When you grew up, who got to do and have everything first? In most families, it was the oldest sibling. The rights and advantages of the first-born are well known in society. The right of successorship is something society recognizes. This means the first-born is first in line to possession of all things the parents owned, be it a business, land, estate, trade, or even the crown in the case of monarchs. U.S. laws try to equalize this some by protecting the heirs equally, yet a parent’s Will predominates. In the Bible and in a lot of societies, the right of successorship usually passes to the first-born male, as females had less rights to possessions than they do today.
The Fourth Word talks about the first-born, but with a different type of possession. “All first-born of the womb are Mine [YaHVaH’s] . . . ” Exodus 34:19a. Rather than owning possessions, the first-born is the possession of YaHVaH. This applies predominantly to males of both animals and man, when you read the next verse: “and all your livestock producing a male, the first-born of ox and of sheep. And the first-born of a donkey you shall redeem in sheep. And if you do not redeem it, you shall axe its neck. Every first-born of your sons you shall redeem and they shall not appear in My presence emptyhanded” Exodus 34:19b-20.
Originally, YaHVaH wanted the first-born males to serve in His Holy House, but after the golden calf incident, they were replaced by the Levites. YaHVaH still requires a redemption of these first-born males from service. If you are a first-born son, then you belong to YaHVaH for His service unless you’ve been redeemed. Exodus 22 specifies the time when redemption was to take place.
“Your fullness offering and your priestly heave offering you shall not delay, the first-born of your sons you shall present to Me. So shall you do to your ox, to your flock, seven days shall he be with his mother, on the eighth day shall you present him to Me” Exodus 22:29-30. On the 8th day, a male was to be presented and redeemed. This is also the time when the circumcisions of the sons were done.
The Fourth Commandment (traditionally Number 3) correlates with this Fourth Word in this way: The first-born belong to YaHVaH and His Name belongs to Him. YaHVaH says, “You shall not take the Name of YaHVaH, your Elohiym, to vanity, for YaHVaH will not absolve anyone who takes His Name to vanity” Exodus 20:7. The King James Version Bible says, “in vain,” but this is incorrect because the Hebrew word is lashav°’. The “la-” prefix means “to” in English, not “in.” Shav°’ means vanity, but it also means lie, falsehood, or deceive.
YaHVaH is saying not to use His Name to vanity (for your own glory), not to use His Name to lie (saying you will do something and not do it), not to use His Name to falsehood (speaking that which is untrue), and not to use His Name to deceive (getting over on someone else). In none of this does YaHVaH say not to use His Name for prayer or for proper purposes, such as in praise, song, worship, writing of His Words, teachings, and using His Name to rebuke the enemy. In fact, several Scriptures say to use His Name to such proper things.
An example of how not to use His Name is like Oral Roberts did. He said YaHVaH was going to call him home unless people sent lots of money to him. He knew this to be a lie, falsehood, deception, and using it for his own glory. Be careful how you use YaHVaH, but don’t be afraid to use it for proper purposes. Remember, it is His Name and it represents His qualities. Since deceiving, falsehoods, lying, and vanity are not His qualities, then His Name should not be used to do such things.
All first-born are His and His Name is His. Respect them and their use. Shalom.
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