates by a vow certain persons to the Lord according to their valuation.
If your valuation is of a male from 20 years up to 60 years old, then your valuation shall be 50 shekels of silver, according to the shekel of the sanctuary. If it is a female, then your valuation shall be 30 shekels. And if from five years old up to twenty years old, then your valuation for a male shall be twenty shekels, and for a female ten shekels. And if from a month old up to five years old, then your valuation for a male shall be five shekels of silver, and for your female your value shall be three shekels of silver. And if from your sixty years old and above it is a male, then your valuation shall be fifteen shekels, and for a female ten shekels. But if he is too poor to pay your valuation, then he shall present himself before the priest, and the priest shall set a value for him according to the ability of him who vows. The priest shall value him."
Alright, so what is this part saying? Somebody's making a vow and they're consecrating what? People? People. This is what Samuel's mommy did. Do you guys remember that? When Samuel's mommy was in the tabernacle praying, Eli thought she was drunk. And she said, no, I'm not drunk. She was praying. And as she was praying, she made a promise to God. That if the Lord gave her a child, what would she do? She would give her baby to the Lord. And guess what happened? It happened? It happened. And she, when she was done nursing the baby, she brought him to the tabernacle and she gave him to the priest. And he worked in the tabernacle the rest of his life. Okay, now, verse 9.
If it is an animal that men may bring as an offering to the Lord, all that anyone gives the Lord shall be holy. He shall not substitute it, or exchange it, good for bad, or bad for good. And if he at all exchanges animal for animal, then both it and the one exchanged for it shall be folly. If it is an unclean animal which they do not offer as a sacrifice to the Lord, then he shall present the animal before the priest, and the priest shall set a value for it, whether it is good or bad. As for you, as you the priests, value it so it shall be. But if he wants at all to redeem it, then he must add one-fifth to your valuation. Okay, so what's this one talking about? It's somebody who dedicates what? An animal. That's right. A clean or unclean animal. That's right. Okay. Verse 14 and 15. Nathan, can you read 14 and 15?
And when a man dedicates his house to be holy to the Lord, then the priest shall set a value for it, whether it is good or bad, and the priest shall use it as he shall can. If he who dedicated it wants to redeem his house, then he must add one-fifth of the money of the allocation to it. and it shall be His.
Okay, so what is this saying? What is this about dedicating to the Lord? An animal to redeem. Nope. Nope, that's verse 14 says. This is dedicating a house, right? Or even the things in the house, right? And so, but if He dedicates it and then later He wants to redeem it back, There's got to be an additional price. Deborah, can you read 16 through 21?
If a man dedicates to the Lord part of the field of his possession, then your valuation shall be according to the seed for it. A homer of barley seed shall be valued at fifty shekels of silver. If he dedicates his field from the year of Jubilee, according to your valuation, so shall it stand, that he dedicates his field after the jubilee. then the priest shall reckon to him the money due according to the years that remain till the year of jubilee, and it shall be deducted from your valuation. And if he who dedicates the thing so ever wishes to redeem it, then he must add one-fifth of the money of your valuation into it, and it shall belong to him.
But if he does not want to redeem the field, or if he has sold the field to another man, it shall not be redeemed. But the field, when it is released, And the jubilee shall be holy to the Lord, and the devoted field, it shall be the possession of the priest. Okay, so what's this one saying people can devote to the Lord, or dedicate to the Lord? A field. A field, that's right, a field. And the valuation is depending on the year until jubilee. Okay, Daniel can you read verse 22? And if a man... And if a man...
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And if a man... And if a man... And if a man... And if a man... And if a man... And if a man... And if a man... And if a man... And if a man... And if a man... And if a man... And if a man... And if a man... And if a man... And if a man... And if a man...
And if a man Is it not the field of his promise? Possession. Right, so now it's somebody who's dedicating a field to the Lord which he bought. But is it his family's field? Nope. Then the priest shall reckon to him the worth of your valuation up to the year of Jubilee, and he shall give your valuation on that day as a holy offering to the Lord. In the year of Jubilee the field shall return to him whom it was bought, to the one who owned the land as a possession. And all your valuations shall be according to the shekel of the sanctuary, twenty geras to the shekel. But the firstborn of the animals, which should be the Lord's firstborn, no man shall dedicate.
