A Spurgeon Snapshot
“You must redeem every firstborn of a donkey with a flock animal, but if you do not redeem it, break its neck. However, you must redeem every firstborn among your sons.”
Exodus 13:13 CSB
Through the Bible: Exodus 13-15
I was stunned by a detail in God’s instructions to the Israelites about commemorating the Passover in Exodus 13. God commanded that the firstborn male be dedicated to the Lord. Not just humans, but livestock as well (see verses 11-12).
However, as Charles Spurgeon pointed out, this presented a problem for the Israelites when it came to donkeys. All other livestock that had been domesticated by the Israelites was considered “clean.” According to Leviticus 11, donkeys were unclean because they have an undivided hoof. So how can an unclean animal be offered to God?
Bear in mind these instructions were given before the Levitical law was put in place. Still, the classification of clean and unclean had been established since the days of Noah (see Genesis 7:2).
Leviticus 27 makes it clear that one cannot offer an unclean animal to God. So what was a faithful Jew to do? Enter the substitutionary sacrifice. A lamb, which is clean, could take the place of a donkey, which is unclean. If the lamb took its place, the donkey was redeemed. But if the owner of the donkey considered the lamb to be too valuable to redeem for the donkey, the donkey had to be destroyed.
What an amazing picture of the gospel! Consider that a donkey might be gentle, a faithful worker, a useful animal. It might be “good” in all the ways we count goodness. But in its very nature, it is unclean. Even though it chews the cud, it doesn’t have a split hoof. So it falls short of God’s standard for an acceptable sacrifice. The only way it can be redeemed would be by the substitution of a clean animal. If a lamb died in its place, the donkey would live. If not, the donkey had to die.
All people fail in multiple ways. Even if our behavior is considered “good” by human standards, our very nature is sinful. Spurgeon wrote,
By the law they are put down as sinners, as being on a level with unclean beasts. What a wonder the gospel does for us! Being redeemed with a price, we are said to be the sheep of God, the lambs of Christ’s flock. Lost by sin through the Law and placed in the depths, we, by grace through Jesus Christ, are lifted up to the heights.
Spurgeon Study Bible note on Exodus 13:13
God believed a jackass like me was worth redeeming, and He gave the firstborn of His flock to take my price. What wondrous love is this, O my soul?
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