Daily Devotion | Leviticus 27:1–13 | 2026 April 03

Title: Daily Devotion | Leviticus 27:1–13 | 2026 April 03

Scripture: Leviticus 27:1–13 (ESV, reference only)

Date: 2026 April 03

Speaker: Rev. John Chen

Transcribed, translated & edited by: Joseph Wang (Yufan)

Alright, dear brothers and sisters, peace be with you. We thank God for His grace that has brought us to the very last chapter of Leviticus, chapter 27. The passage we are studying today is chapter 27, from verse 1 to verse 15. Alright, let us pray.

God, we thank and praise You for Your grace. Lord, You have led us to the final chapter of Leviticus. Lord, we truly have learned much in Leviticus, the things You wanted us to learn. So we ask You to show grace and mercy to us, that we may follow You and live a holy life, a life set apart. May You grant grace among us. In Christ’s name. Amen.

Alright, let us look at this. The final chapter of Leviticus—when many people read this last chapter, they may just pass over it casually and not pay much attention to it. But in fact, this chapter is very important, and there is a reason it is placed at the end. So what exactly is it talking about?

“The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ‘Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, if anyone makes a special vow to the Lord involving the valuation of persons…’” Actually, this sentence is not especially clear, so sometimes it is very helpful to refer to some other translations. For example, the New Chinese Version translates it like this: “The Lord said to Moses, tell the Israelites, if anyone makes a special vow to dedicate a person to the Lord, then he shall present the valuation according to your assessment.” Now we are absolutely not saying that the Chinese Union Version translated it wrongly—that is not what we mean. But you can feel that this other translation expresses it more clearly: this person makes a vow to dedicate himself to God, and then the priest receives the silver according to the valuation in the sanctuary.

There are several things here that we need to sort out clearly. The first is: why does this person make such a vow? “I want to dedicate myself to the Lord.” The second question is this: dedicating oneself to the Lord does not mean the priest gives you something. Rather, it is you paying money to the priest—do not get that mixed up. It is the priest receiving money from you. I think both of these points are things many people may never really stop to think about when they read the text. So we need to pause and think carefully: what exactly are these two matters? Otherwise we will get confused.

The first matter is this: why would a person dedicate himself to the Lord? We know that we Christians—or we as the people of God—belong to the Lord. The Lord is our God, and we are to be His people. This is something we have seen again and again in Leviticus and in Exodus. So every one of us, in that sense, belongs to the Lord. This is speaking from a general sense, from the perspective of the covenant in its general administration: all the Israelites were God’s people; they all belonged to the Lord. But here it is speaking of a certain special kind of person.

What kind of special person is this? It is a person who feels that merely belonging to the Lord in the general sense is still not enough. In the general sense, as an Israelite, he already belongs to God. But he now wants especially to vow to God and say, “O God, have mercy on me, that I may belong to You, that I may be given to You.” So this refers to certain people who particularly love the Lord and make this vow. That is why this is also called a special vow.

In the general sense, every Israelite belonged to God, and for that there was no need to pay this valuation silver into the sanctuary. But if you feel, “I particularly love the Lord. In this life I am willing to live for Him. I am willing to belong to God,” then what do you do? You pay money to the priest as a sign that you belong to God, that you have been set apart as holy by God.

We are still within this first point. So the first point is: why does a person make this vow? In fact, from the perspective of us Christians, making this special vow is meaningful and valuable. Really speaking, every person ought to make this vow. In fact, it should be so. Jesus Christ shed His precious blood to redeem us. He died for us, and we ought to live for Him. This is according to the teaching of the Apostle Paul in his epistles. The people of the Old Testament were actually the same.

We have mentioned this before: the people in the Old Testament were not somehow different from us. They were the same. According to Paul’s language, they were baptized into Moses in the sea, were they not? They should originally have died by the Red Sea, but Moses stretched out the staff and divided the sea. After they crossed the Red Sea, they belonged to Moses, because Moses had saved them, had he not? In that saving act, every Israelite had been delivered. So you ought to dedicate yourself to the Lord. But among them there were some special people who especially loved the Lord, and who felt that apart from living for the Lord, their lives had no other value. So they dedicated themselves to the Lord.

