Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Exodus 13:1
And the LORD spoke unto Moses, saying,
1, 2. P’s law of the sanctity of the firstborn. The firstborn in Israel, both of men and cattle, were sacred to Jehovah. Here the principle is stated in its most general form: special details, not always consistent, are given elsewhere. In the ‘Book of the Covenant’ (E), see Exo 22:29 b, 30: in Exo 13:12 f. (|| Exo 34:19 f.: both J), it is provided that only firstborn males are to be Jehovah’s, that the firstborn among men are to be redeemed, and the firstling of an ass (as an unclean animal) to be either redeemed by a lamb or killed; other firstlings are sacrificed to Jehovah ( v. 15). In Deu 15:19-23, the firstling males of the herd and of the flock, if free from defect, are to be sacrificed at the central sanctuary, and the flesh eaten by the owner and his household at a sacred meal (cf. Exo 12:6 f., 17 f., Exo 14:23): in Num 18:15-18 (P) the firstborn of men and unclean beasts generally are to be redeemed, the former at 5 shekels a head; the firstling of ox, sheep, or goat is to be sacrificed, the flesh being not the owner’s, as in Deu 15:19-23, but the perquisite of the priests: the two laws evidently reflect the usage of two different periods of the history (see the writer’s Deut. p. 187). According to the (unhistorical) representation of P, the Levites, at the first census in the wilderness, were taken by Jehovah in lieu of the firstborn of the other tribes, Num 3:11-13; Num 3:40-51; Num 8:16-18. Both J (or R JE ) and P assign as the ground of the custom the fact that Jehovah slew the firstborn of the Egyptians, both man and beast (Exo 12:12; Exo 12:29), at the Exodus, the former (ch. Exo 13:15) making it a memorial of the event, and the latter stating that Jehovah then ‘sanctified’ to Himself all the firstborn in Israel, both man and beast, Num 3:13; Num 8:17 (P). On the question whether this was the real origin of the custom, see p. 409 f.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Exo 13:1-2
Sanctify unto Me all the firstborn.
The sanctification of the firstborn to the Lord
I. That the good are required to sanctify their firstborn unto the Lord. All the firstborn–that is to say, the most excellent of their possessions, the most valuable, and that which is viewed with the greatest regard.
1. This sanctification of the firstborn was required by the Divine commandment.
2. This sanctification of the firstborn was a grateful acknowledgment of the Divine mercy in sparing the firstborn from the midnight destruction. Heaven never asks more than it gives, or more than is consistent with the gratitude of a devout heart to bestow.
3. This sanctification of the firstborn was to be associated with the deliverance of the Israelites from the bondage of Egypt.
II. That the good, is sanctifying their firstborn unto the Lord, are not called upon to give up the sole use of their property, but to redeem and to put it to a lawful use. Who would not desire his firstborn to be the Lords?
III. That the good are required to connect the sanctification of their firstborn with sacrifice. And all the firstborn of man among thy children shalt thou redeem (Exo 13:14). This redemption was to be by sacrifice. Parents need reminding of this duty.
1. Because they are liable to forget the service which past mercy requires of them.
2. Because they are apt to be selfish in the use of their property.
3. Because they are not sufficiently spiritually minded to see God in their property, and therefore forget His claims.
4. Because they do not like to pay the redemption price.
IV. That the good are to teach the right of God to the firstborn, to their posterity (Exo 13:14-15). Children are very inquisitive. They will ask questions, even about religious matters. At such times they should be carefully and solemnly instructed in Divine truth. The family is the best school for the young. They should early be taught the meaning of self-sacrifice, and the moral grandeur of giving to the Lord. Even the young have their firstborn, which they can be taught to give to the Lord; and if they grow up in the spirit of this obligation they will in after days, impart to it a truer meaning, and give to it a more solemn influence than before they were capable of. Lessons:
1. That the good must sanctify their best things to the Lord.
2. That this can only be done by the redemption of the Cross.
3. That the young must be early taught their obligation to the Lord. (J. S. Exell, M. A.)
Sanctify unto Me all the firstborn
1. A command.
2. A duty.
3. A privilege.
4. A benediction.
5. A prophecy. (J. S. Exell, M. A.)
The man-tithe
I. Observe the first rule: Sanctify unto Me all the firstborn of man. As the redemption of the firstborn of the more valuable animals was graciously commuted by the sacrifice of less valuable ones, so there was a commutation for the firstborn of man; not indeed by inferior substitutes as in the former case, but by his fellowman–by the institution of a priesthood, sanctifying, or setting apart, the whole tribe of Levi in place of the firstborn of all Israel. But as this arrangement had not yet transpired at the period of the text, the explanation was deferred till then, that in the meanwhile the whole nation might fully realize the amount and weight of their liability to God; and further, that when Levi was sanctified, the whole Levitical priesthood–a priesthood of their brethren, bone of their bone, and flesh of their flesh–might symbolize the High Priesthood of the Mediator who was in all things made like unto His brethren, that He too might also make intercession for the sins of the people. This lies at the root of the Levitical principle, the layagency in the church of God. Admirable is the advice of Jethro to his son-in-law, and incidentally it bears upon this subject. This thing, that is, the whole burthen of the work, is too heavy for thee; thou art not able to perform it thyself alone . . . Thou shalt provide out of all the people able men, such as fear God, men of truth, hating covetousness; and place such over them, to be rulers of thousands, and rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens. Thus the work of religion, benevolence, and rule was divided, subdivided, and redivided still, from considerable districts down to classes of tens, as we should desire to see the work of God among ourselves distributed among our lay deacons and elders, district visitors, collectors and Sabbath-school teachers, who in their respective ministries should act on the suggestion of Jethro, The hard causes they brought unto Moses, but every small matter they judged themselves.
II. Secondly, the text presents the rule of consecrated wealth–Sanctify unto Me all the firstborn of beasts. On this point there is some difficulty. All the firstborn of cattle were given to the Lord by sacrifice; and yet in the forty-fifth verse of the third chapter of Numbers the whole of the cattle of the Levites were considered as a substitute for the firstlings of the general cattle, just as all the men of the Levites were accepted as the substitute for all the firstborn of men from the rest of the tribes. Possibly the cattle firstlings were redeemed, as the excess of human firstborn over the number of the firstborn of the Levites were, by the half-shekel atonement for each, which was payable at the census or periodical numbering of the people. It is probable that Davids omission of this payment was the sin which incurred Gods heavy displeasure in that unseasonable numbering of the people, which, in omitting the soul-tax for atonement, seemed numbered for David himself, and not for God. Be this as it may, the Lord claimed all the firstborn of their beasts, which were the staple property in the ruder forms of society.
III. The text presents its demand for consecrated time. We need not dwell upon the Sabbath, or the Divine claim upon the sevenths of our time. Assuming we are all agreed that this, the minimum of Gods requirement, is due from every man, we may deplore the manner in which, for the most part, even this holy debt is discharged. The abuse of the Sabbath and insubordination to its constantly recurring, bounden, and emphatic law, lies at the root of the national irreligion. There is a significancy in the proportion of the Divine demand of only a tenth of all other things, but a seventh of our time. (J. B. Owen, M. A.)
The Divine right to the best things of man
It is Mine. This is the language of God in reference to each one of us. It is Mine.
I. Because I created it.
II. Because I preserved it.
III. Because I endowed it with everything that makes it valuable. (J. S. Exell, M. A.)
The first born, types of Christ
I. As they were Gods peculiar.
1. By common nature,
2. By common grace.
3. By a special right.
(1) In His nature, Christ is Firstborn, as Son of God.
(2) In His office, by special prerogative.
(a) For the kind, in that He was Mediator, God and Man in unity of person, and the only Redeemer of His Church.
(b) For undertaking of His office.
(c) For the accomplishing His office, in His resurrection. He is called the First-begotten, or Firstborn of the dead, two ways:
(i) In respect of His Father, who first begot Him from the dead;
(ii)
In regard of Himself, whose privilege it was to raise up Himself from the dead by His own power.
II. The firstborn of Israel was the second, and next to the father of the family, yea, after the father instead of the father. So is Christ to His family, the Church; He performs all offices of a careful and tender father, and takes on Him, not the affection only of a father, but even–
1. The name of a father (Isa 9:6).
2. The office of a father.
(1) He supplies the means of spiritual life, as they of natural.
(2) He nurtures and teacheth His Church.
(3) He provides for the present, and bestows the inheritance of eternal life.
III. The firstborn had the pre-eminence among the brethren, and were chief in office and authority, rulers in the house after their fathers, and priests in the family, before the Levitical order was established. Herein they were special types of Jesus Christ; who in all things must have the pre-eminence, as first in time, in order, in precedency, and in the excellency and dignity of His person.
IV. The firstborn had a double portion in goods (Deu 21:17). Signifying–
1. The plenitude of the spirit and grace in Christ, who was anointed with oil of gladness above His fellows.
2. The pre-eminency of Christ in His glorious inheritance, advanced in glory and majesty incomprehensible by all creatures. Use–
(1) Out of the occasion of the law of the firstborn, learn that the more God doth for any man, the more he ought to conceive himself to be the Lords, and the more right and interest the Lord challengeth in him.
(2) If Christ be the true firstborn, of whom all they are but types, we must give Him the honour of His birthright.
(3) Here is a ground of much consolation.
(a) In that Christ being the truth of the firstborn, from Him the birthright is derived unto us believers, as it was from Reuben unto Judah, and we partake of the same birthright with our head. For here is a difference between the type and truth of the firstborn. They had all their privileges for themselves: but Christ not for Himself but for us.
(b) Being Gods firstborn throughout, we are dear unto God.
(c) God takes notice, and avenges all wrongs done to the saints, because they are His firstborn.
(4) Seeing in Christ the firstborn we attain the birthright; let every Christian beware of profaneness, and passing away his birthright as Esau, who sold his birthright for pottage (Heb 12:16).
(5) Learn to grow in conformity with our Elder Brother Christ, with whom we cannot be equal, but like as brothers. We must be like Him in affection, like Him in affliction, like Him in the combat, and like Him in the crown. (T. Taylor, D. D.)
Consecrated to the Lord
When Bishop Selwyn spoke to Sir John Patteson, then a widower, of the desire of his splendidly gifted son, Coleridge, to join him in the New Zealand Mission, the fathers first exclamation was: I cannot let him go! but he immediately added, God forbid I should stop him! And he closed the conversation by saying: Mind, I give him wholly, not with any thought of seeing him again. I will not have him thinking he must come home to see me.
A consecrated child
A young man was about to enter the foreign missionary work. A gentleman said to the young mans father, Its hard to give up the boy. Yes, replied the father, but its just what weve been expecting. How so? inquired the friend. When he was a little baby, answered the father, his mother and I went to a missionary meeting. An appeal, most earnest and touching, was made for men to become missionaries. We ourselves could not go. When we returned home the baby lay asleep in his crib. We went to the crib. His mother stood on one side, I on the other. We together laid our hands on his forehead, and prayed that it might be Gods will for him to become a foreign missionary. We never spoke to him of what we did. But all through these twenty-five years we have believed that our prayer about him would be answered, and answered it now is. Yes, it is hard to give up the boy, but its what weve been expecting.
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
CHAPTER XIII
God establishes the law concerning the first-born, and
commands that all such, both of man and beast, should be
sanctified unto him, 1, 2.
Orders them to remember the day in which they were brought
out of Egypt, when they should be brought to the land of
Canaan; and to keep this service in the month Abib, 3-5.
Repeats the command concerning the leavened bread, 6, 7,
and orders them to teach their children the cause of it, 8,
and to keep strictly in remembrance that it was by the might
of God alone they had been delivered from Egypt, 9.
Shows that the consecration of the first-born, both of man
and beast, should take place when they should be settled in
Canaan, 10-12.
The first-born of man and beast to be redeemed, 13.
The reason of this also to be shown to their children, 14, 15.
Frontlets or phylacteries for the hands and forehead commanded,
16.
And the people are not led directly to the promised land, but
about through the wilderness; and the reason assigned, 17, 18.
Moses takes the bones of Joseph with him, 19.
They journey from Succoth and come to Etham, 20.
And the Lord goes before them by day in a pillar of cloud, and by
night in a pillar of fire, 21,
which miracle is regularly continued both by day and night, 22.
NOTES ON CHAP. XIII
Verse 1. The Lord spake unto Moses] The commands in this chapter appear to have been given at Succoth, on the same day in which they left Egypt.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
And the Lord spake unto Moses,…. When he and the Israelites were at Succoth:
saying; as follows.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Sanctification of the first-born, and Promulgation of the Law for the Feast of Mazzoth. – Exo 13:1, Exo 13:2. The sanctification of the first-born was closely connected with the Passover. By this the deliverance of the Israelitish first-born was effected, and the object of this deliverance was their sanctification. Because Jehovah had delivered the first-born of Israel, they were to be sanctified to Him. If the Israelites completed their communion with Jehovah in the Passover, and celebrated the commencement of their divine standing in the feast of unleavened bread, they gave uninterrupted effect to their divine sonship in the sanctification of the first-born. For this reason, probably, the sanctification of the first-born was commanded by Jehovah at Succoth, immediately after the exodus, and contemporaneously with the institution of the seven days’ feast of Mazzoth (cf. Exo 2:15), so that the place assigned it in the historical record is the correct one; whereas the divine appointment of the feast of Mazzoth had been mentioned before (Exo 12:15.), and the communication of that appointment to the people was all that remained to be mentioned here.
Exo 13:2 Every first-born of man and beast was to be sanctified to Jehovah, i.e., given up to Him for His service. As the expression, “all the first-born,” applied to both man and beast, the explanation is added, “ everything that opens the womb among the Israelites, of man and beast.” for (Exo 13:12): is placed like an adjective after the noun, as in Num 8:16, for , for (Exo 13:12, lxx). : “ it is Mine, ” it belongs to Me. This right to the first-born was not founded upon the fact, that “Jehovah was the Lord and Creator of all things, and as every created object owed its life to Him, to Him should its life be entirely devoted,” as Kurtz maintains, though without scriptural proof; but in Num 3:13 and Num 8:17 the ground of the claim is expressly mentioned, viz., that on the day when Jehovah smote all the first-born of Egypt, He sanctified to Himself all the first-born of the Israelites, both of man and beast. Hence the sanctification of the first-born rested not upon the deliverance of the first-born sons from the stroke of the destroyer through the atoning blood of the paschal lamb, but upon the fact that God sanctified them for Himself at that time, and therefore delivered them. But Jehovah sanctified the first-born of Israel to Himself by adopting Israel as His first-born son (Exo 4:22), or as His possession. Because Israel had been chosen as the nation of Jehovah, its first-born of man and beast were spared, and for that reason they were henceforth to be sanctified to Jehovah. In what way, is more clearly defined in Num 8:12.
Exo 13:3-7 The directions as to the seven days’ feast of unleavened bread (Exo 12:15-20) were made known by Moses to the people on the day of the exodus, at the first station, namely, Succoth; but in the account of this, only the most important points are repeated, and the yearly commemoration is enjoined. In Exo 13:3, Egypt is called a “ slave-house, ” inasmuch as Israel was employed in slave-labour there, and treated as a slave population (cf. Exo 20:2; Deu 5:6; Deu 6:12, etc.). “ strength of hand, ” in Exo 13:3, Exo 13:14, and Exo 13:16, is more emphatic than the more usual (Exo 3:19, etc.). – On Exo 13:5, see Exo 3:8, and Exo 12:25. In Exo 13:6, the term “ feast to Jehovah ” points to the keeping of the seventh day by a holy convocation and the suspension of work (Exo 12:16). It is only of the seventh day that this is expressly stated, because it was understood as a matter of course, that the first was a feast of Jehovah.
Exo 13:8 “ because of that which Jehovah did to me ” ( in a relative sense, is qui , for , see Ewald, 331): sc., “I eat unleavened bread,” or, “I observe this service.” This completion of the imperfect sentence follows readily from the context, and the whole verse may be explained from Exo 12:26-27.
Exo 13:9 The festival prescribed was to be to Israel “ for a sign upon its hand, and for a memorial between the eyes.” These words presuppose the custom of wearing mnemonic signs upon the hand and forehead; but they are not to be traced to the heathen custom of branding soldiers and slaves with marks upon the hand and forehead. For the parallel passages in Deu 6:8 and Deu 11:18, “bind them for a sign upon your hand,” are proofs that the allusion is neither to branding nor writing on the hand. Hence the sign upon the hand probably consisted of a bracelet round the wrist, and the ziccaron between the eyes, of a band worn upon the forehead. The words are then used figuratively, as a proverbial expression employed to give emphasis to the injunction to bear this precept continually in mind, to be always mindful to observe it. This is still more apparent from the reason assigned, “ that the law of Jehovah may be in thy mouth.” For it was not by mnemonic slips upon the hand and forehead that a law was so placed in the mouth as to be talked of continually (Deu 6:7; Deu 11:19), but by the reception of it into the heart and its continual fulfilment. (See also Exo 13:16.) As the origin and meaning of the festival were to be talked of in connection with the eating of unleavened bread, so conversation about the law of Jehovah was introduced at the same time, and the obligation to keep it renewed and brought vividly to mind.
Exo 13:10 This ordinance the Israelites were to keep , “ at its appointed time ” (i.e., from the 15th to the 21st Abib), – “ from days to days, ” i.e., as often as the days returned, therefore from year to year (cf. Jdg 11:40; Jdg 21:19; 1Sa 1:3; 1Sa 2:19).
Exo 13:11-14 In Exo 13:11-16, Moses communicated to the people the law briefly noticed in Exo 13:2, respecting the sanctification of the first-born. This law was to come into force when Israel had taken possession of the promised land. Then everything which opened the womb was to be given up to the Lord. : to cause to pass over to Jehovah, to consecrate or give up to Him as a sacrifice (cf. Lev 18:21). In “all that openeth the womb” the first-born of both man and beast are included (Exo 13:2). This general expression is then particularized in three clauses, commencing with : ( a) cattle, i.e., oxen, sheep, and goats, as clean domestic animals, but only the males; ( b) asses, as the most common of the unclean domestic animals, instead of the whole of these animals, Num 18:15; ( c) the first-born of the children of Israel. The female first-born of man and beast were exempted from consecration. Of the clean animals the first-born male ( abbreviated from , and from the Chaldee to throw, the dropped young one) was to belong to Jehovah, i.e., to be sacrificed to Him (Exo 13:15, and Num 18:17). This law is still further explained in Exo 22:29, where it is stated that the sacrificing was not to take place till the eighth day after the birth; and in Deu 15:21-22, it is still further modified by the command, that an animal which had any fault, and was either blind or lame, was not to be sacrificed, but to be slain and eaten at home, like other edible animals. These two rules sprang out of the general instructions concerning the sacrificial animals. The first-born of the ass was to be redeemed with a male lamb or kid ( , as at Exo 12:3); and if not redeemed, it was to be killed. : from the nape, to break the neck (Deu 21:4, Deu 21:6). The first-born sons of Israel were also to be consecrated to Jehovah as a sacrifice; not indeed in the manner of the heathen, by slaying and burning upon the altar, but by presenting them to the Lord as living sacrifices, devoting all their powers of body and mind to His service. Inasmuch as the first birth represented all the births, the whole nation was to consecrate itself to Jehovah, and present itself as a priestly nation in the consecration of the first-born. But since this consecration had its foundation, not in nature, but in the grace of its call, the sanctification of the first birth cannot be deduced from the separation of the first-born to the priesthood. This view, which was very prevalent among early writers, has been thoroughly overthrown by Outram ( de Sacrif. 1, c. 4) and Vitringa ( observv. ii. c. 2, pp. 272ff.). As the priestly character of the nation did not give a title in itself to the administration of the priesthood within the theocracy, so the first-born were not eo ipso chosen as priests through their consecration to Jehovah. In what way they were to consecrate their life to the Lord, depended upon the appointment of the Lord, which was, that they were to perform the non-priestly work of the sanctuary, to be servants of the priests in their holy service. Even this work was afterwards transferred to the Levites (Num 3). At the same time the obligation was imposed upon the people to redeem their first-born sons from the service which was binding upon them, but was now transferred to the Levites, who were substituted for them; in other words, to pay five shekels of silver per head to the priesthood (Num 3:47; Num 18:16). In anticipation of this arrangement, which was to be introduced afterwards, the redemption ( ) of the male first-born is already established here. – On Exo 13:14, see Exo 12:26. : to-morrow, for the future generally, as in Gen 30:33. : what does this mean? quid sibi vult hoc praeceptum ac primogenitura ( Jonathan).
Exo 13:15-16 : “he made hard” (sc., his heart, cf. Exo 7:3) “to let us go.” The sanctification of the first-born is enforced in Exo 13:16 in the same terms as the keeping of the feast of Mazzoth in Exo 13:9, with this exception, that instead of we have , as in Deu 6:8, and Deu 11:18. The word signifies neither amulet nor , but “binding” or headbands, as is evident from the Chaldee armlet (2Sa 1:10), tiara (Est 8:15; Eze 24:17, Eze 24:23). This command was interpreted literally by the Talmudists, and the use of tephillim, phylacteries (Mat 23:5), founded upon it;
(Note: Possibly these scrolls were originally nothing more than a literal compliance with the figurative expression, or a change of the figure into a symbol, so that the custom did not arise from a pure misunderstanding; though at a later period the symbolical character gave place more and more to the casual misinterpretation. On the phylacteries generally, see my Archologie and Herzog’s Cycl.)
the Caraites, on the contrary, interpreted it figuratively, as a proverbial expression for constant reflection upon, and fulfilment of, the divine commands. The correctness of the latter is obvious from the words themselves, which do not say that the commands are to be written upon scrolls, but only that they are to be to the Israelites for signs upon the hand, and for bands between the eyes, i.e., they are to be kept in view like memorials upon the forehead and the hand. The expression in Deu 6:8, “Thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes,” does not point at all to the symbolizing of the divine commands by an outward sign to be worn upon the hand, or to bands with passages of the law inscribed upon them, to be worn on the forehead between the eyes; nor does the “advance in Deu 6:8 from heart to word, and from word to hand or act,” necessarily lead to the peculiar notion of Schultz, that “the sleeve and turban were to be used as reminders of the divine commands, the former by being fastened to the hand in a peculiar way, the latter by an end being brought down upon the forehead.” The line of thought referred to merely expresses the idea, that the Israelites were not only to retain the commands of God in their hearts, and to confess them with the mouth, but to fulfil them with the hand, or in act and deed, and thus to show themselves in their whole bearing as the guardians and observers of the law. As the hand is the medium of action, and carrying in the hand represents handling, so the space between the eyes, or the forehead, is that part of the body which is generally visible, and what is worn there is worn to be seen. This figurative interpretation is confirmed and placed beyond doubt by such parallel passages as Pro 3:3, “Bind them (the commandments) about thy neck; write them upon the tables of thine heart” (cf. Pro 3:21, Pro 3:22, Exo 4:21; Exo 6:21-22; Exo 7:3).
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
| The Sanctification of the Firstborn. | B. C. 1491. |
1 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, 2 Sanctify unto me all the firstborn, whatsoever openeth the womb among the children of Israel, both of man and of beast: it is mine. 3 And Moses said unto the people, Remember this day, in which ye came out from Egypt, out of the house of bondage; for by strength of hand the LORD brought you out from this place: there shall no leavened bread be eaten. 4 This day came ye out in the month Abib. 5 And it shall be when the LORD shall bring thee into the land of the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites, which he sware unto thy fathers to give thee, a land flowing with milk and honey, that thou shalt keep this service in this month. 6 Seven days thou shalt eat unleavened bread, and in the seventh day shall be a feast to the LORD. 7 Unleavened bread shall be eaten seven days; and there shall no leavened bread be seen with thee, neither shall there be leaven seen with thee in all thy quarters. 8 And thou shalt show thy son in that day, saying, This is done because of that which the LORD did unto me when I came forth out of Egypt. 9 And it shall be for a sign unto thee upon thine hand, and for a memorial between thine eyes, that the LORD‘s law may be in thy mouth: for with a strong hand hath the LORD brought thee out of Egypt. 10 Thou shalt therefore keep this ordinance in his season from year to year.
Care is here taken to perpetuate the remembrance,
I. Of the preservation of Israel’s firstborn, when the firstborn of the Egyptians were slain. In memory of that distinguishing favour, and in gratitude for it, the firstborn, in all ages, were to be consecrated to God, as his peculiars (v. 2), and to be redeemed, v. 13. God, who by the right of creation is proprietor and sovereign of all the creatures, here lays claim in particular to the firstborn of the Israelites, by right of protection: Sanctify to me all the firstborn. The parents were not to look upon themselves as interested in their firstborn, till they had first solemnly presented them to God, recognized his title to them, and received them back, at a certain rate, from him again. Note, 1. That which is by special distinguishing mercy spared to us should be in a peculiar manner dedicated to God’s honour; at least some grateful acknowledgment, in works of piety and charity, should be made, when our lives, or the lives of our children, have been given us for a prey. 2. God, who is the first and best, should have the first and best, and to him we should resign that which is most dear to us, and most valuable. The firstborn were the joy and hope of their families. Therefore they shall be mine, says God. By this is will appear that we love God best (as we ought) if we are willing to part with that to him which we love best in this world. 3. It is the church of the firstborn that is sanctified to God, Heb. xii. 23. Christ it the firstborn among many brethren (Rom. viii. 29), and, by virtue of their union with him, all that are born again, and born from above, are accounted as firstborn. There is an excellency of dignity and power belonging to them; and, if children, then heirs.
II. The remembrance of their coming out of Egypt must also be perpetuated: “Remember this day, v. 3. Remember it by a good token, as the most remarkable day of your lives, the birthday of your nation, or the day of its coming of age, to be no longer under the rod.” Thus the day of Christ’s resurrection is to be remembered, for in it we were raised up with Christ out of death’s house of bondage. The scripture tells us not expressly what day of the year Christ rose (as Moses told the Israelites what day of the year they were brought out of Egypt, that they might remember it yearly), but very particularly what day of the week it was, plainly intimating that, as the more valuable deliverance, and of greater importance, it should be remembered weekly. Remember it, for by strength of hand the Lord brought you out. Note, The more of God and his power appears in any deliverance, the more memorable it is. Now, that it might be remembered,
1. They must be sure to keep the feast of unleavened bread, v. 5-7. It was not enough that they remembered it, but they must celebrate the memorial of it in that way which God had appointed, and use the instituted means of preserving the remembrance of it. So, under the gospel, we must not only remember Christ, but do this in remembrance of him. Observe, How strict the prohibition of leaven is (v. 7); not only no leaven must be eaten, but none must be seen, no, not in all their quarters. Accordingly, the Jews’ usage was, before the feast of the passover, to cast all the leavened bread out of their houses: they burnt it, or buried it, or broke it small and scattered it in the wind; they searched diligently with lighted candles in all the corners of their houses, lest any leaven should remain. The care and strictness enjoined in this matter were designed, (1.) To make the feast the more solemn, and consequently the more taken notice of by their children, who would ask, “Why is so much ado made?” (2.) To teach us how solicitous we should be to put away from us all sin, 1 Cor. v. 7.
2. They must instruct their children in the meaning of it, and relate to them the story of their deliverance out of Egypt, v. 8. Note, (1.) Care must be taken betimes to instruct children in the knowledge of God. Here is an ancient law for catechising. (2.) It is particularly of great use to acquaint children betimes with the stories of the scripture, and to make them familiar to them. (3.) It is a debt we owe to the honour of God, and to the benefit of our children’s souls, to tell them of the great works God has done for his church, both those which we have seen with our eyes done in our day and which we have heard with our ears and our fathers have told us: Thou shalt show thy son in that day (the day of the feast) these things. When they were celebrating the ordinance, they must explain it. Every thing is beautiful in its season. The passover is appointed for a sign, and for a memorial, that the Lord’s law may be in thy mouth. Note, We must retain the remembrance of God’s works, that we may remain under the influence of God’s law. And those that have God’s law in their heart should have it in their mouth, and be often speaking of it, the more to affect themselves and to instruct others.
Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary
EXODUS – CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Verses 1, 2:
“Sanctify” qadesh, “separate, or set apart.” Jehovah instructed Moses to “set short” all first-born in Israel as belonging exclusively to Him. This was not done by a formal ceremony, but by declaring it to be so in all future generations.
The first-born of all domestic animals were the Lord’s own, to be offered to Him in sacrifice. But unclean animals, which might not be offered, were to be redeemed by a ransom payment, v. 13. The first-born of the people were likewise to be redeemed, vv. 13, 15. The exact method of redemption was settled later, see Nu 3:40-51; 18:16.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
ISRAELS BONDAGE. MOSES AND THE EXODUS
Exo 1:1 to Exo 15:21.
DR. J. M. Grays five rules for Bible reading: Read the Book, Read the Book Continuously, Read the Book Repeatedly, Read the Book Independently, Read the Book Prayerfully, are all excellent; but the one upon which I would lay emphasis in this study of Exodus is the second of those rules, or, Read the Book Continuously. It is doubtful if there is any Book in the Bible which comes so nearly containing an outline, at least, of all revelation, as does the Book of Exodus. There is scarcely a doctrine in the New Testament, or a truth in the Old, which may not be traced in fair delineation in these forty chapters.
God speaks in this Book out of the burning bush. Sin, with its baneful effects, has a prominent place in its pages; and Salvation, for all them that trust in Him, with judgment for their opposers, is a conspicuous doctrine in this Old Testament document. God, Sin, Salvation, and Judgmentthese are great words! The Book that reveals each of them in fair outline is a great Book indeed, and its study will well repay the man of serious mind.
Exodus is a Book of bold outlines also! Its author, like a certain school of modern painters, draws his picture quickly and with but few strokes, and yet the product of his work approaches perfection. How much of time and history is put into these three verses:
And all the souls that came out of the loins of Jacob were seventy souls: for Joseph was in Egypt already. And Joseph died, and all his brethren, and all that generation. And the Children of Israel were fruitful, and increased abundantly, and multiplied, and waxed exceeding mighty; and the land was filled with them (Exo 1:5-7).
These three verses contain 215 years of time, and all the events that crowded into that period would, if they were recorded, fill volumes without end. And, while there are instances of delineation in detail in the Book of Exodus, the greater part of the volume is given to the bolder outlines which sweep much history into single sentences.
In looking into these fifteen chapters, I have been engaged with the question of such arrangement as would best meet the demands of memory, and thereby make the lesson of this hour a permanent article in our mental furniture. Possibly, to do that, we must seize upon a few of the greater subjects that characterize these chapters, and so phrase them as to provide mental promontories from which to survey the field of our present study. Surely, The Bondage of Israel, The Rise of Moses, and the Exodus from Egypt, are such fundamentals.
THE BONDAGE OF ISRAEL.
The bondage of Israel, like her growth, requires but a few sentences for its expression.
Now, there arose up a new king over Egypt, which knew not Joseph. And he said unto his people, Behold, the people of the Children of Israel are more and mightier than we; Come on, let us deal wisely with them; lest they multiply, and it come to pass, that, when there falleth out any war, they join also unto our enemies, and fight against us, and so get them up out of the land. Therefore they did set over them taskmasters to afflict them with their burdens. And they built for Pharaoh treasure cities, Pit horn and Raamses. But the more they afflicted them, the more they multiplied and grew. And they were grieved because of the Children of Israel. And the Egyptians made the Children of Israel to serve with rigour: And they made their lives bitter with hard bondage, in mortar, and in brick, and in all manner of service in the field: all their service, wherein they made them serve, was with rigour (Exo 1:8-22).
There are several features in Egypts conduct in effecting the bondage of Israel which characterize the conduct of all imperial nations.
The bondage began with injustice. Israel was in Egypt by invitation. When they came, Pharaoh welcomed them, and set apart for their use the fat of the land. The record is,
Joseph placed his father and his brethren, and gave them a possession in the land of Egypt, in the best of the land, in the land of Raamses, as Pharaoh had commanded (Gen 47:11).
There they flourished until a king arose which knew not Joseph. Then a tax was laid upon them; eventually taskmasters were set over them, and those who came in response to Pharaohs invitation, Come unto me and I will give you the good of the, land of Egypt, and ye shall eat of the fat of the land, were compelled by his successors to take the place of slaves. It seems as difficult for a nation as it is for an individual to refrain from the abuse of power. A writer says, Revolution is caused by seeking to substitute expediency for justice, and that is exactly what the King of Egypt and his confederates attempted in the instance of these Israelites. It would seem that the result of that endeavor ought to be a lesson to the times in which we live, and to the nations entrusted with power. Injustice toward a supposedly weaker people is one of those offences against God which do not go unpunished, and its very practice always provokes a rebellion which converts a profitable people into powerful enemies.
It ought never to be forgotten either that injustice easily leads to oppression. We may suppose the tax at first imposed upon this people was comparatively slight, and honorable Egyptians found for it a satisfactory excuse, hardly expecting that the time would ever come when the Israelites should be regarded chattel-slaves. But he that is unjust in the least is unjust also in much. It is doubtful if there is any wrong in mans moral relations which blinds him so quickly and so effectually as the exercise of power against weakness.
Joseph Parker, in speaking of the combat between Moses and the Egyptian, says, Every honorable-minded man is a trustee of social justice and common fair play. We have nothing to do with the petty quarrels that fret society, but we certainly have to do with every controversysocial, imperial, or internationalwhich violates human right and impairs the claims of Divine honor. We must all fight for the right. We feel safer by so much if we know there are amongst us men who will not be silent in the presence of wrong, and will lift up a testimony in the name of righteousness, though there be none to cheer them with one word of encouragement.
It is only a step from enslaving to slaughter. That step was speedily taken, for Pharaoh charged all his people, saying, Every son that is born ye shall cast into the river (Exo 1:22). Unquestionably there is a two-fold thought in this fact. Primarily this, whom the tyrant cannot control to his profit, he will slay to his pleasure; and then, in its deeper and more spiritual significance, it is Satans effort to bring an end to the people of God. The same serpent that effected the downfall of Adam and Eve whispered into Cains ear, Murder Abel; and into the ears of the Patriarchs, Put Joseph out of the way; and to Herod, Throttle all the male children of the land; and to the Pharisee and Roman soldier, Crucify Jesus of Nazareth. It remains for us of more modern times to learn that the slaughter of the weak may be accomplished in other ways than by the knife, the Nile, or the Cross. It was no worse to send a sword against a feeble people, than, for the sake of filthy lucre, to plant among them the accursed saloon. Benjamin Harrison, in a notable address before the Ecumenical Missionary Conference held in the City of New York years ago, said, The men who, like Paul, have gone to heathen lands with the message, We seek not yours but you, have been hindered by those who, coming after, have reversed the message. Rum and other corrupting agencies come in with our boasted civilization, and the feeble races wither before the breath of the white mans vices.
Egypt sought to take away from Israel the physical life which Egypt feared; but God has forewarned us against a greater enemy when He said, Be not afraid of them that kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do. * * Fear Him, which after He hath killed hath power to cast into hell; yea, I say unto you, Fear Him. If in this hour of almost universal disturbance the sword cannot be sheathed, let us praise God that our Congress and Senate have removed the saloona slaughter-house from the midst of our soldiers, and our amended Constitution has swept it from the land.
THE RISE OF MOSES.
I do not know whether you have ever been impressed in studying this Book of Exodus with what is so evidently a Divine ordering of events. It is when the slaughter is on that we expect the Saviour to come. And that God who sits beside the dying sparrow never overlooks the affliction of His people. When an edict goes forth against them, then it is that He brings their deliverer to the birth; hence we read, And there went a man of the house of Levi and took to wife a daughter of the house of Levi, and the woman conceived and bare a son (Exo 2:1-2),
That is Moses; that is Gods man! It is no chance element that brings him to the kingdom at such a time as this. It is no mere happening that he is bred in Pharaohs house, and instructed by Jochebed. It is no accident that he is taught in all the wisdom of the Egyptians. It is all in perfect consequence of the fact that God is looking upon the Children of Israel, and is having respect unto them.
