human sacrafices

  • Christian Chat is a moderated online Christian community allowing Christians around the world to fellowship with each other in real time chat via webcam, voice, and text, with the Christian Chat app. You can also start or participate in a Bible-based discussion here in the Christian Chat Forums, where members can also share with each other their own videos, pictures, or favorite Christian music.

    If you are a Christian and need encouragement and fellowship, we're here for you! If you are not a Christian but interested in knowing more about Jesus our Lord, you're also welcome! Want to know what the Bible says, and how you can apply it to your life? Join us!

    To make new Christian friends now around the world, click here to join Christian Chat.

Jruiz

Senior Member
Dec 13, 2013
565
5
18
#1
At the LORD's command, a man of God from Judah went to Bethel, and he arrived there just as Jeroboam was approaching the altar to offer a sacrifice. Then at the LORD's command, he shouted, "O altar, altar! This is what the LORD says: A child named Josiah will be born into the dynasty of David. On you he will sacrifice the priests from the pagan shrines who come here to burn incense, and human bones will be burned on you." (1 Kings 13:1-2 NLT)
,
I will give to the LORD the first thing coming out of my house to greet me when I return in triumph. I will sacrifice it as a burnt offering." The first thing he saw was his daughter....he kept his word and sacrificed her....Judges 11:29-40.

Can someone explain this?
 
Jan 28, 2014
269
2
0
#2
What is to be explained????

In attempt to get divine help, leader gave a tough promise.

And he had been put to test.

And his word was find faithfull.

And notice - the maiden agreed to be executed.
 

posthuman

Senior Member
Jul 31, 2013
36,530
13,094
113
#3
At the LORD's command, a man of God from Judah went to Bethel, and he arrived there just as Jeroboam was approaching the altar to offer a sacrifice. Then at the LORD's command, he shouted, "O altar, altar! This is what the LORD says: A child named Josiah will be born into the dynasty of David. On you he will sacrifice the priests from the pagan shrines who come here to burn incense, and human bones will be burned on you." (1 Kings 13:1-2 NLT)
Just as he had done at Bethel, Josiah removed all the shrines at the high places that the kings of Israel had built in the towns of Samaria and that had aroused the Lord’s anger. Josiah slaughtered all the priests of those high places on the altars and burned human bones on them. Then he went back to Jerusalem.
(2 Kings 23:19-20)

just as it was foretold

these were not altars to the God of Israel, but to idols.
 

JimmieD

Senior Member
Apr 11, 2014
895
18
18
#4
At the LORD's command, a man of God from Judah went to Bethel, and he arrived there just as Jeroboam was approaching the altar to offer a sacrifice. Then at the LORD's command, he shouted, "O altar, altar! This is what the LORD says: A child named Josiah will be born into the dynasty of David. On you he will sacrifice the priests from the pagan shrines who come here to burn incense, and human bones will be burned on you." (1 Kings 13:1-2 NLT)
It's saying Josiah would do to those priests what they had been doing to others. It's basically reciprocal justice - what these guys had been doing to others, they would have done to them. It's eye-for-eye kind of justice. Here's the discription of what was going on when Josiah actually became king:
2 Kings21:1 Manasseh was twelve years old when he became king, and he reigned for fifty-five years in Jerusalem. His motherwas Hephzibah. 21:2 He did evil in the sight ofthe Lord and committed the same horrible sins practiced by the nationswhom the Lord drove out from before the Israelites. 21:3 He rebuilt the high places that his father Hezekiah had destroyed; he set up altars for Baal and made an Asherah pole just like King Ahab of Israel had done. He bowed down to all the stars in the skyand worshipedthem. 21:4 He built altars in the Lord’s temple, about which the Lord had said, “Jerusalem will be my home.”21:5 In the two courtyards of the Lord’s temple he built altars for all the stars in the sky. 21:6 He passed his sonthrough the fireand practiced divination and omen reading. He set up a ritual pit to conjure up underworld spirits, and appointed magicians to supervise it.He did a great amount of evil in the sight of the Lord, provoking him to anger.21:7 He put an idol of Asherah he had made in the temple

21:16 Furthermore Manasseh killed so many innocent people, he stained Jerusalem with their blood from end to end,in addition to encouraging Judah to sin by doing evil in the sight of the Lord.
The actual fulfillment of Josiah's reforms is found in 2 Kings 23. And yes, he sacrificed the priests who had been practicing human sacrifice, then he burned the altars. This was all in his desire to carry out the commands he found in the Law:
Ex21:23 But if there is serious injury, then you will give a life for a life, 21:24 eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, 21:25 burn for burn, wound for wound, bruise for bruise.

