October 15, Evening

C. H. Spurgeon · Modern retelling

"But the firstling of an ass thou shalt redeem with a lamb: and if thou redeem him not, then shalt thou break his neck." — Exodus 34:20 · KJV

Every firstborn creature was to be the Lord's; but since the ass was unclean, it could not be presented in sacrifice. What then? Should it be allowed to go free from the universal law? By no means — God admits no exceptions. The ass is His due, but He will not accept it; He will not lower the claim, yet He cannot be pleased with such a victim. No way of escape remained but redemption: the creature must be saved by the substitution of a lamb in its place, or, if not redeemed, it must die. My soul, here is a lesson for you. That unclean animal is yourself; you are justly the property of the Lord who made you and preserves you, yet you are so sinful that God will not, cannot, accept you; and it has come to this — the Lamb of God must stand in your place, or you must die eternally. Let all the world know your gratitude to that spotless Lamb who has already bled for you, and so redeemed you from the fatal curse of the law. Must it not sometimes have been a question with the Israelite which should die, the ass or the lamb? Would not the good man pause to weigh and compare? Surely there was no comparison between the worth of a man's soul and the life of the Lord Jesus; and yet the Lamb dies, and man — the ass — is spared. My soul, admire the boundless love of God to you and to the rest of the human race. Worms are bought with the blood of the Son of the Highest! Dust and ashes redeemed at a price far above silver and gold! What a doom would have been mine, had not plenteous redemption been found! The breaking of the ass's neck was but a momentary penalty; but who shall measure the wrath to come, to which no limit can be imagined? Inestimably dear is the glorious Lamb who has redeemed us from such a doom.