Against Pharaohs injustice He sets Moses keen sense of right. When Moses sees an Egyptian slay an oppressed Israelite, he cannot withhold his hand. And, when after forty years in the wilderness he comes back to behold afresh the affliction of his people, he chooses to suffer with them rather than enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season. God never does a better thing for a nation than when He raises up in it such a man. We have heard a great deal of Socrates wisdom, but it is not in the science of philosophy alone that that ancient shines; for when Athens was governed by thirty tyrants, who one day summoned him to the Senate House, and ordered him to go with others named to seize Leon, a man of rank and fortune, whose life was to be sacrificed that these rulers might enjoy his estate, the great philosopher flatly refused, saying, I will not willingly assist in an unjust act. Thereupon Chericles sharply asked, Dost thou think, Socrates, to talk in this high tone and not to suffer? Far from it, replied the philosopher, I expect to suffer a thousand ills, but none so great as to do unjustly. That day Socrates was a statesman of the very sort that would have saved Athens had his ideas of righteousness obtained.
Against Pharaohs oppression He sets Moses Divine appointment. There were many times when Moses was tempted to falter, but Gods commission constrained his service. When Moses said, Who am I that I should go unto Pharaoh? God answered, Surely I will be with thee. When Moses feared his own people who would not believe in his commission, God answered, Thus shalt thou say unto the Children of Israel, I AM hath sent you. When Moses feared that the Israelites would doubt his Divine appointment, God turned the rod in his hand into a worker of wonders. And, when Moses excused himself on the ground of no eloquence, God replied, Go, and I will be with thy mouth and teach thee what thou shalt say. With any man, a conviction of Divine appointment is a power, but for him who would be a saviour of his fellows, it is an absolute essential.
Pastor Stalker, speaking to the subject of a Divine call to the service of soul-winning, said, Enthusiasm for humanity is a noble passion and sheds a beautiful glow over the first efforts of an unselfish life, but it is hardly stern enough for the uses of the world. There come hours of despair when men seem hardly worth our devotion. * * Worse still is the sickening consciousness that we have but little to give; perhaps we have mistaken our vocation; it is a world out of joint, but were we born to put it right? This is where a sterner motive is needed than love for men. Our retreating zeal requires to be rallied by the command of God. It is His work; these souls are His; He has committed them to our care, and at the judgment-seat He will demand an account of them. All Prophets and Apostles who have dealt with men for God have been driven on by this impulse which has recovered them in hours of weakness and enabled them to face the opposition of the world. * * This command came to Moses in the wilderness and drove him into public life in spite of strong resistance; and it bore him through the unparalleled trials of his subsequent career. How many times he would have surrendered the battle and left his fellows to suffer under Pharaohs heels, but for the sound of that voice which Joan of Arc heard, saying to him as it said to her, Go on! Go on!
Against Pharaohs slaughter God set up Moses as a Saviour. History has recorded the salvation of his people to many a man, who, either by his counsels in the time of peace or his valor in the time of war, has brought abiding victory. But where in annals, secular or sacred, can you find a philosopher who had such grave difficulties to deal with as Moses met in lifting his people from chattel slaves to a ruling nation? And where so many enemies to be fought as Moses faced in his journey from the place of the Pyramids to Pisgahs Heights?
Titus Flaminius freed the Grecians from the bondage with which they had long been oppressed. When the herald proclaimed the Articles of Peace, and the Greeks understood perfectly what Flaminius had accomplished for them, they cried out for joy, A Saviour! a Saviour! till the Heavens rang with their acclamations.
But Moses was worthy of greater honor because his was a more difficult deed. I dont know, but I suppose one reason why Moses name is coupled with that of the Lamb in the Oratorio of the Heavens, is because he saved Israel out of a bondage which was a mighty symbol of Satans power, and led them by a journey, which is the best type of the pilgrims wanderings in this world, and brought them at last to the borders of Canaan, which has always been regarded as representative of the rest that remaineth for the people of God.
THE EXODUS FROM EGYPT
involves some items of the deepest interest.
The ten plagues prepare for it. The river is turned into blood; frogs literally cover the land; the dust is changed to lice; flies swarm until all the houses are filled; the beasts are smitten with murrain; boils and blains, hail, locusts and darkness do their worst, and the death of the first-born furnishes the climax of Egyptian affliction, and compels the haughty Pharaoh to bow in humility and grief before the will of the Most High God (chaps. 7-12).
There is one feature of these plagues that ought never to be forgotten. Without exception, they spake in thunder tones against Egyptian idolatry. The Nile River had long been an object of their adoration. In a long poem dedicated to the Nile, these lines are found:
Oh, Nile, hymns are sung to thee on the harp,
Offerings are made to thee: oxen are slain to thee;
Great festivals are kept for thee;
Fowls are sacrificed to thee.
But when the waters of that river were turned to blood, the Egyptians supposed Typhon, the God of Evil, with whom blood had always been associated, had conquered over their bountiful and beautiful Osiristhe name under which the Nile was worshiped.
The second plague was no less a stroke at their hope of a resurrection, for a frog had long symbolized to them the subject of life coming out of death. The soil also they had worshiped, and now to see the dust of it turned suddenly into living pests, was to suffer under the very power from which they had hoped to receive greatest success. The flies that came in clouds were not all of one kind, but their countless myriads, according to the Hebrew word used, included winged pests of every sort, even the scarabaeus, or sacred beetle. Heretofore, it had been to them the emblem of the creative principle; but now God makes it the instrument of destruction instead. When the murrain came upon the beasts, the sacred cow and the sacred ox-Apis were humbled. And ~when the ashes from the furnace smote the skin of the Egyptians, they could not forget that they had often sprinkled ashes toward Heaven, believing that thus to throw the ashes of their sacrifices into the wind would be to avert evil from every part of the land whither they were blown. Geikie says that the seventh plague brought these devout worshipers of false gods to see that the waters, the earth and the air, the growth of the fields, the cattle, and even their own persons, all under the care of a host of divinities, were yet in succession smitten by a power against which these protectors were impotent. When the clouds of locusts had devoured the land, there remained another stroke to their idolatry more severe still, and that was to see the Sun, the supreme god of Egypt, veil his face and leave his worshipers in total darkness. It is no wonder that Pharaoh then called to Moses and said, Go ye, serve the Lord; but it is an amazing thing that even yet his greed of gain goads him on to claim their flocks and their herds as an indemnity against the exodus of the people. There remained nothing, therefore, for God to do but lift His hand again, and lo, death succeeded darkness, and Pharaoh himself became the subject of suffering, and the greatest idol of the nation was humbled to the dust, for the king was the supreme object of worship.
He is a foolish man who sets himself up to oppose the Almighty God. And that is a foolish people who think to afflict Gods faithful ones without feeling the mighty hand of that Father who never forgets His own.
One day I was talking with a woman whose husband formerly followed the habit of gambling. By this means he had amassed considerable wealth, and when she was converted and desired to unite with the church, he employed every power to prevent it, and even denied her the privilege of church attendance. One morning he awoke to find that he was a defeated man; his money had fled in the night, and in the humiliation of his losses, he begged his wifes pardon for ever having opposed her spirit of devotion. Since that time, though living in comparative poverty, she has been privileged to serve God as she pleased; and, as she said to me, finds in that service a daily joy such as she at one time feared she would never feel again. Gods plagues are always preparing the way for an exodus on the part of Gods oppressed.
The Passover interpreted this exodus. That greatest of all Jewish feasts stands as a memorial of Israels flight from Egypt as a symbol of Gods salvation for His own, and as an illustration of the saving power of the Blood of the Lamb.
The opponents of the exodus perished. Our study concludes with Israels Song of Deliverance, beginning, The Lord is my strength and song, and He has become my salvation, and concluding in the words of Miriam, Sing ye to the Lord, for He hath triumphed gloriously: the horse and his rider hath He thrown into the sea. See Exo 15:1-21. Such will ever be the end of those who oppress Gods people and oppose the Divine will.
When one studies the symbolism in all of this, and sees how Israel typifies Gods present-day people, and Moses, their deliverer, Jesus our Saviour, and defeated Pharaoh, the enemy of our souls, destined to be overthrown, he feels like joining in the same song of deliverance, changing the words only so far as to ascribe the greater praise to Him who gave His life a deliverance for all men; and with James Montgomery sing:
Hail to the Lords Anointed
Great Davids greater Son
Who, in the time appointed,
His reign on earth begun.
He comes to break oppression,
To set the captive free,
To take away transgression,
And rule in equity.
He comes, with succor speedy,
To those who suffer wrong;
To help the poor and needy,
And bid the weak be strong;
To give them songs for sighing,
Their darkness turn to light,
Whose souls, condemned and dying.
Were precious in His sight.
Fuente: The Bible of the Expositor and the Evangelist by Riley
CRITICAL NOTES.
Exo. 13:4. The month Abib.]The month of the ear-time, according to tradition the month Nisan in the later Hebrew, corresponding to April (Frst).
Exo. 13:16. Token.] The same as sign in Exo. 13:9. Frontlets.] Bands or fillets (Gesenius, Frst, Davies). Probably explanatory of the more general word memorial in Exo. 13:9. It seems equally unwarranted either, on the one hand, to assert that these passages (Exo. 13:9; Exo. 13:16, with Deu. 6:8; Deu. 11:18), were intended to bear an exclusively metaphorical meaning; or, on the other hand, to make them a warrant for the elaborate phylacterial ceremonialism developed by Hebrew tradition. Why should not injunctions of this nature be left just where Divine wisdom has left them! If they point to external memorials, well: these need not be indiscriminately condemned. But if God has left time, manner, and degree unordained, why should human authority step in and bind what God has left free! Hence, when Kalisch says, Tradition has made the most extended use of the liberty left to it with regard to the Tefillin by the indistinctness of the text, and has compiled very minute precepts concerning their arrangement and their use, we admit the fact of the extended use, but we altogether demur to the assumed justification of it from the indistinctness of the text. The indistinctness of general divine laws, when rightly construed, means the FREEDOM OF THE SUBJECT from any minute precepts as to the precise method of obeying. How sad that Christians as well as Hebrews should be so slow to learn this lesson! We are surprised that even Davies (Heb. Lex. under ) should draw upon Hebrew tradition for his explanation of this Biblical term. We agree with Tregelles, in Gesenius Heb. Lex. (Bagster), that it requires proof that the Jewish phylacteries are here intended by these fillets or bandages. Those who care to know what the Jewish phylacteries were, how they were worn, what virtues were ascribed to them, and about the best things to be said in their favour, should by all means consult Kalischs long and interesting note on this chapter. Above all, let any, disposed to ultra-ritualism, ponder well the woes denounced in Mat. 23:21.
MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.Exo. 13:1-16
THE SANCTIFICATION OF THE FIRST-BORN TO THE LORD
The Israelites are now marching out of Egypt. It was a great exodus, and Moses would not have undertaken the leadership of it but for the consciousness which he had that God was with him. This was the appropriate time to remind the children of Israel of their moral obligation to the Divine Being who had so wonderfully and mercifully delivered them from a condition of degrading slavery. Hence we find in the commencement of this chapter that God spoke through Moses to the emancipated nation, imposing upon them ordinances and duties suitable to their new condition of life. All the deliverances of the soul are associated with religious duties and obligations expressive of gratitude and devotion.
I. That the good are required to sanctify their first-born unto the Lord. And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Sanctify unto Me all the first-born, whatsoever openeth the womb among the children of Israel, both of man and of beast: it is Mine. Thus it is the duty of the good to separate unto the Lord the first-born, that is to say, the most excellent of their possessions, the most valuable, and that which is viewed with the greatest regard.
1. This sanctification of the first-born was required by the Divine commandment. God told Moses that the Israelites were to sanctify their first-born unto Him. It was not left to their option. It was not the outcome of human device. It was not the unauthorised suggestion of a grateful heart. It was commanded by heaven, otherwise it would never have occurred to man to sanctify his best things to the Lord; and if it had, he would probably have resisted the idea as antagonistic to his temporal welfare. This duty is founded upon the Divine Creatorship, and needed to be clearly and authoritatively revealed, or it would have been misunderstood and neglected. Men do not like religious duties to make demands upon their property; they prefer a cheap religion, and many would rather do without any than sanctify their first-born to the Lord. The Divine command to man is that he give the best of his possessionsterritorial, physical, domestic, mental, moral, and spiritualto the Lord.
2. The sanctification of the first-born was a grateful acknowledgment of the Divine mercy in sparing the first-born from the midnight destruction. The first-born of the Israelites had been mercifully preserved from the stroke of the Destroying Angel, which had inflicted death upon the first-born of Egypt in the silent midnight hour. Hence what more reasonable than that the life that had been thus spared should be separated unto the Lord. God does not arbitrarily and unjustly demand the property of men; He only requires what He has given, and what He has preserved from the grave. And those who refuse to devote their best things to the service of the Lord show that they are insensible to the richest mercy, and therefore to the highest claims. Heaven never asks more than it gives, or more than is consistent with the gratitude of a devout heart to bestow. All its requirements are based upon the bestowment of past mercy.
3. The sanctification of the first-born was to be associated with the deliverance of the Israelites from the bondage of Egypt (Exo. 13:15). By the separation of the first-born unto the Lord an Israelite would have many and varied memories awakened within him; he would be reminded of the eventful night on which death visited every Egyptian family, of the departure of his nation from a cruel bondage, and of the wondrous power and providence of God. And even when the multitude that came out from Egypt were dead, in the history of the nation of Israel, the separation of the first-born would always be associated with the idea of national deliverance. And so with the good, the gift of their best things and most excellent property to God is always connected with their soul-deliverances. They are glad to dedicate their first-born to the Lord in remembrance of the hour of their moral freedom. They regard this duty as a memorial of the past.
II. That the good in sanctifying their first-born unto the Lord are not called upon to give up the sole use of their property, but to redeem and to put it to a lawful use. But all the first-born of My children I redeem. The Israelites were not required to give up their first-born literally to the Lord, to His service in the Temple. They were to dedicate them to the Lord by sacrifice. And in this we have set forth a sublime truth, namely, that a true sanctification of property does not altogether consist in giving it literally to God, but in using it for Him, and thus, in a higher sense, giving it to Him through the sacrifice of the cross. If men were literally to give their first-born to the Lord, much of the commerce and activity of the world would be interrupted; but by the redemption of the cross the giving consists in the using what we have for the highest moral purposes of life. Who would not desire his first-born to be the Lords? God is worthy of the best we can give Him.
III. That the good are required to connect the sanctification of their first-born with sacrifice. And all the first-born of man among thy children shalt thou redeem (Exo. 13:14). This redemption was to be by sacrifice. Thus we find that Hannah, presenting Samuel unto the Lord, brought a sacrificial offering with her, that he might be accepted (1Sa. 1:24). So with the mother of our Lord. That which is born in sin cannot become the Lords but by this constitution of mercy, everywhere set forth, and having its fulfilment in Christ. St. Peter contrasts the redemption of the first-born under the law with the redemption which is by Christ (1Pe. 1:18-19). If the first-born died there was to be no redemption. Christ seeks our life. He wants no dead thing in His service. Such provision was made for Israel even from infancy; what an encouragement to present our children unto the Lord in early life! But parents need reminding of this duty.
1. Because they are liable to forget the service which past mercy requires of them.
2. Because they are apt to be selfish in the use of their property.
3. Because they are not sufficiently spiritually minded to see God in their prosperity, and therefore forget His claims.
4. Because they do not like to pay the redemption price.
IV. That the good are to teach the right of God to the first-born, to their posterity (Exo. 13:14-15). Children are very inquisitive. They will ask questions, even about religious matters. At such times they should be carefully and solemnly instructed in Divine truth. The family is the best school for the young. These questions must not be evaded. Their true explanation must be given, and in an interesting manner. Children should be brought up to the ordinances of the Lord, and to the obligations of religion. They should early be taught the meaning of self-sacrifice, and the moral grandeur of giving to the Lord. Even the young have their first-born, which they can be taught to give to the Lord; and if they grow up in the spirit of this obligation they will, in after days, impart to it a truer meaning, and give to it a more solemn influence than before they were capable of. LESSONS:
1. That the good must sanctify their best things to the Lord.
2. That this can only be done by the redemption of the cross.
3. That the young must be early taught their obligation to the Lord.
THE ORDINANCES OF THE LORD. Exo. 13:5-16
We read that Moses had previously instituted the Passover, and had made known to the people all the duties connected therewith. This repetition was, however, quite necessary. Men are dull students of the Divine requirements; they are very liable to forget the mercies of God, and their consequent duty. They need to be constantly reminded thereof. God bestows great care on the moral instruction of the Church. Let us strive to be more mindful of the ordinances of Jehovah.
I. That the ordinances of the Lord must be observed in the times of prosperity. And it shall be when the Lord shall bring thee into the land of the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites, which He sware unto thy fathers to give thee, a land flowing with milk and honey, that thou shalt keep this service in this month (Exo. 13:5). In the wilderness the Israelites could not keep this feast, as they were fed with manna, and had neither leavened nor unleavened bread at their command. But there was a danger lest when they got into the fruitful country they should forget the estate from whence they had come, and therefore Moses, in anticipation of better days for the nation, again enjoins this service as obligatory. The changing fortunes of Israel were to be no impediment to the celebration of the Passover. How many people in meagre temporal circumstances attend well to all the ordinances of the Lord, who in times of prosperity are altogether unmindful of them! They forget God and the mighty deliverance He has wrought for them in the splendour and plenty of their success. Prosperity sometimes leads to atheism. The land flowing with milk and honey ought to lead men nearer to God in thought, ought to render them more grateful to Him, and ought to find them more willing to celebrate the glory of His wondrous name. The sacrament of the Lord should not be neglected in the prosperous days of life. The soul needs Jehovah then as much as heretofore.
II. That the ordinances of the Lord must be observed with great sincerity of heart. Unleavened bread shall be eaten seven days; and there shall no leavened bread be seen with thee, neither shall there be leaven seen with thee in all thy quarters (Exo. 13:7). And so those who attend to the solemn ordinances of the Lord must do so with sincerity of heart, without reservation or duplicity of motive. They must purge out the hidden corruption of the soul. They must avoid the appearance of evil; no leavened bread must be seen with them. And those who come to the sacramental table of the Lord must be sincere in their desire to be pure, must be reverent in their disposition as they commemorate His death, and they must be truly grateful for their deliverance from the bondage of sin. Their entire life must be in sympathy with the service they are anxious to keep worthily.
III. That the ordinances of the Lord must be observed with true intelligence. And thou shalt show thy son in that day, saying, This is done because of that which the Lord did unto me when I came forth out of Egypt (Exo. 13:8-9). The ordinances of the Lord are to be intelligently observed. They are to be thoroughly understood by the Church, in their intellectual and moral significance. It may be to the advantage of some to surround their Church rites with the supposed glory of mystery, but this is more allied to heathenism than to Christianity. Superstition can render but scant worship. The sacraments of Christianity are simple and intelligible; all may understand their import, and ought to do before they venture to observe them. They have interesting associations. They are allied to the most eventful histories and experiences of the soul.
IV. That the ordinances of the Lord must be observed with parental solicitude. And it shall be when thy son asketh thee in time to come, saying, What is this? that thou shalt say unto him, By strength of hand the Lord brought us out from Egypt, from the house of bondage (Exo. 13:14-15). Parents should studiously seek to instruct the young in the rites and ceremonies of their religion, and in the reasons on which they are founded (Psa. 78:5-8). Children should early know the stories of sacred writ, and should be taught their moral significance. The honour of God demands this. The good of the youthful soul requires this. God has appointed the family the moral nursery of the young. LESSONS:
1. To attend to all the ordinances of the Lord.
2. To attend to them at the most appropriate time.
3. To attend to them in right spirit and temper.
SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS ON THE VERSES
Exo. 13:1-2. In the day of deliverance God judgeth meet to give ordinances to the Church.
Jehovah must Himself be the Author of all ordinances tending to His service.
God by His ministers may make known His ordinances to His Church.
The first-born are Gods proper portion in the world, and He will have them holy.
Sanctify unto Me all the first-born.
1. A command.
2. A duty.
3. A privilege.
4. A benediction.
5. A prophecy.
THE DIVINE RIGHT TO THE BEST THINGS OF MAN
It is Mine. This is the language of God in reference to each one of us. It is Mine:
I. Because I created it.
II. Because I preserved it.
III. Because I endowed it with everything that makes it valuable.
DAYS TO BE REMEMBERED
Exo. 13:3. And Moses said unto the people, Remember this day. There are certain days in the history of each one of us which are worthy of pre-eminent remembrance, because they are influential in our history, and will be to our destiny. Such was the case with the Israelites; the day on which they were delivered from Egyptian bondage was memorable.
I. There are days in the history of individuals which ought to be celebrated. As the day of Israels freedom would be remembered, so the day of the souls freedom from the captivity of Satan should be celebrated. It is well to observe as a joyous festival the day on which the soul found peace with God. The returning of the day should be marked by a return of the first enthusiasm and devotion of the soul.
II. There are days in the history of Churches which ought to be celebrated. There are days in the history of every vigorous Church in which it came out of some bondage, in which it emerged into new life, in which it entered upon some great enterprise, and these are worthy of remembrance. The very commemoration of such times would awaken glad memories and beget new strength.
III. There are days in the history of nations which ought to be celebrated. There are days when the nation came out of stern bondage, when it entered upon an improved civilized life, when a spirit of devotion seemed to possess the national heart; such times ought to be remembered.
Exo. 13:5-7. Future times of Gods mercy must be times for Israels duty.
The Canaanites shall be abolished, and Israel shall flourish.
It is well to consider Gods oath to His Church for all good promised.
The Church has a good portion in store.
Exo. 13:8-10. The instruction of children is a duty upon parents.
God commands the celebration of ordinances, and that children shall be instructed in them.
The reasons of Divine ordinances must be understood by parents and children.
Sacramental signs, and memorials of God, He is pleased to give His Church.
God would have His signal memorials at hand, and before the eyes of His people.
The Passover was a true sacramental sign and seal of Gods covenant.
By sacraments rightly used Gods covenant is confirmed on hearts and in profession.
Gods mighty and gracious redemption is a just cause of such memorial.
It is Gods prerogative to make anniversary memorials of His mercies.
Exo. 13:11-13. Jehovah is the beginning and end of His own ordinances.
All that God requires must His people make to pass from them to Him.
God has a property in all creatures, be they ever so unclean.
God has ordered redemption for unclean by putting the clean in their stead.
A price has God set for mans redemption to gain a Church for the first-born.
The law of the first-born has its truth and accomplishment in Christ Jesus (Col. 1:15).
Exo. 13:14-16. Ancient ordinances may be justly questioned in succeeding ages to know the meaning of them.
Reason is to be given of our religion to such as reasonably demand it.
Redemption mercies are to be recorded and reported as just ground of Gods ordinance.
Oppositions against redemptions are justly declared to make the work glorious, and Gods people obedient.
Gods redeeming mercies ought to work in the Church eternal memorials of Him.
ILLUSTRATIONS
BY
REV. WM. ADAMSON
Exodus-Symbolism! Exo. 13:4. This was a new life for Israel. As it had its new scenes, new wants, new duties, and new occupations, so does the new life of John
3. The worlds fair and alluring landscape, with its great cities, fruitful fields and gardens, were left behind; while the sandy waste and wild mountain fastnesses of the pilgrim path to the Heavenly Canaan take their place. But they were FREE. When the great patriot and martyr-president of the United States contemplated the liberation of the African slaves in the Southern States, he was met by the argument that by freedom the negroes would lose much worldly comfort and pleasure conferred on them by their masters. His response was brief: They will be free. Though Israel lost the vision of fertile vales, of sacred sycamore groves, of richly-laden fruit orchards, &c., they gained their freedom. Liberty was more sweet, more priceless than the splendours and luxuries of Egypt. Christian freedmen prefer the bleak and barren pilgrim-path to the pleasures of sin; and, like Israel, they look forward to the climax of liberty, that rest which remaineth for the people of God. When the Church has reached the ultima thule of her wilderness-way, then in the Celestial Canaan
The jubilant bell
Will ring the knell
Of slavery for ever.
Whittier.
Fuente: The Preacher’s Complete Homiletical Commentary Edited by Joseph S. Exell
THE TEXT OF EXODUS
TRANSLATION
13 And Je-ho-vah spake unto Mo-ses, saying, (2) Sancitfy unto me all the first-born, whatsoever openeth the womb among the children of Is-ra-el, both of man and of beast: it is mine.
(3) And Mo-ses said unto the people, Remember this day, in which ye came out from E-gypt, out of the house of bondage; for by strength of hand Je-ho-vah brought you out from this place: there shall no leavened bread be eaten. (4) This day ye go forth in the month A-bib. (5) And it shall be, when Je-ho-vah shall bring thee into the land of the Ca-naan-ite, and the Hit-tite, and the Am-or-ite, and the Hi-vite, and the Jeb-u-site, which he sware unto thy fathers to give thee, a land flowing with milk and honey, that thou shalt keep this service in this month. (6) Seven days thou shalt eat unleavened bread, and in the seventh day shall be a feast to Je-ho-vah. (7) Unleavened bread shall be eaten throughout the seven days; and there shall no leavened bread be seen with thee, neither shall there be leaven seen with thee, in all thy borders. (8) And thou shalt tell thy son in that day, saying, It is because of that which Je-ho-vah did for me when I came forth out of E-gypt. (9) And it shall be for a sign unto thee upon thy hand, and for a memorial between thine eyes, that the law of Je-ho-vah may be in thy mouth: for with a strong hand hath Je-ho-vah brought thee out of E-gypt. (10) Thou shalt therefore keep this ordinance in its season from year to year.
(11) And it shall be, when Je-ho-vah shall bring thee into the land of the Ca-naan-ite, as he sware unto thee and to thy fathers, and shall give it thee, (12) that thou shalt set apart unto Je-ho-vah all that openeth the womb, and every firstling which thou hast that cometh of a beast; the males shall be Je-ho-vahs. (13) And every firstling of an ass thou shalt redeem with a Iamb; and if thou wilt not redeem it, then thou shalt break its neck: and all the first-born of man among thy sons shalt thou redeem. (14) And it shall be, when thy son asketh thee in time to come, saying, What is this? that thou shalt say unto him, By strength of hand Je-ho-vah brought us out from E-gypt, from the house of bondage: (15) and it came to pass, when Pha-raoh would hardly let us go, that Je-ho-vah slew all the first-born in the land of E-gypt, both the first-born of man, and the first-born of beast: therefore I sacrifice to Je-ho-vah all that openeth the womb, being males; but all the first-born of my sons I redeem. (16) And it shall be for a sign upon thy hand, and for frontlets between thine eyes: for by strength of hand Je-ho-vah brought us forth out of E-gypt.
(17) And it came to pass, when Pha-raoh had let the people go, that God led them not by the way of the land of the Phi-lis-tines, although that was near; for God said, Lest peradventure the people repent when they see war, and they return to E-gypt: (18) but God led the people about, by the way of the wilderness by the Red Sea: and the children of Is-ra-el went up armed out of the land of E-gypt. (19) And Mo-ses took the bones of Joseph with him: for he had straitly sworn the children of Is-ra-el, saying, God will surely visit you; and ye shall carry up my bones away hence with you. (20) And they took their journey from Suc-coth, and encamped in E-tham, in the edge of the wilderness. (21) And Je-ho-vah went before them by day in a pillar of cloud, to lead them the way, and by night in a pillar of fire, to give them light; that they might go by day and by night; (22) the pillar of cloud by day, and the pillar of fire by night, departed not from before the people.
EXPLORING EXODUS: CHAPTER THIRTEEN
QUESTIONS ANSWERABLE FROM THE BIBLE
1.
After careful reading propose a brief topic or theme for the chapter.
2.
What group of the Israelites was sanctified (or consecrated) unto the Lord? (Exo. 13:1-2)
3.
What day was Israel to remember? (Exo. 13:3)
4.
Name the month when Israel left Egypt. (Exo. 13:4)
5.
What was to be done and what not to be done during the feast of Unleavened Bread? (Exo. 13:6-7)
6.
What were the people to tell their sons? (Exo. 13:8)
7.
On what places were signs to be affixed? (Exo. 13:9; Exo. 13:16)
8.
What was to be done with firstborn men and animals? (Exo. 13:12)
9
What was to be done with firstborn asses (donkeys)? (Exo. 13:13)
10.
Why were the firstborn male animals sacrificed to the Lord? (Exo. 13:15)
11.
By what route did God NOT lead Israel out of Egypt? (Exo. 13:17)
12.
By what route did God lead Israel out of Egypt? (Exo. 13:18)
13.
Whose bones were carried up out of Egypt? (Exo. 13:19; Gen. 50:24-25)
14.
What two places did Israel pass through after leaving Rameses? (Exo. 13:20)
15.
What led the Israelites in their journeys? (Exo. 13:22)
Exodus Thirteen: Demands and Direction
to the Redeemed
I.
Gods demands; Exo. 13:1-16.
1.
Consecrate the firstborn; Exo. 13:1-2; Exo. 13:11-16.
2.
Keep the feast; Exo. 13:3-10.
II.
Gods direction; Exo. 13:17-22.
1.
Safe direction; Exo. 13:17.
a.
Physically safe; Exo. 13:17.
b.
Spiritually safe; Exo. 13:17.
2.
Rigorous direction; Exo. 13:18.
3.
Visible direction; Exo. 13:21.
4.
Constant direction; Exo. 13:22.
GODS CLAIMS ON MANS FIRSTBORN:
It is mine! (Exo. 13:2)
1.
The firstborn must be set apart; Exo. 13:12.
2.
The firstborn must be redeemed; Exo. 13:13.
3.
Every generation must be taught this truth; Exo. 13:14.
God claims mans first and best!
UNLEAVENED BREAD! (Exo. 13:3-10)
1.
A memorial; Exo. 13:3; Exo. 13:9.
2.
A time for purging out leaven; Exo. 13:7.
3.
A means for placing Gods law in mens mouths; Exo. 13:9.
4.
A regular annual observance; Exo. 13:10.
5.
A type of purging out of sin; 1Co. 5:6-8.
JOSEPHS BONES! (Exo. 13:19)
1.
A fulfillment of past prophecies; Gen. 50:25.
2.
A forecast of future victories; Heb. 11:22.
GODS DIRECTION OF HIS PEOPLE (Exo. 13:17-18)
1.
Directs to a place of rest; (Exo. 13:5; Deu. 8:8-10).
2.
Directs around dangers (Philistines); (Exo. 13:17).
3.
Directs by circuitous routes; (Exo. 13:18).
4.
Directs into hard paths (wilderness); (Exo. 13:18).
5.
Directs into places of testing; (Exo. 16:4; Deu. 8:2).
6.
Directs into spiritual growth; (Deu. 8:3-6).
THE CLOUD AN ILLUSTRATION OF GODS LEADING (Exo. 13:21-22)
1.
Visible obvious leadership; Exo. 13:21; Exo. 40:38).
2.
Light-giving leadership; (Exo. 13:21; Neh. 9:12; Psa. 105:39).
3.
Constant leadership; (Exo. 13:22; Num. 9:19; Neh. 9:19).
4.
A protecting (covering) leadership; (Exo. 14:19-20; Psa. 105:39; Isa. 4:5; Exo. 40:34; Num. 9:15).
5.
A glory-bearing leadership; (Exo. 40:34-35; Exo. 16:10).
6.
A directing leadership; (Exo. 40:36-37; Num. 9:17-23; Num. 10:11-12; Num. 10:34; Neh. 9:12; Neh. 9:19; Psa. 78:14).
7.
God spoke from the cloud; (Exo. 33:9; Psa. 99:7; Num. 12:5).
8.
A leadership to become universal; (Isa. 4:5; Rev. 21:23).
EXPLORING EXODUS: NOTES ON CHAPTER THIRTEEN
1.
What is in Exodus thirteen?
The theme-title DEMANDS AND DIRECTIONS TO THE REDEEMED sums up most of the chapter. Gods redeemed people have obligations to Him, as well as direction from Him.
The chapter opens with Gods command to Moses to sanctify (or consecrate) all the firstborn of Israel, both of men and beasts (Exo. 13:1-2)
The chapter continues with Moses speech to the people (Exo. 13:3-16). This speech dealt with two matters: (1) the observance of the feast of unleavened bread (Exo. 13:3-10); (2) the consecration or redemption of their firstborn (Exo. 13:11-16).
The chapter closes with information as to how God wondrously led the Israelites as they left Egypt (Exo. 13:17-22).
The words of God to Moses (Exo. 13:1-2) and Moses words to the people (Exo. 13:3-16) seem to have been given at Succoth, Israels first encampment after leaving their homes in Egypt. We are not told how Moses managed to get the great horde of people all grouped together so he could give them the messages. Perhaps he relayed the messages through their elders. Moses spoke of their coming into Canaan (Exo. 13:5), and how they would there keep the feast of unleavened bread and set apart their firstborn in that land (Exo. 13:11-12). These confident assertions by Moses gave Israel courage and purpose in their journeys. The fulfillment of Moses predictions in later years gave proof that Moses words had come from God.
2.
What was to be done with the firstborn of Israel? (Exo. 13:1-2)
God commanded that all the firstborn be sanctified unto him. They were to be regarded as holy, and kept for holy use.
It seems that the firstborn referred to were the firstborn of males only. See Exo. 13:12. Daughters and female animals were apparently not affected by this regulation.
To sanctify is explained in Exo. 13:15 as being the act of sacrificing the animal (an act permissible only in the case of clean animals), or by redeeming it by offering another animal as a sacrifice in place of it.
The act of sanctifying the firstborn was a positive act as well as a negative one. They were separated TO the Lord at the same time they were separated FROM any worldly use.
Gods ground for claiming the firstborn as HIS lay in the fact that He had spared them in Egypt on the day when He struck down all the firstborn in the land of Egypt. See Num. 3:13; Num. 8:17.
A major purpose for sanctifying the firstborn was to perpetuate the memory of their deliverance in the mind of the nation. Israel tended to forget divine blessings very quickly.
The command about sanctifying the firstborn has an application to Christians, because Christians are described as the firstborn ones in Heb. 12:23. Thus, the type suggests that all Christians, as Gods firstborn, are the LORDs. Some Christians may resent the idea that their children or they themselves should be dedicated to be preachers, missionaries, etc. They do not like religious duties to make demands upon their property or pleasures. They want a cheap religion. But in truth all of us who claim God as our father are the firstborn ones, and dedicated to the LORD.
3.
Where and when did Moses speak to the people about sanctifying the firstborn? (Exo. 13:3-4)
Moses spoke to the people on the first day of their departure. Literally, Exo. 13:4 says, You are going forth. . . . Presumably this was at Succoth. The Passover had been the night before. Probably Moses spoke at their first stop on the way. We suspect that he spoke to their elders, who relayed the word back to their clans and families. (Compare Exo. 12:21.)
How smooth and naturally this chapter develops! First God commanded Moses concerning the sanctifying of their firstborn. Then Moses spoke the words to the people, telling them about the two matters God had spoken to him about: (1) About the feast of unleavened bread (Exo. 13:3-10); (2) About sanctifying their firstborn to the LORD (Exo. 13:11-16).
Some critics (e.g. Driver) ascribe Exo. 13:1-2; Exo. 13:20 to a fifth century B.C. priestly author, and Exo. 13:3-16; Exo. 13:21-22 to a tenth century author called the Jehovist. Martin Noth attributes the whole chapter to J, but thinks it has numerous later insertions in Exo. 13:1-16 by unknown Deuteronomistic (D) writers, and by an E writer in Exo. 13:17-19. There is no proof of such speculations. The disagreements among those who hold such ideas demonstrate their flimsy basis. These suggested multiple sources break up the natural progress in the story as it is given to us.
4.
What were the Israelites to remember? (Exo. 13:3)
Remember this day! Compare Exo. 12:14.
It was their day of coming out! Note that Egypt is called a slave house (literally house of bondmen). Israel was free! Certainly they faced hardships and conflicts. But their new freedom was worth more than all the security (?) of Egypts prison life.
The words from this place could only have been uttered at the very time when they were emancipated, but yet on Egyptian soil. No authors after Moses time could thus have written (assuming that they were honest).
This remembering was to be demonstrated by ACTS, such as abstaining from unleavened bread for the week. Mere mental memory is cheap. Real remembering regulates our resources and routine.
5.
