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The dedication of the first-born had its origin in the
earliest times. God had promised to give
the First-born of heaven to save the sinner. This gift was to be
acknowledged in every household by the consecration of the
first-born son. He was to be devoted to
the priesthood, as a representative of
Christ among men.
In the deliverance of Israel from
Egypt, the dedication of the first-born was again commanded. While
the children of Israel were in bondage to
the Egyptians, the Lord directed Moses to
go to Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and
say, "Thus
saith the Lord, Israel is My son, even My
first-born:4 and I say
unto thee, Let My son go, that he may serve Me: and if thou refuse
to let him go, behold, I will slay thy son, even thy
first-born." Ex. 4:22, 23.
Moses delivered his message; but the
proud king's
answer was,
"Who is the Lord, that I should obey His voice to
let Israel go? I know not the Lord, neither will I let
Israel go." Ex. 5:2. The Lord worked for His people by
signs and wonders, sending terrible judgments upon
Pharaoh. At length the destroying
angel was bidden to slay the first-born of man and
beast among the Egyptians. That the Israelites might be
spared, they were directed to place upon their doorposts the blood of
a slain lamb. Every house was to be
marked, that when the angel came on his mission of death, he
might pass over the homes of the Israelites.
After sending this judgment upon Egypt, the Lord said to Moses,
"Sanctify unto Me all the first-born, . . .
both of man and
of beast: it is Mine;"7
"for on the day that I smote all the first-born
in the land of Egypt I hallowed unto Me all the first-born in
Israel, both man and beast: Mine shall they be: I am the
Lord." Ex. 13:2; Num. 3:13. After the tabernacle service was
established, the Lord chose the tribe of
Levi in the place of the first-born of all Israel to
minister in the sanctuary. But
the first-born were still to be
regarded as the Lord's, and were to
be bought back by a ransom.
Thus the law for the presentation of the first-born was made
particularly significant. While it was a memorial of the Lord's wonderful deliverance of the children of Israel, it prefigured a
greater deliverance, to
be wrought out by the only-begotten Son of God. As the blood
sprinkled on the doorposts had saved the first-born of Israel, so
the blood of Christ has power to save the world. |
When Moses first got his commission from the Lord in Midian, and
was told to go and work out the great deliverance of his people from their
Egyptian bondage, the last instruction he received was
this: "And thou shalt say unto Pharaoh,
Thus saith the Lord, Israel is my son, even my
first-born.4
and I say unto thee, Let my son go, that he may serve me: and
if thou refuse to let him go, behold, I will slay thy son,
even thy first-born." Exod. 4:22,
23.5 As a mother reclaims her infant from the hands of a
cruel nurse, as a father reclaims his son from the hands of a
severe and capricious schoolmaster, so the Lord reclaimed his
son, his first-born Israel, from the hands of
Pharaoh. But the king's
haughty answer to the demand was: "Who is the Lord, that I
should obey His voice to let Israel go?" Sign after
sign was shown, wonder after wonder wrought,
woe after woe inflicted, but the spirit of the proud
king remained unbroken.6
At last, all lesser instruments
having failed, the sword was put into the hands of
the destroying angel, and he was sent forth to execute that foretold
doom, which—meant to strike at
the very heart of the entire community of
Egypt—fell actually only upon the first-born in
every family. The nation was taken as
represented by these its first and best. In the simultaneous
death on that terrible night, Egypt throughout all its
borders was smitten. But the first-born of Israel was
saved, and through them, as representatives
of the whole body of the people, all Israel was saved; saved,
yet not without the sacrifice of the lamb, for every household had the sprinkling of
its shed blood upon the lintel and
door-post. It was to preserve and
perpetuate the memory of this judgment and this
mercy, this smiting and this shielding,
this doom and this deliverance, that the Lord spake
unto Moses, saying, "Sanctify unto me all
the first-born, both of man and beast;
it is mine:7
for on the day that I smote all the
first-born in the land of Egypt, I hallowed unto me all the
first-born in Israel; mine they shall be: I am the
Lord. 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: and it came to pass, when Pharaoh would hardly let
us go, that the Lord 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 the Lord all that openeth the
matrix, being males; but all the first-born of my children I
redeem." Exod. 13:1;
Numb. 3:135; Exod. 13:14, 15. During the
earlier and simpler patriarchal
economy, the first-born in every family was also its
priest. Had that rule been followed
when the twelve tribes were organized into the
Theocracy, the first-born
invested with a double sacredness, as peculiarly the redeemed
of the Lord, would have been consecrated to the office of the
priesthood. Instead
of this, the
tribe of Levi
was set apart that it might supply all the priests required
for the services of the sanctuary;
and the first-born for whom they were thus substituted were
redeemed or released from
that service by the payment each, on the day their
presentation in the temple, of a merely nominal gratuity; by
the payment, the original right and title, as it were, of the
first-born to the office of the priest-hood being still
preserved.
This rite, then, of the presentation of the
first-born in the temple had a double character and office.
It was a standing memorial or remembrancer
of a past fact in the
history of the Jewish people—the deliverance of their forefathers from the bondage of
Egypt, and especially of the shielding of their first-born
from the stroke which fell on all of the
first-born of the Egyptians; but the deliverance
from8 Egyptian
bondage was itself a type and prophecy of another higher and wider
deliverance, and
especially of the manner in which that
deliverance was to be wrought
out. |
And I have also heard the groaning of the children of Israel,
whom the Egyptians keep in
bondage; and I have remembered my
covenant. (Ex. 6:5)
And thou shalt say unto Pharaoh,
Thus saith
the Lord, Israel is my son, even my
firstborn:4 And I say unto thee,
Let my son go, that he may serve me: and
if thou refuse to let him go, behold, I will slay thy son, even thy
firstborn. (Ex. 4:22, 23)
And Pharaoh said, Who is the Lord, that I
should obey his voice to let Israel go? I know not the Lord,
neither will I let Israel go. (Ex. 5:2)
And I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and multiply my
signs and my wonders in the land of Egypt. (Ex. 7:3)
For I will pass through the land of Egypt this night, and will smite all the
firstborn
in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute
judgment: I am the LORD. (Ex. 12:12)
Speak ye unto all the congregation of Israel, saying, In the
tenth day of this month they shall take to them every man a
lamb, . . . . and the whole
assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it in the
evening. And they shall take of the blood,
and strike it on the two side posts and on the upper
door post of the houses, wherein
they shall eat it. (Ex. 12:3-7)
Sanctify unto me all the firstborn,
whatsoever openeth the womb among the children of Israel,
both of man and
of beast: it is mine.7 (Ex 13:2)
And I, behold, I have taken the Levites from among the
children of Israel instead of
all the firstborn . . .
Because all the firstborn are mine; for on the
day that I smote all the firstborn in the land of Egypt I hallowed
unto me all the firstborn in Israel, both man and beast: mine shall
they be: I am the LORD. (Num. 3:12, 13)
And their charge shall be . . . the vessels of
the sanctuary wherewith
they minister, and the hanging, and all the service thereof. (Num. 3:31)
Bring the tribe of Levi near, and present them before
Aaron the priest, that they may minister unto him. (Num. 3:6)
And Moses gave the money of them that were
redeemed unto Aaron and to his sons,
according to the word of the LORD, as the LORD commanded Moses. (Num. 3:51)
And this day shall be unto you for a memorial; and ye shall keep it a feast to the Lord
throughout your generations; ye shall keep it a feast by an
ordinance for ever. (Ex. 12:14)
That ye shall say, It is the sacrifice of the Lord's passover,
. . . when he smote the Egyptians, and delivered our houses. (Ex.
12:27) |