Leviticus 27:10-3410He shall not alter it, nor change it, a good for a bad, or a bad for a good: and if he shall at all change beast for beast, then it and the exchange thereof shall be holy. 11And if it be any unclean beast, of which they do not offer a sacrifice unto the Lord, then he shall present the beast before the priest: 12And the priest shall value it, whether it be good or bad: as thou valuest it, who art the priest, so shall it be. 13But if he will at all redeem it, then he shall add a fifth part thereof unto thy estimation. 14And when a man shall sanctify his house to be holy unto the Lord, then the priest shall estimate it, whether it be good or bad: as the priest shall estimate it, so shall it stand. 15And if he that sanctified it will redeem his house, then he shall add the fifth part of the money of thy estimation unto it, and it shall be his. 16And if a man shall sanctify unto the Lord some part of a field of his possession, then thy estimation shall be according to the seed thereof: an homer of barley seed shall be valued at fifty shekels of silver. 17If he sanctify his field from the year of jubilee, according to thy estimation it shall stand. 18But if he sanctify his field after the jubilee, then the priest shall reckon unto him the money according to the years that remain, even unto the year of the jubilee, and it shall be abated from thy estimation. 19And if he that sanctified the field will in any wise redeem it, then he shall add the fifth part of the money of thy estimation unto it, and it shall be assured to him. 20And if he will not redeem the field, or if he have sold the field to another man, it shall not be redeemed any more. 21But the field, when it goeth out in the jubilee, shall be holy unto the Lord, as a field devoted; the possession thereof shall be the priest's. 22And if a man sanctify unto the Lord a field which he hath bought, which is not of the fields of his possession; 23Then the priest shall reckon unto him the worth of thy estimation, even unto the year of the jubilee: and he shall give thine estimation in that day, as a holy thing unto the Lord. 24In the year of the jubilee the field shall return unto him of whom it was bought, even to him to whom the possession of the land did belong. 25And all thy estimations shall be according to the shekel of the sanctuary: twenty gerahs shall be the shekel. 26Only the firstling of the beasts, which should be the Lord's firstling, no man shall sanctify it; whether it be ox, or sheep: it is the Lord's. 27And if it be of an unclean beast, then he shall redeem it according to thine estimation, and shall add a fifth part of it thereto: or if it be not redeemed, then it shall be sold according to thy estimation. 28Notwithstanding no devoted thing, that a man shall devote unto the Lord of all that he hath, both of man and beast, and of the field of his possession, shall be sold or redeemed: every devoted thing is most holy unto the Lord. 29None devoted, which shall be devoted of men, shall be redeemed; but shall surely be put to death. 30And all the tithe of the land, whether of the seed of the land, or of the fruit of the tree, is the Lord's: it is holy unto the Lord. 31And if a man will at all redeem ought of his tithes, he shall add thereto the fifth part thereof. 32And concerning the tithe of the herd, or of the flock, even of whatsoever passeth under the rod, the tenth shall be holy unto the Lord. 33He shall not search whether it be good or bad, neither shall he change it: and if he change it at all, then both it and the change thereof shall be holy; it shall not be redeemed. 34These are the commandments, which the Lord commanded Moses for the children of Israel in mount Sinai. (Leviticus 27:10‑34)
IF AN Israelite made a vow and devoted a clean beast to the Lord, it was to be holy, and it could not be bought back. Perhaps it had a defect or blemish and he might wish to exchange it for an unblemished one, but this he could not do; he could not alter his original purpose. He ought to have taken this into account when he made the offering. Man might change his mind, but God does not change His. The man might bring another offering, one without blemish, nevertheless the original remained holy as well as the other.
In the case of an unclean beast which a man wished to devote to the Lord, he must first present it to the priest who would estimate its value. Then if the man wished to recall it, he must pay the priest’s estimation with a fifth part added as well. This additional amount was a trespass he must pay because he changed his mind and he had not acted with sufficient concern for the Lord’s glory.
There is a note of encouragement for us here, however. How many of us, especially when young, have told the Lord we wanted to follow Him wholly, but found out that through want of watchfulness and prayer we have not followed Him fully, as we pledged ourselves to do. That early zeal for the Lord cooled off and we were not as earnest as when we first began. If we have failed in our devotedness we can still go to the “priest,” and tell Him all about it; He will value us according to His estimation and will not forget that first love for Him. That first response of our hearts to His love is ever “holy” to Him, and how encouraging to realize that He can and does restore, as we read, “He restoreth my soul.” Psa. 23:33He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake. (Psalm 23:3).
Then we have the case of one who set apart his house wholly for the Lord, and the same principle is applied. The house was to stand according to the valuation of the priest. Nevertheless, if the man wished to have his house back he could redeem it at the estimated value, but with the additional fifth added. Thus he would be reproved for his change of purpose and lack of devotion to the Lord.
The Lord did not require these vows; they were of a voluntary nature, and so they could be recalled. But we can see that to make a vow unto the Lord was a solemn thing, and He would have His people to realize the seriousness of it.
In Psalm 15, the question is asked: “Lord, who shall abide in Thy tabernacle? who shall dwell in Thy holy hill?” Then it says, “He that sweareth to his own hurt, and changeth not.”
The Lord Jesus is the only One who answered perfectly to this. In the place where all have failed, ourselves included, He has stood to His vows, for He changes not. He has paid those vows which His people Israel failed to keep; and He has paid ours as sinners; He has restored that which He did not take away and God has been glorified through it all.
Who can estimate the worth of His devotedness? Men might think Him of little worth and estimate Him at 30 pieces of silver, but God has raised Him from the dead and set Him in the highest place in heaven; He has given Him a name which is above every name. This is the Father’s estimation of His beloved Son. How we rejoice in His exaltation!
ML-01/28/1973