In what month did Israel depart? (Exo. 13:4)
In the month Abib. See Exo. 12:12. This is near the end of March. After the Babylonian captivity this month was called Nisan(Neh. 2:1).
The term Abib means sprouting. As the name of a month it is found in Exo. 13:4; Exo. 23:15; Exo. 34:18; Deu. 16:1. In Exo. 9:31 the same word refers to the ear (or head of grain): the barley was in the ear. In Lev. 2:14 it refers to the green ears of corn, that is, the fresh grain.
Much as Israel went forth in the month Abib (sprouting forth, springing up), we also accept Christ in a time of springing up to new growth and life.
6.
What observance of the Feast of Unleavened Bread was to be kept in Canaan? (Exo. 13:5)
They were to observe the feast every year in that month!
In their future prosperity and ease (milk and honey), they were to keep the ordinances faithfully.
Only five of the seven nations in the land of Canaan are named here. The Greek O.T. adds the names of the Gergashites and Perizzites. Concerning these seven nations, see Exo. 3:8. Compare Gen. 15:19-21 and Exo. 23:23-28.
These people in Canaan (all of whom were collectively called Canaanites) were not actually separate sovereign nations. They were racial groups. Canaan was controlled at that time by small city-states, all of which were nominally under the authority of Egypt, but were independent of one another.
Regarding Gods oath to give the land of Canaan to the fathers (Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob), see Gen. 12:7; Gen. 15:18; Gen. 26:3; Gen. 35:12.
Concerning the land flowing with milk and honey, see Exo. 3:17.
Note that keeping the feast of unleavened bread was a service. They were to Serve this service. The Hebrew word for serve emphasizes the feature of work and labor.
7.
What was the major feature of the feast of unleavened bread? (Exo. 13:6-7)
The eating of unleavened bread for a week was its major feature. No leaven was permitted within the Israelites property during that time. On the seventh day of this period there was a feast to Jehovah. See Exo. 12:15-20 for more about the feast of unleavened bread. It had a profound meaning.
8.
What were the Israelites to tell their children about the unleavened bread? (Exo. 13:8; Exo. 13:10).
They were to tell them the reason for eating the unleavened bread that week. They were to say, It is because of that which Jehovah did for me when I came forth out of Egypt.
The instruction of Israelite children during the feasts is referred to in Exo. 10:2 and Exo. 12:26-27. See notes on these verses.
The command to keep the ordinance about the Unleavened bread is given several times and is very strong. See Exo. 12:24-25; Exo. 13:5; Exo. 13:10.
9.
How were the people to show their devotion to the Lord for bringing them up out of Egypt? (Exo. 13:9; Exo. 13:16)
They were to make a sign, which would keep their deliverance ever in their minds.
Of course, the sign referred to was not some lettered placard or billboard. Their deliverance itself was the sign and memorial. But in some way their deliverance was to be made unforgettable to them throughout future generations. (Unto thee in Exo. 13:9 means unto Israel as a collective body.)
The purpose of the sign and memorial was that the law of Jehovah might be in thy mouth. The Israelites, both individually and collectively, were to speak about their deliverance through all future times.
The exact form of the sign which God had in mind is not specified. Jews in later centuries interpreted the verse to mean that they were to make and wear phylacteries. These are small leather boxes attached to straps. They are worn upon the forehead and the left arm. They contain strips of paper with certain scripture passages written upon them. (The passages are Exo. 13:2-10; Deu. 6:4-9; Deu. 11:13-21). The arm phylactery is tied to the inside of the left arm, a little above the elbow, so that the scripture passage might be close to the heart.
Our Lord Jesus referred to phylacteries in Mat. 23:5. He pronounced woe upon the scribes and Pharisees for making their phylacteries extra large, so as to be seen by men and be praised for their holiness. Jesus did not actually condemn the phylacteries, only the misuse of them.
The scripture seems to indicate that the sign was the deliverance from Egypt (Exo. 13:8) or was the feast of unleavened bread (Exo. 13:7). If this is true, then the later Jewish use of this verse as justification for making and wearing phylacteries is not a very strong argument. God did not specify exactly how this devotion was to be expressed, or what the sign and memorial consisted of. It would have been best to leave the command just as Moses delivered it. See Deu. 4:2. It is equally wrong to insist on an exclusively spiritual meaning in it, or to use the verse as a warrant for elaborate phylacterial ceremonialism. Similarly in the New Testament church, we do not have details for worship ceremonies, only broad guidelines. To insist on a highly structured formal service or on a very loose informal program is equally wrong.
Regarding the strength of Gods hand in bringing Israel forth, see Exo. 15:6 and Deu. 7:19.
10.
What was to be done with the firstborn of man and beast? (Exo. 13:11-12)
The firstborn were to be set apart to the Lord. Exo. 22:9; Exo. 34:19; Lev. 27:26. Literally, they were to cause the firstborn to pass over. Sometimes this expression meant to sacrifice (as in 2Ki. 23:10), and sometimes it meant to transfer over to (as in Num. 27:8). Both of these meanings seem to be implied here.
God chose the firstborn of each family to be dedicated to full time labor at the tabernacle in administering the sacred services.
This practice of setting apart the firstborn was to be done when they came into the land of the Canaanites. However it was also done in the wilderness (Num. 3:13).
The paragraph Exo. 3:11-16 is a detailed exposition by Moses about Gods law concerning sanctifying the firstborn. This law was briefly stated in Exo. 13:1-2.
At Mt. Sinai God commanded that the entire tribe of the Levites (the descendants of Jacobs son Levi) be set apart to Him instead of the firstborn of each family in every tribe (Num. 3:5-13; Num. 3:41; Num. 3:45).
Regarding the Canaanite tribes and Gods promise to Israels forefathers to give them the land, see notes on Exo. 13:5.
Exo. 13:12 is quoted in Luk. 2:23. There we are told that the infant Jesus was presented to the Lord by Joseph and Mary, by the act of making a sacrifice. This sacrifice was that which was offered following the birth of all children (Lev. 12:6-7). However, it appears that the sacrifice also involved the matter of redeeming (buying back) the firstborn male sons. Even though the Levites replaced them in the actual temple labors, they still had to be redeemed.
11.
How were the firstborn set apart to the Lord? (Exo. 13:13)
a.
Firstborn lambs, or kids, or cattle were sacrificed. (Exo. 13:15) These animals were killed and their fat burned as an offering made by fire. But their flesh was given to the priests for food. (Num. 18:17-18)
b.
The firstborn of an ass or any unclean beast (like a camel; Lev. 11:4; Num. 18:15) was to be killed by breaking its neck. Or a lamb or kid could be sacrificed in its place. The people would surely carry out this law scrupulously, because the ass was a much more costly animal than a lamb.
c.
The firstborn of man was to be redeemed by payment of five shekels each. See Exo. 13:15; Num. 3:46-47; Num. 18:15-16.
These laws should cause us to consider our own giving to the Lord. Do we give our firstborn, or an equivalent value, to the Lord? Do we in Christ give less to the Lord than those who lived under the law of Moses? May it never be so! Rather, we ought by love to do more than the law required, and thus to fulfill the law and establish it firmly in our lives. (Rom. 3:13; Rom. 13:10).
12.
What connection was there between Israels deliverance from Egypt and the practice of redeeming the firstborn? (Exo. 13:14-15)
Redeeming the firstborn was (1) a memorial to Israels redemption from Egypt; (2) also it was a response and repayment to God for sparing the firstborn of Israel in Egypt.
Certainly men can never repay God for His saving acts toward us. But we are under the necessity of rendering unto him whatever we can, both as a debt and as an expression of our gratitude.
Concerning the teaching of children about Gods acts, see notes on Exo. 13:8; Exo. 12:26-27; Exo. 10:2. Also see Deu. 6:20-21.
Regarding the strength of hand which God used to get Israel out of Egypt, see Exo. 13:3; Exo. 13:16. This refers to all of Gods acts during the ten plagues.
Concerning the death of the firstborn in Egypt, see Exo. 11:4-6; Exo. 12:12; Exo. 12:29.
Concerning the signs and frontlets which Israelites were to use, see notes on Exo. 13:9; Exo. 13:16. The word token in Exo. 13:16 is from the same Hebrew word as sign in Exo. 13:9.
13.
What are the frontlets between thine eyes? (Exo. 13:16)
They seem to refer to some type of object, or strap, or bandage about the head. Wearing such an object on the head to commemorate Gods delivering the people would be a useful reminder and testimony, if it did not become an object for show and pride.
Jews in later centuries specified that these frontlets should consist of leather phylacteries, or amulets, to be worn on the forehead and left arm during morning prayers. (The Jews call them tephilin, from the Hebrew word for prayer.) See notes on Exo. 13:9, where the frontlets are referred to as a memorial between thine eyes. Tregelles (in Gesenius Hebrew Lexicon) aptly says, It requires proof [which is lacking] that the Jewish phylacteries are intended by these fillets or bandages. God surely intended that His instructions regarding these frontlets be left simply in the form in which His divine wisdom stated them, without any official ecclesiastical interpretation and enforcement. See Deu. 4:2.
14.
By what route did God NOT lead the Israelites? (Exo. 13:17)
God did not lead them by the short route, along the Mediterranean seacoast linking Egypt and Canaan. This was a heavily-travelled route, approximately one hundred and fifty miles across. This route crosses a sandy desert (the desert of Shur). It would have required only about two weeks to travel this way.
This route was called the Way of the Sea (Via Maris) or the Way of Horus (by the Egyptians). The way was dotted with Egyptian fortresses. Careful lists were kept by Egyptian guards of arrivals and departures at the northeast frontier forts in Egypt.[220]
[220] Cole, op, cit., p. 116.
The Bible calls this road the Way of the Philistines, because Philistines had settled along the SW coast of Canaan, and the road would pass through the area settled by them. Exo. 15:14 also mentions the Philistines.
The Philistines made their major immigration into Canaan about 1200 B.C., coming from Crete, or Caphtor, and other Mediterranean islands. This was 200 years after the time of the exodus. However, the Bible indicates that a few Philistines had settled into Canaan as far back as Abrahams time, about 2000 B.C. (Gen. 21:32; Gen. 26:1; Gen. 26:18) Most liberal critics view these early references to the Philistines as anachronisms.[221] However, some recent archaeological inscriptions indicate the presence of settlers in the area of Philistia considerably before 1200 B.C.[222]
[221] Noth, op. cit., p. 107.
[222] Biblical Archaeologist, Sept. 1966, pp. 7374.
Note that GOD LED the Israelites. He chose their path. He leadeth me, O blessed thought! (Psa. 23:2; Psa. 37:23)
God knew that the Israelites were not yet able to face war. Exo. 14:11-12 reveals how frightened Israel became when they were under attack. Num. 14:1-4 shows their terror of giants. The path into Canaan by the short way of the sea would have led them into southern Canaan, the very center of these giants (Anakim; Num. 13:22; Num. 13:33). God does not allow His people to be tested more than they can bear (1Co. 10:13). He knoweth our frame; he remembereth that we are dust (Psa. 103:14).
Furthermore, the Israelites were not yet spiritually prepared to occupy the land of Canaan. They had a divine appointment to serve God on this mountain, Mt. Sinai (Exo. 3:12). There they would receive the law from God and be organized into a holy nation (Exo. 19:5-6), with a tabernacle worship center and a priesthood. Frankly, they needed to be converted (turned) to the LORD!
Spiritually, Israels journey from Egypt to Canaan was a longer trip than the physical journey. The people had to be converted from the idolatry of Egypt and converted to the service of God. They were to be transformed from slaves to spiritual leaders. They were to become Gods holy nation. The harsh Sinai desert became a demonstration area and a school where they could daily see Gods power and care, and learn to rely totally upon Him. God did not intend that they should ever return to Egypt, either in body or spirit (Deu. 17:16; Neh. 9:17; Num. 14:4; Jos. 24:14).
In view of the plain assertion that God did NOT lead Israel by the seacoast route, it is astonishing to read some modern (especially Jewish) authors who say that the route of the Israelites was along this very route. They express the view that the Sea of Reeds (or Red Sea which Israel crossed) was Lake Sirbonis or Lake Menzaleh, both of which are on the Mediterranean Sea.
15.
By what route did God lead the Israelites? (Exo. 13:18)
He led them by the way of the wilderness of the Red Sea. The name Red Sea is literally (in Hebrew) Yam Suph, meaning Sea of Reeds, or Sea of Weeds. See Introductory Studies VII and VI. Our study has led us to the firm belief that the Yam Suph is simply the same body of water which we call the Red Sea, and here in Exo. 13:18 it particularly refers to that arm of the Red Sea called the Gulf of Suez.
What wilderness (or desert area) is referred to as the wilderness of the Red Sea? We feel it was the Sinai wilderness lying just north and east of the Gulf of Suez, the area east of the Bitter Lakes.
Admittedly most interpreters (even conservative authors like John J. Davis) feel that the desert referred to was that which lay between Egypt and the Red Sea, and not that of the Sinai peninsula, which we propose.
Exo. 13:20 indicates that they came into the wilderness after they left Succoth. The location of Succoth (Tell Maskhuta) is only about ten miles west of Lake Timsah. The closeness of Succoth to the Sinai wilderness strongly suggests that the wilderness of the Red Sea into which Israel came was Sinai wilderness.
The term wilderness in Exodus generally refers to the wilderness in Sinai, east of Egypt. Compare Num. 33:8; Num. 33:6; Exo. 3:18; Exo. 5:3. This gives additional support to our view that Israel travelled east from Succoth into the Sinai wilderness, travelling probably just south of Lake Timsah into the wilderness. There they turned southward, going along the east side of the Bitter Lakes, and onward toward the Gulf of Suez (Red Sea).
Note that the Israelites encamped in Etham in the edge of the wilderness. (Exo. 13:20; Num. 33:6) The Wilderness Etham and the Wilderness of Shur are two names for the same desert; or at least the Wilderness of Etham is part of the Wilderness of Shur. See Exo. 15:22 and Num. 33:8. The fact that Israel came out into the wilderness of Etham AFTER they crossed the Red Sea gives support to our view that the place called Etham was in the wilderness area east of the present Suez canal, in the Sinai peninsula.
16.
Did the Israelites have arms when they went out of Egypt? (Exo. 13:18)
They surely did. The children of Israel went up armed (K.J.V., harnessed) out of the land of Egypt.
The Hebrew word (chamushim) translated armed is a difficult term, but the meaning armed seems correct.[223] It is used in Jdg. 7:11; Jos. 4:12; Jos. 1:14. All of these passages refer to armed men.
[223] In Num. 32:30; Num. 32:32 and Deu. 3:18 the word chalutsim (meaning armed for battle) is obviously used as a synonym for chamushim in Jos. 4:12. This indicates that chamushim also means armed.
The Greek O.T. translated chamushim (armed) as pempte, meaning fifth, and says that the people went out of Egypt in the fifth generation. The Hebrew word for armed is somewhat similar to the words meaning five and fifty, and this may account for the Greek translation from the Hebrew. Since Israel did not leave Egypt in the fifth generation (see Gen. 15:16), we do not feel that the Greek translation is correct.
We can hardly see how Israel could have come out of Egypt heavily armed, well-disciplined, and trained for warfare. Our text states that they had some arms, though these were surely very limited. They went out not as fugitives fleeing in disorder, but prepared and orderly, organized into groups. Moses had been trained in all the wisdom and knowledge of the Egyptians, and this surely included military leadership. Josephus tells that Moses defeated an Ethiopian army by clever strategy. (Ant. II, x, 2) We can neither verify nor disprove this story.
17.
Whose bones were carried out of Egypt? (Exo. 13:19)
The bones of Joseph! What a thrill it must have been to the Israelites when word was circulated among them that the bones of Joseph were in their possession. These would be an inspiration to the people, because they would know that the prophecy uttered by Joseph three hundred and fifty years before was coming to pass in their day. See Gen. 50:24-25. By faith Joseph when his end was nigh, made mention of the departure of the children of Israel and gave commandment concerning his bones. (Heb. 11:22).
Joseph was later buried in Shechem, (Jos. 24:32). Like Jacob his father, Joseph never looked upon Egypt as his true homeland, and he showed this by his request for burial in Canaan. No mention is made of the bodies of Jacobs other sons. But Stephens statement in Act. 7:15-16 implies that all of the fathers were carried into Shechem.
18.
Where was Etham? (Exo. 13:20)
Etham lay in the edge of the wilderness. The term wilderness is usually employed in Exodus to refer to the desert area of the Sinai peninsula, east of the present Suez canal and the Gulf of Suez. See Exo. 3:1; Exo. 3:18; Exo. 15:22. The exact location of Etham is not known. We feel that it lay east or southeast of Lake Timsah. It seems reasonable to suppose that Etham lay in the Wilderness of Etham. This Wilderness of Etham is identified as being a part of the Wilderness of Shur, which definitely lay east of the present Suez Canal. See Num. 33:6; Num. 33:8; Exo. 15:22.
19.
How were the people led? (Exo. 13:21-22)
They were led by the pillar of cloud and fire.
This column in the air above them began to lead the people at Succoth. It had the appearance of smoke (or cloud) by day and of fire by night. There was only one pillar: Jehovah looked forth . . . through THE pillar of cloud and fire (Exo. 14:24). The pillar is sometimes referred to as the cloud, even when it was shining as fire in the dark. See Exo. 14:19; Num. 9:21.
The cloud must have been huge and high to have been visible to all the Israelites. Seemingly in the first few days of travelling, the Israelites did some night marching as well as daytime travelling. They sought to put as much distance between them and Pharaoh as possible. From Succoth (Tell Maskhuta) to the Gulf of Suez by a route along the east side of the Bitter Lakes is about fifty-five miles. This could have been traversed in four days of marching.
The Scripture does not say that the cloud was a type of any one particular thing. We can safely say that it was an illustration of Gods leading His people during the present age. God now leads us by the Bible, by the Holy Spirit, and by providential events.
Those who hold the liberal view of scripture, that is merely a human production, naturally reject any miraculous views about the cloud. They assert (without proof) such ideas as that the story of the cloud goes back to observation of an active volcano[224] located perhaps as far away as Midian.[225] Always, however, they assert that whatever the cloud and fire was, it was associated with natural phenomena. Some feel that the entire story of the cloud is a vivid but figurative way of describing the reality of Gods presence with his people. The descriptions of the cloud in the scripture certainly present it as real and miraculous.
[224] Noth, op. cit., p. 109.
[225] Broadman Bible Commentary, Vol. 1 (1969), p. 381.
The cloud LED Gods redeemed people. (Psa. 78:14). God does not abandon those whom He saves. The rising of the cloud was a signal for the people to prepare to move. The people followed the cloud as it slowly went before them. Its descent toward the ground was a signal to stop and make camp. The cloud was an infallible and constant guide. See Num. 9:15-23; Num. 10:11-12; Num. 10:34; Exo. 40:34-38.
Let the fiery cloudy pillar
Lead me all my journey through.
The cloud GAVE LIGHT to the people by night. See Neh. 9:12. Interestingly, the same cloud which gave light to Israel was darkness to the Egyptians (Exo. 14:20). How much this is like the teaching of the gospel. The truths which bring light to the believers are hidden from the wise and prudent of this world. See Mat. 11:25; 2Co. 4:3-4.
The cloud was for a COVERING. (Psa. 105:39 : He spread a cloud for a covering, and fire to give light by night.
Round each habitation hovering,
See the cloud and fire appear;
For a glory and a covering,
Showing that the Lord is near.
(By John Newton, in the hymn Glorious Things of Thee Are Spoken)
God SPOKE from the cloud. Psa. 99:7 : He spake unto them in the pillar of cloud. See Exo. 33:9; Num. 12:15.
The fire and cloud was a visible manifestation of the Lords presence. The cloud filled the tabernacle with GLORY. There was a shining glow and radiance in it, which indicated Gods presence.
Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series
PROMULGATION OF THE LAW OF THE FIRSTBORN, AND OF THE FEAST OF UNLEAVENED BREAD, Exo 13:1-16.
1, 2. In these verses Jehovah announces to Moses the law concerning the firstborn, and in Exo 13:3-16 Moses repeats this law to Israel, and also repeats to them the law concerning the feast of unleavened bread which had been given to Moses before they started upon their march, as recorded in Exo 12:15-20. The great importance of these two feasts, and of the law respecting the firstborn, which was so blended with the passover, led to the double mention of each once as announced by Jehovah to Moses, and again as proclaimed by him to the people . The readers of Homer are familiar with such repetitions as characteristic of an early and simple style of narrative .
The firstborn males of man and beast were to be forever consecrated to Jehovah as a memorial through all generations of the final judgment-stroke which gave Israel freedom. Thus in their homes and in their daily toils were they to be perpetually reminded of the providence of Jehovah. The flower of the Egyptians were cut down for their deliverance, and the flower of their families, flocks, and herds, were to be devoted to God.
So the “Firstborn of all creation” (Col 1:15) was sacrificed for our deliverance, “bruised for our iniquities,” by the judgment-strokes which a guilty world invokes, and which he caught upon his own heart; and, in return, our firstborn, the choice of our homes, our substance, and our powers, are to be consecrated to God .
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Exodus 13 Regulations Concerning the Firstborn and Unleavened Bread. The First Details of Their Journey
The instruction that follows covers what Israel’s immediate response was to be to what had happened on Passover night . They were to ‘sanctify the firstborn’ which had been spared, and to ‘continue to eat unleavened bread’ until the seven day feast was over. It then covers how both were to be commemorated in the future.
The command are not given haphazardly. They appear to be so to us because we are not used to the chiastic pattern. Note the careful chiastic pattern in the first part of the chapter.
a They were to sanctify the firstborn as a memorial of that first night of deliverance through the mighty hand of God when He delivered their firstborn (Exo 13:2).
b They were to eat unleavened bread in that day as a memorial of their coming out of Egypt and His deliverance by the strength of His hand (Exo 13:3-4).
b This sign of unleavened bread was to be backed up in the future by the annual keeping of the feast of unleavened bread in which their sons were to be taught the significance of the feast (Exo 13:5-10).
a The sign of the offering of the firstborn was to be backed up by the continual offering of all firstborn to Yahweh through which their sons were to be taught the significance of the Passover (Exo 13:11-15).
Thus ‘a’ is expanded in its parallel, and ‘b’ the same.
As we consider this chapter we must remember the situation in mind. Israel have just experienced the amazing deliverance of the first Passover. That terrible night has passed and their firstborn alone have been spared of all the firstborn in Egypt. They have now begun their journey with grateful hearts in the midst of ‘the feast of unleavened bread’, looking with gratitude at the fact that their firstborn had been spared. Thus they are now given brief instruction on how they are to respond to this situation. Even in the midst of their flight they must not forget their present responsibility towards Yahweh. This is now dealt with in Exo 13:1-4. The principles are then expanded on in order to tell them how they must similarly behave once they have reached the land God has promised them, so as to be continually reminded of it.
With regard to this second point it may be thought that the instructions were somewhat premature, for we think in terms of a delay of forty years. But we must consider that God wanted them right from the start to recognise that they must perpetually remember their life changing experience.
And we must remember that they were at this stage on the point of leaving Egypt for a journey which could, at least theoretically, have brought them to Canaan within a moon period, depending on how long they spent at their sacrificial feast in the wilderness and how speedily they moved on. For Canaan was theoretically only eleven days journey from Sinai (Deu 1:2).
So it was quite reasonable that at this stage Moses should encourage the people by indicating both what they should do immediately, the moment that they had the opportunity, and then what they must continue to do on arrival in the land as an indication of their dedication to Yahweh and of their gratitude for their deliverance, connecting it with their current situation. It would be a confirmation to them that their future was assured.
Moses would not, of course, at this point be aware of all that lay before them, nor of the problems and delays that lay ahead. He had himself after all arrived in Egypt from Midian fairly quickly, and he would not learn until later the very great difference there was between that and travelling when accompanied by a huge body of men, women and children with all their household possessions. Thus his view was probably that ‘it will not be long’.
The chapter in English divides into five sections, the initial command concerning what they must now do with regards to their firstborn as a result of the Passover deliverance that had just taken place (Exo 13:1-2), instructions concerning the feast of unleavened bread that was now in process (Exo 13:3-4), instruction as to how it was to be kept in better times (Exo 13:5-10), the detailed law of the firstborn as it was to apply in the future (Exo 13:11-16), and the initial first details of their journey (Exo 13:17-22).
Yahweh Lays Claim to the Firstborn of Israel ( Exo 13:1 ).
The firstborn of the children of Israel had been spared by Yahweh, but now we learn that a price has to be paid. They have, as it were, to be ‘bought back’. This is because Yahweh had sanctified them to Himself by their deliverance (Num 3:13) and as a result had delivered them from His judgment and they had therefore become ‘holy’, set apart as uniquely His, to be devoted to Him, along with the firstborn of domestic animals. And the only way that this could be accomplished was by death or redemption through the death of a substitute and representative.
So in order that they may once more enter into the mundane world the firstborn sons had to redeemed by a substitutionary death, probably here by offering a lamb in their place, after which they would still be available to serve in the Tent of Meeting and later the Tabernacle. For the firstborn of clean domestic animals, however, there was no alternative. They had to be offered in death. Unclean domestic beasts had also to be redeemed by the provision of a substitute or else had to have their necks broken.
It should be noted that the firstborn represents the whole, for they were potential heads of their families. As such they would serve in the Tent of Meeting as representing the whole of Israel. Thus the whole of Israel were seen as involved in this sanctification (Exo 19:5-6).
The Sanctifying of the Firstborns and the Feast of Unleavened Bread ( Exo 13:1-10 )
The passage that follows is revealed to be a unity by the chiastic pattern:
a They were to sanctify the firstborn as a memorial of that first night of deliverance through the mighty hand of God when He delivered their firstborn (Exo 13:2).
b They were to eat unleavened bread in that day as a memorial of their coming out of Egypt and His deliverance by the strength of His hand (Exo 13:3-4).
b This sign of unleavened bread was to be backed up in the future by the annual keeping of the feast of unleavened bread in which their sons were to be taught the significance of the feast (Exo 13:5-10).
a The sign of the offering of the firstborn was to be backed up by the continual offering of all firstborn to Yahweh through which their sons were to be taught the significance of the Passover (Exo 13:11-15).
In ‘a’ the command is given to sanctify the firstborn and in the parallel instructions are given concerning its future observance. In ‘b’ the command is given concerning not eating leavened bread at this time, and in the parallel instructions are given concerning its future observance.
Exo 13:1-2
‘And Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, “Sanctify to me all the firstborn. Whatever opens the womb among the children of Israel, both of man and of beast, it is mine.”
So the command is now given, as a result of the deliverance of the firstborn that has just occurred, to ‘sanctify’ them, that is, to offer them to Yahweh, to set them apart as holy to Him. Yahweh has ‘sanctified them’ (set them apart as holy) to Himself and now His people must make that sanctification effective. Each firstborn of both man and beast that had been delivered was thus to be seen as ‘holy’ to Yahweh. They were to be seen as especially Yahweh’s because as a result of His actions He had spared them from judgment. In this context the firstborn beasts which had been spared were now to be set aside and offered as a sacrifice to Yahweh because they were holy to Him, with those that were unfit for sacrifice being redeemed or killed, while the firstborn sons were to be bought back by substituting a lamb (Exo 13:13-15). This was then to be a principle that would continue on into the future.
This sanctification of the firstborn had put the whole of Israel under obligation. From Passover onwards (and in each Passover celebration thereafter) Israel were Yahweh’s as never before. They had been declared to be His firstborn son (Exo 4:22) and as such had been redeemed, now they were His redeemed people.
We are not told at what point in their opening journey this initial ‘sanctification’ of the firstborn was to be carried out, but the instruction is recorded here so as vividly and directly to connect it with the Passover that had just taken place. Vividly aware that their firstborn had been spared, it was intended to bring home to them just what had happened, and what their reaction must immediately be. It was presumably to be carried out at the first point at which they felt that they were safe to do so. That may have been on arrival at Sinai which was the place at which they were to ‘serve Yahweh’ (Exo 3:12).
The decision was not just arbitrary. The point behind it was that Israel were now Yahweh’s people in a way that they had not even been before (compare Exo 19:5-6), and their firstborn especially so. The firstborn were the heart of the nation, which was why they were to serve in the Tent of Meeting (until replaced by the Levites later). Instead of losing them by judgment, as the Egyptians had done, Israel would be offering them as a symbol of joy, gratitude and dedication to their covenant God, in loving worship.
Note that it is assumed that ‘males’ will be understood, (it does in fact later in the verse say ‘man’). The ancients were to some extent all chauvinistic and just assumed it. Compare Exo 13:12 where ‘all that opens the womb’ is specifically qualified by ‘the males’. In Num 3:12 it speaks of ‘all the firstborn who open the womb’ and again ‘man’ and beast are mentioned. That it means males comes out in that it is compared with ‘all the firstborn in the land of Egypt’ which also meant males. Num 3:43 confirms that this means firstborn males. Females who opened the womb did not need to be redeemed. These firstborn were probably determined on the strict basis mentioned earlier, the firstborns of the first wife only.
We have in this fact of the ‘sanctification’ of the firstborn a reminder that all Israel were intended to be a kingdom of priests (Exo 19:6). God had delivered them because He had a purpose for them, that by being His servants to the nations they might bring the nations under His sway. They were not to live to themselves, but to Him Who had called and chosen them.
Moses Informs the People What God Had Ordained About The Feast of Unleavened Bread Previously Described In Exo 12:15-20 ( Exo 13:2-10 ).
Here we have a chiasmus within a chiasmus.
a They were to remember this time in which they came out of Egypt (Exo 13:3 a).
b The people were to remember that they were delivered by the strength of the hand of Yahweh (Exo 13:3 b).
c They were to keep this service in the month of Abib (Exo 13:4-5).
d They were to eat unleavened bread for seven days with the seventh day a special feast (Exo 13:6).
d They were to eat unleavened bread for seven days throughout their tents (Exo 13:7).
c The keeping of this service was to be explained to their sons (Exo 13:8).
b It was to be a memorial that Yahweh had delivered them with a strong hand (Exo 13:9).
a The ordinance was to be kept year by year in its season (Exo 13:10).
It will be noted that in ‘a’ Yahweh commands that they were to remember this day in which they came out of Egypt, while in the parallel the ordinance was to be kept year by year in its season. In ‘b’ The people were to ‘remember’ that they were delivered by the strength of the hand of Yahweh, while in the parallel it was to be a memorial of His deliverance of them by a strong hand. In ‘c’ the ‘service’ was to be kept in the month of Abib, whereas in the parallel the ‘service’ was to be explained to their sons. In ‘d’ they were to eat unleavened bread for seven days, with the seventh day a special feast and in the parallel they were to eat unleavened bread throughout their tents.
Exo 13:3-4
‘And Moses said to the people, “Remember this day in which you came out of Egypt, out of the house of bondmen. For by strength of hand Yahweh brought you out from this place. There shall no leavened bread be eaten. This day in the month of Abib you go out.” ’
Moses then tells the people to remember this day in which they have been freed from bondage and ceased to be bondmen, and to remember that it was Yahweh Who by His strong arm has delivered them. This is what the eating of unleavened cakes, which they are to continue for the next few days, is to remind them of, the haste with which they have left Egypt, and the reason for that haste, their own salvation. This emphasis on deliverance from bondage will reoccur again and again. It was an essential part of the covenant (Exo 20:2).
“By strength of hand.” The reference is to all the signs and wonders that He has carried out.
“This day in the month of Abib.” Later the month would be called Nisan, but this is the more ancient name for the month. It indicates ‘greenness’ or ‘ripening of corn’. This was the ancient name in use from the time of the patriarchs, referring to the time of ripening corn in Canaan. The first bread fully made with newly ripened corn would then necessarily have been unleavened. It would only be by adding ‘old dough’ that they could have leavened it, and that would spoil the picture of the newness of the bread. So unleavened bread may have been connected with this month from those days and here simply be given a new significance.
Exo 13:5
“And it shall be that when Yahweh brings you into the land of the Canaanite, and the Hittite, and the Amorite, and the Hivite and the Jebusite which he swore to your fathers to give you, a land flowing with milk and honey, you will keep this service in this month.”
Moses had no doubt now that somehow Yahweh would ensure that they were going forward to freedom, to the land of plenty. Although he was not sure how He would bring it about, for they only had permission to enter the wilderness a short way in order to offer sacrifices. And the border posts would know where they were. But he knew Yahweh would find a way. He was only there to obey. And possibly he considered that the children of Israel were under no obligation to a Pharaoh who had turned them into bondmen and constantly broken his treaties concerning them. For the details in this verse see on Exo 3:8.
“You will keep this service.” This means ‘observe this act of worship’.
It will be noted that only five nations are mentioned compared with the more usual six or seven. This may because here the description is within a covenant and five is the covenant number. Or it may be because, as we know from elsewhere, in Egypt five was seen as a number of completeness. This would stress the early nature of this section, being written while the influence of Egypt was still very much evident.
Note that the seeming deprivation resulting from bread being unleavened is counteracted by the description of the blessings that will be theirs, a land flowing with milk and honey.
Exo 13:6
“Seven days you will eat unleavened cakes, and in the seventh day will be a feast to Yahweh. Unleavened cakes will be eaten throughout the seven days, and no leavened bread will be seen with you, neither will leaven be seen with you in all your borders.”
This is a brief summary of the feast. It was spoken on the day that they left Egypt (Exo 13:4), which was the first day of the feast, which is why Moses does not mention the first day as a special day. They were already observing it (a clear indication that this was said at that time), and besides it was the day which continued the Passover and therefore clearly special and to be observed as a memorial into the future. It did not require further mention. What is stressed is that the seventh day is also a special day as God had previously told Moses (Exo 12:16).
All leaven was to be excluded from their dwellings. The word for ‘borders’ may simply mean the ‘bounds’ within which each family dwelt. To exclude leaven within the whole land would be very difficult as there would be traders passing through to say nothing of foreign settlers who would not (and were not allowed to) keep the feast of Passover. Nor is it expected for it is specifically said ‘with you’. If we take ‘borders’ to mean the borders of the land at any time, the ‘with you’ could still exclude universal application to non-Israelites.
The feast was in the month of Abib which has now been designated the first month of the year because of the deliverance from Egypt. It is possible that up to this time the New Year was seen as commencing in the Autumn. Thus in Exodus 12 the emphasis is on the fact that this was now the first month (in March/April). Here it is assumed. The author knows he has already stressed it enough. Later in Canaan there will be a ‘new year’ celebration in the Autumn. This would arise because of their contact with the inhabitants of the land. There are indications that there was thereafter both an agricultural year, based on the observation by surrounding nations among whom they dwelt, and a festal year, based on the month of the Passover. At different times different ones would be emphasised. We should appreciate that in their ‘primitive’ state the Israelites would not be calendar minded and would be likely to fall in with whoever they lived among for their general calendar, while when at their best also observing Yahweh’s instructions. Calendars were theoretical. The Israelites were practical. The point about Abib being the first month of the year simply indicated that it would commence the round of feasts which it naturally continued to do. But as with many things Yahweh’s instructions were not specifically and rigidly applied once they had settled in the land, especially as they never actually rid the land of Canaanites.
“And in the seventh day will be a feast to Yahweh.” The whole seven days was to be a feast. This therefore means that the seventh day was to be a special feast, a day set apart. In the words of Yahweh it was ‘a holy assembly’ (Exo 12:16) in which no manner of work was to be done except what men must eat. Moses does not mention this latter fact to the people at this point but it has to be assumed that something made the day special as it is a feast to Yahweh, and as we shall see a rest day was part of Israel’s tradition. Moses was at this stage only summarising what Yahweh had said. The main aim was that the hearers who were listening to the narrative were reminded of the gist of what had been said before (the usual reason for so-called ‘doubletons’ which were common in ancient literature).
Exo 13:8
“And you will tell your son in that day, saying, “It is because of what Yahweh did for me when I came out of Egypt.”
The eating of unleavened cakes would raise questions among the young and they were then to be reminded of the deliverance from Egypt (compare Exo 12:26; Exo 13:14; also Jos 4:6). Great stress was laid in Israel on communication to the young.
