Numbers 3:40 - Meaning and Application

This was the exchange made of the Levites for the firstborn. The firstborn were counted from one month old (Numbers 3:42, Numbers 3:43). Those who were already heads of their own households were likely not included, only those still too young to stand on their own. Bishop Patrick thought even more strongly that only firstborn children born after Israel left Egypt were counted, since the firstborn were set apart to God there (Exodus 13:2).

If there were 22,000 firstborn males, we may suppose there were as many firstborn females. If all these were born in the first year after the exodus, then the last year of slavery must still have seen many marriages among the Israelites. They were not crushed by their present trouble. They married in faith, trusting that God would soon show them mercy and that their children, though born in slavery, would live in freedom and honor.

This was also a sign of good from the Lord. He not only kept them alive, he greatly increased them, even in a barren wilderness. It showed that they were blessed by God. He can preserve and multiply his people wherever he places them.

The number of the firstborn and the number of the Levites came very close to matching, by God’s special care. When God divided the nations, he set the borders of the peoples according to the number of the children of Israel (Deuteronomy 32:8). God knows all his works in advance, and there is a perfect measure in all he does. That match becomes clear when his plans are compared.

The Levites’ cattle were said to be taken in place of the firstborn cattle of the Israelites. In other words, the Levites, with everything they owned, were devoted to God instead of the firstborn and all they had. When we give ourselves to God, everything we have comes with us, as part of the gift.

The small number of firstborn that exceeded the Levites, 273 in all, had to be redeemed at five shekels each, and the money was given to Aaron. It was not fitting for them to be added to the Levites. It is likely that the exchange began with the oldest firstborn and moved downward, so the 273 youngest firstborn were the ones redeemed with money. That seems more likely than saying it was decided by lot or paid from public funds.

The church is called the church of the firstborn, and it is redeemed too. But it is not redeemed with silver or gold, as these firstborn were. It had been devoted to God’s justice because of sin, and it was bought back with the precious blood of the Son of God.