2 Kings23:24 Josiah also got rid ofthe ritual pits used to conjure up spirits,the magicians, personal idols, disgusting images,and all the detestable idols that had appeared in the land of Judah and in Jerusalem. In this way he carried out the terms of the lawrecorded on the scroll that Hilkiah the priest had discovered in the Lord’s temple.​
 

posthuman

Senior Member
Jul 31, 2013
36,530
13,094
113
#5
I will give to the LORD the first thing coming out of my house to greet me when I return in triumph. I will sacrifice it as a burnt offering." The first thing he saw was his daughter....he kept his word and sacrificed her....Judges 11:29-40.
the Jewish tradition is that this woman became the first "nun" -- sacrificed in the sense of "given over to God" (i.e. temple service) not slain at the altar.

So she said to her father, “Let this thing be done for me: leave me alone two months, that I may go up and down on the mountains and weep for my virginity, I and my companions.” So he said, “Go.” Then he sent her away for two months, and she departed, she and her companions, and wept for her virginity on the mountains.
And at the end of two months, she returned to her father, who did with her according to his vow that he had made. She had never known a man, and it became a custom in Israel that the daughters of Israel went year by year to lament the daughter of Jephthah the Gileadite four days in the year.

(Judges 11:37-40)

notice they lament over her virginity, not her life itself.

i'm not a Jew, maybe i'm misinformed over the traditional explanation of this.
but even if she was actually killed and burned like other offerings, this wasn't at the command of God, but because of a foolish oath, and it's a reminder to us both to be careful what we swear to do, and to be faithful to do what we vow to God to do.
the scripture says this happened, not that it was acceptable or right.
 
Last edited:

JimmieD

Senior Member
Apr 11, 2014
895
18
18
#6
the Jewish tradition is that this woman became the first "nun" -- sacrificed in the sense of "given over to God" (i.e. temple service) not slain at the altar.

So she said to her father, “Let this thing be done for me: leave me alone two months, that I may go up and down on the mountains and weep for my virginity, I and my companions.” So he said, “Go.” Then he sent her away for two months, and she departed, she and her companions, and wept for her virginity on the mountains.
And at the end of two months, she returned to her father, who did with her according to his vow that he had made. She had never known a man, and it became a custom in Israel that the daughters of Israel went year by year to lament the daughter of Jephthah the Gileadite four days in the year.

(Judges 11:37-40)

notice they lament over her virginity, not her life itself.

i'm not a Jew, maybe i'm misinformed over the traditional explanation of this.
but even if she was actually killed and burned like other offerings, this wasn't at the command of God, but because of a foolish oath, and it's a reminder to us both to be careful what we swear to do, and to be faithful to do what we vow to God to do.
the scripture says this happened, not that it was acceptable or right.
Vs 31 indicates that he actually killed his daughter. His oath said he would offer a "burnt offering" if Yahweh gave him victory.

In any case, like you say, this is not a command for anyone to follow. I read this as a tragic lesson not to act like a fool.
 
Mar 4, 2013
7,761
107
0
#7
At the LORD's command, a man of God from Judah went to Bethel, and he arrived there just as Jeroboam was approaching the altar to offer a sacrifice. Then at the LORD's command, he shouted, "O altar, altar! This is what the LORD says: A child named Josiah will be born into the dynasty of David. On you he will sacrifice the priests from the pagan shrines who come here to burn incense, and human bones will be burned on you." (1 Kings 13:1-2 NLT)
,
I will give to the LORD the first thing coming out of my house to greet me when I return in triumph. I will sacrifice it as a burnt offering." The first thing he saw was his daughter....he kept his word and sacrificed her....Judges 11:29-40.

Can someone explain this?
I looked up the Hebrew language in Judges 11:31 and found that a "burned offering" is not what we would think it means. It simply would apply to giving up that which was his. The word "Burnt" is related to step or up. Letting go. Posthuman seems to have the understanding the closest t what I have found. Smoke from a fire goes up and cannot be captured again in figurative speech. "Up in smoke" being burnt would not apply in the physical sense. There is no Hebrew word for offering.
 
