Read Leviticus 27, Isaiah 25, and Acts 10.
This devotional is about Leviticus 27.
Every now and then, some object–usually a piece of furniture–shows up here in our church building. No one seems to know where it came from or who owns (or used to own ) it. It is a mystery donation, mysteriously appearing for seemingly no reason.
But I think I know the real reason. Someone got a new couch, or a new chair, or whatever and instead of selling or throwing out their old one, they dropped it off here at church. And, I get it; our teen room has a lot of old furniture in it, so whoever donates the mystery piece is (probably) trying to do us a kindness.
Here in Leviticus 27, God set some terms for people who want to donate people or things to the Lord. But let’s think about that phrase I just said, “…donate people….” God is not in the business of slavery, so he didn’t accept people. Instead, if an Israelite wanted to honor someone with, as verse 2 put it, “…special vow to dedicate a person to the LORD…” he had to fork over some money as we see in verses 3-8.
This chapter, Leviticus 27, then, talks about people who want to give something to the LORD, but they want to give something different than the usual sacrifices or thank offerings. The Israelite described in this chapter wants to give something that will be useful to the Lord’s work in an ongoing way. So, here in Leviticus 27, God spelled out how to do that:
- In verses 1-8, as I just mentioned, the monetary value for a person is spelled out. If an Israelite wanted to give something in dedication to a person, this paragraph described how much money the giver should give.
- In verses 9-13, God described how to donate an animal to the Lord.
- In verses 14-15, the Lord described how to calculate the donation of a person’s house to the his work.
- In verses 16-25, Scripture described the value of land that one donated to God. That land could be inherited land (vv. 16-21) or purchased land (vv. 22-25), but there were different considerations for each which were spelled out here.
- In verses 26-27, the Lord reminded Israel that you can’t dedicate firstborn animals, because they already belong to the Lord and must be redeemed because of that. The redemption rules for firstborns is described in Exodus 13, Numbers 3, and Numbers 18
- Verses 28-29 describe a few terms and conditions that apply.
- Finally, verses 30-34 remind God’s people that they are required to tithe.
Now, everything in this chapter related to Israel. It described what Israelites must do if they wish to give something special to the Lord. As Christians, we are not under this law. However, God’s work in this age is still funded by the gifts and donations of God’s people.
So, if you wish to dedicate something to the Lord, let some of the principles in this passage guide your gift. Here are some things to think about:
- Don’t give God junk! Verse 33 says, “No one may pick out the good from the bad or make any substitution.” That’s talking about the tithe, but the point is that you don’t keep the good stuff for yourself and give God the thing that is worthless or worth less.
- Let your leaders set the value of something you want to give. Some specific amounts are set forth in this chapter, for instance, in verses 3-7. But in most cases, the priests are the ones who decide. See verses 8, 11-12, 14, 18, and 23 for examples. The elders of the church are not priests, but we are serving the Lord in ministry and we are responsible to be good managers of what people give to the Lord through the church. So, don’t let your warn out couch be mysteriously imported into the church building. Contact us and let us decide if we can use what you want to donate or if–maybe–it just isn’t useful anymore.
- Money is more useful than objects are. Notice that in many of these verses, someone must calculate what a thing is worth, then the donor gives the value of that thing in cash. See verses 2-8, 12, 13, 14, 16 and so on. So, if you have an old desk that you want to donate to the church, maybe you should sell it and then donate whatever you can get for it to the Lord.
The Lord is honored when his people give. It honors him when we give tithes and offerings regularly and when we make special donations to his work. Are you a generous giver? Does it ever occur to you to make special donations to the Lord just because you love him and his work?