Another question from the comments-Dedication of the first born

 For those of you following a long in the daily reading, an interesting question came in. For the reading on February 5th, the reading from Exodus 13 starts off with this:

Dedication of the Firstborn

Then the LORD said to Moses, 2 “Dedicate to me every firstborn among the Israelites. The first offspring to be born, of both humans and animals, belongs to me.” 

So, the question that came in was this:

My question is with February fifth. It talks about leaving or giving your 1st born son to God and then you can buy him back. One who is taking care of the kid, and how are you buying him back out?

Great question, in order to answer this question, I have to read your mind a little bit. Because you said, who is taking care of this kid, I have to assume that you are actually referring to a different story and thinking that the same thing applies. Let's look at 1 Samuel 1:9-18

Hannah’s Prayer for a Son

9 Once after a sacrificial meal at Shiloh, Hannah got up and went to pray. Eli the priest was sitting at his customary place beside the entrance of the Tabernacle. 10 Hannah was in deep anguish, crying bitterly as she prayed to the LORD. 11 And she made this vow: “O LORD of Heaven’s Armies, if you will look upon my sorrow and answer my prayer and give me a son, then I will give him back to you. He will be yours for his entire lifetime, and as a sign that he has been dedicated to the LORD, his hair will never be cut.” 

12 As she was praying to the LORD, Eli watched her. 13 Seeing her lips moving but hearing no sound, he thought she had been drinking. 14 “Must you come here drunk?” he demanded. “Throw away your wine!” 

15 “Oh no, sir!” she replied. “I haven’t been drinking wine or anything stronger. But I am very discouraged, and I was pouring out my heart to the LORD. 16 Don’t think I am a wicked woman! For I have been praying out of great anguish and sorrow.” 

17 “In that case,” Eli said, “go in peace! May the God of Israel grant the request you have asked of him.” 

18 “Oh, thank you, sir!” she exclaimed. Then she went back and began to eat again, and she was no longer sad. 

I believe this is the story you are thinking of when you hear the words " Dedicate to me every first born".  When Hannah says this, she does actually mean that she will physically give her son to Eli. This is what it says in 1 Samuel 1:24-28.

24 When the child was weaned, Hannah took him to the Tabernacle in Shiloh. They brought along a three-year-old bull for the sacrifice and a basket of flour and some wine. 25 After sacrificing the bull, they brought the boy to Eli. 26 “Sir, do you remember me?” Hannah asked. “I am the very woman who stood here several years ago praying to the LORD. 27 I asked the LORD to give me this boy, and he has granted my request. 28 Now I am giving him to the LORD, and he will belong to the LORD his whole life.” And they worshiped the LORD there. 

So in this situation, part of Hannah's prayer was that if God would give her the son she wanted, she would give her child back to God. The situation and the words used are very similar to what is used in the February 5th reading. One key thing I want to point out, in the February 5th reading God is talking to his people. In the story of Hannah, she is talking to God. I point that out because I do think that sometimes we don't realize that God is actually asking from us way less than we think he is. We make it seem like he is asking the impossible of us when he just wants love and attention. So, now that we have hopefully established what you were thinking about during the reading, what is God actually asking for in Exodus 13? Here is where it gets a little tricky. I have looked over many different commentaries and it's hard to define. The main thing that they all agree on is the fact that the Israelites are going through the act of dedicating the first born because during the 10th plague when they were trying to leave Egypt, God sacrificed all of the first-born sons and animals of all of the Egyptians but did touch the first born of the Israelites. As a remembrance of this, they celebrate the Passover, and they dedicate their first born. So, the good news is that they all agree on why they do this. The bad news is that they are not very clear about how they do this. Some say that they give a certain amount of money to the priests, others say that they sacrifice an animal. So, you would actually hand over the first born to the priest and then buy him back with a certain amount of money or a sacrifice of some kind. Others say that you are making the commitment to have your first-born study the word. That way he could lead the next generation in knowing what to do to follow God. Either way, in the end, the parents are still raising their first-born child and they have "bought him back from God" by either giving money or making a sacrifice to God. Hopefully that answers your question, if not please let me know and we can try it again! 

As always, Thank you for the question, and keep more coming!!