“Did for me.” For the first generation this would literally be true. But when that had died out these words would probably be used by custom with the idea that they had been delivered when their forebears were delivered. Had it not been for this deliverance they would still be slaves in Egypt. Each generation symbolically experienced the Passover and deliverance afresh, just as we symbolically experience the Lord’s death afresh in the Lord’s Supper.
Exo 13:9-10
“And it will be for a sign to you on your hand, and for a memorial between your eyes, that the instruction of Yahweh may be in your mouth. For with a strong hand has Yahweh brought you out of Egypt. You will therefore keep this ordinance in its season from year to year.”
When they see the unleavened cakes in their hands and before their eyes it will speak to them of the great deliverance and remind them of what God has done. Thus the requirements were to be fulfilled year by year as a constant reminder of that deliverance, and instruction on them must be given as from Yahweh.
“A sign to you on your hand and for a memorial between your eyes.” They will see and will remember. The unleavened bread will also be the equivalent of a sign on the hand or a mark between the eyes demonstrating that they are the redeemed of Yahweh (compare Deu 6:8; Deu 11:18). This probably had in mind that elsewhere men wore on their arms and foreheads symbols of their gods. This is elsewhere also applied spiritually in the Old Testament (compare Pro 3:3; Pro 3:21-22). For Yahweh’s signs and wonders see Exo 4:21; Exo 7:3. The Pharisees took this literally and carried parts of God’s word in cases bound between the eyes and on the left arm by leather straps. But by that it soon became a token of superiority and therefore lost its meaning.
Many ancient peoples (and some modern) also carried marks and tattoos which demonstrated their dedication to some deity or society, or carried as amulets spells in papyrus or rolled up cloth. But the main reference is possibly to special bangles and headbands, or may simply be metaphorical. Eating unleavened cakes is thus the ‘mark’ on the children of Israel showing that they belong to Yahweh. No physical marks were therefore required. Elsewhere they were forbidden as indicating subservience to other gods and superstitions (Lev 19:28).
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Exo 13:2 Comments – The firstborn belonged to the Lord because He spared them in Egypt. They were figuratively considered dead and made alive again in God’s eyes, so they were to be the first fruit offerings to the Lord. Note a New Testament reference to Exo 13:2:
Luk 2:23, “(As it is written in the law of the Lord, Every male that openeth the womb shall be called holy to the Lord;)”
Exo 13:9 Comments – Exo 13:9 serves as a reference to the wearing of the phylacteries that will later be mentioned in the Mosaic Law.
Exo 13:12 Old Testament Quotes in the New Testament – Note the New Testament reference to Exo 13:12:
Luk 2:23, “(As it is written in the law of the Lord, Every male that openeth the womb shall be called holy to the Lord;)”
Exo 13:12-13 Comments The Firstfruit Offering of Livestock – The firstlings of cattle, goats, and sheep could be sacrifices. A lamb could be sacrificed in the place of a firstling ass, or they had to break the ass’s neck. Of male children, redeem them, perhaps with an animal sacrifice also.
Exo 13:15 Old Testament Quotes in the New Testament – Note the New Testament reference to Exo 13:15:
Luk 2:23, “(As it is written in the law of the Lord, Every male that openeth the womb shall be called holy to the Lord;)”
Fuente: Everett’s Study Notes on the Holy Scriptures
Concerning the Feast of Unleavened Bread
v. 1. And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, v. 2. Sanctify unto Me all the first-born, whatsoever openeth the womb among the children of Israel, both of man and of beast; it is Mine. v. 3. And Moses said unto the people, Remember this day, in which ye came out from Egypt, out of the house of bondage. v. 4. This day came ye out, in the month Abib, v. 5. And it shall be when the Lord shall bring thee into the land of the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites, which He sware unto thy fathers to give thee, a land flowing with milk and honey, that thou shalt keep this service in this month. v. 6. Seven days thou shalt eat unleavened bread, and in the seventh day shall be a feast to the Lord. v. 7. Unleavened bread shall be eaten seven days; and there shall no leavened bread be seen with thee, neither shall there be leaven seen with thee in all thy quarters. v. 8. And thou shalt show thy son in that day, saying, This is done because of that which the Lord did unto me when I came forth out of Egypt. v. 9. And it shall be for a sign unto thee upon thine hand and for a memorial between thine eyes, that the Lord’s Law may be in thy mouth; for with a strong hand hath the Lord brought thee out of Egypt. v. 10. Thou shalt therefore keep this ordinance in his season from year to year,
Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann
EXPOSITION
SANCTIFICATION OF THE FIRSTBORN. In connection with the deliverance from death of the Israelite first-born by the blood of the lamb, and still further to fix the remembrance of the historical facts in the mind of the nation, Moses was commissioned to declare all the firstborn of Israel for all future time, and all the firstborn of their domesticated animals “holy to the Lord.” There was, perhaps, already in the minds of men a feeling that peculiar dignity attached to the first-born in each family; and this feeling was now strengthened by the assignment to them of a sacred character. God claimed them, and also the first-born of beasts, as His own. The clean beasts became his by sacrifice; but the unclean ones could not he similarly treated, and therefore had to be “redeemed” (Exo 13:13) by the sacrifice of clean animals in their place. The first-born of men became at the first institution of the new ordinance God’s ministers; but as this system was not intended to continue, it was announced that they too would have to be “redeemed” (Exo 13:13, Exo 13:15). The exact mode of redeeming them was left to be settled afterwards, and will be found in Num 3:40-51; Num 18:16.
Exo 13:1
On the true grammatical nexus of this verse, see note on Exo 12:51. The injunctions of Exo 12:2, and probably those of 3-15were given to Moses on the very day of the setting-forth, most likely, at Succoth in the evening.
Exo 13:2
Sanctify unto me. Not by any positive ceremony, but by regarding it as “set apart unto the Lord” (Exo 13:12)made over to him, that is, as his own. All the first-born. The Hebrew word used is masculine, and by its proper force limits the command to the first-born males, who alone had been in danger from the tenth plague. Whatever openeth the womb. This clause added definiteness, showing that “first-born” did not contain any reference to any later Birth, and that it applied to every case where a woman’s first child was a male. It is mine. Or, “it shall be mine.” I claim it.
Exo 13:3
And Moses said. Without relating the directions given to Moses any further, the author passes to the directions given by him. He thus, here and elsewhere, avoids unnecessary repetition. Remember this day. The injunction came with great force at the close of the first day’s journey, when the good-will of the Egyptians had been shown, and the people had been helped and speeded on their way, and felt that they were actually quitting the house of their bondage, and setting out for Canaan. By strength of hand the Lord brought you outi.e.; “by His powerful protection has God brought you on your way thus far.” Therefore, “Remember this day, and remember that nothing leavened is to be eaten on it” (see Exo 12:15-20).
Exo 13:4
In the month Abib. The name of the month had not been previously mentioned. Some have derived it from the Egyptian Epiphi. As, however, ab means “greenness” in Hebrew, and abib “green ears of corn,” while ibba meant “fruit” in Chaldee (Dan 4:12, Dan 4:14), and abbon means “green herbs” in Arabic, there is no need of a foreign derivation for the word. The month of “greenness,” or of “green ears of corn,” would be both appropriate and intelligible.
Exo 13:5
The land of the Canaanites, etc. Compare Exo 3:8, Exo 3:17. The six nations of these passages are reduced here to five by the omission of the Perizzites, one of the less important tribes. Which he sware unto thy fathers to give thee. See Gen 15:18; Gen 24:7; and compare the comment on Exo 6:8. That thou shalt keep this service. This injunction had been already given (Exo 12:25) almost in the same words; but on the former occasion it was delivered to the elders only; now it is laid upon the whole people.
Exo 13:6
Seven days. Compare Exo 12:15. In the seventh day shall be a feast to the Lord. The feast lasted during the whole of the seven days, but the first day and the last were to be kept especially holy. (See Exo 12:16; Le Exo 23:6-8.)
Exo 13:7
Here again the injunctions are mere repetitious of commands already given in Exo 12:1-51. (See Exo 12:15 and Exo 12:19.) Repetition was no doubt had recourse to in order to deepen the impression.
Exo 13:8
And thou shalt shew thy son. Repeated from Exo 12:26, Exo 12:27.
Exo 13:9
And it shall be for a sign unto thee upon thy hand, and for a memorial between thine eyes. There can be no doubt that the Jewish system of tephillin, or “phylacteries,” grew mainly out of this passage, and was intended as a fulfilment of the commands contained in it. The tephillin were strips of parchment with passages of Scripture written upon them and deposited in small boxes, which were fastened by a strap either to the left arm, or across the forehead. The modern Jews argue that they were what Moses here intended, and that their employment began from this time. Some Christian commentators agree with them. But the great majority argue, from supposed probability and from the entire absence of any reference to the actual wearing of tephillin in the Old Testament, that the custom must be, comparatively speaking, a modern one. It is generally supposed to have originated, with other superstitious practices, in the time of the Babylonish captivity. Those who take this view regard the words of Moses in the present passage as merely metaphorical, and compare them with Pro 3:3; Pro 6:21; Pro 7:3. Kalisch, however, observes with reason, that if the injunction to write passages of the Law on the door-posts of their houses (Deu 6:9; Deu 11:20) was intended to be understood literally, and was literally carried out (Isa 57:8), the commands with respect to tephillin, which are coupled with them (Deu 6:8; Deu 11:18) must have been similarly intended. And probability, which is said to be against the Mosaic origin of tephillin, may perhaps rather be urged in its favour. The Egyptian practice Of wearing as amulets “forms of words written on folds of papyrus tightly rolled up and sewn in linen” is well attested. Would it not be in harmony with the general character of his legislation, that Moses should adopt and regulate the custom, employing it to do honour to the Law and keep it in remembrance, without perhaps purging it wholly from superstitious ideas? Moses allowed the Israelites in many things “for the hardness of their hearts,” content if he could introduce some improvement without insisting at once on an impracticable perfection. That the law of the Lord may be in thy month. The Israelites are instructed from the first, that the tephillin are to be a means to an end; and that the end is to be the retention of God’s law in their recollection” in their mouth,” and therefore in their heart, since “out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh.”
Exo 13:10
This ordinance. The ordinance of unleavened bread. See Exo 12:14, Exo 12:24.
Exo 13:12
Set apart. The expression is especially appropriate to the case of first-born animals, which would have to be separated off from the rest of the flock, or of the herd, and “put aside” for Jehovah, so as not to be mixed up and confounded with the other lambs, kids, and calves. The males shall be the Lord’s. This limitation, implied in Exo 13:2, is here brought prominently into notice.
Exo 13:13
Every firstling of an ass. The ass was the sole beast of burthen taken by the Israelites out of Egypt. (See Exo 20:17.) Neither the horse nor the camel was among their possessions in the wilderness. This is agreeable to the Egyptian monuments, by which the camel appears to have been rare in Egypt at this time, and the horse as yet mainly used for war and by the nobles in their chariots. With a lamb. A lamb or a kid. The word used is the generic one. (See the comment on Exo 12:3.) If thou wilt not redeem it, then thou shalt break its neck. This enactment was evidently made to prevent a refusal to redeem. It would not require to be put in force, since by refusing under such a penalty a man would suffer pecuniary loss. All the first-born of men among thy children. Rather “among thy sons.” Shalt thou redeem. Later on, the amount of the redemption money was fixed at five shekels of the sanctuary for each. (Num 3:47.)
Exo 13:14
When thy son asketh thee. Compare Exo 12:26, and the comment ad loc.
Exo 13:15
When Pharaoh would hardly let us go. Bather, “when Pharaoh hardened himself against letting us go.” At his last interview with Moses, Pharaoh had absolutely refused to let them go with their cattle (Exo 10:24-27), and Moses had absolutely refused to go without them. I sacrifice all that openeth the womb, being males. And being clean animals. The common sense of the reader or hearer, is expected to supply the restriction. Of my children. Rather, as in Exo 13:13, “of my sons.”
Exo 13:16
A sign frontlets. See the comment on Exo 13:9. It is the custom among the Jews to write this entire passageExo 13:1-16on two of the four strips of parchment contained in the tephillin. The others have inscribed on them Deu 6:4-9, and Deu 11:13-21.
HOMILETICS
Exo 13:1-16
The Dedication and Redemption of the First-born.
In commemoration of the great mercy whereby their first-born sons were spared, when all those of the Egyptians were slain, God required the Israelites to do two things:
(1) To dedicate all their first-born sons, not only of the existing but of all future generations, to himself; and,
(2) to redeem them, or buy them back for the purposes of secular life, by a money payment. It is analogous to this
I. THAT CHRISTIAN PARENTS ARE REQUIRED TO DEDICATE, NOT THEIR FIRST–BORN SONS ONLY, BUT ALL THEIR CHILDREN, TO GOD IN BAPTISM. All have deserved death. All have been in danger of it. All have been spared by the mercy of God, on account of the atoning blood of Christ. All therefore are to be dedicated by their parents to God’s servicebrought to the font, and presented to him to be his faithful soldiers and servants until their life’s end. All are to receive a species of consecration, whereby they become “priests to God” (Rev 1:6), and may have boldness to approach him without the intervention of a human mediator. But all are not to be ministers. The ministry is for such as have a special call, which cannot be known in infancy, or indeed until persons are well advanced towards manhood.
II. THAT CHRISTIAN PARENTS HAVE, AFTER DEDICATING THEM, TO TAKE THEIR CHILDREN BACK, AS IT WERE, TO SECULAR LIFE. Hannah gave her son up to God from the time that she weaned him, took him to the Temple, and left him with the priests. Christians cannot do this. Though some of their sons may ultimately have a call to the ministry, this will not be the case with all, and they must act as if it would not be the case with any. They must take their children back to their houses, give them a secular education, and prepare them in most instances for secular life. But they have not to buy them back. This arises from the difference between the two dedications, the one having been a dedication to the ministry and the other not. Christians do not need to retract the dedication of their children by any subsequent act. They may and should maintain it. Laymen may lead lives as truly sanctified as clergymen. They may serve God as well, though in a different way. They may be, and should be “holy to the Lord.” Who would not desire his children to be such?
Exo 13:3-16
The rightful use of Church ordinances.
Church ordinances are
(1) Commemorative;
(2) Disciplinary;
(3) Channels of supernatural grace.
The benefits derivable from them depend mainly upon their rightful use. We learn from the instructions hero given to the Israelites by Moses, that their rightful use consists especially
I. IN THE REGULAR KEEPING OF THEM. “Thou shalt keep this ordinance in his season from year to year.” Spasmodic observance, enthusiastic and frequent at one time, perfunctory and infrequent at another, ten times this year, once the next, will bring no blessing, conduct to no good result. Each ordinance has its own time or timesbaptism and confirmation once in a lifetimethe Holy Communion weekly, if opportunity offers; if not, monthly; or, at the least, thrice a yearattendance at public worship, each Sunday, twicefasting, on Fridays and in Lentcommemoration of chief festivals, once a yearand so on. Fitness has in every ease been considered, and set times appointed at proper intervals. Let the rule of the Church be regularly followed, let there be no needless variation, no will-worship, no caprice, and the greatest benefit may be confidently anticipated. But following one’s own fancy in the matter, now observing rules, now breaking them, making ourselves in fact a law to ourselves, is a course that will assuredly obtain no blessing upon it. “Thou shalt keep each ordinance in his season.”
II. IN THE STRICT KEEPING OF THEM. “There shall no leavened bread be seen with thee, neither shall there be leaven seen with thee, in all thy quarters.” Lukewarmness, double-mindedness, half-and-half measures, are everywhere condemned in Scripture. “If the Lord be God, follow Him; if Baal, then follow him.” “Because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth.” If the ordinances of the Church are worth following at all, they are worth following strictly. If the Church says”Put away gaiety and amusement during this or that season,” then all gaiety and amusement should be put awaynone should be seen “in all our quarters.” If she appoints two services, or (as some understand it) three for Sundays, then men should not limit their attendance to one. If she urges frequent communions, they should attend frequently, and not be content with the minimum of three times in the year.
III. IN THE KEEPING OF SUCH OF THEM AS ARE COMMEMORATIVE WITH REMEMBRANCE. “Remember this day, in the which ye came out from Egypt””the Lord slew all the first-borntherefore I sacrifice to the Lord all that openeth the matrix.” A large part of the ritual of every church is commemorative. Sunday is a commemoration. The Friday fast, enjoined by the Church of England and others, is a commemoration. Christmas, Easter, Whitsuntide, Ascension Day, are commemorations. And the Holy Communion is in part commemorative. To observe, in a certain sense, these days and seasons and ordinances, without giving serious thought to the historical events with which they are connected, and out of which they have arisen, is to lose half the benefit which their observance was intended to secure to us. It is scarcely, perhaps, to be supposed that any one could receive the Holy Communion without some thought of the death of Christ upon the Cross; but it must greatly conduce to the rite having its due and full operation on our minds and hearts, that we should vividly present to ourselves on the occasion a mental picture of the agonies suffered for us, that we should dwell in thought upon the whole scene of the trial and the crucifixion, and seek to realise its particulars. We cannot have too deeply impressed upon us the recollection of the day on which, and the means by which, God brought the Church of the first-born out of the spiritual bondage of Egypt, saved them from the destroyer, sanctified them, and made them his “peculiar people.”
IV. IN THE CONTINUED KEEPING OF THEM THROUGH TIMES OF PROSPERITY. “When the Lord shall bring thee into the land of the Canaanites, thou shalt keep this service.” The discipline of adversity is apt to draw men nearer to God than that of prosperity. Many are very careful and regular attendants on Church ordinances when they are afflicted, or in poor circumstances, or suffering from a bereavement; but, if the world smiles upon them, if they grow rich and respected, if men court and flatter them, they grow careless and irregular in such matters. They think that they cease to have the time for them; but in reality they cease to relish them. “The cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches,” choke the good seed that was in them, and “they become unfruitful.” They forget God, and the marvellous things that he hath done for them. Hence a warning is required. We must not let the “milk and honey” of Canon wean our hearts from God, or make us less zealous in his service, or less constant attendants upon his ordinances. The higher we are lifted up the more we need his grace; the greater attraction that the world offers to us, the more helpful to us are those holy rites and usages, which draw our thoughts away from earthly things, and fix them upon things Divine and heavenly.
HOMILIES BY J. ORR
Exo 13:1-3, Exo 13:11-17
The sanctification of the first-born.
This command has its basis in the fact that on the night when God executed his tremendous judgment against Egypt, the first-born of Israel was spared. Because this great mercy had been shown to Israel, the first-born of man and beast were ever afterwards to be reckoned as specially belonging to Jehovah. The first-born of the generation then living was his by direct purchase; all later first-borns were to be his by grateful dedication. It was required, in addition, that the first-born of man, as well as of unclean beasts, should be “redeemed.” This may have been designed to teach that the lives of these later first-borns were as truly forfeited by sin as were those of the original first-born, on the night of the exodus; and that the nearer the relation in which the individual stands to God, the more pressing becomes the need for atonement.
I. REDEMPTION IS BY SUBSTITUTION. This is well illustrated by the law for the redemption of unclean animals (Exo 13:13; cf. Num 18:15). The firstling of an ass, being unclean, could not be offered on the altar. It was, therefore, to be redeemed by the substitution of a lamb. If not thus redeemed, its neck was to be broken. This teaches the further lessonunredeemed life must die. It was on the same principle that the lamb was substituted for the first-born on the night of the exodus. This law does not specify the mariner of the redemption of the first-born of male children, but it was probably originally by a lamb also. The redemption was subsequently effected by a money-payment of five shekels (Num 18:16). This gave prominence to the idea of a ransom, already implied in the use of the word “redeem.” The principle of the redemption was still the substitution of life for life, the money-payment pointing back to the lamb or other victim of which it was the price. Jesus has fulfilled the type under both its aspects. He has redeemed us by the substitution of his holy life for our sinful ones (Heb 9:26-28). His life has been given as a ransom for many (Mat 20:28; 1Ti 2:6).
II. REDEEMED LIFE BELONGS TO GOD (Exo 13:1, Exo 13:12, Exo 13:15). As all later generations of Israel were represented in that first one, so all later first-borns were represented in those of the night of the exodus. By redeeming them from death, God purchased the firstborn of Israel in a peculiar manner to himself. What held true of the first-born, held true, in-a wider sense, of the nation as a whole, and holds true now of all believers. They are God’s, because God has redeemed them. We must not seem to lessen the natural claim which God has upon our service. All souls are God’s; and no moral being has a right to use his powers otherwise than for the glory of him who gave them. But in a special manner Jehovah claims redeemed life for himself. “I have redeemed thee, thou art mine” (Isa 43:1). “Ye are bought with a price; therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s” (1Co 6:20).
III. THE ANIMAL CREATION SHARES IN MAN‘S RUIN AND REDEMPTION. First-born of man and beast.J.O.
Exo 13:3-11
Remember this day.
The exhortation in these verses may very well be applied to Christians. They are to remember the fact add the might of their redemption. They are to commemorate it by observance of appointed ordinances. They are to beware of forgetting it in days of prosperity. They are to show their remembrance of it by a holy walk, and by due instruction of their children.
I. REMEMBER THE FACT AND THE MIGHT OF YOUR REDEMPTION.
1. The fact of it (Exo 13:3-8). How Jesus has brought you up “out of an horrible pit, out of the miry clay” (Psa 40:1); has redeemed you from the law’s curse, from Satan’s tyranny, from a condition of wrath, and from spiritual death; has introduced you into the liberty of God’s children, and started you on your journey to an everlasting and glorious inheritance. Redemption from the thraldom of Pharaoh sinks into insignificance as compared with this “so great salvation.” If Israel was summoned to remember the day on which they came out of Egypt, out of the house of bondage, much more is it the duty of Christians to remember what great things God has done for them.
2. The might of it. “By strength of hand the Lord brought you out of this place” (Exo 13:3, Exo 13:9, Exo 13:14). They were to remember this as enhancing their sense of the greatness of their redemption, and as affording a pledge that God was able to accomplish all else that he had promised (Exo 13:5). The might expended in the Christian redemption is not less, but greater, than in the exodus from Egypt. It does not detract from its greatness that it is chiefly moral strengthpower exerted in overcoming evil, in producing moral effects in the minds and consciences of men, and in making them new creatures in Christ Jesus. Redemption has both its objective and its subjective sides, and in both is displayed the power of God. God’s might is seen in the upholding of Christ; in the victories which, while on earth, he was enabled to gain over the powers of evil; in the gigantic triumph of the Cross; and in the spiritual effects produced since, through eighteen centuries, by the preaching of his Gospel; in the regeneration of souls, in the strength given to his servants to do spiritual work, in the victory whereby they overcome the world.
II. BEWARE OF FORGETTING YOUR REDEMPTION IN THE DAYS OF YOUR PROSPERITY, Exo 13:15. Prosperity has a subtle influence in leading away the heart from God. When men have eaten, and are full (Deu 8:12-18), they are very apt to grow haughty and self-sufficient. This danger is one to be jealously watched against.
III. SHOW THAT YOU REMEMBER YOUR REDEMPTION BY DOING THE THINGS THAT GOD COMMANDS.
1. By observing his ordinances. The special ordinance here alluded to is the feast of unleavened breada sequel to the passover (Exo 13:3-10). Christians are to observe the Lord’s Supper.
2. By a holy life. The observance of the outward ordinance would be valueless if that which it spiritually represented was lost sight of, viz; the need of a walk in “newness of life.” We are to “keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth” (1Co 5:7). To this end has Christ redeemed us, that we may walk in holiness (Rom 6:4-7; Eph 5:25-28; Tit 2:14; 1Pe 1:18).
3. By instruction of children. God lays stress on this (Exo 13:8-14; cf. Deu 6:6-9; Deu 11:18-22). It is his chief way of perpetuating a holy seed. The responsibility of instruction rests primarily on the parent. No task should be more delightful to him, or should be discharged more faithfully. If the parent is willing, many opportunities will present themselves. A child’s curiosity is ever active. The ordinances of the Church will furnish starting-points for conversation. We have in these verses, and elsewhere in the book, specimens of the instruction that is to be given.J.O.
HOMILIES BY J. URQUHART
Exo 13:1, Exo 13:2
The consecration of the first-born.
I. THE MEANING OF THE TYPE.
1. Man’s first-born the type of the first-born of God, in his authority and priestly function among his brethren, and as the object of the father’s love and trust.
2. In Egypt’s and Israel’s first:born we find the two-fold type of Christ and his people. Egypt’s die, Israel’s are saved. The death of Egypt’s first-born bursts the bends of Israel, the death of God’s first-born, the bonds of his people.
II. GOD‘S DEMAND.
1. His claim upon the saved life: “It is mine.”
(1) His right to our service. He has bought us with a great price.
(2) His delight in us. We are a treasure and a joy to him. Because he loved us he gave Christ to die for us.
2. The life which Christ has redeemed is to be set apart for God (Rom 12:1).
(1) With full purpose of heart.
(2) Under the power of Christ’s love: “the love of Christ con-straineth us.”
(3) With unceasing prayer for the Spirit’s indwelling.
Exo 13:3-16
How to declare God’s salvation.
I. BY THE REMEMBRANCE OF HIS MERCIES.
1. “Remember this day in which ye came out from Egypt.”
(1) The Lord’s Supper is an ordinance of remembrance: “Do this in remembrance of me.”
(2) The remembrance of deliverance extends over the Christian’s whole life: “unleavened bread is eaten.”
2. The celebration of the Passover awoke inquiry among those who had not witnessed God’s deeds (Exo 13:8).True gratitude, heartfelt thanksgiving, will make the reality of God’s love to be felt by those who have not known him.
(1) The place and use of the Lord’s Supper in the Christian Church.
(2) The power of love in the Christian life.
(3) Of true praise and worship in the congregation. To make God something to others, he must first be something to ourselves.
II. BY THE DOING OF HIS WILL. The Israelites, in sacrificing or redeeming the first-born, woke again the question, “What is this?” (Exo 13:14, Exo 13:15). Our obedience to tile good and holy will of God, our consecration to his service will show the reality of his salvation and awaken in many hearts the question whence this consecration flows and the desire to share it. “Let your light so shine” (Mat 5:16).U.
HOMILIES BY G.A. GOODHART
Exo 13:10
Remember.
Utmost pains taken that the day should be honoured and remembered.
(1) The month in which it occurred became the beginning of months.
(2) A special ordinance as to the first-born pointed back continually to the event celebrated (Exo 13:11-13).
(3) The annual feast was specially devised to keep it in memory (Exo 13:14, etc.). Why all this?
I. REASON OF OBSERVANCE. It commemorated:
1. A great judgment. Nine plagues had passed; the members of each successive trial following one another at shorter intervals and with increasing severity. [Illustration, siege of town. Besiegers draw parallels closer and closer, each time sounding summons to surrender. Every summons disregarded; at length word given for the assault.] God laying siege to Egypt, now preparing for the assault (cf. generally Amo 4:1-13.). “Therefore, prepare to meet thy God” (Exo 11:4). “I will go out;” the representatives stand aside that the arm of Jehovah may be recognised. Fourteenth of month; midnight. God accompanied by the angel of vengeance. Picture resultpalace, dungeon, stables, fields, temples, streets. The judgment was upon Egypt and her gods.
2. A great deliverance.
(1) From death. God the judge is impartial. If Egypt has sinned, so also Israel. Three plagues shared by both, both now threatened by self-same danger. Israel, however, trusting God, may escape by obedience. Lamb chosen four days earlier. Slain that afternoon at sundown. Light of full moon shows blood streaks on lintels and doorposts of houses in Goshen; inside, people prepared for departure, feeding on lamb. Midnight: Is it imagination that rush and quiver of unseen wings? The shadow of the wings of God shelter each blood-stained door, whilst the angel of vengeance passes over, sparing those whom God protects.
(2) From slavery. Wailing throughout Egypt. Midnight message, “Go, get ye gone.” At once families gather to standards of their tribes. Soon one great army, harnessed and equipped, laden with spoils of Egypt, the Israelites march forth from the land of their captivity. The time fulfilled to the day (Exo 12:41), when their hour is come their God is ready.
3. A great exhibition of Divine power. Not a mere judgment or a mere deliverance, but judgment by a personal judge, deliverance by a personal deliverer.
(1) The Egyptians needed to learn who Jehovah was. The Israelites had not done much to make him respected; rather had brought his name into disrepute as the patron of a slavish multitude. Must cause his own name to be hallowed (cf. Eze 36:20-23).
(2) Israel needed to learn that Jehovah was the deliverera God faithful to his promises, yet who could not endure sin. Moses and Aaron his instruments, but the victory due only to his right hand and his holy arm.
II. USE OF THE OBSERVANCE. By communicating the judgment and the deliverance, it was calculated to keep men mindful of the judge and the deliverer, and to prompt respect for his law (Exo 13:9). Commemorations are an aid to memory, reminding of past events, and recalling associations connected with them. Mere observance as an end in itself, bondage (cf. Gal 4:9, Gal 4:10); as a means to an end, helpful and necessary. The Pharisee makes a virtue of observance; the right thing is to draw virtue from it. See what this observance taught:
1. God is long-suffering, but the day of vengeance comes at length. The help to memory, as to what he had done, was a help to conviction as to what he might do.
2. God will not clear the guilty, yet his mercy doth endure for ever. Even with the help, how often were these truths forgotten; would any have remembered them without it?
Apply. Life, which forms the memory of the future, grows out of memory of the past. A good memory is a help to good living. What helps do you use to prompt memory? The marked bill, the birthday text-book, the diaryall these helpful; above all, the day, the anniversary, if we use it rightly. Commemorations are but sign-posts pointing to that which is commemorated; use them as such, follow out their indications. So, remembering past mercies, faith will be strengthened and hope sustained.G.
Fuente: The Complete Pulpit Commentary
D.The exodus from Egypt. Legal enactments consequent on liberation
Exo 12:37 to Exo 13:16
37And the children of Israel journeyed from Rameses to Succoth, about six hundred thousand on foot, that were men [the men] beside [besides] children. 38And a mixed multitude went up also with them; and flocks, and herds, even very much cattle. 39And they baked unleavened cakes of the dough which they brought forth out of Egypt, for it was not leavened; because they were thrust out of Egypt, and could not tarry, neither had they prepared for themselves any victual. 40Now the sojourning [dwelling, i.e. time of dwelling] of the children of Israel, who dwelt 41[which they dwelt] in Egypt, was four hundred and thirty years. And it came to pass at the end of the [end of] four hundred and thirty years, even [on] the selfsame day it came to pass, that all the hosts of Jehovah went out from the land of 42Egypt. It is a night to be much observed [of solemnities] unto Jehovah for bringing them out from the land of Egypt: this is that night of Jehovah to be observed of [night of solemnities unto Jehovah for] all the children of Israel in [throughout] 43their generations. And Jehovah said unto Moses and Aaron, This is the ordinance of the Passover: There shall no stranger [foreigner] eat thereof: 44But every mans servant [every servant] that is bought for money, when thou hast circumcised 45him, then shall he eat thereof. A foreigner [stranger] and an [a] hired servant shall not eat thereof. 46In one house shall it be eaten; thou shalt not carry forth aught of the flesh abroad out of the house; neither shall ye break a bone thereof. 47All the congregation of Israel shall keep [sacrifice] it. 48And when a stranger [sojourner] shall sojourn with thee and will keep the [sacrifice a] passover to Jehovah, let all his males be circumcised, and then let him come near and keep [sacrifice] it: and he shall be as one that is born in the land: for [but] no uncircumcised person shall eat thereof. 49One law shall be to [shall there be for] him that is home-born, and unto [for] the stranger that sojourneth among you. 50Thus did all the children of Israel]; as Jehovah commanded Moses, so did they. 51And it came to pass the self-same day, that Jehovah did bring the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt by their armies [according to their hosts].
Chap. Exo 13:1-2 And Jehovah spake unto Moses, saying, Sanctify unto me all the [every] first-born, whatsoever openeth the [any] womb among the children of Israel, both of man and of beast: it is mine. 3And Moses said unto the people, Remember this day, in which ye came out from Egypt, out of the house of bondage: for by strength of hand Jehovah brought you out from this place [thence]: there shall no leavened bread be eaten. 4This day came [come] ye out in the month Abib. 5And it shall be, when Jehovah shall bring thee into the land of the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites, which he sware unto thy fathers to give thee, a land flowing with milk and honey, that thou shalt keep this service in this month. 6Seven days thou shalt eat unleavened bread; and in the seventh day shall be a feast to Jehovah. 7Unleavened bread shall be eaten seven [the seven] days; and there shall no leavened bread be seen with thee, neither shall there be leaven seen with thee in all thy quarters 8[borders]. And thou shalt show [tell] thy son in that day, saying, This is done [It is] because of that which Jehovah did unto me when I came forth out of Egypt. 9And it shall be for a sign unto thee upon thine [thy] hand, and for a memorial between thine eyes, that Jehovahs law may be in thy mouth: for with a strong hand hath Jehovah brought thee out of Egypt. 10Thou shalt therefore [And thou shalt] keep this ordinance in his [its] season from year to year. 11And it shall be, when Jehovah shall bring thee into the land of the Canaanites, as he sware unto thee and to thy fathers, and shall give it thee. 12That thou shalt set apart unto Jehovah all that openeth the matrix [womb], and every firstling that cometh [every first-born] of a beast [of beasts] which thou hast; the males shall be Jehovahs. 13And every firstling [first-born] of an ass thou shalt redeem with a lamb; and if thou wilt not redeem it, then thou shalt break his neck: and all the first-born of man among thy children shalt thou redeem. 14And it shall be, when thy son asketh thee in time to come, saying, What is this? that thou shalt say unto him, By strength of hand Jehovah brought us out from Egypt, from the house of bondage: 15And it came to pass, when Pharaoh would hardly let us go, that Jehovah slew all the first-born in the land of Egypt, both the first-born of man and the first-born of beast: therefore I sacrifice to Jehovah all that openeth the matrix [womb], being 16[the] males; but all the first-born of my children I redeem. And it shall be for a token upon thine [thy] hand, and for frontlets between thine eyes; for by strength of hand Jehovah brought us forth out of Egypt.
EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL
Exo 12:37. And the children of Israel journeyed.On the journey see the Introduction, Keil II., p. 26, the literature above quoted, and Keil II., p. 28, Note, Knobel, p. 111 sq.About 600,000 on foot., as in Num 11:21, the infantry of an army, is added, because they went out as a warlike host (Exo 12:41), and in the number given only the men able to bear arms, those over twenty years of age, are reckoned; is added because of the following : besides the little ones. is used here in the wider significance of the dependent part of the family, including wife and children, as in Gen 47:12; Num 32:16; Num 32:24, and often, those who did not travel on foot, but on beasts of burden or in wagons (Keil). On the round number, as well as the increase of Israel in Egypt, comp, Knobel, p. 121, Keil, l. c, and the Introduction. On the fruitfulness of the land of Goshen, see Keil II., p. 29. Kurtz and Bertheau have suggested as an explanation of the great number, that we may assume that the seventy Israelites who emigrated to Egypt had several thousand men-servants and maid-servants. Keil insists that only the posterity of the seventy souls is spoken of. But compare the antithesis in Gen 32:10 : one staff and two bands. In Israel the faith constituted the nationality, as well as the nationality the faith, as is shown by so many examples (Rahab, Ruth, the Gibeonites, etc.), and Israel had in its religion a great attractive power.
Exo 12:38. And a mixed multitude. . Vulg.: vulgus promiscuum; Luther: viel Pbelvolk, a great rabbleIn typical fulfillment of the promise, Gen 12:3, without doubt stimulated by the signs and wonders of the Lord in Egypt (comp. Exo 9:20; Exo 10:7; Exo 11:3) to seek their salvation with Israel, a great multitude of mixed people joined themselves to the departing Israelites; and, according to the governing idea of the Jewish commonwealth, they could not be repelled, although these people afterwards became a snare to them. Vid. Num 11:4, where they are called , medley (Keil). Literally, a collection. Comp. Deu 29:11.
Exo 12:39. Vid. Exo 12:34. It does not mean that, they had no time to leaven their dough, but that they had no time to prepare themselves other provisions besides. The deliverance came upon them like a storm; they were even thrust out of Egypt.
Exo 12:40. Vid. the Introduction, Keil II., p. 30. Knobel, p. 121.
