When the last plague struck Egypt, every firstborn son in the entire land was marked for destruction.  However, God gave His grace and showed the Israelites, His people, the key to their redemption – the blood of a lamb on the doorposts.  With this sign, the angel passed over the home, sparing the firstborn.  However, these redeemed firstborns now belonged to God since it was He who spared them.

Recently, we read a second grace that God gives His people in this area.  The firstborn of all people and animals are God’s, it’s true, but God would allow those people and animals to be redeemed again with an offering given to the priests.  This offering essentially bought back the lives of these firstborn from God.

Today, we read a third grace that God gives His people in this area.  In lieu of the offering for the firstborn of Israel, God takes to Himself the entire tribe of Levi.  The Levites are now to be the servants of the temple and holy to God.  The Levites take the place of the firstborn.  Why the Levites?  Why not the tribe of Dan or Asher?  According to Jewish commentary, the Levites were purer than any other tribe because they had not committed the sin with the golden calf at the foot of Sinai.  And because they were purer, they were chosen to be God’s holy servants.

The Old Testament is full of foreshadowing of Jesus’ ministry and redemption, and here is a big one, though one that is seldom discussed.  We often see Jesus in the Passover Lamb.  But He is there in the second grace, paying the price for the redemption of those firstborn sons, namely us.  And He is there in the third grace, the Eternal Priest taking the place of those firstborn sons.

God is a God of grace, and grace abundant.  Our redemption comes from Him and Jesus’ sacrificial death on the cross for us.  Hallelujah.

If we claim to be following in Jesus’ footsteps, then why do we spend so much time with other Christians and so little with non-believers?

According to people in 4 different congregations I’ve served, the biggest obstacle to their evangelistic efforts is not fear of sharing the good news, or persecution, or laws.  It is a lack of non-Christian relationships.  For 22 years people have been telling me that their friends and family members, those with whom they would be able to have a deep conversation, are all fellow believers.  We cheer churches that are tight knit and friendly, those with strong fellowship ministries, those where Christians can come and live life with other Christians.  We worry when a youth group isn’t strong because our kids will have too many non-Christian friends and too few believing ones.

Yet the Pharisees’ primary complain about Jesus was that He spent so much time with “tax collectors and sinners”, non-believers.  And His response to them and to us is, “I have not come to call the righteous but sinners.”  Yes, Jesus focused on His 12 disciples, but His ministry was bringing them into contact with non-believers so they could share the good news about all He had done and promised.

What would happen if we decided to spend the majority of our intimate time with non-believers?  What if our parties, our weekends, our holidays were spent with non-believing friends rather than fellow church-goers?  How might that change our church?  our lives?  the Kingdom of God?