THE VOWS AND THE FIRSTLINGS If the book of Leviticus is the book of consecration and reconciliation between the Holy God and His people through the sacrifice offered by the priest; And God proclaimed His goal to bring man forth into an unceasing joy through the diverse and continuous feasts; He ends the book by proclaiming the statute of vows, firstlings, and tithes; proclaiming that the love between God and man is mutual; by which man pays the exalted love of God, back with vowing his life and dedicating it to God, and with vowing his beasts, houses, and fields, with his own free will. 1- The statute of the vows 1 - 25 2- The statute of the firstlings 26 - 27 3- The statute of a person or a thing doomed to destruction 28 - 29 4- The statute of the tithes 30 - 34 1- THE STATUTE OF THE VOWS: There are two conditions for a vow to be authentic: the first is that the vower has to be mature, under no guardianship by anyone. If the vower is a slave, he would be released of his vow in case his master disapproved, and proclaimed his objection against his vow once he heard about it. The same applies to a wife, if her husband objects; or a girl in her father’s house … The second condition is that the object of the vow has to be holy and not unclean, otherwise he has to pay a ransom on it. As an example, no unclean animal will be offered to the house of the Lord; Nor a vow will be offered from the price of a sin; as when a woman fulfills her vow from the price of her adultery. Who is this utterly free Nazirite, who presents a holy vow that brings pleasure to the heart of the Father, other than the incarnate Word of God, who delivered His own life a burnt offering of obedience, smelled as sweet fragrance by His Good Father. We, as well, in order to present our vow, have to hide ourselves in the divine Nazirite, as members of His body, so that His sweet fragrance would come out of us, to bring pleasure to the heart of the father. a- A vow to consecrate a person: “When a man consecrates by a vow certain person to the Lord” (1), like when Hannah made a vow to consecrate her son Samuel to the Lord (1 Samuel 1: 11). The one who made the vow, or his kinsman-redeemer, may pay a certain ransom to redeem the vow, which is to be valued in the following way: -- The valuation is to be done by the prophet Moses himself (2), then it later became the right of a priest. -- The valuation is to be done according to the Shekel of the sanctuary; namely the shekel kept in the temple; in the following way: For a male from 20 years old up to 60 years old, the valuation shall be 50 shekels of silver. For a female of the same age, it shall be 30 shekels. For a male (from 5 to 20 years old), it shall be 20 shekels For a female of the same age, it shall be 10 shekels For a male (from one month to 5 years), it shall be 5 shekels For a female of the same age, it shall be 3 shekels. -- In case of a poor person, the priest shall set a value according to the ability of the vower (8). b- A vow to consecrate a beast: “If it is a beast such as men may bring as an offering to the Lord, all such that any man gives to the Lord shall be holy. He shall not substitute it or exchange it, good for bad or bad for good; and if he at all exchange beast for beast, then both it and the one exchanged for it shall be holy. If it is an unclean beast which they do not offer to the Lord, then he shall present the beast before the priest, and the priest shall set a value for it, whether it is good or bad; … but if he wants at all to redeem it, then he must add one-fifth to your valuation” (9-12). In this statute concerning the sanctification of beasts, God intends to confirm two principles: The first is not to substitute or exchange the clean beast; on account of that He seeks the clean man with no exchange; He loves him for his own sake. The second principle is that He will have nothing unclean in His sanctuary. In other words, if God loves us, and seeks us by our names as His children, yet he will have no unclean persons in His bosom. c- A vow to consecrate a house: “If a man sanctifies his house to be holy to the Lord, then the priest shall set a value for it, whether it is good or bad. … If he wh0 sanctifies it wants to redeem his house, then he shall add one-fifth of the money of your valuation to it” (14, 15), and it will be put in the treasury of the house of the Lord. d- A vow to consecrate a field: In case of sanctifying a field (16-25), there will be distinction between the field that became man’s possession of man inheritance, and the one he purchased. Concerning the one got through inheritance, that will go to its owner in the year of the Jubilee, if he ever wishes to redeem it, the priest shall reckon to him the money due according to the years that remain till the year of the Jubilee, and it shall be deducted from your valuation, and he must add one-fifth of the money of your valuation to it. And in case its owner does not care to redeem the field, it shall not be redeemed anymore, and shall not return to him, even in the year of the Jubilee, but shall be holy to the Lord as a devoted field, it shall be the possession of the priest. And if a man sanctifies to the Lord a field he has bought; in case he ever wishes to redeem it, the priest shall reckon its worth up to the year of the Jubilee without adding one-fifth, because on the year of the Jubilee it will return to its original owner, namely to the one who sold it. We may look at the statutes concerning the vows, as statutes that touch our life and our relationship with God, in the following way: Vowing a certain person to the Lord refers to the consecration of the inner heart, redeemed by our Lord Jesus, not by shekels of silver or gold, but by His precious blood. … Vowing beasts refer to the consecration of the body to become holy to the Lord, and a tool that works to the account of His kingdom. … As to vowing houses, it refers to offer our whole life as a dwelling place for the Lord. And vowing fruitful fields, refers to the consecration of our energies and our daily works. 2- THE STATUTE OF THE FIRSTLINGS: The previous talk concerned the optional vows; As to the firstlings, they are holy to the Lord, which we are committed to present to the Lord without vowing to consecrate them. If it is a clean beast, it is to be separated to the Lord, and never to be exchanged; Whereas if it is unclean, it shall be either sold, and its price put in the treasury of the temple, or redeemed by it owner, by paying its worth plus one-fifth. The clean Firstborn (Firstling) is our Lord Jesus Christ, whom the Father received as a sacrifice of love. Outside of Him, we would have no place in the house of the Lord, but would be counted as unclean and driven out of the divine sanctuaries. 3- THE STATUTE OF A PERSON OR A THING DOOMED TO DESTRUCTION: It so seem that a person or a thing doomed to destruction, are not to be used nor dealt with. The person doomed to destruction is a dangerous one who has corrupted his life by idol-worship, and by the abominations connected with it. Hence the law gave the command to have him killed. It may seem cruel; yet, if we bring that time to our remembrance, when some of the nations around Israel used to offer their firstborn children as human sacrifices to the idols; together with practicing adultery and abominations as integral parts of their worship, we shall perceive why God doomed those people to destruction, lest the leaven which should be holy, gets corrupted. The beasts and fields of that category, were only used by the priests in the service of the house of the Lord. As to the gold or silver, they were put in the treasury of the house of the Lord. 4- THE STATUTE OF THE TITHES: The people used to offer one-tenth of their crops, whether grains or fruits, holy to the Lord. And in case a person wishes to keep the one-tenth, he had to pay its price plus one-fifth. Concerning the beasts, the tithes were offered in the following way: The mothers were separated aside, then the young ones were made to pass through a narrow gate, wide enough for one at a time. While passing through, someone lifts up a stick to count nine, the tenth will be holy to the Lord, and a sign will be put on it to designate it. By such a way, their owner will have nothing to do with the choice, and will have no right to substitute one beast for another, even if his intention was to offer what is better; And in case he does, he will have to offer both beasts to the Lord. Talking about the tithes, Fr. Theonas says: [When we offer God the tithes, we are still going downwards toward the earthly things, under the burden of the law; unable to rise up to the high level of the gospel, which, if someone does according to it, he will be rewarded , not only with the blessings of the present life, but with the blessings to come, as well; according to the words said by the Lord to His disciples: ”Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5: 3); And, “Everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or lands, for My name’s sake, shall receive a hundredfold, and inherit everlasting life” (Matthew 19: 29).
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