Exo 12:41. On the self-same day.Knobel says very strangely, that the meaning is that Jacob entered Egypt on the same day, the 14th of Abib. Keil understands the day before designated, Exo 12:11-14. We assume that day here denotes time in the more general sense.
Exo 12:42. Keil renders: night of preservation. Knobel: a festival. Both ideas are involved in , and evidently the text aims to express the antithesis indicated in our translation [Lange renders: festliche Wacht, festive vigil.TR.]
Exo 12:43-45. The ordinance of the Passover., i q., law, statute. As Israel now begins to become a people and a popular congregation, the main features of their legal constitution are at once defined. It all starts with the Passover as the religious communion of the people, for which now circumcision is prescribed as a prerequisite. As circumcision constitutes the incipient boundary-line and separation between Israel and the life of secular people, so the paschal communion is the characteristic feature of the completed separation. First, the congregation is instituted; then follows the preliminary institution of the priesthood in the sanctification of the first-born; then the first, trace of the fixed line of distinction, in the ordinance of the feast of unleavened bread; then the first provision for the permanent sacrificial service, in Jehovahs claiming for Himself the first-born of beasts, Exo 13:12, while a distinction is at the same time made between clean and unclean beasts, Exo 12:13; and finally the intimation is made that the natural sacerdotal duty of the first born shall be redeemed and transferred to a positive priesthood. The circumstance that Israel thereby came into a new relation to foreigners, that a crowd of strangers joined themselves to the departing Israelites (Keil), can only be regarded as one of the occasions for that fixing of the first features of the law which was here quite in place.No stranger.What is said of the , or non-Israelite, in general, is more particularly said of the sojourner () and of the hireling, day-laborer (). The latter, if not an Israelite, is a who resides a longer or shorter time among the Israelites. Yet the exclusion is not absolute, except as regards the uncircumcised; every servant, on the other hand, who submits to circumcision (for no one could be circumcised by force, although circumcision was within the option of all) assumes the privileges and obligations of the communion. Thus, therefore, the distinction of classes, as related to the communion of the people of God, is here excluded.
Exo 12:46. In one house shall it be eaten.A new enforcement of the law that the communion, as such, must be maintained. The significance of the words: Thou shalt not carry forth aught of the flesh abroad, the medival Church had little conception of.13
Exo 12:50-51. The next to the last verse declares that this became a fixed custom in Israel; and the last one recurs again to the identity of the festive day with the day of the deliverance of Israel from Egypt.
Exo 13:1. Sanctify unto me every first-born.The sanctification of the first-born is closely connected with the Passover. The Passover effects (?) the exemption of the first-born of Israel, and the exemption has as its aim their sanctification (Keil). But the thing meant is sanctification in the narrower sense, the preparation of the sacerdotal order and of the offerings; for the general sanctification comprised the whole people. Here we have to do with sanctification for the specific service of Jehovah. It is assumed that the first-born are representatives and sureties of the whole race, and that therefore, without the intervention of grace and forbearance, the first-born of Israel also would have been slain. Accordingly, the phrase: it is mine, refers certainly not only to the fact that Jehovah created the first-born, as Kurtz maintains, but still more to the right of possession which this gracious favor establishes. Keil denies this. It refers, he says, according to Num 3:13; Num 8:17, to the fact that Jehovah, on the day when he slew the first-born of Egypt, sanctified the first-born of Israel, and therefore spared them. An ultra-Calvinistic disposition of things, which seems to ground the exemption on Jehovahs caprice. While the sanctification cannot be dissociated from the exemption, as little can the exemption be dissociated from the creation. The election of Israel is indeed the prerequisite of the exemption of the Israelitish first-born; but this exemption again, as an act of grace, is a condition of the special sanctification of the first-born.
Exo 13:3. Remember this day. In Exo 13:3-10, the ordinance respecting the seven days feast of unleavened bread (Exo 12:15-20), is made known by Moses to the people on the day of the exodus at the station Succoth (Keil). We have already above (on Exo 12:8) pointed out the incorrectness of this view. It is all the more incorrect, if, with Keil and others, we find in the leaven a symbol of sinfulness. The leaven which the Jews had heretofore had was connected with the leaven of Egypt, and was thus fitted to serve as a symbol of the fact that they were connected with the sinfulness of Egypt, and that this connection must be broken off. If now they had not been, driven out so hastily, they would have had time to produce for themselves a pure and specifically Jewish leaven, and this perhaps seemed the more desirable thing, as the unleavened bread was not very palatable. But for this there was no time. With this understanding of the case, we render the last clause of Exo 13:3, so that nothing leavened was eaten. [This translation, however, is hardly possible.Tr.].The house of servants. Servants of private persons they were not, it is true, but all Egypt was made for them by Pharaoh one house of slaves.
Exo 13:4-5. The urgency in the enforcement of this feast is doubtless owing to the fact that there was no pleasure in eating the unleavened bread. Hence the festival is represented as chiefly a service rendered to God. The meals accompanying thank-offerings preserved the equilibrium.
Exo 13:6. On the seventh day. In the line of the feast-days the seventh day is specially mentioned as the festive termination; on it work ceased, and the people assembled together.
Exo 13:9. For a sign upon thy hand. According to Spencer, allusion is made to the heathen custom of branding marks on the forehead or hand of soldiers and slaves. Keil, referring to Deu 6:8; Deu 11:18, assumes that we are probably to understand bracelets or frontlets. But in the passages quoted a much more general inculcation of Moses words is meant. Inasmuch as the Jews were to observe several great festivals, it is not to be assumed that they were to be required to wear the signs only on the feast of unleavened bread; all the less, as the day was so definitely fixed. We therefore regard the expression both here and in Deuteronomy as symbolic, but suggested by a proverbial phrase borrowed from the nations of antiquity. Our language has a similar proverbial, but less elegant, expression. That the Pharisaic Jews afterwards actually made themselves such phylacteries grew out of their slavery to the letter of the law. See more in detail in Keil, II. p. 37.
Exo 13:12. Every first-born of beasts. First, the text recurs to the common statute respecting the first-born of men and beasts; hence: all that openeth the womb. According to Keil, the term , to set apart, offer, is used to point, a contrast to the Canaanitish custom of consecrating the first-born to Moloch; he quotes Lev 18:21. But the verb seems to express a more original and general separation of what is offered from what is not offered; or it means to let depart.The males. With this matter, therefore, the female first-born have nothing to do. The first-born son is the head of the young house, the heir of the old house. As the heir of the old house he also assumes its guilt; as the head of the young house he must represent it. More particular specifications concerning the first-born male clean beast are given in Exo 22:29 (30), Deu 15:21.
Exo 13:13. The germ of the distinction between clean and unclean beasts. The substitution of a sheep or kid for the ass is a proof that the unclean beast signifies not the evil, but the profane, that which is not fitted to serve as a religious symbol.
Exo 13:14. When thy son asketh thee. Even in the theocracy the ceremonial worship is to be not a dumb one, repressing, or even suppressing, questions and instruction, but is to be spiritualized by questions and instruction.
Exo 13:15. All the first-born of my children. Keil opposes the view, very prevalent of old, that the sanctification of the first-born is to be derived from the destination of the first-born to be priests. But he afterwards (II., p. 36) himself brings forwards reasons which refute his own view, founded on that of Outram and Vitringa, especially by citing Numbers 3. Nothing can be clearer than Num 3:12.1
Exo 13:16. Also in reference to the phylacteries we hold to the symbolical interpretation of the Caraites in opposition to the literal one of the Talmudists; so Keil II., p. 37.
Footnotes:
[13][The reference is to the Corpus-Christi festival, characterized by the public processions which are held in honor of the host.Tr.]
Fuente: A Commentary on the Holy Scriptures, Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical by Lange
CONTENTS
The sacred historian continues the interesting, history of Israel’s deliverance from Egypt. The Lord commands that all the first born of Israel shall be sanctified to him from the womb, that it may be a standing monument in the church throughout all ages of the Lord’s delivering his people from this bondage. The ordination of the feast of unleavened bread: the transmission of these great things to be in the instruction of their children; the first fruits of their cattle are appointed as a token of tribute to the Lord: and in cases of redemption, how to be redeemed. These points being settled, the relation of Israel’s journey is reassumed. The Lord points out their way, and guides them by a pillar of cloud going before them. The children of Israel carry up the bones of Joseph with them as they had promised.
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Was not this sanctifying, or setting apart the firstborn, intended principally to shadow forth a gospel mercy! Jesus the first-born among many brethren, was set apart by God. See Joh 17:19 ; Rom 8:29 . And hence is not the church of believers called the Church of the firstborn? Heb 12:23 .
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Exo 13:14
Compare Mr. A. R. Wallace’s remark on Darwin in whose character, he observed,’ the restless curiosity of the child to know the “what for?” the “why?” and the “how?” of everything seems never to have abated its force’.
References. XIII. 14-17 F. D. Maurice, The Doctrine of Sacrifice, p. 49.
Near-cuts Not God’s
Exo 13:17
I. That, then, was one feature of God’s guidance. It shunned the near road, and it took the roundabout; and if you have been living with the open eye, and watching the method of the Divine in things, you have seen much that is analogous to this.
1. Think of the discovery of nature’s secrets: of coal, of iron, of steam, of electricity. A single whisper from God would have communicated everything, and put mankind in possession of the secrets. But God never led us that way, though that way was near.
2. Or rising upward, think of the coming of Jesus. I detect the same leadership of God in that. Surely, in response to the world’s need, He might have come a thousand years before! But God had no near way to Bethlehem. He led the world about, and through the desert, before He brought it to the King at Nazareth. We see now that there was a fullness of the time. There was kindness and education on the road.
3. There is one other region where a similar guidance of God is very evident. I refer to the evangelizing of the world. Slowly, by a man here, and by a woman there, and the men not saints, but of like passions with ourselves and by unceasing labour, and by unrecorded sacrifice, the world is being led to know of Jesus.
II. I have noticed that most of the high and generous souls the gallant spirits of the two covenants, let me say have been tempted with the temptation to take the near-cut, and in the power of God have conquered it.
1. Take Abraham, for instance. Tempted by the near road, he refused it. He felt by faith that God’s ways were roundabout.
2. Or think of David. When at last, after Mount Gilboa, he came to his throne by the way that God appointed, I warrant you he felt God’s ways were best.
3. Or think with all reverence of Jesus Christ, tempted in all points like as we are, yet without sin. Why did He come to earth to live and die for us, but that the kingdoms of this world might become His. And the devil taketh Him up into an exceeding high mountain, and showeth Him all the kingdoms of the world, and saith to Him: ‘All these things will I give Thee, if Thou wilt fall down and worship me’. It was the old temptation. I speak with utmost reverence it was Jesus being tempted by near ways. And when I think of the long road of Jesus, round by the villages, and through the Garden, and on the Cross, and into the grave, I feel, if I never felt it in my life before, that near-cuts are not God’s.
G. H. Morrison, Sun-Rise, p. 64.
References. XIII. 17, 18. J. Day Thompson, Christian World Pulpit, vol. liv. 1898, p. 134.
‘the Bones of Joseph:’ a Pathetic Inspiration
Exo 13:19
I. We cannot Dissociate Ourselves from the Past. In all our exoduses we carry ‘the bones of Joseph’ with us. We cannot ignore the past As Dr. Punshon expresses it, ‘Part of the past to all the present cleaves’.
There is an historic past from which we desire never to be severed. We are its heirs.
There is a past we long to be dissociated from: the evil of history.
Then the personal past follows us. There is an individual past from which we would on no account be divided. But our past of personal evil shadows us.
Seeing we all have a painful past all, at least whose consciences are awakened what is our wisdom? Ever have recourse to Him Who can expunge the guilt of the past. Ever make the most of the present. Soon our present will be our past.
II. Mortality marks the Noblest. The brand of mortality is on us all. It were madness to forget this lesson of the ‘hallowed burden’ Israel bore.
III. The Great and Good Departed should not be Forgotten. It is abundantly to the credit of Moses that in the hour of triumphant exodus, with all the responsibility of leadership upon him, he did not forget the director of the Egyptian empire to whom Israel owed so much. Contemplate the departed saints and emulate their faith.
IV. We should Fulfil the Injunctions of the Sainted Ones. ‘Moses took the bones of Joseph with him.’ This strange act had been directly enjoined by Joseph. The laying of that behest upon Israel was an illustration of Joseph’s wonderful faith as well as of his ingrained love of his people.
V. The Past gives Inspiration for Future Experiences. We need, amid the routine of duties, all manner of inspiration, and here is one type. Remember the past. Recollect what, by God’s grace, others have been and done. God did not fail our fathers, and they did not fail God.
The past inspires us for trials and sorrows. What God has done for tired and suffering saints in ages gone, He will do again. The history of the Church, and the biographies of Christians, are replete with inspiration for the chequered experiences of the unknown tomorrow.
VI. ‘Moses took the Bones of Joseph with him.’ But it is not enough to have the hero’s bones. Moses did not take Joseph’s bones alone. He had Joseph’s faith, Joseph’s calibre of soul, Joseph’s spirit, Joseph’s heroism; all this, and yet more abundantly.
There is really danger lest, instead of using the splendid past, we abuse it. What an irony to have Joseph’s bones with you, but not his spirit in you! This is a danger alike of Churches and of individuals. The noblest memorial of a hero is the reproduction of his heroism.
VII. The Good Succession does not Perish. Joseph is dead, but Moses lives to be Israel’s Liberator and Leader.
VIII. We may Inspire Future Generations. They who lead a Joseph-like life shall have a Joseph-like influence upon others.
IX. ‘Moses took the Bones of Joseph with him.’
Yet God’s Presence is the Essential Presence.
The sombre presence of the dead was not the supreme presence among the Israelites as they marched to the bounds of Canaan. Hear the words of the twenty-first verse ‘And the Lord went before them’. Without that august Presence it is vain to have ‘the bones of Joseph’. He is everything.
Dinsdale T. Young, Unfamiliar Texts, p. 102.
Exo 13:21
In his Autobiographic Sketches De Quincey applies his figure to his sister Elizabeth. ‘For thou, dear, noble Elizabeth, around whose ample brow, as often as thy sweet countenance rises upon the darkness, I fancy a tiara of light or a gleaming aureola in token of thy premature intellectual grandeur thou whose head, for its superb developments, was the astonishment of science thou who wert summoned away from our nursery; and the night which for me gathered upon that event ran after my steps far into life; and perhaps at this day I resemble little for good or for ill that which else I should have been. Pillar of fire that didst go before me to guide and to quicken pillar of darkness, when thy countenance was turned away to God, that didst too truly reveal to my dawning fears the secret shadow of death!’
To increase the reverence for Human Intellect or God’s Light, and the detestation of Human Stupidity or the Devil’s Darkness, what method is there? No method except even this, that we should each of us pray for it…. Such reverence, I do hope, and even discover and observe, is silently yet extensively going on among us even in these sad years. In which small salutary fact there burns for us, in this black coil of universal baseness fast becoming universal wretchedness, an inextinguishable hope; far-off but sure, a Divine ‘pillar of fire by night’. Courage, courage.
Carlyle, Latter-day Pamphlets, iii.
‘Cromwell and his officers,’ says Carlyle once again in the sixth lecture on Heroes, ‘armed soldiers of Christ, as they felt themselves to be; a little band of Christian Brothers, who had drawn the sword against a great black devouring world not Christian but Mammonish, devilish they cried to God in their strait, in their extreme need, not to forsake the cause that was His. The light which now rose upon them, how could a human soul, by any means at all, get better light? Was not the purpose so formed like to be precisely the best, wisest, the one to be followed without hesitation any more? To them it was as the shining of Heaven’s own splendour, in the waste-howling darkness; the Pillar of Fire by night, that was to guide them in their desolate, perilous way. Was it not such? Can a man’s soul, to this hour, get guidance by any other method than intrinsically by that same devout prostration of the earnest, struggling soul before the Highest, the Giver of all Light; be such prayer a spoken, articulate, or be it a voiceless, inarticulate one? There is no other method.’
Again, in his essay on The Life and Writings of Werner, he observes: ‘The subject of Religion, in one shape or another, nay of propagating it in new purity by teaching and preaching, had nowise vanished from his meditation. On the contrary, we can perceive that it still formed the master-principle of his soul, “the pillar of cloud by day, and the pillar of fire by night,” which guided him, so far as he had any guidance, in the pathless desert of his now solitary, barren and cheerless existence.’ In his Loss and Gain (Vol. II. chap. IX.) Newman depicts an undergraduate’s religion as follows: ‘Charles’ characteristic, perhaps more than anything else, was an habitual sense of the Divine Presence a sense which, of course, did not ensure uninterrupted conformity of thought and deed to itself, but still there it was; the pillar of the cloud before him and guiding him. He felt himself to be God’s creature, and responsible to Him; God’s possession, not his own.’
The access to the Scriptures was no more the actual cause of Luther’s spiritual revolution than were the pillar of cloud and the pillar of fire the cause of the departure of Israel from Egypt. But for the Scriptures, indeed, Luther and his followers might have perished in the desert of fanaticism after their exodus from Rome. But the pillar and cloud which guided the Reformer’s steps were not made visible until the sands of the untravelled waste were already flying around their path, and the brick-kilns of their taskmasters were lost behind them in the distance. R. H. Hutton, Theological Essays, p. 396.
The Prophetic Element
Exo 13:21
Here we see in a figure the fact that God goes before the race; anticipating, providing, adjusting, so that in due season He may bring us into the Canaan of His accomplished purpose. The most cursory view of the world and history impresses one with the feeling that all things have been thought out beforehand; and closer examination, revealing how the sense of the future dominates the present, confirms us in the belief of a supernatural, prescient government that controls individual life and universal movement to some ulterior perfection. This special aspect we desire now to consider.
I. The Divine Preparation of the Earth as the Scene for Human Life and Discipline furnishes an instructive illustration of our text. Ages before man’s advent on this planet we behold the Divine hand fashioning it for his habitation. The darkness that ‘rested upon the face of the waters’ was the hiding of the creative Spirit whilst He resolved the rude elements into order and beauty. Think of the cloud of the carboniferous era eclipsing the sun and wrapping everything in awful shadow! Yet the fire and darkness of geologic ages were pillars of the Lord heralding a new earth.
What a firm ground of confidence we find here touching the abiding welfare of the race! Pessimistic spirits are fond of propounding sceptical conundrums respecting the future. What will posterity do when the forests are depleted? what when the coal measures fail? what when population outstrips the means of subsistence? How truly absurd these apprehensions are! As the need arises, our scientists open to us storehouses which have been sealed from the foundation of the world. They are ever discovering new elements, lights, forces, fruits, which our fathers knew not. The ‘faithful Creator’ has in reserve a thousand secret magazines which He will discover as the race reaches its successive stages of development. Nature abounds with signs that God has passed this way before, that He has anticipated us with the blessings of His goodness, and means to see His children through.
II. The Government of the Race supplies another illustration of the Divine prescience. The future constitutes the main thought of revelation; and it everywhere teaches that the government of the world at any given point is regulated by a concern for the future, for a distant future. The whole of revelation is pervaded by the thought of the future; and so far it is in correspondence with the accredited science of the age. ‘The Lord went before them in a cloud.’ His purpose is always beyond the present; and the present is shaped and disciplined with a view to that ultimate design which shall justify the whole process. In the history of Israel, we venture to think, we have an illustration on a small scale of God’s larger method of government. ‘Thou broughtest a vine out of Egypt: Thou preparedst room before it.’ Palestine was prepared for Israel. ‘He sent a man before them, even Joseph, who was sold for a servant.’ Joseph set in motion a train of events which prepared Israel to take possession of Palestine. Is not this process of adjustment and progress ever going on in the wide world and in the sweep of the ages? Surely God is preparing waste lands as theatres of new empire, in due season to be occupied by elect nations. We cannot contemplate vast regions of the earth now opening up, climes rich with possibilities, without anticipating the period when they will be inherited by mighty populations yet unborn. They are the waiting Canaans of God’s predestined ones. What, then, is our consolation amid the nebulousness and perplexity of human life? That our times are in His hands who knows the future, and whose attribute of prescience ever works on our behalf. Sydney Smith’s counsel that we should take ‘short views’ is excellent; but the justification cf the short view is that we hold the hand of One who takes the long view.
III. The Divine Anticipation of our Spiritual Need affords another proof of the prescient element of the world. When the morning stars sang for joy over the new-made and radiant world, they could never have guessed that it was destined to become the stage of tragedy. They would only have prophesied for it golden ages of glory and joy. The event, however, has proved far otherwise. The rosy dawn was followed by a long sad day; let us rather say, by a long dark night. Yet here again God went before the race in the provision of His mercy.
All the scenes and experiences of life are antidated by grace. Nature is full of prevision. ‘Spring hides behind autumn’s mask;’ and as Richard Jefferies puts it, ‘The butterflies of next summer are somewhere under the snow’. The future dominates all nature, and the observer marks prophetic signs in every living thing. We have seen that the same is true in the evolution of society; the general life of today being determined by considerations transcending the present. And we feel sure that in the education and discipline of His children the future is a factor never lost sight of by the Heavenly Father. ‘Light is sown for the righteous, and gladness for the upright in heart.’
IV. That Christ has gone before us into the Heavenly Place shall furnish our final illustration. ‘A cloud received Him out of their sight.’ As in a cloud the Creator went before us, fashioning this world for our indwelling, so in the cloud of the Ascension has the Redeemer gone before us to make ready a new sphere of beauty and delight. ‘I go to prepare a place for you,’ was His solemn assurance in the parting hour an assurance that He is fulfilling every day for thousands of His people. ‘For Christ entered not into a holy place made with hands, like a pattern to the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear before the face of God for us.’ As in the ancient time He prepared Palestine for Israel, so now He prepares the sphere of glory for the saints, and makes the saints meet for their inheritance in light.
W. L. Watkinson, The Fatal Barter, pp. 110-126.
Reference. XIII. 21. G. H. Morrison, Christian World Pulpit, vol. lxii. 1902, p. 415.
Exo 13:22
Such was to be our Church, a church not made with hands, catholic, universal, all whose stones should be living stones, its officials the cherubim of Love and Knowledge, its worship wiser and purer action than has before been known to men. To such a Church men do indeed constitute the state, and men indeed we hope form the American Church and State, men so truly human that they could not live while those made in their own likeness were bound down to the condition of brutes. Should such hopes be baffled, should such a Church fall in the building, should such a state find no realization except to the eye of the poet, God would still be in the world, and surely guide each bird, that can be patient, on the wing to its home at last. But expectations so noble, which find so broad a basis in the past, which link it so harmoniously with the future, cannot lightly be abandoned. The same Power leads by a pillar of cloud as by a pillar of fire the Power that deemed even Moses worthy only of a distant view of the Promised Land.
Margaret Fuller.
Did you ever think of the spiritual meaning of the pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night, as connected with our knowledge and our ignorance, our light and our darkness, our gladness and our sorrow? The everyday use of this Divine alternation to the wandering children of Israel is plain enough. Darkness is best seen against light, and light against darkness; and its use, in a deeper sense of keeping forever before them the immediate presence of God in the midst of them, is not less plain; but I sometimes think, that we who also are still in the wilderness, and coming up from our Egypt and its flesh-pots, and on our way, let us hope, through God’s grace, to the celestial Canaan, may draw from these old-world signs and wonders that, in the midday of knowledge, with daylight all about us, there is, if one could but look for it, that perpetual pillar of cloud that sacred darkness which haunts all human knowledge, often the most at its highest noon; that ‘look that threatens the profane’; that something, and above all that sense of some one, that Holy One, who inhabits eternity and its praises, who makes darkness His secret place, His pavilion round about, darkness and thick clouds of the sky.
And again, that in the deepest, thickest night of doubt, of fear, of sorrow, of despair; that then, and all the most then if we will look in the right airt, and with the seeing eye and the understanding heart there may be seen that pillar of fire, of light and of heat, to guide and quicken and cheer; knowledge and love, that everlasting love which we know to be the Lord’s.
Dr. John Brown in Hor Subseciv.
Compare also the last paragraph of Huxley’s essay on ‘Administrative Nihilism’ with its account of true education, which, among other benefits, ‘promotes morality and refinement, by teaching men to discipline themselves, and by leading them to see that the highest, as it is the only permanent, content is to be attained, not by grovelling in the rank and steaming valleys of sense, but by continual striving towards those high peaks, where, resting in eternal calm, reason discerns the undefined but bright ideal of the highest Good “a cloud by day, a pillar of fire by night”.’
References. XIV. T. A. Gurney, The Living Lord and the Opened Grave, p. 57. XIV. 2. H. H. Snell, Christian World Pulpit, vol. lxviii. 1905, p. 395. XIV. 3. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xxxvii. No. 2188. XIV. 10 and 15. H. E. Platt, Church Times, vol. xliii. 1900, p. 60.
Fuente: Expositor’s Dictionary of Text by Robertson
The Redemption of the Ass
Exo 13:13
According to the ritual the ass was reckoned among the unclean animals. On that account, if it was to be continued in service it must be redeemed that is to say, its uncleanness must be recognised, and recognised through the usual medium, namely, of sacrifice. Israel had no horses. Unless we keep this fact in mind, many a passage in the Old Testament will be wholly unintelligible. Horses were for the rich, the mighty, and the proud; horses were symbols of strength, independence, majesty. Remembering this, we shall see the meaning of a line in the song of triumph: “The horse and his rider hath he thrown into the sea.” That has but little meaning to us. We are accustomed to the sight of horses, and to the use of them; but Israel had been in long servitude Israel might use the ass, but in the land from which Israel had come only the proud Egyptian could enjoy the advantage of a horse. “Some trust in horses, some in chariots, but our trust,” said they who had no horses, “is in the God of heaven.” The ass was hated in many ancient lands. It was given over to contempt. One nation of antiquity hesitated, in organising an instrumental band, whether to allow the admission of the trumpet, because the sound of the trumpet reminded the people of the bray of the hated ass. Without these historical circumstances in remembrance we cannot understand the Scriptures; we shall wonder because of our ignorance, and be surprised at exclusions and inclusions which knowledge would amply and satisfactorily explain.
The subject thus comes near to us with pressing spiritual meaning. God has made provision for the redemption of the vilest, “Rejoice greatly, oh daughter of Zion; shout, oh daughter of Jerusalem: behold thy King cometh unto thee: he is just and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass.” The abhorred may be set amongst the beloved; that which is farthest away may be brought nearest to the centre; the first shall be last and the last shall be first, and let no man glory in his strength or in his wisdom: let him that glorieth glory in the Lord. The Lord will classify his creatures; we make some initial distributions, but the classification is a heavenly act, and we shall in the long run, after innumerable experiments, find ourselves shaping things after the pattern which was shown to man in the mount. What becomes of the favourite argument that all things are the good creatures of God in view of the distributions which God himself has made? He has said to man again and again: Thou shalt not eat this animal. Why not? Are not all animals the good gifts of God? By this shallow plea we excuse the indulgence of our passions and seek to sanctify the profanation of our appetite. Who made the living things? They were made by the God who fashioned all life; yet he has surrounded some with sanctitudes that may not be violated. He has given others to be food for the hunger of men. Within the law there is another law, and above it there is a higher law still, and no cheap rendering or shallow interpretation of apparent facts can be admitted for a moment near the altar which sanctifies the universe. It requires a long time to teach some men that the very lowest may be turned into the highest, and the uncleanest may be set amongst those who are clothed in the purity of snow. Said one such man: “God hath showed me” his eyes were even then glazed with semi-unbelief “that I should not call any man common or unclean.” It takes God to show that revelation to us. It has become a commonplace because all things have become commonplaces, but in its inner meaning it is a revelation charged with the very glory of the Shekinah.
God having thus laid down the method of redemption the scheme by which inequalities can be levelled up and uses made of things temporarily forbidden proceeds to show that behind this mercy there burns a law. “And if thou wilt not” what then? We are not left to mere disobedience. God has not so constituted things that we can obey or disobey, and no consequence will follow. All things beat upon one another in sacred and vital pulsation. It is not given to any of us to obey without recompense, or to disobey without loss. The law is: “If thou wilt not redeem it, then thou shalt break his neck.” The unredeemed ass shall not live. Looked at within narrow boundaries, the circumstance seems to be trivial, but to the eye of wisdom the gaze that has in it the look of other worlds there is a symbolic interpretation which is verifying itself every day in our experience. God cannot be out-witted. We have gone into his presence with half a gift, saying it was all. We have called the fraction an integer. What has been the consequence? death. We may be dead whilst we live. We have mistaken the limit of the individual. We have thought that in the body is the death, and because the bones were still in joint and the locomotion was not interrupted we have supposed that we lived. The man within fell down dead when we told the lie the real man, the Divinely-imaged man, the man meant for immortality in heaven. “Within,” said Jesus Christ to some, “ye are rottenness.” By skill, by wealth, by study, we have been enabled to clothe ourselves with purple and fine linen; but the purple smells rank; through the fine linen there comes an odour which tells of internal death. So foolish are we and ignorant that we suppose that concealment amounts to a complete reversal of the law inexorable. We cannot defeat God. We are cunning tricksters; we have a wonderful faculty of altering figures and forging names and putting in false returns and schedules and bribing auditors whom we hire out of our own family, and who wish us to be auditors in return, that we may conspire in a common felony. But God cannot be defeated. His word is looking at us all the time and throttling us; that is the literal rendering of the passage. All things are naked and throttled by the word with which we have to do the eyes burning us, the hands grasping us; and because we have thrown dust into our own vision, and do not see the reality of things, we call the Biblical appeal an ancient cry and the modern preaching an obsolete claim. Oh that men were wise, that they understood these things! We have temporarily deceived God. We have many an ass in our fields that we have not redeemed; we have reserved the price of the lamb; we have kept back and have not restored unto God that which is right, and we say: Behold, he knows it not. We mourn over our losses and difficulties in the house, and in the field, and in the marketplace: we say, “There is an epidemic in the stable, there is a blight in the pasture, there is a cold in the air, before which warm life cannot stand.” It is all true it all comes out of the unredeemed property. Is there not a cause? There is always a moral explanation. They are shallow philanthropists who seek to stop the judgment of God by cheap breakfasts for the poor. God will not have his broken laws tinkered and soldered in that fashion. Judgment must begin at the house of God, and we must deal with the realities of the case. “It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.”
What a comprehensive aspect of redemption is presented by this incident! Who can tell where redemption ends? Who dare say that the dogs die and are never heard of or known any more? Who has entitled us to assert that every living thing will not live again, and live for ever? We do not know what life is. We may take it lawfully and consume it, but we have not therefore destroyed it Why did God make all these little winged things that flutter in the sunbeam all these busy tiny creatures that toil night and day in the fecundant earth? Why did he fill the water with life and the forests with the throb and tread of mighty beasts? It cannot be merely to please himself, as a child might invent new toys to please a momentary fancy. Life is a greater mystery than any explanation has yet wholly covered. The only word that begins to touch it is the word Redemption. We cannot tell how large redemption is, but we may judge somewhat of its amplitude by another word akin to it and preparatory to it, and that is the word Providence. God thus enables us to judge in some degree one thing by another, one scheme by another. Redemption would have overwhelmed us; we should have called it a supernatural word, or a term lying a long way from the common reach of our thinking and experience. So we begin with the word Providence that under-word, that younger term that does the housework of the universe; busy, kindly, thoughtful, hospitable word, that makes things ready for us, cares for all our life, busies itself about us, and that says to us, “The very hairs of your head are all numbered.” A student of Providence cannot, therefore, be so much surprised at the vastness of redemption as he who has not made that study. The providence has been so minute that we cannot wonder the redemption should exceed it in its critical care for the weal of life.
The giving of such a law is specially interesting as suggesting certain inferences as to the Lawgiver. This is an apparently trivial enactment. There is nothing trivial in the dispensations of God. He who makes trifles anywhere will make a trifle of himself, of his business, and of his destiny. Little things are made important in the Scriptures; little things are made important by all wise men in the relations of life. This is also an apparently out-of-the-way incident. Out of the way! What way? Out of our way, possibly; but what is our way? a little path leading nowhere: a road we have made with which to please ourselves to go up and down upon, and suppose to be the universe. The way! Who knoweth the way of the Lord? His way is in the great waters; he walketh upon the winds, and the clouds are the dust of his feet. Out of the way! Even the universe is too narrow a path for his progress. Even the heaven and heaven of heavens cannot contain him. There is nothing out of the way to God. Show me some life that God never fashioned, or that never came within his purpose when he started the mystery of the kingdom of life, and that may be out of the way.
Then comes the cumulative argument, which Jesus Christ himself often employed. “If a beast much more a man.” Speaking of the flowers of the field and the fowls of the air, Jesus Christ said, “Are ye not much better than they?” And again he asks, “How much better is a man than a sheep?” He said, “If ye, being evil,” give certain good things, “how much more will your heavenly Father,” who is perfect, do things gracious and beneficent? May the ass be redeemed, and the unclean beast brought into a right status before God and has no arrangement been made for the redemption of man?
Under what a system we live! We think the old laws and statutes have been abolished. Not one of them. We suppose the book of Exodus to be full of ancient precepts. If so, I have not found any of the precepts. They must be wise enough to take me into their school who can show me one obsolete line in all the Bible that relates to the education and the discipline, the training and the completion of human life. The words may have been changed, but every statute is still here. We are still in a network, and live in a cage of service. If we have come into a larger liberty, it is only because we have come into a larger cage. Is God less watchful of human life than of the lives of beasts? Even if many of the little narrow laws have been done away, it is only in the sense of their having been displaced by the greater law. The invitation issuing from all these considerations is an invitation of love “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” How is the yoke easy? Because the increased strength has been so cultured and enlarged as not to feel the chafing which was once intolerable. How is the burden light? Because the back is stronger to bear it. The burden of law remains eternally the same, but the inspiration of grace, the nutriment and the comfort of internal edification, enables men to carry the burden as if it were a feather, and to run all the days of life with an untiring energy. God shows his grandeur by his love
All the way along where I have been permitted to accompany him he has never forgotten one thing, even according to the history imperfectly written, because written by human hands. I cannot charge God with one deed of negligence. He would need to be of a dull mind with hardly any vision at all who would shrink from undertaking to prove that all human history, as related in the Scriptures, proves the watchfulness, the tenderness, and the love of our Father in heaven. But he is not to be trifled with. Do not suppose we can come and go as we like; now in a high mood, now in a low one; now obey, now disobey; now be up among the angels, then among the exiles and rebels. God is watchful on every side; he keeps a register. In the twenty-fifth chapter of the Gospel by Matthew he startled men by saying what he knew about them. God is not unrighteous to forget your work of faith and labour of love. Can any man stand up and say that he redeemed the ass, and yet God broke his neck? he fulfilled the law, yet God inflicted the penalty? he was good, and God was unkind? No such man rises to the challenge of the universe.
Note
The law of Moses declared the firstborn, if a boy, to be sacred to God, and required him to be redeemed from the priest The modern Jews maintain, “if the firstborn of an Israelite be a son, the father is bound to redeem him, from the thirtieth day forward. If he redeem him before that time, it is not accounted a redemption. If he omit it after that, he is guilty of neglecting an affirmative precept On the thirty-first day the father sends for a priest and places his little son on a table, saying, ‘My wife, who is an Israelites, has brought me a firstborn, but the law assigns him to thee.’ The priest asks, ‘Dost thou therefore surrender him to me?’ The father answers in the affirmative. The priest then inquires which he would rather have, his firstborn, or the five shekels required for his redemption. The father replies, he prefers his son, and charging the priest to accept the money, pronounces a form of benediction. The father then produces the value of five shekels, and the priest asks the mother if she had been delivered of any other child, or miscarried. If she answers no, the priest takes the money, lays it on the head of the child, and says, ‘This son being a firstborn, the blessed God hath commanded us to redeem him, as it is said, “And those that are to be redeemed from a month old thou shalt redeem them, according to thine estimation, for the money of five shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary, which is twenty gerahs” ( Num 18:16 ). Whilst thou wast in thy mother’s womb thou wast in the power of thy Father who is in heaven, and in the power of thy parents; but now thou art in my power, for I am a priest But thy father and mother are desirous to redeem thee, for thou art a sanctified firstborn, as it is written, “And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Sanctify unto me all the firstborn, whatsoever openeth the womb among the children of Israel, both of man and of beast: it is mine”‘ ( Exo 13:2 ). He then turns to the father, and says, ‘I have received these five shekels from thee, for the redemption of this thy son; and, behold, he is therewith redeemed, according to the law of Moses and Israel.'” This ceremony is followed by feasting. When the father dies before the thirty-first day, the mother is not bound to redeem her son, but a piece of parchment or small plate of silver is suspended on the child’s neck, with a Hebrew inscription, signifying a firstborn son not redeemed, or a son of a priest. Biblical Antiquities.
