Consecrating the Firstborn

Q: What is meant in Luke 2.23- What about women?

A: Thank you for your question. In Exodus 11:4-5, it reads, "So Moses said, “This is what the LORD says: ‘About midnight I will go throughout Egypt. Every firstborn son in Egypt will die, from the firstborn son of Pharaoh, who sits on the throne, to the firstborn son of the slave girl, who is at her hand mill, and all the firstborn of the cattle as well." God sent this plague on Egypt in order to cause Pharaoh to release the Jews from slavery. Just prior to the judgment, God told Moses and Aaron, "to take some of the blood and put it on the sides and tops of the doorframes of the houses where they eat the lamb (Exodus 12:7)." God did this as a "sign for you on the houses where you are; and when I see the blood, I will pass over you. No destructive plague will touch you when I strike Egypt (Exodus 12:13)." This act by God is what we know as the Passover because He did not kill any of the firstborn of the Jewish nation during this plague.

After the exodus of the Jews from Egypt, "The LORD said to Moses, “Consecrate to me every firstborn male. The first offspring of every womb among the Israelites belongs to me, whether man or animal (Exodus 13:1-2)." This was done to commemorate "the day you came out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery, because the LORD brought you out of it with a mighty hand (Exodus 13:3)." That brings us to Luke 2:22-23. There it reads, "When the time of their purification according to the Law of Moses had been completed, Joseph and Mary took him [Jesus] to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord (as it is written in the Law of the Lord, “Every firstborn male is to be consecrated to the Lord”)..." This was done to Jesus because it was a Law of the Lord that the Jews were commanded to follow. This is a roundabout way to answer your question. Basically, the answer is that women are not included in the practice of being consecrated to God because the plague God sent on Israel was directed at the firstborn sons. It is not to be taken as any slight against women.

There are also prophetic inferences involved with the practice of consecrating the firstborn male. Jesus is referred to as the "the firstborn over all creation (Colossians 1:15)." This is a reference to His supremacy as God in the flesh. Jesus is also referred to as the "the firstborn from the dead (Revelation 1:5)." This is a reference to Him being born into this world as a man. All mankind, is spiritually dead to God at birth, but Jesus, being God, was the only man born into this world spiritually alive. Jesus is also referred to as "our Passover lamb (1 Corinthians 5:7)." This is in reference to Him being the sacrifice for the sins of the world. As the firstborn over all creation, the firstborn from the dead and the Passover lamb, Jesus Christ was the only man with a life to give that would satisfy God as payment for the sins of the world. I hope you can see how all this was a plan by God that culminated in Jesus Christ and not a practice to exclude women in any way. The sacrifice of the firstborn of Egypt while preserving the firstborn of the Jews symbolizes both the coming of Jesus Christ, His sacrificial death and the forgiveness we have as Christians.

I pray this helps shed some light on your question.