Last edited:

Atwood

Senior Member
May 1, 2014
4,995
53
48
#8
At the LORD's command, a man of God from Judah went to Bethel, and he arrived there just as Jeroboam was approaching the altar to offer a sacrifice. Then at the LORD's command, he shouted, "O altar, altar! This is what the LORD says: A child named Josiah will be born into the dynasty of David. On you he will sacrifice the priests from the pagan shrines who come here to burn incense, and human bones will be burned on you." (1 Kings 13:1-2 NLT)
Sacrifice would be used figuratively here. Compare:

Isaiah 34
The sword of Jehovah is filled with blood, it is made fat with fatness, with the blood of lambs and goats, with the fat of the kidneys of rams; for Jehovah hath a sacrifice in Bozrah, and a great slaughter in the land of Edom.

Jer 46

For that day is a day of the Lord, Jehovah of hosts, a day of vengeance, that he may avenge him of his adversaries: and the sword shall devour and be satiate, and shall drink its fill of their blood; for the Lord, Jehovah of hosts, hath a sacrifice in the north country by the river Euphrates.

Ezek 39:

17 And thou, son of man, thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Speak unto the birds of every sort, and to every beast of the field, Assemble yourselves, and come; gather yourselves on every side to my sacrifice that I do sacrifice for you, even a great sacrifice upon the mountains of Israel, that ye may eat flesh and drink blood.

Zeph 1:7

7 Hold thy peace at the presence of the Lord Jehovah; for the day of Jehovah is at hand: for Jehovah hath prepared a sacrifice, he hath consecrated his guests. 8 And it shall come to pass in the day of Jehovah’s sacrifice, that I will punish the princes, and the king’s sons, and all such as are clothed with foreign apparel.



Actual sacrifices had to be without blemish, and sacrifices were only authorized at the Temple -- no humans sacrificed there.


I will give to the LORD the first thing coming out of my house to greet me when I return in triumph. I will sacrifice it as a burnt offering." The first thing he saw was his daughter....he kept his word and sacrificed her....Judges 11:29-40.
Can someone explain this?
Yes, it is a mistranslation, "burnt offering." The Hebrew word is 'olah
עלה n. f. literally (BDB Lexicon "that which goes up ."

The word is not sacrifice, but a rising offering.

The word actually does not have "burnt" in it at all. The word could be used for sacrifices which were burnt, but the word itself does not mean "burnt."

Human offerings are in the OT, and do not involve killing anyone. Not all sacrifices involved death. Dedication to the Lord could be a "rising offering," like a heave-offering.


Ex 22:29 Thou shalt not delay to offer of thy harvest, and of the outflow of thy presses. The first-born of thy sons shalt thou give unto me.

Num 8:

11 and Aaron shall offer the Levites before Jehovah for a wave-offering, on the behalf of the children of Israel, that it may be theirs to do the service of Jehovah. 12 And the Levites shall lay their hands upon the heads of the bullocks: and offer thou the one for a sin-offering, and the other for a burnt-offering, unto Jehovah, to make atonement for the Levites. 13 And thou shalt set the Levites before Aaron, and before his sons, and offer them for a wave-offering unto Jehovah.


15 And after that shall the Levites go in to do the service of the tent of meeting: and thou shalt cleanse them, and offer them for a wave-offering.



21 And the Levites purified themselves from sin, and they washed their clothes: and Aaron offered them for a wave-offering before Jehovah; and Aaron made atonement for them to cleanse them.

Judge 5


2 For that the leaders took the lead in Israel,
For that the people offered themselves willingly,
Bless ye Jehovah.


9 My heart is toward the governors of Israel,
That offered themselves willingly among the people:

Bless ye Jehovah.

Ps 50

Offer unto God the sacrifice of thanksgiving;
And pay thy vows unto the Most High;


23 Whoso offereth the sacrifice of thanksgiving glorifieth me;
And to him that ordereth his way aright
Will I show the salvation of God.

Ps 51

16 For thou delightest not in sacrifice; else would I give it:
Thou hast no pleasure in burnt-offering.
17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit:
A broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.


Romans 12:1
I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonableservice.






Philiipians But I have all things, and abound: I am filled, having received from Epaphroditus the things that came from you, an odor of a sweet smell, a sacrifice acceptable, well-pleasing to God.

Heb 13

5 Through him then let us offer up a sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of lips which make confession to his name. 16 But to do good and to communicate forget not: for with such sacrifices God is well pleased.



