"You must redeem the firstborn donkey with a lamb. But if you do not redeem it--you must kill the donkey by breaking its neck!" Exodus 34:20
Every firstborn creature must be the Lord's--but since the donkey was unclean, it could not be presented in sacrifice to Him. What then? Should it be allowed to go free from the universal law? By no means! God admits of no exceptions. The donkey is His due--but He will not accept it; He will not abate the claim--but yet He cannot be pleased with the unclean victim. No way of escape remained, but redemption--the donkey must be saved by the substitution of a lamb in its place; or if not redeemed, it must die!
My soul, here is a lesson for you! That unclean donkey is yourself! You are justly the property of the Lord who made you and preserves you--but you are so sinful that God will not, cannot, accept you! It has come to this--the Lamb of God must stand in your stead--or you must die eternally! Let all the world know of your gratitude to that spotless Lamb who has died for you, and so redeemed you from the fatal curse of the law!
Must it not sometimes have been a question with the Israelite, as to which should die--the donkey or the lamb? Would not the man pause to estimate and compare the values of these animals? Assuredly there was no comparison between the value of a sinful man--and the spotless Lord Jesus! Yet the Lamb dies--and man the donkey is spared! My soul, admire the boundless love of God to you! Vile worms are bought--with the blood of the holy Lamb of God! Dust and ashes are redeemed--with a price far above silver and gold! What a doom would have been mine--had not plenteous redemption been found!
The breaking of the neck of the donkey was but a momentary penalty. But who shall measure the eternal wrath to come--to which no limit can be imagined! Inestimably dear is the glorious Lamb--who has redeemed me from such a doom!
- Charles Spurgeon
Monday, May 4, 2009
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5 comments:
Great post Sam! I've missed reading your blog. I'm hoping to do much better with keeping up with people. We shall see. Let the Lord lead!
Hey! Long time no see :) The Lord sure does lead His people – and where He leads, well, it doesn’t really matter – so long as He is there with us!
It is a great post! I love the way Spurgeon writes – he can paint a thousand pictures with a few words! And the way he does it… it is clear that he was taught of the Holy Spirit!
My brother, that was beautiful. Thank you for your post. Each time you get on your computer to post on your blog, you are doing the Lord's work. May He sustain you! And all of us, for that matter!
-G
Thank you brother for your encouragement!
Amen! If He ceases to sustain us we are all sunk!
I'm so grateful that He laid down His life for me! To blog for Him is a joy! To encourage other brothers and sisters, a blessing!
Keep up the good work of encouraging the saints!
I've never understood this clean/unclean animal thing, could you possibly explain it to me?
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