In this message we will continue to consider the Levitical service and the Aaronic priesthood, with their reward, which is Christ. First, we will see some further matters related to the reward to Aaron and his sons as the priests. Then we will see the reward to the Levites.
Every firstborn of man or beast was given by God to Aaron and his sons as a reward (vv. 15-18).
"Everything that opens the womb of all flesh, whether man or beast, which they offer to Jehovah, shall be yours; nevertheless, the firstborn of man you shall surely redeem, and the firstling of unclean beasts you shall redeem" (v. 15). Each firstborn son did not belong to his parents but to the priests. Therefore, the parents were to redeem him at a cost (v. 16). Even the firstling of an unclean beast, though it was not acceptable for offering to Jehovah, had to be redeemed.
"But the firstling of a cow, or the firstling of a sheep, or the firstling of a goat, you shall not redeem; they are holy. You shall sprinkle their blood upon the altar, and shall offer up in smoke their fat as an offering by fire for a satisfying fragrance to Jehovah; but their flesh shall be yours, as the breast of the wave offering and as the right thigh are yours" (vv. 17-18). Here we see that the firstling of an ox, of a sheep, or of a goat (which typifies the crucified Christ) was not to be redeemed. Their fat was to be offered by fire for a satisfying fragrance to God. Their flesh, their meat, was for the priests, even as the breast of the wave offering and the right thigh of the heave offering (signifying respectively Christ in resurrection and in ascension as food to the serving ones) were the priests'.