1 pet 2
5
ye also, as living stones, are built up a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.

Story of Jephthah


29 Then the Spirit of Jehovah came upon Jephthah, and he passed over Gilead and Manasseh, and passed over Mizpeh of Gilead, and from Mizpeh of Gilead he passed over unto the children of Ammon. 30 And Jephthah vowed a vow unto Jehovah, and said, If thou wilt indeed deliver the children of Ammon into my hand, 31 then it shall be, that whatsoever cometh forth from the doors of my house to meet me, when I return in peace from the children of Ammon,

it shall be Jehovah’s,
and I will offer it up for an 'olah.
[The girl would be dedicated to the Lord's service.]

. . .



34 And Jephthah came to Mizpah unto his house; and, behold, his daughter came out to meet him with timbrels and with dances: and she was his only child; besides her he had neither son nor daughter. 35 And it came to pass, when he saw her, that he rent his clothes, and said, Alas, my daughter! thou hast brought me very low, and thou art one of them that trouble me; for I have opened my mouth unto Jehovah, and I cannot go back.


36
And she said unto him, My father, thou hast opened thy mouth unto Jehovah; do unto me according to that which hath proceeded out of thy mouth, forasmuch as Jehovah hath taken vengeance for thee on thine enemies, even on the children of Ammon. 37 And she said unto her father, Let this thing be done for me: let me alone two months, that I may depart and go down upon the mountains, and

bewail my virginity,
[not her loss of life; but she would be a virgin & never get to have a child]

I and my companions. 38 And he said, Go. And he sent her away for two months: and she departed, she and her companions, and

bewailed her virginity

upon the mountains. 39 And it came to pass at the end of two months, that she returned unto her father, who did with her according to his vow which he had vowed: and

she knew not man.


 
Last edited:

Atwood

Senior Member
May 1, 2014
4,995
53
48
#9
What is to be explained????

In attempt to get divine help, leader gave a tough promise.

And he had been put to test.

And his word was find faithfull.

And notice - the maiden agreed to be executed.

Hobo, the words die, death, execution do not occur in the text.
She became a servant of the Lord who could never marry,
but must be a virgin.
 

Atwood

Senior Member
May 1, 2014
4,995
53
48
#10
Vs 31 indicates that he actually killed his daughter. His oath said he would offer a "burnt offering" if Yahweh gave him victory.
Nothing about killing anyone. An 'oiah is a "rising offering," burnt is not implied by the term. Burnt offering is incorrect translation. The offering was of a person to belong to the Lord & to never get married, remain virgin.
 

Jackson123

Senior Member
Feb 6, 2014
11,769
1,370
113
#11
The Lord never command to make Human sacrifice. Only to Abraham to test his faith.

Josiah make a promise doesn't mean the Lord ask him to make promise.

Josiah learn a perfect lesson.

I am from eastern country, in my country the rich usually have a maids. And it is a custom, when he come from work or else he carry a bag or what ever, the maid run to welcome him and brought the bag.

I believe Israel had the same custom. I believe Josiah expect one of his slave will do it. He doesn't care about the life of his slave.

Now he better learn hard lesson.

But God never ask him to do human sacrifice.
 

Jruiz

Senior Member
Dec 13, 2013
565
5
18
#12
Even more peculiar is God's obsession with first-born sons. In Exodus 13:2 the Lord said "Consecrate to me every first-born that opens the womb among Israelites, both man and beast, for it belongs to me." And can someone explain this one....thanks
 

posthuman

Senior Member
Jul 31, 2013
36,530
13,094
113
#13
Even more peculiar is God's obsession with first-born sons. In Exodus 13:2 the Lord said "Consecrate to me every first-born that opens the womb among Israelites, both man and beast, for it belongs to me." And can someone explain this one....thanks

it's also peculiar how many second-born sons were so important in the Bible -- Abel was accepted, Cain not. the blessing fell on Jacob, not Esau. Joseph was not the eldest, but all his brothers bowed to him. and the apostle wrote of Jesus as the second Adam!

the consecration of the firstborn is like the offering of the first fruits from harvest - and also looks back to the Passover in Egypt, when God took the firstborn of those houses without the mark. because He spared the firstborn of those that were obedient to Him, they belong to Him.

there's a lot more to the symbolism and meaning that hopefully someone with more understanding than me will fill in..
 
