The First is Mine
Pharaoh was a stubborn soul. Blinded by personal pride and a sense of invincibility, the ruler of the great Egyptian empire did not have to listen to anyone, not even a God who displayed His power before the people's eyes.
"Let my people go," this God commanded through His mouthpiece, Moses. Surely, any God worth His salt would select a proxy more polished than this shepherd man. "Look at him!" He may have been raised in the courts of Egypt's rulers, but this rabble-rouser had fallen far from that lofty position. Now he was just a homeless guy with a stick. What kind of God chooses such a leader to proclaim His power! Pharoah must have thought, "Naw, I don't think I'll do what you command Yahweh."
This ruler, with his attitude, got every firstborn child in the country of Egypt killed. In one single act of defiance, Pharaoh destroyed his country and killed hundreds of thousands of children. This devastating event impacted every Egyptian household, causing the people to plead for the Jews to leave - even handing over precious metals, jewels, and riches to the enslaved people as they went. The motto of the day following the great death in Egypt was, "Get Out and take all our riches with you!"
However, the Egyptian people and the Jews freed from slavery were not the only ones affected by Pharaoh's decision. The Creator of life itself, Yahweh, was intimately involved. Human pride had mounted up to such a level that God Almighty saw the destruction of innocent life, possibly unparalleled in history. These young children, whose lives were stolen by the arrogance of a maniac ruler, were God's creation. At one moment they had lives to live. The next moment their lives were snuffed out because the Pharaoh would not say "go."
Scripture in the third chapter of Numbers enlightens the reader on how the deaths of all firstborns in Egypt affected God. In this scripture, we read that, after the Jews were freed, God told Moses, “When I struck down all the firstborn in Egypt, I set apart for myself every firstborn in Israel, whether human or animal. They are to be mine. I am the Lord.” The destruction of the firstborn of the nation of Egypt caused God Almighty to claim the firstborn of Israel. What did this mean? Would God now require the Jews to sacrifice every firstborn of their nation?
God would require no such thing. He had no interest in destroying Israel's firstborn children. Just as He did not desire the deaths of Egypt's children. In Egypt's case, God was dealing with a foolish man. Unfortunately, the destruction of the country's firstborn was what it would take to break the crazy man's resolve to defy the Almighty One.
But in the case of Israel God had another way. He told Moses, "I have taken the Levites from among the Israelites in place of the first male offspring of every Israelite woman." God's plan would substitute the lives of firstborn children throughout the Jewish nation with the devotion of the lives of the Levite tribe from among the Jewish nation. God declared, "The Levites are mine." The Levites would be devoted to serving God from that point throughout Jewish history.
The destruction brought on by one man's insolent pride toward Yahweh created a people dedicated to serving Yahweh. That sounds similar to some other Biblical account. Think about it: the pride of Adam and his rebellion against God Almighty resulted in the condemnation of not only every firstborn but every single individual to ever exist in all creation. Yet God's plan of offering His only begotten Son overcame the condemnation of sin and the power of death through Jesus' selfless sacrifice. Now, like the Levites of old, there are people devoted to serving God. These people are known as believers. They are saved by grace, and within them resides the Spirit of God. Their bodies are the temple of the Holy Spirit, and the power of the Spirit is present in their lives to the glory of God.
The believer in Christ Jesus is a modern-day example of the ancient Levite priest. According to God's will, the believer is set apart to serve the Almighty and proclaim the Glory of the One True God. Praise be to the Lord! Wherever human pride ruins everything, God's plan restores, redeems, and saves.