Whether it's an ox, or sheep, or it is the Lord. So what are they not allowed to dedicate to the temple? Ox. No, it's a certain type. The firstborn. Why do you think they're not allowed to dedicate the firstborn? Because it's the oldest? No, it's already the Lord's. It's already the Lord's. Remember, the Lord is the one who says, the firstborn of every animal, that one's his.
And so it's just saying, you're not allowed to do that. And if it is an unclean animal, then he shall redeem it according to your valuation, and shall add one fifth to it. Or if it is not redeemed, then it shall be sold according to your valuation. Alright, Nathan, can you read 28 through 33?
Nonetheless, no devoted offering that a man may devote to the Lord of all that he has, both man and beast, or field of his possession, shall be sold or redeemed. Every devoted offering is most holy to the Lord. So forth and under the ban, who may become doomed to destruction, no man shall be redeemed, but shall surely be put to death. And all the tithes of no man, whether of seed or The seed of the land, or the fruit of the tree, is the Lord's. It is holy to the Lord.
If a man wants at all to redeem any of his tithes, he shall add one-fifth to it. And concerning the tithe of the hoard of the flock, of whatever passes under the rod, the next one shall be holy to the Lord. He shall not inquire whether it is good or bad, nor shall I exchange it. And if he exchanges it at all, then both it and the one exchanged for it shall be whole. It shall not be redeemed.
Okay, so what's that one saying? Alright, so this is talking about the tithe, right? One-tenth of everything is supposed to be what? Give them to the Lord. Give them to the Lord, right? This is the tithe. So if he goes fishing and he catches the catfish, he's got to give it to the Lord. Yeah. So this ties into chapter 26 because, right, we had verse chapter 26 was here's the covenant Right?
Here's the promises, or here's the laws. And if you keep these things, it's going to go well with you. But if you don't keep these things, it's going to go poorly for you. It will go bad. So this is the king talking to the people. Now the king is saying, now if you're going to respond to me, if you're going to dedicate things to me, here's how you're going to do it.
Okay. So, what do you think this teaches us about in our lives today? To not take away from God. Okay, maybe not disobey the Lord. Yeah, right, so these are the commandments which the Lord commanded Moses for the children of Israel on Mount Sinai. So, do you think that we are under these laws now? Nope. No? We have a new covenant. Yeah, there's a new covenant, right? These don't apply to us in the same way because we're not ancient Israel. But, who has redeemed us? Yeah, and what was the price he paid to redeem us? His son. His son. Is Jesus of a little value, like one shekel? No. He's of infinite value. He didn't redeem us with gold or silver like they would have to redeem from God here. But God redeemed us by the price of the blood of his own precious son. So, well, you guys, congratulations.
You've made it from Genesis through Leviticus. You forgot a verse. I just wrote that last verse. You can read it again. Oh yeah, you can read that. You can go ahead and read it again. Okay. You're good? These are the commandments which the Lord commanded Moses for the children of Israel on Mount Sinai. What has been your favorite part this year? Well, no, we'll do that tomorrow. Well, I'll let you guys think about it. Tomorrow we'll jump on and we'll talk about what our favorite parts of this year has been. But, for today, why don't we go ahead and pray.
Lord, we thank you so much that we have learned a great deal from your law. At least the first three books. Father, we pray that these words would be living in our hearts and they would be working like a sharp two-edged sword in us. Lord, we pray that we would have hope and we would have joy in Jesus because you have given us these wonderful things. Please, Lord, bless us and let us walk in your ways. In Jesus' name, amen. Well, may God bless you. May you walk in the joy and peace that comes from knowing that your Redeemer lives.
And we'll see you next time. Thanks for listening to this week's message from God's Word for You, a ministry of Sharon R.P. Church in rural Southeast Iowa. We pray that the message would be used by God to transform your faith and your life this week. If you'd like to get more information about us, feel free to go to the website, SharonRPC.org. We'd love to invite you to worship with us. Our worship time is 10 a.m. every Sunday at 25204 160th Avenue. Morning Sun, Iowa, 52640. May God richly bless you this week.