The Vows

Leviticus 27:1–8 (ESV) The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, If anyone makes a special vow to the Lord involving the valuation of persons, 3 then the valuation of a male from twenty years old up to sixty years old shall be fifty shekels of silver, according to the shekel of the sanctuary. 4 If the person is a female, the valuation shall be thirty shekels. 5 If the person is from five years old up to twenty years old, the valuation shall be for a male twenty shekels, and for a female ten shekels. 6 If the person is from a month old up to five years old, the valuation shall be for a male five shekels of silver, and for a female the valuation shall be three shekels of silver. 7 And if the person is sixty years old or over, then the valuation for a male shall be fifteen shekels, and for a female ten shekels. 8 And if someone is too poor to pay the valuation, then he shall be made to stand before the priest, and the priest shall value him; the priest shall value him according to what the vower can afford.

I will admit this chapter is a challenging one. There are so many reasons to not like how Leviticus ends. There is the valuations of people. Some are valued more than others, males are valued higher than females. What on Earth is this about? We could ignore it but we would miss one of the foundational aspects of our faith. There is a redemption to be made for mankind. 

If you take the scope of Leviticus in whole, it's teaching God's people to be holy AS HE is Holy. The people of Israel, had they kept this law precisely would have soon realized that these sacrifices were specific, the priesthood was special, their calendar mattered. Israel was being trained to see the world how God sees the world. Ultimately, the patterns laid out in this book are pointing God's people to God's revealed Son, our final sacrifice, our Great High Priest, our Passover Lamb, our Atonement, our Jubilee and finally - the payment for us!

Here in Leviticus 27 its easy to get caught up in the different valuations. But please understand that these amounts were not price tags - as if women were cheaper than men. God was giving commands for His people in how they should go about redeeming their members. Here the valuations are based on the amount of work a person could do in the Temple. Because of the heavy lifting and animal sacrifices (of bulls and oxen!), a man was valued only slightly higher than a woman. A man in his prime slightly higher than those outside of them. The larger point here is - NO ONE has ZERO value. In the ancient world, women were treated as chattel, here God makes it clear a woman will be paid for, her life has intrinsic worth and she can contribute. It should be noted, that all the amounts are extravagant. From here the chapter will outline the cost of redeeming animals and property.

The real message in Leviticus 27 is that God's people are valuable. Ultimate, in Christ, we are paid for with a price we are not worth! We can add nothing to the heavenly tabernacle, yet Christ purchases us back to God. What a God we serve.

So we can end Leviticus knowing much more about the holiness code of Israel, the priests and sacrifices. But we also know that God is a redeeming God. He is not just holy, He is loving and extravagantly generous. He gave His Son for us when He did not have to. He redeems what we lost. He is the one who makes us His special possession through the Word made flesh.

Amen.