Prayer
Almighty God, who is sufficient to obey the call which thou hast addressed to the human soul? We wonder at thy patience. When we grow in wisdom we grow in anger, for ignorance then becomes so hateful to us. What must our ignorance be to the all-wisdom of God? Blessed be thy name; it is all-wisdom, and therefore the more patient. It is better to fall into the hands of God than into the hands of men. We have fallen below the miracle; yea, we have said there are no miracles now; and therein we have spoken the lying truth. We look at the letter, but see nothing of its flush and colour of fire; there is no God in it, either of Abraham, Isaac, or Jacob, or our own forefathers in the flesh. It is now become a letter amongst many, and might be numbered, and volumed, and forgotten. It is not the bush that burns with fire, that fastens the wondering shepherd to the road, or makes him turn aside, not from duty, but towards worship. We think we have read thy book. We are only content with it as we can move about in it here and there. How canst thou live with fools? How canst thou spare the Church that has no blood-mark upon it a great hypocrisy? Sometimes thou dost show us thy patience most vividly, and that is when we ourselves see that we are undeserving. Blessed be thy name; thy patience is longer than our obstinacy, and the goodness of the Lord will yet conquer us, and thou shalt, long ages after this, which arithmetic cannot number, have some around thee who can look upon God and not die. Thy way is wonderful; the sea is shallow compared with the depths of thy wisdom, and the firmament a low height which a child can touch, compared with the infinite ascension and majesty of thy thought God be merciful unto us We were born yesterday, and in our pride and folly we think we are living to-day, not knowing that we are only beginning to be. Spare us! Pity us! Take to thyself the greater glory in our preservation, and not the readier glory of our destruction; take thy glory by-and-by in the patience which has ripened into success, and not in the destruction which has burned like an angry judgment against creatures of a day. We bless thee for thy Word great mighty Word, more terrible than fire, sharper than a sword, softer than dew, more beautiful than all colour, with a whisper in it that never can be imitated; a still small voice: now of reason, now of expostulation, now of encouragement, but hiding in itself all the waves, and thunders, and winds that went before it the very suppression of almightiness. All things are naked and prostrate to the eyes of that Word with which we have to do. It lays a grip upon us like the grip of a wrestler, and throws us to the ground, and binds us there in servitude that cannot be resisted. Blessed be God for his Word; it is a lamp, a light, a trumpet, a music, a song, a friend; it is everything that can cheer, satisfy, and delight, and content the soul without one touch of satiety; and all this we know in Christ thy Son, Blessed One, Second in the Trinity, yet God over all; Alpha, Omega, shining in the star of morning, gleaming in the star of eventide, burning in the noonday sun, filling all things with the glory of his presence. May he fill our hearts with his Cross, with the spirit of sacrifice, with an agony like his own; without him we could not bear it, but with him we can turn sorrow into joy, and a crown of thorns into a crown of blessedness. Pity us whenever we have to carry great weights with unequal strength. Make our bed for us when we cannot make it for ourselves. Touch the bread when it is coming down to the last cut of the loaf, and behold we shall have more at the end than we had to begin with. As for our enemies, we cannot see them because thou art so near; thou wilt deal with them. Destroy them not, we pray thee, but turn them into friends. The Lord comfort the sick. Speak to hearts that have been impoverished and desolated lately, in which a great grave has been dug, and the lovedest of all lives has been taken. God help us, sustain us. The days are but a handful when they are all reckoned, but they are linked on to God’s eternity. Amen.
Fuente: The People’s Bible by Joseph Parker
The Drowning of Pharaoh
Exo 13
“What, still talking about miracles? We thought that faith in miracles had been given up long ago by intelligent men.” Some such expression as this would not be unnatural from certain quarters. The answer is that “intelligent men” are just beginning to believe in miracles. They are nearly always the last men to come round to great conceptions and noble spiritual realisations. But even “intelligent men” are stirring themselves with somewhat of reluctance in the direction which we should term spiritual and evangelical. All the greatest books that are being written to-day, upon what would once have been called the hostile side, force upon their readers the consciousness of a hunger which nothing in time or space can satisfy a voracity of the soul. We may be more or less sated after having read arguments upon which we have been nourished for a lifetime, but we are pinched with gnawing and agonising hunger after perusing the pages which were intended to tell us all that can be told. Did the miracles as here reported actually occur? Why not? You can only be puzzled by a miracle when you are puzzled by a God. If your conception of God were like mine, no miracle that ever was reported could touch the region of impossibility. No wonder men are troubled, even to perplexity and sore distress of heart, by so-called miracles, when they have not acquainted themselves deeply with the power and spirit and purpose of God. The study is begun at the wrong point. To me it is easier to believe that the miracles occurred than that they could not have occurred. The difficulty from my point of view is wholly on the other side. Whether they did historically occur or not is not the immediate question. To me, I repeat, it is easier, with my conception of God, to believe that the miracles could have occurred than that it was impossible for them to occur. Everything turns upon our conception of the Worker of the miracles. We do not begin at the miracle itself. We begin with the Teacher, the Worker, the realised Jehovah, or the incarnate Logos. Having first entered into fellowship, we next pass into faith. Knowing by the penetration and sympathy of love what the spirit of the Worker is, we have no difficulty. We pass with him into all his action, and when the action is mightiest our rest is deepest, because the proportion between the Worker and the work impresses the mind with a sense of infinite harmony. The greater the miracle the easier to believe in it. The greatest miracle must be infinitely less than the Worker who accomplished it. If ever faith falters it must be because the miracle is too small. The great miracle challenges our best self like the trumpet of resurrection; as the miracle increases in volume and grandeur, in pomp and nobleness, something within us hitherto unknown rises and claims kinship with the Worker of that stupendous wonder. This was curiously illustrated in the life of Jesus Christ. When the people fell into unbelief it was because the miracle was of what may be termed a commonplace character, that is to say, some possible explanation of jugglery might in some degree account for it To open the eyes of the blind might be some trick of magic; but the man himself stood up and said, “Since the world began was it not heard that any man opened the eyes of one that was born blind.” He seized the true emphasis and meaning of the action. To open the eyes of the blind might be accounted for by some species of cleverness or legerdemain; but, says the man: “I was born blind; I believe this miracle, not because it is little but because it is great.” Thus man is made to know subtly and profoundly that he was created in the image and likeness of God, and when God is, so to say, most God, man realises his human grandeur as he can realise it under no other circumstances. To heal the bruised or broken joint might be some successful trick in occult surgery; there might be pretence about it. We allow a miracle of that kind to pass under our review without being deeply moved by it, it comes not up to the level of our truest grandeur; but when a dead man is raised one who has been four days in the grave when he comes forth, a new feeling seizes the mind, and because the miracle enlarges and ennobles itself, we rise with corresponding and harmonious dignity of conception and sympathy. It is only, therefore, where the miracle is supposedly little or imitable, or commonplace, that faith hardly cares to stoop to take up a trifle so insignificant. The soul of man being really roused, and burning through and through with a celestial fire, asks for infinite miracles, asks for God. Grow in grace, and you will take up all the minor miracles as very little things, and yearn in sweet and ardent prayer for the greatest of all miracles the conscious presence of the Living God.
But there is another mode of treatment which we have not in these pastoral studies hesitated to adopt, which will enable us to seize the supernatural element with a firmer hand.
Let us in the first instance always inquire into the moral doctrine of these unusual events: asking what is the underlying truth, what the spiritual and moral meaning the narration of the exciting incidents is intended to convey to us. Having discovered the intent of the writer we shall have no difficulty about the romantic or amazing incidents. This is what we do with a parable, and a parable is a miracle in imagination. The great miracle has about it the touch and the mystery of the marvellous. It is not an off-hand thought It is reason at its best; or, to speak figuratively, it is reason on wings, no longer walking on the narrow earth but flying in the unmeasured heaven. We do not force a parable into literal meanings at every point; we ask, What is its central intent or meaning? and having seized that we treat all the outward and literal as decorative, suggestive, or merely incidentally helpful; but we do not risk the truth because of the peculiarity of the medium of its conveyance.
“And the Lord went before them by day in a pillar of a cloud, to lead them the way; and by night in a pillar of fire, to give them light; to go by day and night:
“He took not away the pillar of the cloud by day, nor the pillar of fire by night, from before the people” ( Exo 13:21-22 ).
What is the great doctrine of that expression?
This: The consciousness of the Divine presence is in proportion to the circumstances in which we are placed. In other words, our circumstances determine our consciousness of the Divine nearness. Sometimes life is all day almost a summer day with great spans of blue sky overhead, and where the clouds gather they gather in beautiful whiteness, as of purity akin to the holiness of the inner and upper cities of the universe. Then what do we want with fiery displays of God? they would be out of keeping, out of reason and out of proportion. There are days that are themselves so bright, so hospitable, so long ending, and so poetic in all their breezes, and suggestions, and ministries that we seem not to want any dogmatic teaching about the personality and nearness of God. All beauty represents him. Any more emphatic demonstration would be out of harmony with the splendid serenity of the occasion. Then there are periods in life all night, all darkness, all storm or weariness. We cannot say where the door of liberty is, nor dare we step out lest we fall over a precipice; all is dark, all is trouble; friends are as absent as if they were dead, and all the sanctuaries to which we have hitherto resorted are concealed by the infinite darkness. What do we want then? A bird to sing to us? That would be helpful. A little tiny voice to break the troubled silence? That would not be amiss. But what do we really want? A column of fire, a pillar of glory, an emphatic incarnation and vision of Providence; and the soul gets both these manifestations of God according to the circumstances under which the soul is living. Take it, therefore, simply as an analogy, and then it is a rational analogy; it is true to every man’s experience. And if the pillar of cloud and fire should drop off, there will remain the eternal truth, that according to the soul’s circumstances is the Divine revelation of itself. Where the visible is enough why add more? A man should not want much theology of a formal sort on a bright summer day. Some little tuft of cloud will represent the Infinite. Some almost invisible wing in the air more a thought than a thing hardly to be identified by the bodily eye, will symbolise the all-embracing power and the all-brooding love. Then at night we want what is called dogmatic teaching, broad emphasis, piercing declaration, vividness that cannot be mistaken, God almost within the clasping of the poor arms, God almost in sight of the eyes of the body. Thus God deals with us. This is true to our history. The mere cloud may go, the pillar of fire may be accepted as figurative; but the eternal truth that God comes to us in different ways under different circumstances now as a cloud, now as a fire, now as a judgment, now as without mercy, now a roaring tempest, now a still small voice, is a truth that remains whatever havoc may be wrought amid the mere figurativeness by which that truth is symbolised.
Then the cloud went behind the Israelites and separated between the camp of the chosen people and the camp of the Egyptians. That is occurring every day. Our circumstances have different readings from different points of view. It is possible for a life to be so lived that the enemy shall be afraid of it. The enemy shall say, “I do not understand this people; there is a mystery about them, say what you please, criticise them night and day with all possible sharpness and severity; there is a magic ring around them; there are circumstances attendant upon them which are the more perplexing in that they sometimes seem to be disasters: now we say, ‘Everything is against them,’ and presently the very things we thought to be against them turn out rather to the furtherance of their purposes.” This is a mystery; and thus the Divine Providence turns a different view upon the Church and the world, the son and the alien, the family and the rebel-camp. So long, therefore, as these central truths can be attested and positively verified, why should we fritter away a splendid occasion by a petty criticism of mere figure, and robe, and parabolic symbol and representation? Thus, take it from the literal side, take it from the imaginative and parabolical, my faith has no difficulty whatever with the miracles, except when they are small. It rises to their majesty. The greater they arc the more will every Nicodemus be compelled even at night time to steal out and say to the Worker, “Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him.” Mark how Nicodemus fixed upon the quality of the miracles the miracles that separated themselves from the magician’s wonders of heathen or cultivated lands.
“And they said unto Moses, Because there were no graves in Egypt, hast thou taken, us away to die in the wilderness? wherefore hast thou dealt thus with us, to carry us forth out of Egypt? Is not this the word that we did tell thee in Egypt, saying, Let us alone, that we may serve the Egyptians? For it had been better for us to serve the Egyptians, than that we should die in the wilderness” ( Exo 14:11-12 ).
That is a miracle in very deed! That is the marvel that astounds the reason, the heart, the imagination, and the conscience. That is the miracle which grieves Heaven. “Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth: for the Lord hath spoken, I have nourished and brought up children, and they have rebelled against me.” That is the upsetting of the law of continuity. That is the violation of things permanent. That is an ugly and wicked twist in the movement of the law which you call “the persistence of force.” After all they had seen, after all the miracles of love, and grace, and deliverance, and comfort, after all they had known of the government of God, they turned round with so base a falseness and smote, as with darts seven times whetted, the heart of Moses their leader. That is the impossible miracle. How mean we are and paltry in our judgment and in thinking that the dividing of a sea or the breaking up of a firmament is the impossible thing, when every day we are working in our own degree and region moral miracles that make the breaking up and reconstruction of the universe mere child’s fancy and child’s play. Why do we not fix our attention upon moral incongruities, violations of moral law, rebellion against natural instinct? He who smites his father or his mother violates every law of nature with a more forceful and violent hand than the God who interferes or intervenes in his own infinite machine the universe to do what pleaseth him for the good of his creatures. We like little intellectual puzzles; we flee away because “conscience makes cowards of us all,” from the violations of moral law of which we are guilty. We love to speak of “continuity,” it costs us nothing; it does not wring the conscience, it does not set up a bar of judgment in the life; it has a bold resonance which we can utter without moral expense or agony; therefore we play upon it; it delights our intellectual vanity. When we come to ourselves we shall know that we have sinned against Heaven and against ourselves and are no more worthy to be called children. In the sublime agony we shall forget all physical miracles in the stupendous wonder that we have grieved the Father’s heart.
“And the children of Israel went into the midst of the sea upon the dry ground: and the waters Were a wall unto them on their right hand, and on their left” ( Exo 14:22 ).
Did they really do this? Why not? Suppose we set aside the miraculous incident for a moment and ask: What does the writer mean to convey by this high imagining? He means to convey this lesson, namely, that a way was found where a way was supposed to be impossible. Is that his meaning? Yes. If that is so, the doctrine is verifying and illustrating itself every day in the history of every man. This then is the true miracle: that when our poor life has been driven up to a point from which there seemed to be no escape, God has shown an opening in the rock, or a way through the deep; and we who expected to perish because the way was ended have been enabled to enter upon larger liberties. Who will swear to that? I will. Ten thousand times ten thousand witnesses will avouch it. There will be no halting in that oath; and if you represent to us these deliverances as the breaking up of mountains, the dividing of seas, the cleaving in twain of deep and rapid-flowing rivers, we will say, “Pile up the parables, stir your imagination to some nobler figurativeness, for you can never by symbol, or dream, or romantic art, represent the whole truth which we have realised as to the delivering, protecting, preserving, redeeming providence of God.”
Instead, therefore, of joining the unbelievers who waste life in trying to show that Almightiness cannot be Almighty, I prefer to begin the study from the other end and to say, “Even if this be a figure, it is a happy one, for I have been in circumstances just of this very kind: the enemy behind me, the foe almost with his hand upon my weary back, and no way out of the difficulty has presented itself, and yet suddenly my extremity became God’s opportunity, and at a bound I was beyond the reach of the destroyer.” We want personal testimony about matters of this kind. We want such incidents proved by modern consciousness and present-day facts. That can be done, and is being done. When the Church rises as one man and repeats the challenge of the psalmist “Come and hear, all ye that fear God, and I will declare what he hath done for my soul” the critic will first have to prove us false in our character and in our spirit before he can prove us false in our theology and our worship. Do not find fault with the manner in which the truth itself is presented. To find fault with the mere manner of conveying the truth is foolish, is unjust. We should seek the truth, realise it, own it, and abide by it.
Leaving the merely miraculous line, these incidents show us human life in a state of panic and distress.
“When Pharaoh drew nigh, the children of Israel lifted up their eyes, and, behold, the Egyptians marched after them; and they were sore afraid: and the children of Israel cried out unto the Lord” ( Exo 14:10 ).
How soon we are driven into a panic! In the very midst of our prayers we are startled into atheism. A sudden fear shoots through the soul, sometimes in the very act of intercession, and petrifies the holy aspiration, so that we rise from the altar worse than when we bended down before its sacred stones. The incidents show us human nature in a spirit of rebellion and ingratitude. “And they said unto Moses, Because there were no graves in Egypt, hast thou taken us away to die in the wilderness?” How we are like staves that break in the hands of those who use them! There is but a step between the truest friendship and the bitterest enmity. The brother who adores you to-day will hate you tomorrow, if you cross his will or stain his pride. Here is human life in a condition of utter helplessness.
“Fear ye not, stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord” ( Exo 14:13 ).
These are noble times times when we have to be everything by being nothing; days when our poor arms have to fall down at our sides unable to do the very simplest thing in the way of self-deliverance or self-extrication from difficulty. This threefold condition was the state of the world prior to the birth of Christ. The world was in a state of panic and distress; the spirit of rebellion and ingratitude urged itself against the heavens, it had exhausted every possible means of self-deliverance and self-pro-gress, and could go no further. It had begun a circular movement, and in its helpless rotation was dying of monotony. Suddenly there was a voice heard: “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good-will toward men.” History took a new turn from that day. Account for it as you please again resent the miraculous and supernatural element, there is the fact, that to-day men will do more for Jesus Christ than for any other leader. The men who know him best love him most, and have entered most profoundly into his spirit. Paul was not a weak man, Paul could take hold of an argument by both hands and weigh it, measure it, test it; Paul was a man who is proved by his mere style of writing and of speech to have been a man of great intellectual capacity as well as of fine moral quality, a philosopher, a reasoner, a critic, a man of most penetrating intellect and of ample judgment; and he, having approached this great miracle from the hostile side, left it at last, when he was old, bruised, stripped, almost dead, saying “I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing.” It was a philosopher who said, “God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ.” It was a critic who said, “I am crucified with Christ.” It was an aristocrat of the highest Pharisaic blood who gathered together all pedigrees and genealogies and prides of families and said, “I do count them but dung, that I may win Christ.” The Man who made such an impression on such a mind was himself a greater miracle than any wonder or sign which he performed before the imagination, the curiosity, or the unbelief of his contemporaries. Now unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood, unto him be glory and dominion and all majesty day without end. Amen.
Fuente: The People’s Bible by Joseph Parker
VI
THE TEN PLAGUES, OR THE GREAT DUEL
Exodus 5:18-13:36
The present chapter will be upon the great duel (as Dr. Sampey is pleased to call it) between Moses and Pharaoh, or in other words, the ten plagues. I have mapped out, as usual, some important questions.
What is the scope of the lesson? From Exo 5:15-12:37 . What is the theme of the lesson? The ten plagues, or God’s answer to Pharaoh’s question: “Who is the Lord?” What is the central text? Exo 12:12 : “Against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment.” What was the purpose of these plagues? Generally, as expressed in Exo 9:16 : “That my name may be declared throughout all the earth,” i.e., to show that Jehovah was the one and only God. The second object was to show to Israel that Jehovah was a covenant keeping God. The first object touched outsiders. As it touched Moses it was to show that God would fully accredit him as the leader. How was Moses accredited? By the power to work miracles. Let the reader understand, if you never knew it before, that Moses is the first man mentioned in the Bible who worked a miracle, though God had worked some miracles directly before this. But Moses was God’s first agent to work miracles, duly commissioned to bear a message to other men.
On the general subject of miracles, I wish to offer the remark, that there are three great groups of miracles, viz.: The Plagues of Egypt, the miracles wrought by Elijah and Elisha, and the miracles wrought by Christ and the apostles. And from the time of Moses, every now and then to the time of Christ, some prophet was enabled to work a miracle. These are the groups. But what is a miracle? When we come to the New Testament we find four words employed, all expressed in Greek. One word expresses the effect of the miracle on the beholder, a “wonder.” Another expresses the purpose, a “sign.” Another expresses the energy, or “power,” while still another expresses the “work”‘, i.e., “wonders, signs, powers, works.”
As we have come to miracles for the first time, it would be a good thing for every reader to read the introductory part of Trench, or some other author Trench is the best. We come back to our question, What is a miracle? Take this for a definition: (1) “An extraordinary event.” That is the first idea. If it is an ordinary event you cannot call it wonderful. It is not a miracle that the sun should rise in the east. It would be a miracle for it to be seen rising in the west. (2) This extraordinary event is discernible to the senses. (3) It apparently violates natural laws and probabilities. I say, “apparently,” because we do not know that it actually does. (4) It is inexplicable by natural laws alone. (5) It is produced by the agency of God, and is sometimes produced immediately. (6) For religious purposes; usually to accredit a messenger or attest God’s revelation to him.
I am going to call your attention to some definitions that are either imperfect or altogether wrong. Thomas Aquinas, a learned doctor of the Middle Ages, says that miracles are events wrought by divine power apart from the order generally observed in nature. That is simply an imperfect definition; good as far as it goes. Hume and Spinoza, a Jew, say, “A miracle is a violation of a natural law; therefore,” says Spinoza, “impossible”; “therefore,” says Hume, “incredible.” It is not necessarily a violation of natural laws: for instance, if I turn a knife loose, the law of gravitation would make it fall, but if a wind should come in between, stronger than the law, of gravitation, and this natural law should hold the knife up, it would not be a violation of the natural law; simply one
natural law overcoming another. Therefore, it is wrong to say that a miracle is a violation of natural law. Jean Paul, a noted critical skeptic, says, “Miracles of earth are the laws of heaven.” Renan says: “Miracles are the inexplicable.” Schleiermacher says, “Miracles are relative, that is, the worker of them only anticipates later knowledge.” Dr. Paulus says, “The account of miracles is historical, but the history must signify simply the natural means.” Wolsey says, “The text that tells us about miracles is authentic, but the miracles are allegories, not facts.” Now, I have given you what I conceive to be a correct definition of a miracle and some definitions that are either imperfect or altogether faulty.
When may miracles be naturally expected? When God makes new revelations; as, in the three epochs of miracles.
To what classes of people are miracles incredible? Atheists, pantheists, and deists. Deists recognize a God of physical order. Pantheists make no distinction between spirit and matter. Atheists deny God altogether.
What are counterfeit miracles? We are going to strike some soon, and we have to put an explanation on them. In 2Th 2 they are said to be “lying wonders,” or deeds. They are called “lying” not because they are lies, but because their object is to teach a lie, or accredit a lie. Unquestionably, Satan has the power to do supernatural things, so far as we understand the laws of nature, and when the antichrist comes he is to be endowed with power to work miracles that will deceive everybody in the world but the elect. It is not worth while, therefore, to take the position that the devil and his agents cannot, by permission of God, work miracles. When may we naturally expect counterfeit miracles? When the real miracles are produced the counterfeit will appear as an offset. Whenever a religious imposture of any kind is attempted, or any false doctrine is preached, they will claim that they can attest it. For example, on the streets of our cities are those, whatever you call them, who claim that Mar 16 is fulfilled in our midst today. What then, does the counterfeit miracle prove? The reality and necessity of the true. Thieves do not counterfeit the money of a “busted” bank. How may you usually detect counterfeit miracles? This is important: (1) By the immoral character of the producer. That is not altogether satisfactory, but it is presumptive evidence. (2) If the doctrine it supports or teaches is contradictory to truth already revealed and established. (3) The evil motive or the end in view. God would not work a lot of miracles just for show. When Herod said to Christ, “Work me a miracle,” Christ refused. Miracles are not to gratify curiosity. (4) Its eternal characteristic of emptiness or extravagance. (5) Its lack of substantial evidence. In the spirit-rapping miracles they need too many conditions put out the light, join hands, etc. It is one of the rules of composition as old as the classics, never to introduce a god unless there be a necessity for a god; and when one is introduced, let what he says and does correspond to the dignity and nature of a god. If that is a rule of composition in dealing with miracles it shows that God, as being wise, would not intervene foolishly.
Now, is a miracle a greater manifestation of God’s power than is ordinarily displayed by the Lord? No. He shows just as much power in producing an almond tree from a germ, and that almond tree in the course of nature producing buds and blossoms, by regulating the order of things, as he does to turn rods to serpents. But while the power is no greater, the impression is more vivid, and that is the object of a miracle.
There are, certainly, distinctions in miracles, and you will need to know the distinction when you discuss the miracles wrought by Moses more than any other set of miracles in the Bible. There are two kinds of miracles, the absolute and the providential, or circumstantial, e.g., the conversion of water into blood is an absolute miracle; the bringing of frogs out of the water is a providential or circumstantial miracle. Keep that distinction in your mind. The plague of darkness and the death of the firstborn are also absolute miracles. The providential or circumstantial miracles get their miraculous nature from their intensity, their connection with the word of Moses, the trial of Pharaoh and the Egyptian gods, with the deliverance of Israel, and their being so timely as to strengthen the faith of God’s people, and to overcome the skepticism of God’s enemies.
I will give a further idea about a providential miracle. Suppose I were to say that on a certain day at one o’clock the sun would be veiled. If that is the time for an eclipse there is nothing miraculous in it. But suppose a dense cloud should shut off the light of the sun, there is a miraculous element because there is no way of calculating clouds as you would calculate eclipses. Now, the orderly workings of nature, “The heavens declare the glory of God and the firmament showeth his handiwork,” reveal the glory of God to a mind in harmony with God, and they hide the glory from the eyes of an alienated man who will not see God in the sun, moon, and stars. They will turn away from the glory of God in these regular events and worship the creature more than the creator.
Does a miracle considered by itself prove the truth of the doctrine or the divine mission’ of him who produces it? Not absolutely. The Egyptians imitated the first two miracles. Other things must be considered. The doctrine must commend itself to the conscience as being good. All revelation presupposes in a man power to recognize the truth, arising from the fact that man is made in the image of God, and has a conscience, and that “Jesus Christ lighteth every man coming into the world.” The powers of darkness are permitted to perform wonders of a startling nature. The character of the performer, the end in view, the doctrine to be attested in itself, BS related to previously revealed truth, must all be considered. In Deu 13:1-5 , the people are expressly warned against the acceptance of any sign or wonder, wrought by any prophet or dreamer, used to attest a falsehood. In Mat 24:24 , the Saviour expressly forewarns that antichrists and false prophets shall come with lying signs and wonders, and Paul says so in several passages.
How are miracles helpful, since the simple, unlearned are exposed to the danger of accepting the false and rejecting the true? This difficulty is more apparent than real. The unlearned and poor are exposed to no more danger than the intellectual. Those who love previously revealed truth and have no pleasure in unrighteousness are able to discriminate, whether they are wise folks or simple folks. The trouble of investigation is no greater here than in any other moral problem. Therefore, the apostle John says, “Beloved, try every spirit.” A man comes to you and says he is baptized of the Holy Spirit. John says, “Try him, because there are many false prophets,” and “Every spirit that refuses to confess that God was manifested in the flesh,” turn him down at once. Once Waco was swept away by the Spiritualists. I preached a series of sermons on Spiritualism. Once in making calls I came upon some strangers, and happened to meet a Spiritualist lady who came up to me and said, “I am so glad to meet you. We belong to the same crowd. We are both a spiritual people. Let me see your hand.” I held it out and she commenced talking on it. She says, “I believe the Bible as much as you do.” I said, “No, you don’t. I can make you abuse the Bible in two minutes.” “Well, I would like to see you try.” I read that passage in Isaiah where a woe is pronounced upon those who are necromancers and magicians. “Yes, and I despise any such statements,” she said. “Of course,” I replied; “that is what I expected you to say.”
The conflict in Egypt was between Jehovah on the one hand and the gods of Egypt, representing the powers of darkness, on the other. Note these scriptures: Exo 12:12 ; Exo 15:11 ; Num 33:4 . The devil is the author of idolatry in all its forms The battle was between God and the devil, the latter
working through Pharaoh and his hosts, and God working through Moses.
Water turned into blood. I want to look at the first miracle A question that every reader should note is: State in order the ten miracles. First, the conversion of the waters of the Nile into blood. Egypt is the child of the Nile. If you were up in a balloon and looked down upon that land you would see a long green ribbon, the Nile Valley and its fertile banks. Therefore they worship the Nile. There has been a great deal written to show that at certain seasons of the year the waters of the Nile are filled with insect life of the animalcule order, so infinitesimal in form as to be invisible, even with a microscope, yet so multitudinous in number that they make the water look like blood. It would be perfectly natural if it only came that way. I will tell you why I do not think it came that way. This miracle applied to the water which had already been drawn up) and was in the water buckets in their homes. That makes it a genuine miracle.
The second miracle was the miracle of the frogs. I quote something about that miracle from the Epic of Moses , by Dr. W. G. Wilkinson:
Then Aaron, at his brother’s bidding, raised His rod and with it smote the river. Straight .Forth from the water at that pregnant stroke Innumerably teeming issued frogs, Prodigious progeny I in number such As if each vesicle of blood in all The volume of the flood that rolled between The banks of Nile and overfilled his bound And overflowed, had quickened to a frog, And the midsummer tide poured endless down, Not water and not blood, but now instead One mass of monstrous and colluctant life! The streams irriguous over all the realm, A vast reticulation of canals Drawn from the river like the river, these Also were smitten with that potent rod, And they were choked with tangled struggling frogs. Each several frog was full of lusty youth, And each, according to his nature, wished More room wherein to stretch himself, and leap, Amphibious, if he might not swim. So all Made for the shore and occupied the land. Rank following rank, in serried order, they Resistless by their multitude and urged, Each rank advancing, by each rank behind An insupportable invasion, fed With reinforcement inexhaustible From the great river rolling down in frogs I Spread everywhere and blotted out the earth. As when the shouldering billows of the sea, Drawn by the tide and by the tempest driven, Importunately press against the shore Intent to find each inlet to the land, So now this infestation foul explored The coasts of Egypt seeking place and space.
With impudent intrusion, leap by leap Advancing, those amphibious cohorts pushed Into the houses of the people, found Entrance into the chambers where they slept, And took possession of their very beds. The kneading-troughs wherein their bread was made, The subterranean ovens where were baked The loaves, the Egyptians with despair beheld Become the haunts of this loathed tenantry. The palace, nay, the person, of the king Was not exempt. His stately halls he saw Furnished to overflowing with strange guests Unbidden whose quaint manners lacked the grace Of well-instructed courtliness; who moved About the rooms with unconventional ease And freedom, in incalculable starts Of movement and direction that surprised. They leaped upon the couches and divans; They settled on the tops of statutes; pumped Their breathing organs on each jutting edge Of frieze or cornice round about the walls; In thronging councils on the tables sat; From unimaginable perches leered. The summit of procacity, they made The sacred person of the king himself, He sitting or reclining as might chance, The target of their saltatory aim, And place of poise and pause for purposed rest.
Nor yet has been set forth the worst; the plague Was also a dire plague of noise. The night Incessantly resounded with the croaks, In replication multitudinous, Of frogs on every side, whether in mass Crowded together in the open field, Or single and recluse within the house. The dismal ululation, every night And all night long, assaulted every ear; Nor did the blatant clamour so forsake The day, that from some unfrequented place Might not be heard a loud, lugubrious, Reiterant chorus from batrachian throats. Epic of Moses I think that is one of the finest descriptions I ever read. They worshiped frogs. Now they were surfeited with their gods. I have space only to refer to the next plague of lice. I give Dr. Wilkinson’s description of it: They were like immigrants and pioneers Looking for habitations in new lands; They camped and colonized upon a man And made him quarry for their meat and drink. They ranged about his person, still in search Of better, even better, settlement; Each man was to each insect parasite A new-found continent to be explored. Which was the closer torment, those small fangs Infixed, and steady suction from the blood, Or the continuous crawl of tiny feet Banging the conscious and resentful skin In choice of where to sink a shaft for food Which of these two distresses sorer was, Were question; save that evermore The one that moment pressing sorer seemed.
Epic of Moses
What was the power of that plague? The Egyptians more than any other people that ever lived upon the earth believed in ceremonial cleanliness, particularly for their priesthood. They were not only spotless white, but defilement by an unclean thing was to them like a dip into hell itself.
QUESTIONS
1. What the scope of the next great topic in Exodus?
2. The theme?
3. The central text?
4. Purpose of the plagues?
5. How was Moses accredited?
6. What three great groups of miracles in the Bible?
7. In the New Testament what four words describe miracles? Give both Greek and English words, showing signification of each.
8. What, then, is a miracle?
9. Cite some faulty definitions.
10 When may they be naturally expected?
11. What are counterfeit or lying miracles, and may they be real miracles in the sense of being wrought by superhuman power, and whose in such case is the power, and what the purpose of its exercise?
12. To what classes of people are miracles incredible, and why?
13. Cite Satan’s first miracle, its purpose and result. Answer: (1) Accrediting the serpent with the power of speech; (2) To get Eve to receive him as an angel of light; (3) That Eve did thus receive him, and was beguiled.
14. On this point what says the Mew Testament about the last manifestation of the antichrist?
15. When may counterfeit miracles be expected?
16. Admitting many impostures to be explained naturally, could such impostures as idolatries, Mohammedanism, Mormonism, Spiritualism, witchcraft, necromancy, etc., obtain permanent hold on the minds of many peoples without some superhuman power?
17. What do counterfeit miracles prove?
18. How may they be detected?
19. What says a great poet about the priority of introducing a god into a story, who was he and where may the classic be found? Answer: (1) See chapter; (2) Horace; (3) In Horace’s Ars Poetica .
20. Distinguish between the ordinary powers of God working in nature and a miracle, e.g., the budding of Aaron’s rod and the budding of an almond tree.
21. What two kinds of miracles? Cite one of each kind from the ten plagues.
22. Of which kind are most of the ten plagues?
23. Does a miracle in itself prove the truth of the doctrine it is wrought to attest? If not, what things are to be considered?
24. Cite both Old Testament and New Testament proof that some doctrines attested by miracles are to be rejected.
25. If Satan works some miracles, and if the doctrines attested by some miracles are to be rejected, how are miracles helpful, especially to the ignorant, without powers of discrimination?
26. Who were the real antagonists in this great Egyptian duel?
27. Give substance and result of the first interview between Pharaoh and Moses?
28. Name in their order of occurrence the ten plagues.
29. First Plague: State the significance of this plague.
30. How have some sought to account for it naturally, and your reasons for the inadequacy of this explanation?
31. Second Plague: Recite Dr. Wilkinson’s fine description of the plague in his Epic of Moses.
32. The significance of the plague?
33. Third Plague: His description of the third plague and its significance.
VII
THE TEN PLAGUES, OR THE GREAT DUEL (Continued)
Every plague was intended to strike in some way at some deity worship in Egypt. I begin this chapter by quoting from Dr. Wilkinson’s Epic of Moses language which he puts in the mouth of Pharaoh’s daughter, the reputed mother of Moses, who is trying to persuade the king to let the people go: We blindly worship as a god the Nile; The true God turns his water into blood. Therein the fishes and the crocodiles, Fondly held sacred, welter till they die. Then the god Heki is invoked in vain To save us from the frogs supposed his care. The fly-god is condemned to mockery, Unable to deliver us from flies. Epic of Moses
We have discussed three of the plagues, and in Exo 8:20-32 , we consider the plague of flies. Flies, or rather beetles, were also sacred. In multitudes of forms their images were worn as ornaments, amulets, and charms. But at a word from Moses these annoying pests swarmed by millions until every sacred image was made hateful by the living realities.
The plague of Murrain, Exo 9:1-7 . Cattle were sacred animals with the Egyptians. Cows were sacred to Isis. Their chief god, Apis, was a bull, stalled in a place, fed on perfumed oats, served on golden plates to the sound of music. But at a word from Moses the murrain seized the stock. Apis himself died. Think of a god dying with the murrain I
Boils, Exo 9:8-12 . Egyptian priests were physicians. Religious ceremonies were medicines. But when Moses sprinkled ashes toward heaven grievous and incurable boils broke out on
the bodies of the Egyptians. King, priests, and magicians were specially afflicted; could not even stand before Moses.