Oct 15, 2014
149
1
0
#14
At the LORD's command, a man of God from Judah went to Bethel, and he arrived there just as Jeroboam was approaching the altar to offer a sacrifice. Then at the LORD's command, he shouted, "O altar, altar! This is what the LORD says: A child named Josiah will be born into the dynasty of David. On you he will sacrifice the priests from the pagan shrines who come here to burn incense, and human bones will be burned on you." (1 Kings 13:1-2 NLT)
,
I will give to the LORD the first thing coming out of my house to greet me when I return in triumph. I will sacrifice it as a burnt offering." The first thing he saw was his daughter....he kept his word and sacrificed her....Judges 11:29-40.

Can someone explain this?
I see why these verses would be tricky if read over too quickly. But reading them again carefully you'd be able to pick up any details you may have missed the first times you read this.


Well lets start with .Judges 11. Study this further, she bewailed her virginity. Meaning in the Law of God, it allowed this to be what was sacrificed to God ( study it ; should be found in Leviticus if I'm not mistaken ) .
Meaning his daughter would remain a virgin in her service to God all her life.

Judges 11:40


to lament = to rehearse with, as in Jdg_5:11; to celebrate [her dedication] in praises.

four days in a year. Thus annually her friends "went", evidently to Jephthah's daughter, to rehearse with her this great event of her life: not of her death...........



Now 1Ki 13:1-2 . I think your translation your using is tripping you up a bit.

King James version

I Kings 13:1
"And, behold, there came a man of God out of Judah by the word of the Lord unto Beth-el: and Jeroboam stood by the altar to burn incense."


This man was led by the Word and from the Lord God to go to Beth-el, and face Jeroboam .
"Beth-el" means "the house of God" in Hebrew tongue, and that was where Jeroboam built his altar to the heathen gods. Here Jeroboam is the king, and he has taken over the priesthood himself.
Back in I Samuel, God separated the duties of the judges or kings from that of the priests and the church.
But Jeroboam was trying to bring the two offices back together again.



I Kings 13:2
"And he cried against the altar in the word of the Lord, and said, "O altar, altar, thus saith the Lord; `Behold, a child shall be born unto the house of David, Josiah by name; and upon thee shall he offer the priests of the high places that burn incense upon thee, and men's bones shall be burnt upon thee.' " "



He is a real man of God, standing at this alter ; and Jeroboam is the one spoken to here.
Though Jeroboam has desecrated, the altar itself, there is nothing else to desecrate because those high places of God had all been turned over to man's form of worship, headed by the sons of Cain , the men of Zidon.
When the heathen preachers appointed by Jeroboam stood before their altars to the calves,
it wasn't God they were worshipping, but Satan.

The man of God was saying; that the bones of the priests to that heathen altar would burn on that altar.


This prophet was saying that the bones of the priests to that heathen altar would burn on that altar.
It would take about three hundred and fifty years for this prophecy to come to pass, but the bones of the false prophets were consumed, and Josiah did become king. This is recorded in II Kings 23:13-20.
 
Last edited:
Oct 15, 2014
149
1
0
#15
To add further information to my original post in the case of the girl: God was strict as to what was an acceptable sacrifice, and people where not it.

The very thought never entered God's mind to do this to other people.





2 Kings 17:17 (KJV)

[SUP]17 [/SUP]And they caused their sons and their daughters to pass through the fire, and used divination and enchantments, and sold themselves to do evil in the sight of the Lord, to provoke him to anger.


Ezekiel 16:20-24

[SUP]20 [/SUP]Moreover thou hast taken thy sons and thy daughters, whom thou hast borne unto me, and these hast thou sacrificed unto them to be devoured. Is this of thy whoredoms a small matter,
[SUP]21 [/SUP]That thou hast slain my children, and delivered them to cause them to pass through the fire for them?

[SUP]22 [/SUP]And in all thine abominations and thy whoredoms thou hast not remembered the days of thy youth, when thou wast naked and bare, and wast polluted in thy blood.
[SUP]23 [/SUP]And it came to pass after all thy wickedness, (woe, woe unto thee! saith the Lord God
[SUP]24 [/SUP]That thou hast also built unto thee an eminent place, and hast made thee an high place in every street.