This, in fact, is an expression that a Christian ought to have. So if we place this “special vow” in our setting today, then in fact every one of us ought to make it. “O God, have mercy on me.” And after you vow to belong to God, what does that signify? It signifies that all your movements and all your existence are for the Lord. You are to be given to the Lord. All that you say and all that you do belong to the Lord. Of course, in the process of our offering ourselves, the Lord also preserves us. This is the relational interaction between us and God.

And this matter of making a special vow is in fact something every Christian ought to do. When we are baptized into Christ, in fact we have already made this vow to God. Otherwise, do not get baptized. To be baptized into Christ means that you ask for the blood of Jesus Christ to cover and cleanse you, and that you are willing to give yourself to Him and to spend your whole life as a vessel for His glory. And in that process, God also watches over and leads us.

So I think this relationship of vowing and dedicating oneself to the Lord really ought to become the relationship every Christian has with God. In the Old Testament, every Israelite belonged to God, and they all had to pay the valuation silver—remember that, every one of them did. But this group of special people wanted once again to express especially that they belonged to God, and so they made this special vow. For us Christians today, we are exactly such a special people, are we not? A true Christian ought to live for God, ought to offer himself up wholly, ought to make his life, his movements, and his very being all for the glory of God and to enjoy God forever. This is the duty a Christian ought to have.

In fact, every Israelite ought also to have made such a vow. In fact, that is so. But because they were in the Old Testament era, there was no such special requirement laid upon all of them; only some would make this special vow. And in this act of vowing, the relationship between the person and God becomes even more intimate. Since he has already told the priest, “I belong to the Lord,” then he becomes especially careful about his words and conduct. He cannot violate this oath. He cannot violate this covenant.

“God, I hand myself over to You. Have mercy on me. Treat me graciously, so that my whole life may be lived for You.” This is the vow he makes with God. “Now please preserve me, so that my whole life may glorify You, and in all things I may walk according to Your statutes and ordinances.” This is the vow he makes. That is the first point.

Now the second point: after making the vow, what happens then? Then he must pay money to the priest. It is not the priest giving him money; it is he who gives money to the priest. Let us now talk about how much this valuation silver is. If it is a man, the text says fifty shekels. If it is a woman, thirty shekels. From five years old to twenty years old, twenty shekels; for a female, ten shekels. From one month to five years old, five shekels; for a little girl, three shekels. If someone is sixty years old, then for a man it is fifteen shekels, and for a woman it is ten shekels. This is the money you pay to the priest. Let me make it clear again: it is not the priest giving you money; it is you giving money to the priest.

Then verse 8 is a particularly precious verse. If a person is poor and cannot pay that valuation, but still wants to make the vow, then what should he do? “If he is too poor to pay the valuation, then he shall be made to stand before the priest, and the priest shall value him; according to what the man making the vow can afford, the priest shall value him.” So, for example, this person wants to dedicate himself to God, but he cannot pay the required silver. He cannot afford it. Perhaps he simply cannot pay that much money, because thirty shekels or fifty shekels was not a small amount. Then what? According to his financial ability, if he can only pay five shekels, that is also fine. If he can only pay three shekels, that is also fine. It is not fixed in an absolute sense.

So verse 8 shows God’s particular mercy. It is not that once this valuation has been stipulated, God must have that money. That is not the point. If you truly have the heart, but you cannot afford the valuation, that is alright. Pay whatever you are able to pay. As long as you are willing to pay, that is enough. That is what verse 8 tells us. This is the second point we have spoken of.

Now the third point: why does the person need to give money to the priest? We might think, “I have already dedicated myself to You. I come to serve You as Your servant—shouldn’t You be the one giving me something? Why is it that I have to give You money?” I think many people, when reading this, may just pass over it and not think carefully about it. But if you think about it carefully, you will understand the meaning behind it. It is not the priest giving you money. After you belong to God, it is you who gives money to the priest. This expresses that you are willing to pay a price for this matter.