Hail, Exo 9:13-35 . The control of rain and hail was vested in feminine deities Isis, Sate, and Neith. But at Moses’ word rain and hail out of season and in horrible intensity swept over Egypt, beating down their barley and the miserable remnant of their stock, and beating down exposed men, women, and children. In vain they might cry, “O Isis, O Sate, O Neith, help us! We perish; call off this blinding, choking rain! Rebuke this hurtling, pitiless storm of hail I” But the Sphinx was not more deaf and silent than Egypt’s goddesses.
Locusts, Exo 10:1-20 . The Egyptians worshiped many deities whose charge was to mature and protect vegetables. But at Moses’ word locusts came in interminable clouds, with strident swishing wings and devouring teeth. Before them a garden, behind them a desert. See in prophetic imagery the description of their terrible power, Joe 2:2 ; Rev 9:2-11 .
Darkness, Exodus 10-11:3. Ra, the male correlative of Isis, was the Egyptian god of light. A triune god, Amun Ra, the father of divine life, Kheeper Ra, of animal life, Kneph Ra, of human life. But at Moses’ word came seventy-two consecutive hours of solid, palpable darkness. In that inky plutonian blackness where was Ra? He could not flush the horizon with dawn, nor silver the Sphinx with moonbeams, nor even twinkle as a little star. Even the pyramids were invisible. That ocean of supernatural darkness was peopled by but one inhabitant, one unspoken, one throbbing conviction: “Jehovah, he is God.”
Death of the First-born, Exo 11:4-8 ; Exo 12:29-35 . This crowning and convincing miracle struck down at one time every god in Egypt, as lightning gores a black cloud or rives an oak, or a cyclone prostrates a forest. See the effect of this last miracle. The victory was complete. Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron by night, and said, “Rise up, and get you forth, from among my people, both ye and the children of Israel; and go, serve Jehovah, as ye have said. Also take your flocks and your herds, as ye have said, and be gone; and bless me also. And the Egyptians were urgent upon the people that they might send them out of the land in haste; for they said, We be all dead men. And against the children of Israel not a dog moved his tongue against man or beast; so the Lord put a difference between the Egyptians and Israel” (Exo 11:7 ; Exo 12:31-35 ).
Give the names of the magicians who withstood Moses and Aaron and what New Testament lesson is derived from their resistance? Paul warns Timothy of perilous times in the last days, in which men having the form of godliness but denying the power thereof were ever learning but never able to come to the knowledge of the truth, and thus concludes, “Now as Jannes and Jambres withstood Moses, so do these also resist the truth; men of corrupt minds, reprobate concerning the faith. But they shall proceed no further; for their folly shall be manifest unto all men, as theirs also was.” That is the time which I have so frequently emphasized when Paul’s man of sin shall appear and be like Jannes and Jambres, who withstood Moses and Aaron.
Give in their order the methods of Pharaoh’s oppositions to God’s people: (1) Persecution; (2) Imitation of their miracles; (3) Propositions of compromise. State what miracles they imitated. They changed their rods to serpents and imitated to some extent the first two plagues. But the rod of Aaron swallowed up theirs and they could not remove any plague nor imitate the last eight. State the several propositions of compromise; show the danger of each, and give the reply of Moses. I am more anxious that you should remember these compromises than the plagues.
COMPROMISES PROPOSED “Sacrifice in the land of Egypt,” i.e., do not separate from us, Exo 8:25 . This stratagem was to place Jehovah on a mere level with the gods of Egypt, thus recognizing the equality of the two religions. Moses showed the impracticableness of this, since the Hebrews sacrificed to their God animals numbered among the Egyptian divinities, which would be to them an abomination.
“I will let you go only not very far away” (Exo 8:28 ), that is, if you will separate let it be only a little separation. If you will draw a line of demarcation, let it be a dim one. Or, if you will so put it that your religion is light and ours darkness, do not make the distinction so sharp and invidious; be content with twilight, neither night nor day. This compromise catches many simple ones today. Cf. 2Pe 2:18-22 .
“I will let you men go, but leave with us your wives and children” (Exo 10:11 ). This compromise when translated simply means, “You may separate from us, but leave your hearts behind.” It is an old dodge of the devil. Serve whom ye will, but let us educate your children. Before the flood the stratagem succeeded: “Be sons of God if you will, but let your wives be daughters of men.” The mothers will carry the children with them. In modern days it says, “Let grown people go to church if they must, but do not worry the children with Sunday schools.”
“Go ye, serve the Lord; let your little ones go with you; only let your flocks and herds be stayed”; i.e., acknowledge God’s authority over your persons; but not over your property. This compromise suits all the stingy, avaricious professors who try to serve both God and mammon; their proverb is: “Religion is religion, but business is business.” Which means that God shall not rule over the maxims and methods of trade, nor in their counting houses, nor over their purses, nor over the six workdays, but simply be their God on Sunday at church. Well did Moses reply, “Our cattle shall go with us; there shall not an hoof be left behind.”
These compromises mean anything in the world rather than a man should put himself and his wife and his children and his property, his everything on earth, on the altar of God. Was it proper for the representatives of the Christian religion to unite in the Chicago World’s Fair Parliament of Religions, including this very Egyptian religion rebuked by the ten plagues? All these religions came together and published a book setting forth the world’s religions comparatively.
My answer is that it was a disgraceful and treasonable surrender of all the advantages gained by Moses, Elijah, Jesus Christ, and Paul. “If Baal be God, follow him; but if Jehovah be God, follow him.” If neither be God, follow neither. Jesus Christ refused a welcome among the gods of Greece and Rome. The Romans would have been very glad to make Jesus a deity. But he would have no niche in the Pantheon. That Chicago meeting was also a Pantheon. The doctrine of Christ expresses: “Be not unequally yoked with unbelievers; for what fellowship have righteousness and iniquity? or what communion hath light with darkness? And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what portion hath a believer with an unbeliever? And what agreement hath a temple of God with idols? for we are a temple of the living God; even as God said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Wherefore come ye out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch no unclean thing; and I will receive you, and will be to you a Father, and ye shall be to me sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty” (2Co 6:14-18 ). “But I say, that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to demons, and not to God; and I would not that ye should have communion with demons. We cannot drink the cup of the Lord, and the cup of demons; ye cannot partake of the table of the Lord, and the table of demons. Or do we provoke the Lord to jealousy? are we stronger than he?” (1Co 10:20-22 ).
The supreme fight made in Egypt was to show that Jehovah alone is God. He was not fighting for a place among the deities of the world, but he was claiming absolute supremacy. When we come to the giving of the law we find: “Thou shalt have no other gods before me,” and “you shall make no graven image, even of me, to bow down to worship it.” It took from the days of Moses to the days of the Babylonian captivity to establish in the Jewish mind the unity of God. All the time they were lapsing into idolatry. The prophets fought over the same battles that Moses fought. But when God was through with those people they were forever settled in this conviction, viz.: There is no other God but Jehovah. From that day till this no man has been able to find a Jewish idolater. Now then it takes from the birth of Christ to the beginning of the millennium to establish in the Jewish mind that Jesus of Nazareth is that Jehovah. Some Jews accept it of course, but the majority of them do not. When the Jews are converted that introduces the millennium, as Peter said to those who had crucified the Lord of glory, “Repent ye: in order that he may send back Jesus whom the heavens must retain until the time of the restitution of all things.”
One matter has been deferred for separate discussion until this time. I will be sure to call for twenty passages on the hardening of Pharaoh’s heart. Paul has an explanation of them in Rom 9:17-23 , and our good Methodist commentator, Adam Clarke, devotes a great deal of space in his commentary to weakening what Paul said. There are two kinds of hardening: (1) According to a natural law when a good influence is not acted upon, it has less force next time, and ultimately no force. A certain lady wanted to get up each morning at exactly six o’clock, so she bought an alarm clock, and the first morning when the alarm turned loose it nearly made her jump out of bed. So she got up and dressed on time. But after awhile when she heard the alarm she would not go to sleep, but she just lay there a little while. (Sometimes you see a boy stop still in putting on his left sock and sit there before the fire). The next time this lady heard the alarm clock the result was that it did not sound so horrible, and she kept lingering until finally she went to sleep. Later the alarm would no longer awaken her. There is a very tender, susceptible hardening of a young person under religious impressions that brings a tear to the eye. How easy it is to follow that first impression, but you put it off and say no, and after awhile the sound of warning becomes to you like the beat of the little drummer’s drumstick when Napoleon was crossing the Alps. The little fellow slipped and fell into a crevasse filled with snow, but the brave boy kept beating his drum and they could hear it fainter and fainter, until it was an echo and then it died away.
(2) The other kind of hardening is what is called judicial hardening, where God deals with a man and he resists, adopting this or that substitute until God says, “Now you have shut your eyes to the truth; I will make you judicially blind and send you a delusion that you may believe a lie and be damned.” Paul says, “Blindness in part hath happened unto Israel because they turned away from Jesus; because they would not hear his voice, nor the voice of their own prophets; because they persecuted those who believed in Jesus. There is a veil over their eyes when they read the scripture which cannot be taken away until they turn to the Lord and say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord.”
Now the last thought: When the first three plagues were sent they fell on all Egypt alike. After that, in order to intensify the miracle and make it more evidently a miracle, in the rest of the plagues God put a difference between Egypt and Goshen, where the Israelites lived. The line of demarcation was drawn in the fourth plague. In the fifth plague it fell on Egypt, not Goshen; the most stupendous distinction was when the darkness came, just as if an ocean of palpable blackness had in it an oasis of the most brilliant light, and that darkness stood up like a wall at the border line between Egypt and Goshen, bringing out that sharp difference that God put between Egypt and Israel.
I will close with the last reference to the difference in the night of that darkness, a difference of blood sprinkled upon the portals of every Jewish house. The houses might be just alike, but no Egyptian house had the blood upon its portals. Wherever the angel of death saw the blood he passed over the house and the mother held her babe safe in her arms. But in Egypt all the first-born died.
When I was a young preacher and a little fervid, I was preaching a sermon to sinners on the necessity of having the blood of sprinkling, which speaketh better things than the blood of Abel, and in my fancy I drew this picture: A father, gathering all his family around him, says: “The angel of death is going to pass over tonight. Wife and Children, death is coming tonight; death is coming tonight.” “Well, Husband,” says the wife, “is there no way of escaping death?” “There is this: if we take a lamb and sprinkle its blood on the portals, the angel will see that blood and we will escape.” Then the children said, “Oh, Father, go and get the lamb; and be sure to get the right kind. Don’t make a mistake. Carry out every detail; let it be without blemish; kill exactly at the time God said; catch the blood in a basin, dip the bush in the blood and sprinkle the blood on the door that the angel of death may not enter our house.” Then I applied that to the unconverted, showing the necessity of getting under the shadow of the blood of the Lamb. I was a young preacher then, but I do not know that, being old, I have improved on the thought.
QUESTIONS
1. Name the ten plagues in the order of their occurrence.
2. Show in each case the blow against some one or more gods of Egypt.
3. What is the most plausible explanation of the first six in their relation to each other?
4. How explain the hail and locusts?
5. What modern poet in matchless English and in true interpretation gives an account of these plagues?
6. How does he state the natural explanation?
7. How does he express the several strokes at Egypt’s gods?
8. What of the differentiating circumstances of these plagues?
9. State the progress of the case as it affected the magicians.
10. State the progress of the case as it affected the people.
11. State the progress of the case as it affected Pharaoh himself.
12. Give in order Pharaoh’s methods of opposition.
13. State in order Pharaoh’s proposed compromises and the replies of Moses.
14. State some of the evils of religious compromise.
15. What about the World’s Fair Parliament of Religions?
l6. What about the Inter-Denominational Laymen’s Movement? And the money of the rich for colleges?
17. Show how each miracle after the third was intensified by putting a difference between Egypt and Israel, as in the case of the last plague, and illustrate.
18. Explain the two kinds of hardening, and cite the twenty uses of the word in Pharaoh’s case.
19. How does Paul use Exo 9:16 , in Rom 9 and how do you reply to Adam Clarke’s explanation of it?
Fuente: B.H. Carroll’s An Interpretation of the English Bible
VIII
THE INSTITUTION OF THE PASSOVER
Exodus 12-13
In considering the plagues we did not consider this Passover. We take up first, the word. In Hebrew this means “to step over,” “to pass over”; hence, to spare, to have mercy on. Next, the nature of the Passover. It was essentially a sacrifice. It is called a sacrifice in our text and in the New Testament it says that Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us. A very few Protestants have taken the position that the Passover was not a sacrifice, but their position is entirely untenable. It was in every sense of the word a sacrifice, and not merely a sacrifice, but a substitutionary sacrifice. The paschal lamb in each house was to die in the place of the first-born, just as Christ our Passover was sacrificed for us. It is intensely substitutionary. And we now come to the institution of the ordinance. It was instituted in Egypt just before the last plague. As we go on in the Old Testament we will see some distinction between the Egyptian Passover and the later Passover of the Jews. Of course, there would be some distinction between a passover celebrated in a marching state and a passover when they were settled in the land. But after they were settled we find some additions to the Passover, even in the time of our Lord. It is not my purpose now to notice particularly these differences, but simply to affirm that there were distinctions between the originally established Passover and that of subsequent days.
The next thing is the distinction between the sacrifice of the Passover and the Feast of the Passover. We look first at the sacrifice. The first thing we want to determine is the time. In chapter 13 it says, “This day you go forth in the month of Abib ” and in other passages it is called the month Nisan. The two names correspond. The time of the year was in the goring when the firstfruits of the harvest were gathered. This month now becomes an era. In Exo 12:2 , it is said, “This month shall be the beginning of months unto you; it shall be the first month of the year to you.” That means the ecclesiastical year. They had a civil year, which commenced in the fall, but their ecclesiastical year commenced with that Passover. Still speaking about the time, on the tenth day of that month the Passover lamb was to be selected. On the fourteenth day of the same it was to be slain. More exactly, quite a number of passages say that it was slain in the evening. In Deu 16 it is said, “as the sun goes down.” In the New Testament we find that custom had changed, according to the teaching of the rabbis, who held that it meant “at the turn of the day”; so the passover lamb was slain about the ninth hour, which would be at three o’clock in the afternoon. The time was then spring, Abib or Nisan, answering to our March or April, the lamb selected on the tenth day, to be slain on the fourteenth, at the going down of the sun.
We now look at the sacrifice itself. It had to be a lambkin or kid, generally a lamb; just a year old and without a blemish. Who does the selecting? In the Egyptian Passover this was done by the head of every family; the priesthood was not yet established. There is, as yet, no central place of worship. We learn another distinction: If a family was too small to eat a whole lamb, then two or more families were united until they had enough to eat a lamb. When the lamb was slain what was done with the blood, representing the life? It was caught in a basin and sprinkled with a bunch of hyssop on the two sides of the door and the lintel, the piece across the top of the door. It was not sprinkled at the bottom because the blood was sacred and not to be stepped on, and the sprinkling of the blood made the house sacred for everybody who was in it when the blood was put there, and all who stayed inside. If one went out, it lost the virtue as far as he was concerned. That is the sacred part of it. What did the sacrifice part mean? That there was no natural distinction between the first-born of Israel and the first-born of Egypt. But by a distinction of grace, that blood becomes a substitutionary atonement for those sheltered in that house. Thus “Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us.” Who was to kill the lamb? The whole congregation of Israel participated in the killing. Later, we see a distinction based on the settlement and upon the establishment of the priesthood.
We now come to the feast. What was done with the body of the lamb? It was not boiled, not fried, but roasted. Then all that household assembled together. Here arises a question as to the restrictions on the persons who were to eat. It is expressly declared that a stranger who just happened to be staying there could not eat of it, but a slave that belonged to the family could partake of it. No foreigner could partake of it, nor could a hired servant; and an uncircumcised man was imperiously ordered not to partake of it, and a fearful penalty was attached to it. When that little family was gathered and this lamb was roasted, it was to be eaten by the whole family, but in eating it no bone was to be broken; and when they got through only the skeleton remained. They were to eat it with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. So far as the Egyptian Passover is concerned, nothing is said of wine, but in Christ’s time we see wine used. That first Passover, though, was in great haste.
Notice how they were to eat, viz.: with sandals on their feet. The sandals were taken off while in the house, but here they were to have them on since they were ready for starting, with a long robe girt around them and staff in hand. They were to go right from the feast on the march and they were to eat in a hurry. The bitter herbs signified the affliction from which they were escaping. A kind of sauce was made from these herbs. In the New Testament when Christ was eating the Passover it says that he dipped his sop into the dish. That, is the sauce. The unleavened bread referred to purity, leaven means corruption. As Paul explains when he discusses the matter in I Corinthians, “the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.” Notice that a part of this institution referred to a later time as set forth in these two chapters, because this feast was to be both a memorial and a sign, and as a memorial it was to be perpetuated. They were to observe it throughout all generations. The feast as provided on this occasion was to last seven days, from the fourteenth to the twenty-first. The first day, or the fourteenth, was devoted to searching the house that there should be no leaven found in the house.
It was a curious sight to watch the Jews prepare that way for the feast. The furniture was moved out, a lamp was lighted, and they would go around, holding it up to shine into all the cracks of the house; they would look into all the vessels to see if just a speck of leaven, or yeast, of any kind was in the house. To this Paul referred when he said, “Purge out the old leaven, and let us eat the feast of unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.” This was to be a memorial feast because this night they were to be delivered from Egypt; so they were sacred to God. It was a sign that as a nation they were being delivered from the power of Egypt forever. In connection with the Passover, therefore, is the sanctification of the first-born, the first-born male of man or animal was to be God’s. If it was an unclean animal, it was still to be God’s but it was to be redeemed with money and the money was to go into the treasury of God. The sanctification of the first-born must always be considered in connection with the Passover.
Another thing to be considered in connection with it was the agricultural feature. Not much reference is made to that here, but in the later books of the Pentateuch we come to it. It was a day in which certain offerings were to be made, particularly of the firstfruits. There was a special offering for each day of the seven days in which that feast was kept. So you must keep distinct in your mind the Passover as a sacrifice, the Passover as a feast, as a memorial, as a sign, the Passover in connection with the sanctification of the firstborn, and in relation to the agricultural features of it.
Another important thing: It was accompanied with instructions, Exo 12:26 : “And it shall come to pass, when your children shall say unto you, What mean ye by this service? that ye shall say, It is the sacrifice of Jehovah’s passover, who passed over the house of the children of Israel in Egypt, when he smote the Egyptians, and delivered our houses.” The second part of the instruction is in Exo 13:14 , where the first-born comes in: “When thy son asketh, What is this? Why do ye set yourselves apart the first-born on this occasion? your answer shall be: By the strength of his hand Jehovah brought us out of Egypt from the house of bondage, and it came to pass when Pharaoh would hardly let us go, Jehovah slew his first-born; therefore I sacrifice to Jehovah all that openeth the womb, being males; but all of the first-born of my sons I redeem.” The first-born was to be priest of the family, but when the nation was organized at Sinai, they took one of the twelve tribes and consecrated the entire tribe to the priesthood. The first-born of each family was thus, as it were, redeemed. When you are asked why the tribe of Levi belonged to God, your answer will be, because it took the place of the first-born in each family. The tribe of Levi is not to own any land but to be sustained by the Lords house and the Lord’s people. Notice, next, that the Passover was to be kept by faith. In Heb 11 we have this language: “By faith Moses kept the passover, and the sprinkling of the blood, that the destroyer of the first-born should not touch them.” When they slew that lamb and sprinkled his blood on the doorposts they were constantly to rely in their hearts on that blood to protect them. It was an act of faith in the blood.
The first time I ever witnessed the observance of the Lord’s supper I was a little boy, and I noticed that some of the bread was left over. A little Negro was with me, and he said “Let’s ask them for them scraps.” I said, “Maybe they won’t let us have them.” So when the deacons passed out (after the congregation was dismissed) with that plate of scraps the little Negro came up and said, “Massah, give ‘umn to me,” and the deacon said, “No, you can’t have them.” “Well what are you going to do with them?” asked the Negro. “Going to burn them up,” replied the deacon. It made a deep impression on my mind. That which was left over had to be destroyed, and they got that idea from the Passover. If they were unable to eat all of the lamb they must burn it that very night. It stood in a peculiar relation as no other food ever did, and was not to be used for secular purposes of any kind.
Another restriction was this: Suppose that there was a family gathered in a house that night. Maybe in the next house were some people who were not strictly entitled to come in and sit with that family. Now, could they take any of that lamb out of the house and give it to anybody out of the house? The law is very explicit. “You shall not take it out of the house.”
When a Baptist preacher, pastor of the First Church at Houston, Texas, allowed himself to be over-persuaded through his sympathetic good nature to go and administer the Lord’s Supper to a dying person, I told him that he had committed a great sin. He asked, “Why?” I replied: “You have violated every law of God that touches the Lord’s Supper, as you look at the analogy of the Passover and also the teaching of the Lord’s Supper. You took the Lord’s bread out of the Lord’s house. You gave it to an individual who was not entitled to it. It was not eaten in a congregation and did not express the unity of a congregation. You gave it to an unbaptized man; you gave it superstitiously, and anything given thus is not given according to the law. Whenever you let people cause you to do this you rob God. If it was your own and you had complete control of it you could give it to them. But it was not yours. You had no more right to carry off that bread than you had to rob a bank.”
You see the bearing of that question upon communion. There can be no such thing as the individual observance of the Lord’s Supper; the unity idea is expressed throughout. One Lord, not a broken bone, no severance of its parts, none of it to be sent out of the house. A joint feast for everybody in the crowd, and the crowd specified, a fence put up, no stranger, no foreigner, no uncircumcised man. So when you come to the Lord’s Supper no unbaptized man should be there. To me it is a sign of incredible weakness that a man, through a little sentimentality, should be ashamed to observe the Lord’s Supper in the way God demanded it to be observed, and to me it is a sign of great presumption that one should think that he has a right to specify who should come to God’s Table. We can be generous with anything that is ours, but when we come to God’s ordinance we are not authorized in varying a hair’s breadth.
When we come to study the history of the Passover, certain Passover observances loom up. First, this one; then the one described in Numbers where it was kept in the wilderness; one in the Holy Land at Gilgal; the one that Hezekiah observed; the one that Josiah observed; and then the last Passover of our Lord, when its great antitype came. Remember these historic Passovers.
I have one thought more. An ordinance shows forth something. When it is properly observed it is always a very striking thing, and intended to attract attention; to evoke questions, particularly upon the part of young people. Take a group of children of any tribe on earth, white, black, red, or brown, and let them see a Lord’s Supper or a baptism for the first time, and the question will pop out of their mouths, “Why? What do you mean?” A little fellow running around the lot, seeing the father looking over the sheep, would say, “Here, papa, take this one. Here’s a big one.” “No not that, son, I want a lamb; not that one, either; I want a little lamb.” The child gets a little one. “No not that one, but one without blemishes.” The father gets up before day and kills the lamb at a certain time of the day, roasting it in a certain way, and burning what is left. All that is intended to fix upon their minds the fact that they were a redeemed people peculiar to God. What is peculiar cannot belong to another.
The reader should look out every passage in Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy which touches the Passover. And I want to commend a book by Joseph Frey, a converted Jew who devoted his life to proving from the Old Testament that Jesus was the Christ. Read Frey on The Scripture Types, especially the chapter on the Passover.
QUESTIONS
1. Where do we find the original account of the institution of the Passover?
2. What great event its occasion?
3. What is the ground of the difference between the Egyptians and the Israelites?
4. What claim of Jehovah did this sparing, on the one hand, and slaying on the other, vindicate?
5. What is the central text?
6. What is the New Testament analogue?
7. What is the design?
8. What is the time?
9. How did this affect the Jewish calendar?
10. What applications of the word “Passover”?
11. What of the qualifications of the lamb?
12. What of the place?
13. Who slays the lamb?
14. How is the blood applied?
15. Unity of observing the feast?
16. How prepared?
17. How eaten?
18. Who eats it?
19. How often?
20. What special provision is given for those who cannot observe it at the proper time because away or ceremonially unclean?
21. What of the penalty for nonobservance?
22. A token of what was the sprinkled blood?
23. State a number of historical observances of the Passover.
24. What New Testament scriptures evidently bring out this analogy?
25. Give and illustrate the important lesson set forth in the chapter in commenting on Exo 12:2 .
26. We have seen circumcision made a prerequisite to participation in the Passover feast. Is there a similar relation between the analogous
New Testament ordinances Baptism and the Lord’s Supper?
27. Circumcision foreshadows what?
28. The Passover Sacrifice, what?
29. The Passover feast, what?
30. The Feast of Unleavened Bread, what?
31. What is the signification of the burning up of the remains of the Passover feast?
Fuente: B.H. Carroll’s An Interpretation of the English Bible
Exo 13:1 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
Ver. 1. And the Lord spake. ] God hath a saying to such as he hath saved: and what it is, see Exo 13:2 .
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
the LORD (Hebrew. Jehovah. spake. See note on Exo 6:10, and compare note on Exo 3:7.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Sanctify unto me all the firstborn, whatsoever openeth the womb among the children of Israel, both of man and of beast: it is mine ( Exo 13:1-2 ).
All right, now you see God had spared the firstborn. In all of Egypt they were all wiped out. So God is saying, “All right now set aside all the firstborn, they’re Mine.” The firstborn child always belonged to God; it was set apart for God. God claimed the firstborn, not only of the children but also of the animals that were born. So we get now the law of the redemption of the firstborn.
And Moses said unto the people, Remember this day, in which you came out from Egypt, out of the house of bondage; for by strength of the hand of the Lord he brought you out from this place: [and ye shall no more] there shall no leavened bread be eaten. This day that you came out in the month of April. And it shall be when the Lord shall bring you into the land of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, which he sware unto your fathers to give to thee, a land flowing with milk and honey, that thou shalt keep this service in this month. Seven days thou shall eat unleavened bread, and in the seventh day it shall be a feast to the Lord. Unleavened bread shall be eaten for seven days; and there shall no leavened bread be seen with thee, neither shall there be any leaven in all of your houses. For thou shalt show thy son in that day, saying, This is done because that which the Lord did unto me when I came forth out of Egypt. And it shall be for a sign unto you upon your hand, and for a memorial between your eyes, the lord’s law may be in your mouth: for with a strong hand the Lord brought you out of Egypt. And thou shalt therefore keep this ordinance in his season from year to year. It shall be when the Lord shall bring thee into the land of the Canaanites, as he sware unto thee and to thy fathers, to give it to you, That you shalt set apart unto the Lord all that opens the matrix, and every firstling that comes of the beast which you have; or the males shall be the Lord’s. And every firstling of a donkey thou shalt redeem it with a lamb; if thou wilt not redeem it, then you’re to break its neck: the firstborn of man among the children thou shalt redeem. And it shall be when thy son asks thee in time to come, saying, What is this? that thou shalt say unto him, By strength of the hand of the Lord he brought us out of Egypt, from the house of bondage ( Exo 13:3-14 ):
So the firstborn son, whether it be the firstborn son or the firstborn animal, that was a male that had to be redeemed. The first donkey that was born of this particular mother was the Lord’s.
Now if you wanted to keep the donkey and use it, then you had to buy it from the Lord, was the idea. God claimed the firstborn of all the animals. If you wanted to keep it for yourself, then you had to purchase it from God. You had to redeem it. If you didn’t redeem it, then you had to kill it, the donkey, or the cow or whatever. If you wanted to keep-or the ox, you wanted to keep it, then you had to redeem it. You had to buy it from God.
The same with your child, the firstborn male child was God’s, belonged to God. Then you had to redeem that child from God, offering sacrifice unto the Lord to redeem the child. So when your children-again God is trying to create questions in the minds of the children. “When your children shall ask you, saying, What is this? Then you shall tell them how that the Lord brought you out of Egypt, slaying the firstborn by His strength,” and so forth, “He brought you out.”
And it came to pass, when Pharaoh would hardly let us go, that the Lord slew all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both the firstborn of man, and of beast: therefore I sacrifice to the Lord all that opens the matrix, being males; but the firstborn of my children I redeem ( Exo 13:15 ).
So the firstborn became a sacrifice unto God. But you couldn’t sacrifice a donkey; so you could keep the donkey and sacrifice the lamb. But the firstborn became a sacrifice unto the Lord.
It shall be for a token upon your hand, and for the frontlets between your eyes: for by strength of the hand of the Lord he brought us forth out of Egypt ( Exo 13:16 ).
Now this “frontlets between your eyes and token upon your hands”, you’ll notice if you go over to the Wailing Wall how that the orthodox Jews when they come down, they’ll wrap themselves with these little boxes that they wrap on their wrists. Then they’ll wrap the strap up their arm before they go up to the wall to pray. Also, they’ll wrap another little leather box there on their forehead.
In these little boxes are copies of the commandments of God. So they are to bind them to their wrists, and to their forehead. It’s so that the idea on their forehead, that it might be in my mind to do the will of God; on your hand that it might be on the strength of your hand to do service to the Lord. And so the idea of doing service with my hands, and my mind being upon the law of God, and my hand doing the law of God. So they do this before they pray at the wall. They’ll strap themselves and it is on their hand and on the frontlet, on their forehead, that it might be signifying, really, the mind to do the will of God, and the hand to do the work of God.
And it came to pass, when Pharaoh had let the people go, that God led them not through the way of the land of the Philistines, although that was the closest route; for God said, Lest peradventure the people repent when they see war, and they return to Egypt: But God led them about, through the way of the wilderness of the Red sea: and the children of Israel went up harnessed out of the land of Egypt. And Moses took the bones of Joseph with him: for he had strictly sworn the children of Israel, saying, [Or he had strictly sworn the children of Israel, it was a strict thing with him.] that God will surely visit you; ye shall carry up my bones from here with you ( Exo 13:17-20 ).
So they carried the remains of Joseph, the bones of Joseph that they might bury them when they came into the land, when they came out of Egypt.
Now the interesting thing is that by far the closest route to Israel would be right up the coast. It’d be the easiest way to go. Right through the land of the Philistines, right on into the land. They could actually make the journey within a week or so and be in the land. But God knew that they were not yet prepared. That if the Philistines would come out to meet them with war, their faith in God was not yet strong enough. Fear would grip their hearts; they would seek to return to Egypt.
So the wilderness experience is necessary in order that they might have the experiences of trusting in God, learning what it is to have faith in God, learning the power of God. So that when they did finally come into the land and face the enemies, they would have great confidence and faith in God to deliver the land into their hands. So we find the wilderness experiences are experiences where they are learning how that God can meet their needs no matter what they be. That God is sufficient to take care of their needs, and how that God will answer and will respond to their prayers and to their needs.
So they took their journey from Succoth, and encamped in Etham, at the edge of the wilderness. And the Lord went before them by day in a pillar of a cloud, to lead them in the way; and by night in a pillar of fire, to give them light to go by day and night ( Exo 13:20-21 ):
For they needed to get out of there, and so they were traveling day and night for awhile. In the daytime the cloud was in front of them to lead them, following the cloud. At nighttime there was the light in the sky to lead them, and they walked in the light of this fire, this flaming fire at night in the sky that was there to direct them.
And he took not away the pillar of cloud by day, nor the pillar of fire by night, from before the people ( Exo 13:22 ). “
Fuente: Through the Bible Commentary
As the Passover feast signified the deliverance from death by obedience, and the sprinkling of blood signified redemption through death, the feast of Unleavened Bread was established in connection with it. This was to be a perpetual memorial of the necessity to abstain from anything and everything which cause disintegration in the national life. The chosen people were to be delivered from slavery into submission to the law of their one and only King.
It is significant that in connection with these feasts we have a distinct statement of the true purpose for establishing them, namely, instruction of the children. This throws light on the true value of symbolism. It is ever intended to arouse interest in the minds of the young in order that, true to their instincts, they may ask for information, which is to be supplied by their elders.
The nation delivered and consecrated is seen at once as under the direct government and guidance of God. “God led them not by the way of the land of the Philistines, although that was near.” “But God led the people about.” The essential truths revealed here are that He leads and that there is a meaning and purpose in all such guidance. The longer journey was the outcome of His patient desire that they should not be discouraged at the beginning by warfare. It is very arresting that in connection with these movements the story is linked again with that in Genesis. Joseph had died in the faith that such an hour as this would come. He signalized his faith by commandment concerning his bones. The people then moving out from Egypt under divine direction carried those bones with them. As yet they were very far from the possibility of simple faith and needed signs. Hence God gave them the vision of the pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night.
Fuente: An Exposition on the Whole Bible
the First-born Set Apart unto Jehovah
Exo 13:1-16
Two Hebrew customs dated from the Exodus-first, the dedication of the first-born to Gods service, and second, the Feast of Unleavened Bread, when the Passover must be killed. See Luk 22:7. The first-born had been especially redeemed and so were especially Gods. On them all was branded the one brief word Mine. What a lesson for us all who have been redeemed by the precious blood of Christ. We are His by right of purchase; we ought to be His by our own choice and indwelt by His Spirit. Whenever we take up this position with regard to God, we may count on His strong hand. In after years the first-born sons, who performed the priestly rites, were replaced by Levites, Num 3:11-13; but still they were ransomed by a slain lamb. Every first-born son lived because a lamb died. In this he stood on the same level as the firstling of an ass. What a parable is here! See Rom 3:22; Rom 10:12.
Fuente: F.B. Meyer’s Through the Bible Commentary
Exo 13:14-17
The Book of Exodus introduces that new epoch in the scriptural history of sacrifices when they began to be regulated by fixed laws, to be part of a national economy.
I. The offering of the firstborn was the dedication and consecration of the whole Jewish nation. The firstborn represented its strength, its vitality, its endurance. This act signified that its strength lay only in its dependence on God’s strength, that its vitality came from the life which is in Him, that it would endure from generation to generation, because He is the same and His years fail not.
The calling of the Israelites was the calling to confess a Redeemer of Israel, a righteous Being who had brought out their fathers from the house of bondage.
II. Moses taught the people that by looking upon themselves as beings surrendered and sacrificed to the God of truth, the Deliverer of men, by feeling that they held all the powers of their minds and bodies as instruments for the great work in which He is engaged,-thus they might be a nation indeed, one which would be a pattern to the nations, one which, in due time, would break the chains which bound them to visible and invisible oppressors.
III. When once we understand that we are witnesses for God, and do His work, self-sacrifice can never be an ambitious thing-a fine way to get the reputation of saints or the rewards of another world. It will be regarded as the true ground of all action; that on which all the blessed relations of life stand; that which is at the same time the only impulse to and security for the hard and rough work of the world.
F. D. Maurice, The Doctrine of Sacrifice deduced from the Scriptures, p. 49.
References: Exo 13:17, Exo 13:18.-J. Jackson Wray, Light from the Old Lamp, p. 83; W. Landels, Christian World Pulpit, vol. iii., p. 184; G. Matheson, Moments on the Mount, p. 6. Exo 13:17-19.-Parker, vol. ii., p. 316. 13:17-14:4.-Expositor, 2nd series, vol. vi., p. 448.
Exo 13:18
These words expound to us a whole philosophy of life. The way of the wilderness has become a household word in Christendom, and this decision of Jehovah is the proclamation of the law of man’s earthly life. God leads none of us by the rapid and easy path to knowledge, fortune, or happiness. The short way might bring us to rest and glory sooner, but the rest would relax and the glory blind us. We travel by a longer, harder path; that muscle may be disciplined by toil, courage assured by conquest and self-government, studied in many a season of shame and pain. Then the crown will fit us, rest will be calm and noble activity, and glory we shall wear like kings.
Among the special reasons why the Israelites were guided by the way of the wilderness, the following may be noted:-
I. They had been sated with the magnificence of man’s works; God led them forth into the wilderness to show them His works in their native grandeur, and to refresh their exhausted hearts and spirits by the vision of the splendour of His world.
II. God led them forth by the way of the wilderness that He might reveal not nature only, but Himself. He led them into the wilderness, as He leads us, that He might meet with them, speak with them, reveal Himself to them, and teach them to know themselves in knowing Him.
