The righteousness of God was witnessed by the law and the prophets, although only manifested by the cross, resurrection, and glorification of our Lord. The witnessing was to the manifestation what the shadow was to the substance—a resemblance and a contrast. The outline may be simpler, but the fullness is lacking. Now the shadows, doubtless, are left by the Lord to help us to understand better the reality. One of the most interesting of these shadows is found in the relative position and fate of the first-born of the clean and unclean animals. In them we have a wonderful picture of the Savior, the sinner, and the atonement.
If I think of the relative status in nature and under the law of the clean and unclean beasts, clearly the clean have the advantage. Noah shows us this when he takes seven to one into the ark. When I remember this I am struck with the fact that the firstling of the unclean creature has great advantage over that of the clean; for it may freely enjoy life, though only on the ground of redemption; but the other is absolutely doomed to death. Thus we read, "The firstling of unclean beasts shalt thou redeem." Numb. 18:1515Every thing that openeth the matrix in all flesh, which they bring unto the Lord, whether it be of men or beasts, shall be thine: nevertheless the firstborn of man shalt thou surely redeem, and the firstling of unclean beasts shalt thou redeem. (Numbers 18:15). But the firstling of a cow, a sheep, a goat; that is, of clean animals, "thou shalt not redeem; they are holy: thou shalt sprinkle their blood upon the altar," etc. These two classes of animals represent two men—the unclean or sinful man, and the holy Man. Man looked at as the race, including of course every individual save One, stands side by side with the unclean animal, and this not from any act of our own which made us guilty, but from our birth, from which, through the first man's sin, we were constituted sinners, and by nature children of wrath. So we find coupled with the redemption of the unclean firstling, "The firstborn of man shalt thou surely redeem." This teaches the unholy nature of man. In a similar way we find man associated with the ass in Exod. 13, reminding us of Zophar's word, "Though man be born like a wild ass's colt," giving man the thought of the naturally insubordinate character of our hearts—they are "not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be." So we see man away from God, under condemnation, and needing a Savior from his birth. This corresponds with the end of Rom. 5 "By one man's disobedience many were made sinners." But also we see redemption as large as the ruin—"The firstling of unclean beasts shalt thou redeem." There stands the open door of salvation for all. "By the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life."
Now in the midst of redemption mercy there was One for whom there was none. For the firstling of the clean beast there was no escape from death. Strange may seem the reason; it was holy. The unclean might find an escape, the holy never. What a riddle this presents to the natural mind! It seems subversive of all justice and it would be of all human and legal righteousness. But what a vivid picture it is of God's righteousness in saving the sinner! Here was the will of God—our sanctification. This must be by sacrifice; namely, by the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once (Heb. 10:1010By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. (Hebrews 10:10)). Our Lord comes to do that will. He takes the place in infinite grace of the clean animal, "that holy thing," as Luke declares. Now the absolute doom of the first-born of the sheep, etc., pictures His awful position as thus come, shut up without escape to judgment. True He looked beyond it to that right-hand place where there are pleasures for evermore; and He could say, "Thou wilt show Me the path of life"; and "The lines are fallen unto Me in pleasant places." But it was nevertheless true that the weight of that judgment into which He had to go was on His Spirit. His enemies, ignorant of the truth, correctly expressed it in the bitter and cruel taunt, "He saved others; Himself He cannot save."
As the end draws near we find Him fully conscious of the situation, but absolutely undeterred by it. So we read, "Jesus therefore, knowing all things that should come upon Him, went forth, and said unto them, Whom seek ye?" As indeed in the garden the terror of it was upon His holy Spirit—"0 My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from Me: nevertheless, not as I will, but as Thou wilt." It is not possible—"Thou shalt not redeem." There is the type—"Thou shalt sprinkle their blood upon the altar." So too the, for the time, unanswered prayers for deliverance, in Psalm 22—"I cry in the daytime, but Thou hearest not." Now in all this depth of suffering, shut in to judgment, "Deep calleth unto deep at the noise of Thy waterspouts," we see the wonderful perfection of the Lord. He justifies God in the midst of all—"Thou art holy, O Thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel." The depth of His trial proved how truly He was holy. There was no answer of evil to be wrung from His heart. There was a Man in whom only good was, and only good could come forth; thus He was a sweet savor to God. All men much tested had utterly failed—Job and others—and must range themselves, as we must, side by side with the unclean beast. In Christ we find the only antitype of the clean animal, and He was the only One for whom there was no escape, so that through the grace of God there might be for the sinner who believes in Him.
If we carry on further the history of the first-born, it is full of interest and instruction. The firstborn of Israel were saved by the blood at the passover; but those so redeemed were specially and peculiarly God's. "Sanctify unto Me all the firstborn, whatsoever openeth the womb... is Mine." Exod. 13:22Sanctify unto me all the firstborn, whatsoever openeth the womb among the children of Israel, both of man and of beast: it is mine. (Exodus 13:2). Thus the first-born was not merely redeemed from death; it was bought for God—"Ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body." The history of the firstborn was this: God had His tabernacle, with its varied and multiplied services, to perform which required an immense number of men. Now this service belonged to the first-born, but their places were taken by the tribe of Levi. Each Levite represented a firstborn man in Israel. The number of eldest children that exceeded the number of that tribe were redeemed by five shekels of silver each. (Numb. 3:46-4846And for those that are to be redeemed of the two hundred and threescore and thirteen of the firstborn of the children of Israel, which are more than the Levites; 47Thou shalt even take five shekels apiece by the poll, after the shekel of the sanctuary shalt thou take them: (the shekel is twenty gerahs:) 48And thou shalt give the money, wherewith the odd number of them is to be redeemed, unto Aaron and to his sons. (Numbers 3:46‑48); and 8.) Thus the Levites were in a special way a redeemed company. Clearly they are thus typical of Christians, both in our redemption and in the claim God has upon us for service as redeemed. "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God" (redemption mercies here) "that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service."