God's Absolute Love

Exodus 13:2 contains an interesting concept… the firstborn male child who is born to a woman who has never had a child before belongs to Jehovah God. Whether the child is animal or human, he belongs to God.

So when God told Abraham to sacrifice Isaac on an altar God was just reclaiming what was already his. When the barren Hannah prayed to God and vowed if she was given a son that she would dedicate him to God was merely giving to God what was already his (and not buying him back).

The Jews of course were required to buy back their firstborn sons (Numbers 3:45) from their owner… God. In contrast to this is the custom of Moloch worshippers to kill their own sons.

“The ancients would heat this idol up with fire until it was glowing. Then they would take their newborn babies, place them on the arms of the idol, and watch them burn to death.”

Imagine then a God who owns all the first born sons born into the world to not only give up his ownership but to take his own first born son who was born of a virgin and sacrifice him for the benefit of humanity.

A God who sacrifices the most valuable thing he has for the benefit of humanity demonstrates absolute love and is worthy of our appreciation and reverence. God is our example of sacrifice and as such demonstrates what we must become… a people born of sacrifice who live sacrificial lives.