The vow you make is not a casual vow. You take out your valuation silver and give it to the priest, which shows that you treat this matter seriously. You are asking God to protect you. So in making this vow, what is actually being expressed is that the one who makes the vow truly understands the heart of God. As I said before, in fact everyone ought to make this vow, and everyone ought to pay this valuation, should they not? You are God’s people. Since God has chosen you and redeemed you in this way, should you not be set apart to Him as holy? That is something that ought to be the case.

But God has not made this completely explicit here. Instead, He allows certain special people, when they dedicate themselves to the Lord, to express their resolute heart through this act of paying the valuation to the priest. It is almost as if I am buying my life back from the Lord. It is as though I am giving the redemption price to God—not that God is giving me something—but I myself am willing to give my redemption price to God. So there is a sense here that resembles redemption, like a concept of ransom.

Therefore, when the one who makes the vow gives this valuation to God, in fact he is placing himself completely under God’s protection. This is a very precious thing. He is willing that all his words and deeds belong to the Lord, and at the same time, he will receive God’s preservation within this relationship, because he belongs to God. From this perspective, this valuation is truly worth paying.

If we think about it from an economic perspective—you see, after you submit yourself under the lordship of the Lord, God begins to take full responsibility for you. He begins to bear the responsibility of guiding you in all things. And this is precisely what we express when we are baptized into Christ: that we will live our whole lives to glorify God, and we will walk according to His statutes and ordinances. At first glance, it may seem as if we are the ones who are losing out, but that is not the case. When we diligently obey God’s law, God’s protection, grace, and mercy will also come upon us.

This is what Jesus says in Matthew chapter 6: “Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.” In fact, this is a covenantal relationship. When we live in obedience to God’s law, God gives us His protection in all things. So do not think that this is something one-sided, as if we are merely giving to God—paying the valuation—and that is all. No. After you give this valuation to God, what you are expressing is that you belong to Him. And in that process, God will fulfill His promises to you.

That is, if you seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, God will certainly watch over you and preserve your daily needs—your food, clothing, shelter, and all aspects of life. This is a covenantal relationship. God will not break His covenant, brothers and sisters. Many people do not see this covenantal relationship, and they do not see God’s promises. So they always feel, “When I obey the law, it is very hard. There is no enjoyment. Every day I talk about obeying the law, and I just have to endure it.” That is not the case.

When you obey in this way, you are actually placing yourself under God’s protection, and that is something incomparably good. Otherwise, you are only in another level of God’s general protection—if we may speak in a simple way, like a “circle of protection.” Outside, there is still God’s protection, because God governs all things. But God’s particular care, His special protection for you, is not the same as for those who are within that inner circle. Inside that circle, His protection is more intimate and more careful.

Someone may ask, “Does that mean that if I pay more money, God will protect me more?” No, it is not about how much money you pay. It is about how much you know God. The more you know God, the more you are willing to offer yourself, and the greater God’s care will be toward you. It is like a relationship of action and reaction—you put in more, and the effect is greater. If you offer little, then naturally the care you experience will also be little, and you will have to take care of many things yourself.

So I think I can only explain it to this extent, because after all this is a devotional setting, not a systematic theology lecture. But I want to remind everyone: making this vow is, in very practical terms, extremely worthwhile for you. Do not say, “I have to give several shekels to the priest, so I am losing out.” No—you are receiving blessing.

At the same time, you must not lie. After you have been dedicated to the Lord as holy, and after you have paid the valuation, you cannot then live however you want. You must act according to the vow you have made. Since you belong to the Lord, you must all the more walk according to His statutes and ordinances. You are set apart by God. This whole system belongs to the law, and you must hold fast to it. You must understand it clearly and follow it carefully. You cannot say that once you have paid the money, everything is finished.

You cannot say, “Oh, Pastor Chen said that once I pay the money, God will protect me. So I just pay the money, and then I am fine, and God will take care of me.” It is not a transactional relationship. The valuation is a symbol that you are truly willing to commit yourself in Christ. It is an expression. After that, your actions must correspond to that valuation—you must sincerely follow God’s law. And within that, God truly does preserve you.