III. God led them into the wilderness that He might there cultivate their manly qualities,, and fit them to hold the possessions they might win.
J. Baldwin Brown, The Soul’s Exodus and Pilgrimage, p. 58.
References: Exo 13:19.-Parker, vol. ii., p. 316. Exo 13:21.-J. Jackson Wray, Light from the Old Lamp, p. 309. Exo 13:21, Exo 13:22.-J. Hamilton, Works, vol. v., p. 154. Exo 13:22.-J. Van Oosterzee, The Year of Salvation, vol. ii., p. 391. 13-Parker, vol. ii., p. 82. 14-Expositor, 2nd series, vol. v., pp. 281, 442, vol. vi., pp. 232, 448. Exo 14:10.-Parker, vol. ii., p. 92.
Fuente: The Sermon Bible
CHAPTER 13:1-16 The Sanctification of the Firstborn
1. The separation commanded (Exo 13:1-2)
2. Remember this day: the memorial (Exo 13:3-10)
3. The separation of the firstborn (Exo 13:11-16)
The firstborn had been delivered in a special manner in Egypt and because Jehovah had delivered them they were to be sanctified unto Him. There is an inseparable connection between redemption and holiness. What the Lord has redeemed He claims for Himself. Here we have a definition of sanctification; it is separation unto God. But let us notice that salvation out of the house of bondage is the foundation of all. The same order is more fully revealed in the New Testament. In Romans 3-5:11 we read of our salvation corresponding to the type in Exodus 12 and that is followed by the exhortation to holiness, separation unto God (chapter 6). We are saved unto holiness. The blood of atonement has sanctified us unto God. The more we realize this great redemption by blood, the more we shall yield ourselves and our members unto God.
Upon Exo 13:9 and Exo 13:16 as well as Deu 6:4-9; Deu 11:13-21 the Hebrews have built their ordinance of the phylacteries. They use leather strips with Scripture verses contained in a small box. These they put at certain times when they pray upon their hand and forehead. Thus they try to fulfill these words literally. It is only an outward ceremony and corresponds to certain usages in ritualistic Christendom. They were to retain those commandments in their hearts and practise them as well. The ass is especially mentioned. Why? It is an unclean animal and used here to show that unredeemed man is on the same level with the ass and must either be redeemed or die.
Fuente: Gaebelein’s Annotated Bible (Commentary)
Reciprocal: Exo 14:1 – the Lord spake
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Exo 13:2. Sanctify unto me all the firstborn. The firstborn having the birthright, were, according to the patriarchal economy, the priests of God. The firstlings of the clean beasts were to be offered in sacrifice, those of the unclean were to be redeemed. Num 18:17. The reason assigned for this, at the 15th verse is, because when the Lord slew all the firstborn of Egypt, both man and beast, he reserved the firstborn of the Israelites as peculiarly his own.
Exo 13:9. A signupon thy hand. The Jews were in general provided with tephilim, or double phylacteries, made curiously of leather, vellum, &c; four portions of the law and prayers were written on them. On the use of phylacteries, Dr. Lightfoot quotes Rabbi Joshua. He who will assume the yoke of the kingdom of heaven, let him wash his hands, rehearse the texts, and say his prayers; for this is the complete yoke of the kingdom of heaven. It is added, and very coarsely, A man has need to recite his phylacteries every evening, to fright away evil spirits. Jerus. Berocoth, fol. 2. These teachers were but a blind sort of guides; nevertheless the precept of Moses, to have the law written on gates and houses was certainly wise and good, in times so dark and depraved.
Exo 13:18. Harnessed. The readings here vary. They went up armedthey went up five in a rankthey went up in the fifth generation. Some think that they were partially armed. There is nothing improbable in the idea; for in the subsequent part of the history we find them well equipped.
Exo 13:21. A pillar of cloud. According to the Jews, God never acts except by angels; yet here it is said, the Lord went before them. The cloud shone with light on all the camp of Israel, and ascended in elevation to the clouds. So Psa 57:10-11. Thy truth is great unto the clouds. Be thou exalted, oh God, above the heavens; let thy glory be above all the earth. It was therefore a shadow from the excessive heat of the sun. Yet its chief abode was over the tabernacle; when it rested there, the people rested, and when it was taken up, the people moved forward. Exo 40:36. The cloud was also a defence, the people rested under the cloud of the Most High. Psa 91:1. In a word, it was their guide in the desert, and it never forsook the ark of JEHOVAHS strength. In all these views the glorious and encouraging cloud of the Lords presence was a luminous figure of Christs dwelling with his church. The Word was made flesh, and dwelt amongst us. Joh 1:14. Among the heathen writers, whenever they speak of the apparition of the gods, they generally clothe them with a cloud, or seat them on a rainbow or the Iris. See Num 9:15.
Irim de clo misit Saturnia Juno. N. 5:606. See Iliad 14:214.
REFLECTIONS.
We here find the Lord proceeding with his work, and bringing it to a glorious issue. Having struck the flower of Egypt with death, confounded their wisdom, and shamed their idols, he led forth his ransomed people silently to the desert. And mark now his first care; it was to provide ministers and sacrifices for religion; for no nation can long exist where the civil compact is not founded in the belief of a God, a providence, and a future state, and that belief kept alive in the mind by public and habitual devotion. With this design he selected a priesthood, conformably to the ancient usages among the patriarchs, from the firstborn. Theirs was the right to attend the altar, and they were the hallowed figures of Jesus Christ, our great High Priest for ever unto God.But this had no design to interfere with the liberty of prophesying. God reserved in his own power the right to send a prophet of any tribe to reprove the priest and reform the people. In this view, happy, unspeakably happy, are the christian church, who are all entitled the firstborn. Heb 12:23. Who are all kings and priests unto God, to offer up the spiritual sacrifices of prayer and praise. Hence those ecclesiastics, who with a view to impose silence on laymen, quote Heb 5:4, No man taketh this honour to himself but he that was called of God, as was Aaron, are grossly bigoted and mistaken. St. Paul is not speaking of the christian ministry, but drawing the parallel between the priesthood of Aaron and of Christ.
We next see the Lord of hosts leading forth his people by a pillar of cloud and flame. God cannot, it would seem, converse with mortals, unless his glory be veiled. He once appeared to Abraham in the smoke of a burning lamp, and often in a human or angelic figure. In this cloud Israel saw a thousand causes of joy, and of sanctifying fear; for what nation had their God so nigh? What nation had this visible token of his presence and love? And he stayed with them to the end of their journey. This cloud was to Israel a throne of grace and of justice. Their situation was extraordinary: a single disaster might have proved their ruin. Hence the Lord was always at hand to counsel and direct them in all their affairs.
It was their guardian and their guide. They knew not the way, they were unacquainted with their foes, they wanted water, they wanted bread; and God supplied their wants, relieved their cares, or destroyed all their foes. Let us learn of the Israelites to follow the guidance of the cloud. The sacred volume, the principles of equity and prudence, the dictates of a pure conscience will guide us through life, and be accompanied with the cheering light and comforts of the Holy Ghost. And all those, who are thus led by the Spirit, and have these interior and exterior marks of divine favour, are unquestionably the children of God.
This cloud divided the sea, on their leaving Egypt; and divided Jordan, on their entering the promised land. The waters saw thee, oh God, the waters saw thee; they were afraid. Thy way was in the sea, thy path in the mighty waters, and thy footsteps are not known. Thou leddest thy people like a flock, by the hand of Moses and Aaron. What has the christian to fear while God is his defence? The flood shall not drown him, his enemies shall be confounded, and the affrighted waters of death shall divide, and afford him a triumphant entrance into his promised rest.
God who concealed himself in the cloud, was nevertheless a jealous God; and having destroyed the enemies of Israel, he afterwards destroyed the Israelites who believed not. With him there is no respect of persons. Let us revere his name, for he is still with his people to the end of the world. He says, alluding to his promised presence, surrounded with angels, I will create upon every dwellingplace of Mount Zion, and upon her assemblies, a cloud and a smoke by day, and the shining of a flaming fire by night; for upon all the glory shall be a defence. Isa 4:5.
Fuente: Sutcliffe’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Exodus 13
In the opening verses of this chapter, we are taught, clearly and distinctly, that personal devotedness and personal holiness are fruits which redeeming love produces in those who are the happy subjects thereof. The dedication of the firstborn and the feast of unleavened bread are here set forth in their immediate connection with the deliverance of the people out of the land of Egypt. “Sanctify unto me all the firstborn, whatsoever openeth the womb among the children of Israel, both of man and of beast: it is mine. And Moses said unto the people, Remember this day, in which ye came out from Egypt, out of the house of bondage; for by strength of hand the Lord brought you out from this place: there shall no leavened bread be eaten.” And again, ” Seven days thou shalt eat unleavened bread, and in the seventh day shall be a feast to the Lord. Unleavened bread shall be eaten seven days: and there shall no leavened bread be seen with thee: neither shall there be leaven seen with thee in all thy quarters.”
Then we have the reason of both these significant observances laid down. “And thou shalt show thy son in that day, saying, This is done because of that which the Lord did unto me when I came forth out of Egypt.” And, again, “It shall be, when thy son asketh thee in time to come, saying, What is this? that thou shalt say unto him, By strength of hand the Lord brought us out from Egypt, from the house of bondage. and it came to pass, when Pharaoh would hardly let us go, that the Lord slew all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both the firstborn of man and the firstborn of beast: therefore I sacrifice to the Lord all that openeth the matrix, being males; but all the firstborn of my children I redeem.”
The more fully we enter, by the power of the Spirit of God, into the redemption which is in Christ Jesus, the more decided will be our separation, and the more whole-hearted will be our devotedness. The effort to produce either the one or the other, until redemption is known, will prove the most hopeless labour possible. All our doings must be “because of that which the Lord hath done,” and not in order to get anything from Him. Efforts after life and peace prove that we are, as yet, strangers to the power of the blood; whereas the pure fruits of an experienced redemption are to the praise of Him who has redeemed us. “For by grace are ye saved, through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not of works lest Any man should boast; for we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before prepared that we should walk in them.” (Eph. 2: 8, 10) God has already prepared a path of good works for us to walk in; and He, by grace, prepares us to walk therein. It is only as saved that we can walk in such a path. Were it otherwise, we might boast; but seeing that we ourselves are as much God’s workmanship as the path in which we walk, there is no room whatever for boasting.
True Christianity is but the manifestation of the life of Christ, implanted in us by the operation of the Holy Ghost, in pursuance of God’s eternal counsels of sovereign grace; and all our doings, previous to the implantation of this life, are but “dead works,” from which we need to have our consciences purged just as much as from “wicked works.” (Heb. 9: 14) The term “dead works,” comprehends all works which men do with the direct object of getting life. If a man is seeking for life, it is very evident that he has not yet gotten it. He may be very sincere in seeking it, but his very sincerity only makes it the more obvious that, as yet, he has not consciously reached it. Hence, therefore, everything done in order to get life is a dead work, inasmuch as it is done without life – the life of Christ, the only true life, the only source from whence good works can flow. And, observe, it is not a question of “wicked works;” no one would think of getting life by such. No; you will find, on the contrary, that persons continually have recourse to “dead works,” in order to ease their consciences, under the sense of “wicked works,” whereas divine revelation teaches us that the conscience needs to be purged from the one as well as the other.
Again, as to righteousness, we read that “all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags.” It is not said that “all our wickednesses,” merely, “are as filthy rags.” This would, at once, be admitted. But the fact is, that the very best fruit which we can produce, in the shape of religiousness and righteousness, is represented, on the page of eternal truth, as “dead works,” and “filthy rags.” Our very efforts after life, do but prove us to be dead; and our very efforts after righteousness do but prove us to be enwrapped in filthy rags. It is only as the actual possessors of eternal life and divine righteousness that we can walk in the divinely-prepared path of good works. Dead works and filthy rags could never be suffered to appear in such a path. None but “the redeemed of the Lord” can walk therein. It was as a redeemed people that Israel kept the feast of unleavened bread, and dedicated their firstborn to Jehovah. The former of these observances we have already considered; as to the latter, it contains a rich mine of instruction.
The destroying angel passed through the land of Egypt to destroy all the firstborn; but Israel’s firstborn escaped through the death of a divinely-provided substitute. Accordingly, these latter appear before us, in this chapter, as a living people, dedicated to God. Saved by the blood of the lamb, they are privileged to consecrate their ransomed life to Him who had ransomed it. Thus it was only as redeemed that they possessed life. The grace of God alone had made them to differ, and had given them the place of living men in His presence. In their case, assuredly, there was no room for boasting; for, as to any personal merit or worthiness, we learn from this chapter that they were put on a level with an unclean and worthless thing. “Every firstling of an ass thou shalt redeem with a lamb; and if thou wilt not redeem it, then thou shalt break his neck; and all the firstborn of man among thy children shalt thou redeem.” (Ver. 13) There were two classes, the clean and the unclean; and man was classed with the latter. The lamb was to answer for the unclean; and if the ass were not redeemed, his neck was to be broken; so that an unredeemed man was. put upon a level with an unclean animal, and that, moreover, in a condition than which nothing could be more worthless and unsightly. What a humiliating picture of man in his natural condition! Oh! that our poor proud hearts could enter more into it. Then should we rejoice more unfeignedly in the happy privilege of being washed from our guilt in the blood of the Lamb, and having all our personal vileness left be hind for ever, in the tomb where our Surety lay buried.
Christ was the Lamb – the clean, the spotless Lamb. We are unclean. But for ever adored be His matchless name! He took our position; and, on the cross, was made sin, and treated as such. That which we should have endured throughout the countless ages of eternity, He endured for us on the tree. He bore all that was due to us, there and then, in order that we might enjoy what is due to Him, for ever. He got our deserts that we might get His. The clean took, for a time, the place of the unclean, in order that the unclean might take for ever the place of the clean. Thus, whereas, by nature, we are represented by the loathsome figure of an ass with his neck broken; by grace we are represented by a risen and glorified Christ in heaven. Amazing contrast! It lays man’s glory in the dust and magnifies the riches of redeeming love. It silences man’s empty boastings and puts into his mouth a hymn of praise to God and the Lamb, which shall swell throughout the courts of heaven during the everlasting ages.*
{*It is interesting to see that by nature we are ranked with on unclean animal; by grace we are associated with Christ the spotless Lamb. There can be nothing lower than the place which belongs to us by nature; nothing higher than that which belongs to us by grace. Look, for example, at an ass with his neck broken; there is what an unredeemed man is worth. Look at “the precious blood of Christ;” there is what a redeemed man is worth. “Unto you that believe is the preciousness.” That is, all who are washed in the blood partake of Christ’s preciousness. As He is “a living stone,” they are “living stones;” as He is “a precious stone, they are “precious stones.” They get life and preciousness all from Him and in Him. They are as He is. Every stone in the edifice is precious, because purchased at no less a price than “the blood of the Lamb.” May the people of God know more fully their place and privileges in Christ!}
How forcibly is one here reminded of the apostle’s memorable and weighty words to the Romans, ” Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him; knowing that Christ being raised from the dead, dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over him. For in that he died, he died unto sin once; but in that he liveth he liveth unto God. Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord. Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof. Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God. For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace.” (Rom. 6: 8-14) We are not only ransomed from the power of death and the grave, but also united to Him who has ransomed us at the heavy cost of His own precious life, that we might, in the energy of the Holy Ghost, dedicate our new life, with all its powers, to His service, so that His worthy name may be glorified in us according to the will of God and our Father.
We are furnished, in the last few verses of Exodus 13 with a touching and beautiful example of the Lord’s tender consideration of His people’s need. “He knoweth our frame; He remembereth that we are dust.” (Psalm 103: 14) When He redeemed Israel and took them into relationship with Himself, He, in His unfathomed and infinite grace, charged Himself with all their need and weakness. It mattered not what they were or what they needed, when I AM was with them, in all the exhaustless treasures of that name. He had to conduct them from Egypt to Canaan, and we here find Him occupying Himself in selecting a suitable path for them. “And it came to pass, when Pharaoh had let the people go, that God led them not through the may of the land of the Philistines, although that was near; for God said, Lest peradventure the people repent when they see war, and they return to Egypt: but God led the people about through the way of the wilderness of the Red Sea.” (Ver. 17, 18)
The Lord, in His condescending grace, so orders for His people, that they do not, at their first setting out, encounter heavy trials which might have the effect of discouraging their hearts and driving them back. “The way of the wilderness” was a much more protracted route; but God had deep and varied lessons to teach His people, which could only be learnt in the desert. They were, afterwards, reminded of this fact, in the following passage: “And thou shalt remember all the way which the Lord thy God led thee, these forty years, in the wilderness, to humble thee, and to prove thee, to know what was in thine heart, whether thou wouldest keep his commandments or no. And he humbled thee, and suffered thee to hunger, and fed thee with manna, which thou knewest not, neither did thy fathers know, that he might make thee know that man doth not live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the Lord doth man live. Thy raiment waxed not old upon thee, neither did thy foot swell, these forty years.” (Deut. 8: 2-4) Such precious lessons as these could never have been learnt in “the way of the land of the Philistines.” In that way, they might have learnt what war was, at an early stage of their career; but “in the way of the wilderness,” they learnt what flesh was, in all its crookedness, unbelief, and rebellion. But I AM was there, in all His patient grace, unerring wisdom, and infinite power. None but Himself could have met the demand. None but He could endure the opening up of the depths of a human heart. To have my heart unlocked anywhere, save in the presence of infinite grace, would plunge me in hopeless despair. The heart of man is but a little hell. What boundless mercy, then, to be delivered from its terrible depths!
“Oh! to grace how great a debtor
Daily I’m constrained to be;
Let that grace, Lord, like a fetter,
Bind my wandering heart to thee!”
“And they took their journey from Succoth, and encamped in Etham, in the edge of the wilderness. And the Lord went before them by day in a pillar of cloud, to lead them the way; and by night in a pillar of fire, to give them light; to go by day and night: he took not away the pillar of the cloud by day, nor the pillar of fire by night, from before the people.” Jehovah not only selected a path for His people, but He also came down to walk with them therein, and make Himself known to them according to their need. He not only conducted them safely outside the bounds of Egypt, but He also came down, as it were, in His travelling chariot, to be their companion through all the vicissitudes of their wilderness journey. This was divine grace. They were not merely delivered out of the furnace of Egypt and then allowed to make the best of their way to Canaan. Such was not God’s manner toward them. He knew that they had a toilsome and perilous journey before them, through serpents and scorpions, snares and difficulties, drought and barrenness; and He, blessed be His name for ever, would not suffer them to go alone. He would be the companion of all their toils and dangers; yea, “He went before them.” He was “a guide, a glory, a defence, to save from every fear. Alas! that they should ever have grieved that Blessed One by their hardness of heart. Had they only walked humbly, contentedly, and confidingly with Him, their march would have been a triumphant one from first to last. With Jehovah in their forefront, no power could have interrupted their onward progress from Egypt to Canaan. He would have carried them through and planted them in the mountain of His inheritance, according to His promise, and by the power of His right hand; nor should as much as a single Canaanite have been allowed to remain therein to be a thorn in their side. Thus will it be, by and by, when Jehovah shall set His hand, a second time, to deliver His people from under the power of all their oppressors. day the Lord hasten the time!
Fuente: Mackintosh’s Notes on the Pentateuch
Exo 13:1-16. Laws about Firstborn and Mazzoth: Exo 13:1 f. P. Law of Firstborn.Here all are sacred to Yahweh; in J (Exo 13:12 f., Exo 34:19 f.) and E (Exo 22:29 f.) all males, the ass to be redeemed with a lamb; in D male firstlings of herd and flock, to constitute a sacrificial feast for the owner and his family at the sanctuary; in P (Num 18:15-18, cf. Lev 27:26 f. Ps) the firstborn of men and unclean beasts to be redeemed, of clean beasts to be sacrificed and eaten by the priests not the owner. Animal firstlings, as among other peoples, were sacrificed either simply in thankfulness for fruitfulness bestowed and expected, or with the further idea of sanctioning the use and enjoyment of later offspring. The sacredness of human firstborn (Exo 12:29*, Exo 22:29*, Num 3:11-13*) followed by analogy, or, as Driver supposes (CB, p. 409f.), as the unrecognised sequel of a long-forgotten primitive practice of the actual sacrifice of the firstborn, of which the discovery at Gezer of infants buried in jars is probable evidence. [J. G. Frazer, however, thinks that they were still-born or died soon after birth, and were preserved in this way by the parents in hope that they would be re-born. He points to the absence of signs that they had been put to death.A. S. P.] An edifying justification of the custom was found in the sparing of Heb. firstborn at the Exodus. Modern study of the mysteries of heredity has lent new ground for attaching sacredness to the birth which proves the due transmission of the capacity for parentage to the individual mother. And if the first is reckoned sacred, it is not so likely that later births will be counted common. Christian tradition from the earliest times loved to tell of the Presentation of the infant Jesus in the Temple, not without symbolic sacrifice (Luk 2:23). The late idea that the Levites replaced the firstborn is found in Num 3:11-18*.
Exo 13:3-10 J (Rd). Law of Mazzoth (Exo 13:3 Rd, Exo 13:4 J, Exo 13:5 Rd, Exo 13:6 J Exo 13:7-9 Rd, Exo 13:10 J).Hardly any legislation can be traced to J beyond the little code in Exo 34:14-28 which prescribes (Exo 13:18 a) the observance of Mazzoth. But it appears that this and the next paragraph in the main belong to J, and are reproduced here to enforce their historical connexions. The verses assigned above to Rd show marks of the school of D. Possibly in part they may be due to Rje, a precursor of D. Points of comparison with P are:the old Canaanitish name for the first month, Abib, i.e. the month of the fresh young ears (Lev 2:14 Heb.); the hg or pilgrimage on the seventh not the first day; no holy convocations with enforced rest. This day ye go forth (Exo 13:4 J) applies to the day of the Exodus: Remember this day (Exo 13:3 Rd) enforces the later observance. For the terms of the promise and the oath in Exo 13:5, see Exo 3:8* and Gen 24:7*, and for the stress on instruction in Exo 13:8-14 see Exo 12:26*. The restriction to unleavened bread was (Exo 13:9) to be an equivalent of the pagan practices of branding or tattooing some sacred mark on the body as a charm, or wearing some badge on the forehead (cf. p. 110, and Driver, CB). In Exo 13:9 there is a mixture of the styles of D and P which suggests a late editor. The Heb. of Exo 13:10 is characteristically different from Exo 12:24.
Exo 13:11-16 J (Rd). Law of Firstborn (Exo 13:11-13 J, Exo 13:14-16 Rd).On Exo 13:11 f. see Exo 13:3-10*. The ass, as unclean, could neither be eaten nor sacrificed (contrast Jdg 6:4*): so its firstling must be redeemed by a lamb, less valuable, while Lev 27:7 prescribes a higher scale, and makes the rule general, if it be an unclean beast. Obedience to this law also was to serve (Exo 13:16) for a badge (cf. Exo 13:9) and for frontlets (cf. Deu 6:8*).
Fuente: Peake’s Commentary on the Bible
GOD’S CLAIMS ON THE FIRSTBORN
(vs.1-2)
Rather than God’s allowing the people to rush to get out of the borders of Egypt, He calmly insists first on His own claims over Israel. Only in verse 20 of this chapter do we see them leaving Succoth. The Lord calls upon Moses to “sanctify” or “set apart” all the firstborn of Israel and all the firstborn of their domestic animals. It was of course the firstborn who had been preserved by virtue of the blood of the lamb. God claimed these, for even by creation He has rights as regards the first, and this is all the more emphasized by redemption.
THE FEAST OF UNLEAVENED BREAD
(vs.3-10)
When Moses speaks to the people, he introduces the subject of the setting apart of the firstborn by first giving instructions as to the feast of unleavened bread. Israel was to remember this day in which they were redeemed from the bondage of Egypt by the power of the hand of God. Then he first of all strongly forbids them to eat leaven (or yeast) during the seven days of the feast (v.3). This seven days is symbolical of our complete Christian life. For leaven is corrupting, a little of it leavening the whole lump (Gal 5:9), so that it symbolizes sin. In the sacrifice of Christ (Typified by the Passover) sin has been fully judged, and we today are to recognize this by honestly judging any sin in our own lives, keeping the feast “not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth” (1Co 5:7-8). This keeping the feast refers to our whole life, but has special significance in regard to the Lord’s supper.
On this day they were going out in the month Abib (v.4), and when eventually the Lord would bring them into the land He had promised, they were to keep this service of the Passover in the same month every year. In verses 6 and 7 it is doubly insisted again that leaven must be excluded from their homes during the seven days of the Passover observance. On the seventh day there was to be a feast to the Lord. This is written for our admonition. On the negative side, sin is to be excluded; on the positive side, the Lord is to be honored.
This was also to be passed on from generation to generation, the children being well informed of the power and grace of God in bringing Israel out of Egypt’s bondage (v.8), just as children of believers today should be taught diligently of the grace and power of God in the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus, by which we have been delivered from all the bondage of the enemy.
The feast of unleavened bread was to be a sign to them also (v.9), which would (1) affect their hands, that is, it would have an influence over their thoughts; and (2) would be a memorial between their eyes, influencing all their thoughts. (3) that the Lord’s law should be in their mouth, all this is also when we rightly regard the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus! For in this we see the strength of the hand of God. For this reason we too are to keep a feast of remembrance to the Lord at its proper time (v.10).
THE FIRSTBORN SET APART
(vs.11-16)
Not only, as in verse 1 and 3, were the firstborn in Israel to be set apart at the time of Israel’s liberation from Egypt, but when the Lord brought them into Canaan the same sanctification was required. Animals are mentioned first; every firstborn male was to be the Lord’s. The clean animals would be offered in sacrifice to Him but not so the unclean animals. They could be redeemed by the sacrifice of a clean animal.
A donkey is specifically mentioned in verse 13. It could be redeemed by the sacrifice of a lamb, but if its owner would not redeem it, he must break its neck. What a striking picture of the need of man’s redemption! For man is unclean by reason of sin, and is likened to the colt of a wild donkey in Job 11:12. If he is not redeemed, then his neck (speaking of his stubborn resistance) must be broken. Therefore in this same verse (13) it is insisted, “All the firstborn of man among your sons you shall redeem.”
Again (v.14-15) it is to be impressed upon the people that their children are to be informed fully of the strength of the Lord’s hand in delivering Israel out of Egypt, and that in this deliverance the firstborn in Egypt had been killed, both of men and animals. “Therefore I sacrifice to the Lord all males that open the womb, but all the firstborn of my sons I redeem.” They were not merely to tell their sons about God’s deliverance, but in the constant observance of sacrifice to impress upon them the reality and importance of this deliverance.
This redemption of the firstborn was to be a sign, first, upon their hand, that is, having an effect upon the works of their hands; and secondly, as frontlets between their eyes, that is, always kept before their minds. Thus too, our redemption by the sacrifice of Christ is to always affect the way we act and the way we think.
GOD’S SOVEREIGN LEADING OF ISRAEL
(vs.17-22)
When God begins a work He will finish it. This was true for Israel, as it is in the case of every person who is born anew. He would not leave Israel to their own resources as to finding their way to the land of Canaan. He will always lead in the right way. Naturally Israel might have taken the shortest and easiest route to Canaan, but God knew that they would have to encounter enemies, and if seeing war too soon, they might only think of retreating to Egypt (v.17). Just as with Israel, there is another type of enemy we must face before we face the enmity of the world’s opposition. Israel must face this enemy at the Red Sea, that is, the enmity of sin in their own hearts. Therefore God led them directly to the banks of the Red Sea, where they would never have gone if He had left them to their own wisdom. Also, with God leading their ranks were kept in order (v.18).
The bones of Joseph were also taken with them, as he had long before commanded. As a sufferer before reigning, he was a type of Christ, and the reminder of Joseph and his history was to remain with Israel for all their wilderness journey. The significance of this for this for us is explained in 2Co 4:10 : “Always carrying about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be manifested in our mortal flesh.”
Leaving Succoth, They are led by a supernatural manifestation of God’s presence, a pillar during the day and a pillar of fire by night. They would not see beyond the cloud nor beyond the pillar of fire, but they were simply called upon to follow. Thus faith is to realize that we do not need to know what may await us even at the end of a day, but to simply follow the evident leading of the Lord at the present time. He will take care of all that may be future. How good if we remain at peace in the confidence of His leading us rightly. Both of these pillars ought to have filled the people with joy in knowing God’s perfect care for them.
Fuente: Grant’s Commentary on the Bible
5. The sanctification of the first-born 13:1-16
This section is somewhat repetitive, but the emphasis is on the Lord’s right to the first-born in Israel and how the Israelites were to acknowledge that right. The repetition stresses its importance.
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)
"Every" refers to the first-born males only (Exo 13:2). This is clear from the Hebrew word used and the context (Exo 13:12-13).
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)
CHAPTER XIII.
THE LAW OF THE FIRSTBORN.
Exo 13:1-22.
Much that was said in the twelfth chapter is repeated in the thirteenth. And this repetition is clearly due to a formal rehearsal, made when all “their hosts” had mustered in Succoth after their first march; for Moses says, “Remember this day, in which ye came out” (Exo 13:3). Already it had been spoken of as a day much to be remembered, and for its perpetuation the ordinance of the Passover had been founded.
But now this charge is given as a fit prologue for the remarkable institution which follows–the consecration to God of all unblemished males who are the firstborn of their mothers–for such is the full statement of what is claimed.
In speaking to Moses the Lord says, “Sanctify unto Me all the firstborn … it is Mine.” But Moses addressing the people advances gradually, and almost diplomatically. First he reminds them of their deliverance, and in so doing he employs a phrase which could only have been used at the exact stage when they were emancipated and yet upon Egyptian soil: “By strength of hand the Lord brought you out from this place” (Exo 13:3). Then he charges them not to forget their rescue, in the dangerous time of their prosperity, when the Lord shall have brought them into the land which He swore to give them; and he repeats the ordinance of unleavened bread. And it is only then that he proceeds to announce the permanent consecration of all their firstborn–the abiding doctrine that these, who naturally represent the nation, are for its unworthiness forfeited, and yet by the grace of God redeemed.
God, Who gave all and pardons all, demands a return, not as a tax which is levied for its own sake, but as a confession of dependence, and like the silk flag presented to the sovereign, on the anniversaries of the two greatest of English victories, by the descendants of the conquerors, who hold their estates upon that tenure. The firstborn, thus dedicated, should have formed a sacred class, a powerful element in Hebrew life enlisted on the side of God.
For these, as we have already seen, the Levites were afterwards substituted (Num 3:44), and there is perhaps some allusion to this change in the direction that “all the firstborn of man thou shalt redeem” (Exo 13:13). But yet the demand is stated too broadly and imperatively to belong to that later modification: it suits exactly the time to which it is attributed, before the tribe of Levi was substituted for the firstborn of all.
“They are Mine,” said Jehovah, Who needed not, that night, to remind them what He had wrought the night before. It is for precisely the same reason, that St. Paul claims all souls for God: “Ye are not your own, ye are bought with a price; therefore glorify God with your bodies and with your spirits, which are God’s.”
And besides the general claim upon us all, each of us should feel, like the firstborn, that every special mercy is a call to special gratitude, to more earnest dedication. “I beseech you, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice” (Rom 12:1).
There is a tone of exultant confidence in the words of Moses, very interesting and curious. He and his nation are breathing the free air at last. The deliverance that has been given makes all the promise that remains secure. As one who feels his pardon will surely not despair of heaven, so Moses twice over instructs the people what to do when God shall have kept the oath which He swore, and brought them into Canaan, into the land flowing with milk and honey. Then they must observe His passover. Then they must consecrate their firstborn.
And twice over this emancipator and lawgiver, in the first flush of his success, impresses upon them the homely duty of teaching their households what God had done for them (Exo 13:8, Exo 13:14; cf. Exo 12:26).
This, accordingly, the Psalmist learned, and in his turn transmitted. He heard with his ears and his fathers told him what God did in their days, in the days of old. And he told the generation to come the praises of Jehovah, and His strength, and His wondrous works (Psa 44:1, Psa 78:4).
But it is absurd to treat these verses, as Kuenen does, as evidence that the story is mere legend: “transmitted from mouth to mouth, it gradually lost its accuracy and precision, and adopted all sorts of foreign elements.” To prove which, we are gravely referred to passages like this. (Religion of Israel, i. 22, Eng. Vers.) The duty of oral instruction is still acknowledged, but this does not prove that the narrative is still unwritten.
From the emphatic language in which Moses urged this double duty, too much forgotten still, of remembering and showing forth the goodness of God, sprang the curious custom of the wearing of phylacteries. But the Jews were not bidden to wear signs and frontlets: they were bidden to let hallowed memories be unto them in the place of such charms as they had seen the Egyptians wear, “for a sign unto thee, upon thine hand, and for a frontlet between thine eyes, that the law of the Lord may be in thy mouth” (Exo 13:9). Such language is frequent in the Old Testament, where mercy and truth should be bound around their necks; their fathers’ commandments should be tied around their necks, bound on their fingers, written on their hearts; and Sion should clothe herself with her converts as an ornament, and gird them upon her as a bride doth (Pro 3:3, Pro 6:21, Pro 7:3; Isa 49:18).
But human nature still finds the letter of many a commandment easier than the spirit, a ceremony than an obedient heart, penance than penitence, ashes on the forehead than a contrite spirit, and a phylactery than the gratitude and acknowledgment which ought to be unto us for a sign on the hand and a frontlet between the eyes.
We have already observed the connection between the thirteenth verse and the events of the previous night. But there is an interesting touch of nature in the words “the firstling of an ass thou shalt redeem with a lamb.” It was afterwards rightly perceived that all unclean animals should follow the same rule; but why was only the ass mentioned? Plainly because those humble journeyers had no other beast of burden. Horses pursued them presently, but even the Egyptians of that period used them only in war. The trampled Hebrews would not possess camels. And thus again, in the tenth commandment, when the stateliest of their cattle is specified, no beast of burden is named with it but the ass: “Thou shalt not covet … his ox nor his ass.” It is an undesigned coincidence of real value; a phrase which would never have been devised by legislators of a later date; a frank and unconscious evidence of the genuineness of the story.
Some time before this, a new and fierce race, whose name declared them to be “emigrants,” had thrust itself in among the tribes of Canaan–a race which was long to wage equal war with Israel, and not seldom to see his back turned in battle. They now held all the south of Palestine, from the brook of Egypt to Ekron (Jos 15:4, Jos 15:47). And if Moses in the flush of his success had pushed on by the straight and easy route into the promised land, the first shock of combat with them would have been felt in a few weeks. But “God led them not by the way of the Philistines, though that was near, for God said, Lest peradventure the people repent them when they see war, and they return to Egypt” (Exo 13:17).
From this we learn two lessons. Why did not He, Who presently made strong the hearts of the Egyptians to plunge into the bed of the sea, make the hearts of His own people strong to defy the Philistines? The answer is a striking and solemn one. Neither God in the Old Testament, nor God manifested in the flesh, is ever recorded to have wrought any miracle of spiritual advancement or overthrow. Thus the Egyptians were but confirmed in their own choice: their decision was carried further. And even Saul of Tarsus was illuminated, not coerced: he might have disobeyed the heavenly vision. He was not an insincere man suddenly coerced into earnestness, nor a coward suddenly made brave. In the moral world, adequate means are always employed for the securing of desired effects. Love, gratitude, the sense of danger and of grace, are the powers which elevate characters. And persons who live in sensuality, fraud, or falsehood, hoping to be saved some day by a sort of miracle of grace, ought to ponder this truth, which may not be the gospel now fashionable, but is unquestionably the statement of a Scriptural fact: in the moral sphere, God works by means and not by miracle.
A free life, the desert air, the rejection of the unfit by many visitations, and the growth of a new generation amid thrilling events, in a soul-stirring region, and under the pure influences of the law,–these were necessary before Israel could cross steel with the warlike children of the Philistines; and even then, it was not with them that he should begin.
The other lesson we learn is the tender fidelity of God, Who will not suffer us to be tempted above that we are able to bear. He led them aside into the desert, whither He still in mercy leads very many who think it a heavy judgment to be there.