Is Exodus 22:29 talking about child sacrifice?
Question:
In Exodus 22:29, is God allowing child sacrifice? I'm sure that's not what's present here, and I'm taking it as them becoming a part of the priesthood. If correct, are there other verses that can cover this idea?
Answer:
Human communication relies heavily on implications. We don't say everything. We expect the other person to fill in the gaps. However, people often fill in the gaps with the wrong ideas, and that is how people misunderstand each other.
"You shall not delay the offering from your harvest and your vintage. The firstborn of your sons you shall give to Me" (Exodus 22:29).
"Give" does not imply sacrifice, though I can see how the mistake is made since the first half of the verse does talk about offerings.
In Israel, all firstborn children were dedicated to God, and firstborn males were initially selected to be priests. This was in payment (in a sense) for God freeing Israel from slavery by killing all the firstborns in Egypt. Death skipped over the firstborn in Israel, so they became dedicated to God. The tribe of Levite replaced this, but all firstborn males had to be redeemed by paying five shekels to the Temple. Firstborn females were considered to belong to God but did not have to be redeemed because they were not selected for service to God. Thus, a family with a girl first and then a boy would not have to pay the five shekels because the rules applied to the child who opens the womb. If a woman's first child is a boy, then there is a redemption fee.
"Consecrate to Me all the firstborn, whatever opens the womb among the children of Israel, both of man and beast; it is Mine" (Exodus 13:2).
"And it shall be, when the LORD brings you into the land of the Canaanites, as He swore to you and your fathers, and gives it to you, that you shall set apart to the LORD all that open the womb, that is, every firstborn that comes from an animal which you have; the males shall be the LORD'S. But every firstborn of a donkey you shall redeem with a lamb; and if you will not redeem it, then you shall break its neck. And all the firstborn of man among your sons you shall redeem. So it shall be, when your son asks you in time to come, saying, 'What is this?' that you shall say to him, 'By strength of hand the LORD brought us out of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. And it came to pass, when Pharaoh was stubborn about letting us go, that the LORD killed all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both the firstborn of man and the firstborn of beast. Therefore I sacrifice to the LORD all males that open the womb, but all the firstborn of my sons I redeem'" (Exodus 13:11-15).
"You shall not delay to offer the first of your ripe produce and your juices. The firstborn of your sons you shall give to Me" (Exodus 22:29).
"All that open the womb are Mine, and every male firstborn among your livestock, whether ox or sheep. But the firstborn of a donkey you shall redeem with a lamb. And if you will not redeem him, then you shall break his neck. All the firstborn of your sons you shall redeem. And none shall appear before Me empty-handed" (Exodus 34:19-20).
"Now behold, I Myself have taken the Levites from among the children of Israel instead of every firstborn who opens the womb among the children of Israel. Therefore the Levites shall be Mine, because all the firstborn are Mine. On the day that I struck all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, I sanctified to Myself all the firstborn in Israel, both man and beast. They shall be Mine: I am the LORD" (Numbers 3:12-13).
"And for the redemption of the two hundred and seventy-three of the firstborn of the children of Israel, who are more than the number of the Levites, you shall take five shekels for each one individually; you shall take them in the currency of the shekel of the sanctuary, the shekel of twenty gerahs" (Numbers 3:46-47).
"After that the Levites shall go in to service the tabernacle of meeting. So you shall cleanse them and offer them, like a wave offering. For they are wholly given to Me from among the children of Israel; I have taken them for Myself instead of all who open the womb, the firstborn of all the children of Israel. For all the firstborn among the children of Israel are Mine, both man and beast; on the day that I struck all the firstborn in the land of Egypt I sanctified them to Myself. I have taken the Levites instead of all the firstborn of the children of Israel" (Numbers 8:15-18).
"Everything that first opens the womb of all flesh, which they bring to the LORD, whether man or beast, shall be yours; nevertheless the firstborn of man you shall surely redeem, and the firstborn of unclean animals you shall redeem. And those redeemed of the devoted things you shall redeem when one month old, according to your valuation, for five shekels of silver, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, which is twenty gerahs" (Numbers 18:15).
Question:
Thank you for your response. My response wasn't due to my view. I'm speaking with an atheist who thinks God is evil because of the acts mentioned in the Old Testament. I've told him that he has completely misunderstood Scripture, and sometimes, my verbiage may not be understandable. So, when you sent me your answer, it allowed me to share it in a manner that should be universally understood.
He said to me that God knew that Jephthah's daughter would have been sacrificed because He knew that she was going to come out the door first. His whole question is why He didn't stop it. Why would He allow Jephthah's daughter to be sacrificed despite it being His doing to sacrifice whoever came out the door first? I'm sure Jephthah wasn't expecting his daughter to walk out first, but his argument is that God knew.
Answer:
What you are dealing with is a person who claims there is no God but argues that the God of the Bible is evil because He didn't prevent Jephthah's daughter from walking out of the door first. His argument is actually contradictory. Atheism is technically amoral since morality requires a higher being to impose the rule of morality. Calling God evil is to accept that there is a God to impose morality.
His view rules out people having free choice. How does he know that Jephthah's daughter didn't hear of her father's vow and purposely chose to be the first to greet him? What the Bible tells us is that an individual's choice is not always knowable in advance.
See:
Another mistake that he makes is assuming Jephthah's daughter was killed, which God says He finds disgusting. See Jephthahs Daughter.
When a person makes arguments from a self-contradictory position, it is difficult to be persuasive because you don't know what the person truly believes.
