“Redeem” — Spending 5,000 Arcade Tickets on a 3¢ Eraser

When I think of “redeem,” I think of going to an old-school arcade where you put coins into a machine to play a game and win tickets. After you accumulate 5,000 of those tickets, you can then use them to “redeem” them for prizes (like 3¢ erasers that were made in China).

The Hebrew word for “redeem” can also mean ransom:

pada (verb)

1. to ransom, redeem, rescue, or deliver

When I think of “ransom,” I think of when bad guys kidnap your friend and call you up demanding a $1,000 “ransom” in exchange for you friend.

These illustrations are a good starting point for understanding the concept of redemption/ransom, but remembering the biblical context also really helps.

God Made a Claim on All Israeli Firstborns

It all started in Egypt when God sent the plagues. In the last plague, God made a claim on all the firstborn sons—both Israelites and Egyptians. He took the lives of the Egyptians, but spared the lives of the Israelites as long as they wiped a lamb’s blood on the doorframe.

But the point to remember is that God claimed all the firstborns.

“All the firstborns are Mine. On the day I killed all the firstborns in Egypt, I took all the Israeli firstborns and set them apart for myself—both human and animal. They are Mine.”

—Numbers 3:13

Israel Could “Redeem” Firstborns from God

So what did it look like for a firstborn to be “claimed by God?” I’m assuming it meant that they had to serve in the temple instead of living a normal life.

But instead of enforcing that, God graciously allowed Israel to “redeem” their firstborns by paying a “ransom” cost. That way, the firstborn would be able be free and live a normal life. That’s why God set a “redemption price” for Israeli firstborn human beings.

“As for their redemption price, from a month old you need to redeem them according to their valuation: 5 shekels in silver.”

—Numbers 18:16

Jesus “Redeems” Us Today

So to recap: all the firstborns belonged to God, but the Israelites could “redeem” them by paying the “ransom” cost. In a sense, those firstborns were “rescued” from belonging to someone else, and could experience living in freedom.

And that’s the same thing that God did for us today! We belonged to corruption (sin), but God payed the ransom cost (Jesus’s life) to redeem us. God traded His 5,000 arcade tickets (His own Son) to buy us freedom, even though we are like the 3¢ erasers compared to His Son.

That just goes to show how highly God values you.