The Book of Leviticus, Chapter 27

This is the last chapter in the book of Leviticus. We will then be proceeding into the book of Numbers. This chapter is about redeeming what is God’s. See, I told ya we’d be getting into this. Truly hope you enjoy the read.

God tells Moses to tell the Israelites what was going on.

If anyone makes a “special” vow to dedicate people to the Lord by equivalent values. Set the value of a male, between the ages of 20 & 60 at 50 shekels of silver, according to the sanctuary shekel. If it’s a female, set the value at 30 shekels.

(People still dedicate themselves, or their children, to God but without the monetary values added.)

If it’s a person between the ages of 5 & 20, the value is set at 20 & 10 shekels, for men & women respectively.

If the person is between 1 month & 5 years, the value is set at 5 & 3 shekels of silver, for males & females respectively.

If the person is 60 years old or older, the value at 15 & 10 shekels, for men & women respectively.

If anyone making this vow is too poor to pay, they’re to present the person to the priest. The priest will then set the “price” for the person according to what the person making the vow can afford.

Now we’ll be getting into the animals.

If what is being vowed is an animal that’s considered as acceptable as an offering to the Lord, such an animal given to God becomes holy.

The person must not exchange/substitute a good one for a bad one. Nor bad one for a good one.

If they should replace one animal for another one, both animals become holy.

If the animal is ceremonially unclean, the animal is presented to the priest. The priest will judge its quality, whether good or bad.

Whatever value the priest sets, that’s what it is. If the owner wishes to “redeem” (buy the animal back) the animal, they must pay the price the priest set plus an additional 1/5 of its value.

If someone dedicates their house as something holy to God, the priest, again, will determine its quality as good or bad. Whatever the price the priest sets, is what it is. If the person who dedicated their house wants to get it back (redeem it), they have to pay them priest’s price plus 1/5 of its value. The house will be theirs again.

If someone dedicates to God part of their family land, the value is set according to the amount of seed required for it – 50 shekels of silver to about 6 bushels of barley seed.

If they dedicate their field during the Year of Jubilee, the price that was set stays. No additional costs. But if the field is dedicated after the Jubilee, the priest will determine the price according to the number of years until the next Jubilee. Plus the set price will be reduced.

If the person who dedicated the field wants it back, he must add a 1/5 to its price. The field will be theirs again. However, if they don’t want it back, or they’ve sold the field someone else, they can’t be redeemed. (No getting it back, sorry.)

When the field’s released in the Jubilee, it’ll become holy. Like a field devoted to God, it’ll become the property of the priest(s).

If someone dedicates to God a field he’s bought that’s NOT part of his family land, the priest will determine the fields price up to the Year of Jubilee. The person must pay its value on that day as something holy to God.

When the Year of Jubilee happens, the field will go back to the person whose field it originally was.

You can’t dedicate the firstborn of an animal, since that goes to God anyways. However, if it’s an unclean animal, they could but it back at the set price, plus a 1/5 of the price. If they don’t buy it back (the unclean animal), it’s too be sold at its set price.

Nothing a person owns & devotes to God, whether a person or animal or family land, may be sold or bought (this is really talking about things that are irrevocable given over to God, like a donation!). Everything so devoted to God is most holy to God.

No person whose got the death penalty cannot be ransomed. They have to be put to death.

A tithe of everything from the land, whether grain or fruit, belongs to God. If someone wants to redeem any of his tithe, they must add a 1/5 to its price.

The entire tithe of the herd & flock, every 10th animal that passes under the shepard’s rod will be holy to God.

They can’t pick out the good from the bad or make any substitutions. If they want to make a substitution, both animals (the original & the substitution) become holy & can’t be redeemed.

This is the end of the book of Leviticus. Hope y’all enjoyed it.