CHAPTER 13

(1491 B.C.)

THE FIRSTBORN

¹And the LORD spoke unto Moses, saying,

²Sanctify unto Me all the firstborn, whatsoever opens the womb among the Children of Israel, both of man and of beast: It is Mine. (The firstborn, who were to be sanctified to the Lord, which means set apart unto the Lord, were to typify Christ. Jesus is the Son of God, in essence, regarding His humanity, the firstborn.)

³And 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 Hand the LORD brought you out from this place (Israel was to understand that they had been delivered out of this house of bondage, not by their own ingenuity, strength, ability, or talent, but by the Power of God. It takes Almighty Power to overcome sin. That Power is registered in the Holy Spirit. He works exclusively within the parameters of the Finished Work of Christ, and demands that we have Faith in that Finished Work [Rom. 6:3-14]): there shall no leavened bread be eaten. (Once again, the Unleavened Bread symbolizes the Perfection of Christ, which was absolutely necessary, if He was to serve as the Perfect Sacrifice. The Cross alone deals with sin.)

⁴This day came ye out in the month Abib. (This was a certain day, in a certain month, in which the Children of Israel were brought out of Egyptian bondage. This tells us, and in no uncertain terms, that Salvation is not merely a philosophical quest, but rather a genuine, know-so Salvation.)

⁵And it shall be when the LORD shall bring you into the land of the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites, which He swore unto your fathers to give you, a land flowing with milk and honey, that you shall keep this service in this month. (The Land which the Lord would give them would be grand and great, but would be filled with enemies; however, if they faithfully followed the Lord, every enemy would be defeated, and so it is presently. The Christian can walk in perpetual victory only as he understands the Cross, which is the secret of all victory. The Cross must ever be the object of our Faith, by and through which the Holy Spirit works, thereby making His Power available to us [Rom. 8:1-2, 11].)

⁶Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread, and in the seventh day shall be a feast to the LORD. (In fact, this Feast lasted throughout the entirety of the seven days, but the first day and the last were to be kept especially holy [Lev. 23:6-8]. The seventh day of the seven days, deemed a special day, refers to the Finished Work of Christ, in that His Mission would be a completed Mission.)

⁷Unleavened bread shall be eaten seven days (the number seven specifies and symbolizes a perfect victory afforded the Child of God, all made possible by Christ, and what He would do at the Cross); and there shall no leavened bread be seen with you, neither shall there be leaven seen with you in all your quar ters. (Leaven was a type of sin. The Christian is to be free from all sin, as it regards domination [Rom. 6:14].)

⁸And you shall show your son in that day, saying, This is done because of that which the LORD did unto me when I came forth out of Egypt. (We as Believers must boast of the Cross, and do so constantly [Gal. 6:14].)

⁹And it shall be for a sign unto you upon your hand, and for a memorial between your eyes, that the LORDs Law may be in your mouth: for with a strong Hand has the LORD brought you out of Egypt. (There can be little doubt that the Jewish system of phylacteries grew mainly out of this Passage, and was intended as a fulfillment of the commands contained in it. Phylacteries 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.)

¹⁰You shall therefore keep this Ordinance in his season from year to year. (Immediately that Israel was redeemed out of Egypt, instructions were given respecting the annual observance of the Passover. That is to say, Israel was to perpetually confess to the world that her salvation out of Egypt, and her settlement in Canaan, was wholly due to the preciousness of the Blood of the Pascal Lamb. The people of God presently are to give a like testimony.)

¹¹And it shall be when the LORD shall bring you into the land of Canaanites, as He swore unto you and to your fathers, and shall give it you,

¹²That you shall set apart unto the LORD all that opens the matrix (the womb), and every firstling that comes of a beast which you have; the males shall be the LORDs.

¹³And every firstling of an ass you shall redeem with a lamb; and if you will not redeem it, then you shall break his neck: and all the firstborn of man among your children shall you redeem. (This Verse legislated the Redemption of man and of an ass by the death of a lamb. This is humbling to human pride. The ass was an unclean animal; and, with its broken neck, fitly pictured the true moral condition of the most cultivated man. But the death of the lamb obtained redemption. Only thus can sinners by saved. If the ass wasnt redeemed, it was to be killed. It is the same with unbelievers; failure to accept Christ, of which the lamb was a Type, means the loss of the soul.)

¹⁴And it shall be when your son asks you in time to come, saying, What is this? that you shall say unto him, By strength of Hand the LORD brought us out from Egypt, from the house of bondage (all of this concerning the firstborn were symbolisms of Christ, as Gods Son, Who would redeem humanity by going to the Cross; Israel was delivered on that basis):

¹⁵And 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 opens the matrix, being males; but all the firstborn of my children I redeem. (Mans firstborn is a Type of the firstborn of God, in His Authority and Priestly function among His brethren, and as the object of the Fathers love and trust. The death of Egypts firstborn did burst the bonds of Israel; the death of Gods firstborn, the bonds of His people. So, the Cross has a double effect: it condemns the Christ-rejecter, and it brings to Salvation the Christ-acceptor.)

¹⁶And it shall be for a token upon your hand, and for frontlets between your eyes: for by strength of Hand the LORD brought us forth out of Egypt. (Once again, this refers to phylacteries, the same as in Verse 9.)

THE CLOUD AND THE FIRE

¹⁷And 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 near; for God said, Lest peradventure the people repent when they see war, and they return to Egypt (we should ever seek the Lord as it regards direction and leading; if we let Him make the plans, the plans will succeed; if we make the plans ourselves, and expect Him to bless those plans, that He will not do):

¹⁸But God led the people about, through the way of the wilderness of the Red Sea (He would lead them into and through the wilderness, in order to teach them trust, faith, and obedience): and the Children of Israel went up harnessed out of the land of Egypt (could be translated, The Children of Israel went up by five in a rank out of the land of Egypt; five in Scripture ever speaks of Grace or favor; this probably refers to five large groups).

¹⁹And Moses took the bones of Joseph with him: for he (Joseph) had straitly sworn the Children of Israel, saying, God will surely visit you; and you shall carry up my bones away hence with you (even though Joseph had the glory of Egypt given to him by God, still, his heart was never in Egypt, but in Canaanland, for that was the land promised to Abraham by God, where a mighty nation would rise up, a nation totally different than any other nation in the world, a people who belonged exclusively to Jehovah; as well, there is some small evidence in the Text that not only were the bones of Joseph brought out, but also the bones of all the sons of Jacob).

²⁰And they took their journey from Succoth (means booths or tents; this spoke plainly of the pilgrim character which lay before them), and encamped in Etham, in the edge of the wilderness.

²¹And 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 (concerning this, Mackintosh says: The Lord not only conducted them safely outside the bounds of Egypt, but He also came down, as it were, in His traveling 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 Gods manner toward them; He went before them; He was a guide, a glory, a defense, to save them from every fear):

²²He took not away the pillar of the cloud by day, nor the pillar of fire by night, from before the people. (As Israel was led both day and night by this particular cloud, likewise, the Holy Spirit is to the Believer, The Spirit of Wisdom and Understanding, the Spirit of Counsel and Might, the Spirit of Knowledge and of the Fear of the Lord [Isa. 11:2].)