Jeremiah 19:5

[SUP]5 [/SUP]They have built also the high places of Baal, to burn their sons with fire for burnt offerings unto Baal, which I commanded not, nor spake it, neither came it into my mind:



Jeremiah 32:35

[SUP]35 [/SUP]And they built the high places of Baal, which are in the valley of the son of Hinnom, to cause their sons and their daughters to pass through the fire unto Molech; which I commanded them not, neither came it into my mind, that they should do this abomination, to cause Judah to sin.
 

Atwood

Senior Member
May 1, 2014
4,995
53
48
#16
Even more peculiar is God's obsession with first-born sons.
Even more peculiar to me is your hybris in speaking of God that way.

Read Exodus from chapter 1 through 13 & mark all the references to "first born" and see if you get any light -- if that is your true purpose in asking the question.
 

Dan58

Senior Member
Nov 13, 2013
1,991
337
83
#17
Regarding Judges 11:30-40, It doesn't explicitly say that Jephthah killed his daughter. Jephthah carried out his vow by dedicating his daughter to a life of perpetual virginity, that was the sacrifice. Human sacrifice was contrary to the Law of Moses and God would never accept it (Leviticus 18:21 & 20:2-5). Whatever or whoever came out of Jephthah's door would be offered to God, an animal would be a burnt offering and a human would be dedicated to the Lord. The indication that the daughter went into the mountains to bewailed her virginity for 2 months and knew no man supports celibacy.

"Then she said to her father, Let this thing be done for me: let me alone for two months, that I may go and wander on the mountains and bewail my virginity, my friends and I" (Judges 11:37) She was sad over the fact that she would never marry, not that she was going to die.

"She returned unto her father, who did with her according to his vow which he had vowed: and she knew no man" (Judges 11:39). What was the result of her father doing his vow? "she knew no man".

Paul mentions Jephthah in Hebrews 11:32 along with other faithful people like David, Sampson, Gideon, and Samuel. So Jephthah was not admonished for his vow, but it appears to have been a righteous vow. “She was his only child. Besides her he had neither son nor daughter” (11:34). For his daughter to be consigned to perpetual celibacy meant the extinction of Jephthah’s family line, so in that sense, it was quite a sacrifice.
 

john832

Senior Member
May 31, 2013
11,363
185
63
#18
At the LORD's command, a man of God from Judah went to Bethel, and he arrived there just as Jeroboam was approaching the altar to offer a sacrifice. Then at the LORD's command, he shouted, "O altar, altar! This is what the LORD says: A child named Josiah will be born into the dynasty of David. On you he will sacrifice the priests from the pagan shrines who come here to burn incense, and human bones will be burned on you." (1 Kings 13:1-2 NLT)
,
I will give to the LORD the first thing coming out of my house to greet me when I return in triumph. I will sacrifice it as a burnt offering." The first thing he saw was his daughter....he kept his word and sacrificed her....Judges 11:29-40.

Can someone explain this?
What is to be explained????

In attempt to get divine help, leader gave a tough promise.

And he had been put to test.

And his word was find faithfull.

And notice - the maiden agreed to be executed.
This is also a strong instruction about making rash statements and promises. There are lessons to be learned on many levels here.
 

JesusLives

Senior Member
Oct 11, 2013
14,551
2,171
113
#19
It is a sad story I think he made an oath and carried it out....not anything that God really wanted him to do....this is just very sad....

When I read the thread title I was thinking more on the lines of living sacrifices in that we should offer ourselves to God to do His will and good pleasure and die to self and offer ourselves as living sacrifices to do God's bidding. Go and spread the gospel, be His hands, feet, eyes, working for God to bring honor and glory to Him and help further the Kingdom of God so that Jesus can return and put an end to sin and death. So that we can be reconciled to God back in that perfect status that Adam and Eve had before the fall....My prayer for us all is that we would be living sacrifices for God.....
 
Mar 4, 2013
7,761
107
0
#20

it's also peculiar how many second-born sons were so important in the Bible -- Abel was accepted, Cain not. the blessing fell on Jacob, not Esau. Joseph was not the eldest, but all his brothers bowed to him. and the apostle wrote of Jesus as the second Adam!

the consecration of the firstborn is like the offering of the first fruits from harvest - and also looks back to the Passover in Egypt, when God took the firstborn of those houses without the mark. because He spared the firstborn of those that were obedient to Him, they belong to Him.

there's a lot more to the symbolism and meaning that hopefully someone with more understanding than me will fill in..
Agreed. See this link for a further explanation of my agreement. http://christianchat.com/bible-disc...ovenants-galatians-4-22-30-a.html#post1739074