So I think we have spent some time on this point today. From verse 1 to verse 8, you must sort this out clearly. If you do not understand it clearly, this passage will not benefit you. In fact, this passage is a great protection for believers. When we truly commit ourselves to Christ, when we join the church of Christ, when we offer more and more of ourselves, we are actually placing ourselves more tightly under God’s care and protection. God’s mercy and grace toward us are then different.

So, brothers, how do we pursue this state—this condition in which our relationship with God is better, and we enter more deeply into His sphere of care? Of course, does being within God’s care mean there is no suffering? Certainly not. The apostles all eventually suffered martyrdom. There is still suffering. But within this relationship of interaction with God, we increasingly see God, increasingly experience God, increasingly understand His will. Our understanding of His Word, the testimony of our lives, and the growth of our spiritual life will all be different.

So I think this is what verses 1 through 8 especially remind us of. Now let us look at verses 9 through 12. Here it talks about livestock. If an animal is dedicated to God, what happens? Whether it is clean or unclean, once you have made the vow and said that this animal is given, you cannot exchange it. This again expresses that your vow cannot be changed.

And what follows is even more absolute: if you attempt to exchange it, then both the animal originally vowed and the one exchanged will both become holy—you will have to give both. This is to remind you: if you say to the priest, “No, this one is not good, I want to change it,” then both the one you vowed and the one you exchanged must be given to God. They both belong to God. You can no longer take it back.

But what if you absolutely insist on redeeming it? Then not only must you pay the original valuation, but you must also add one-fifth—an additional twenty percent. For example, suppose this animal has already been dedicated to God. The priest has assessed its value—say it is thirty shekels. After giving the money, the animal belongs to God, and the money has been given to the priest. If you want to redeem it back, what do you do? Not only is the thirty shekels you already paid gone, and the animal is gone, but you must pay another thirty shekels plus an additional twenty percent. Only then can you redeem the animal back.

This brings us to verse 13. What does this mean? It means that what you have vowed, do not try to change it. Whatever you have vowed, do not attempt to exchange it. Otherwise, what you vowed is already given, and what you exchange must also be given. You paid thirty shekels before, then you must pay another thirty shekels plus twenty percent, and then redeem it back—you have been busy for nothing. What is the point of that?

So this reminds you that when making a vow, you must be very cautious. This principle can actually be applied back to verses 1 through 8: you must remember not to make vows lightly. You must truly think it through. In our membership application, on the first page, it says that you must count the cost. You must not begin building and then stop halfway.

This is what Jesus teaches—to carefully consider the cost. What is the cost of following the Lord? I find that many Christians today have not really thought through what it costs to be a Christian. This is also a reminder to us. They do not clearly understand what they must give up in following Christ, and at the same time, they also do not clearly understand what they receive. These are both areas that require repentance.

If you have no clear concept of the new heavens and the new earth, and of the beauty of the kingdom of heaven, then being a Christian will feel very difficult. You are caught in between—you do not dare to fully pursue the things of this world, and yet you cannot see the things of heaven clearly. So you are stuck in the middle, and that is very painful.

So may God have mercy on us, that the reality of the kingdom of heaven may truly be opened before us, and that we may live a life set apart on this earth. If you are truly willing to offer this valuation to God, you should know that this is something exceedingly good. I can only speak to this extent; may the Holy Spirit move you. I cannot truly open your eyes—only the Holy Spirit can do that. But I hope you will think carefully: if you do not understand the kingdom of heaven, or if you do not long for eternal life, then indeed, being a Christian will feel very hard.

A kind of “hard,” so to speak. The things of the world—you still want them. The things of heaven—you cannot see. So may God open our spiritual eyes, that the kingdom of heaven may truly be set before us. Easter is approaching; today is Good Friday. We must think about our relationship with Jesus. Otherwise, for us, faith may not become a true blessing. May God have mercy on us.

Alright, we will stop here today, up to verse 13. Thank you, everyone.