Sunday, December 03, 2006

Exodus 13

Dedication of the Firstborn

Israel Leaves Egypt


   


(1) Then the Lord said to Moses,


(2) “Dedicate* to me every firstborn** among the Israelites. The first offspring to be born, of both humans and animals, belongs to me.”


*Dedicate: means “be holy, be set apart, be distinct, be sanctified.”


**firstborn: Exodus 22:29-30: “You must not hold anything back when you give me offerings from your crops and your wine.“You must give me your firstborn sons.“You must also give me the firstborn of your cattle, sheep, and goats. But leave the newborn animal with its mother for seven days; then give it to me on the eighth day.


   This was for three reasons. First, because Israel was God's firstborn (Exodus 4:22), and this honored that fact. Second, because the firstborn was thought to be the best, and the best was always given to God. Finally, as a reminder to all generations of when God redeemed Israel, His firstborn. -- www.enduringword.com/commentaries/0213.htm


   Pidyon HaBen is the redemption of the first-born, a ritual in Judaism. It is still observed today by Orthodox Judaism and Conservative Judaism. When a Jewish woman gives birth by natural means, ie vaginally, to her firstborn son, then the father of the child must "redeem" the child from a known Kohen representing the original Jewish Temple priesthood, for the sum of five silver Shekels, or five silver pieces of the country's currency, such as silver dollars in the U.S. The procedure does not normally apply when the father is a Kohen or Levi, or when the mother is the daughter of one. Levites, including Kohanim, do not normally redeem their children through the ceremony. The reason is that the Levites, as substitutes for the first-born, are pledged to minister and assist the kohanim in Divine service, and cannot be redeemed from their service obligation. In Orthodox Judaism and to a lesser extent in Conservative Judaism, Levites remain irredeemably pledged to Divine service to this day, are expected to report for duty in a future rebuilt Temple in Jerusalem. -- Wikipedia: Pidyon HaBen: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Redemption_of_First-born


(3) So Moses said to the people, “This is a day to remember forever—the day you left Egypt, the place of your slavery. Today the Lord has brought you out by the power of his mighty hand. (Remember, eat no food containing yeast.)


(4) On this day in early spring, in the month of Abib*, you have been set free.


*Abib: Pronounced ä-vev'. The month in the Hebrew calendar when the barley has reached or passed this stage (Exodus 13:4; 23:15); the seventh of the Jewish ecclesiastical year, and the first of the civil year. It began about the time of the vernal equinox, on 21st March. It was called Nisan, after the Babylonian captivity (Nehemiah 2:1). On the fifteenth day of the month, harvest was begun by gathering a sheaf of barley, which was offered to the Lord on the sixteenth (Leviticus 23:4-11).


Calendar below is from wsw.oneyearbibleblog.com/2006/02/index.html


Deuteronomy 16:1: In honor of the Lord your God, celebrate the Passover each year in the early spring, in the month of Abib, for that was the month in which the Lord your God brought you out of Egypt by night.


(5) You must celebrate this event in this month each year after the Lord brings you into the land of the Canaanites*, Hittites**, Amorites***, Hivites****, and Jebusites*****. (He swore to your ancestors that he would give you this land—a land flowing with milk and honey.)


Map of the 7 Nations of Ancient Canaan below is from www.bible-history.com/map-israel-joshua/index.html



*Canaanites: Genesis 10:15 Canaan’s oldest son was Sidon, the ancestor of the Sidonians. Canaan was also the ancestor of the Hittites, Jebusites, Amorites, Girgashites, Hivites, Arkites, Sinites, Arvadites, Zemarites, and Hamathites. The Canaanite clans eventually spread out, and the territory of Canaan extended from Sidon in the north to Gerar and Gaza in the south, and east as far as Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboiim, near Lasha.

The "Canaanites," as distinguished from the Amalekites, the Anakim, and the Rephaim, were "dwellers in the lowlands" (Numbers 13:29), the great plains and valleys, the richest and most important parts of Palestine. Tyre and Sidon, their famous cities, were the centers of great commercial activity; and hence the name "Canaanite" came to signify a "trader" or "merchant".
The unified state of Tyre-Sidon expanded its trade through the Mediterranean and was even able to establish colonies as far away as Spain. The most successful of these colonies was undoubtedly Carthage.
Under the name of Kanana, the Canaanites appear on Egyptian monuments. They were called Phoenicians by the Greeks and Poeni by the Romans. The chief object of their worship was the sun-god, who was addressed by the general name of Baal, "lord."


Genesis 9:18,22,24-25: The sons of Noah who came out of the boat with their father were Shem, Ham, and Japheth. (Ham is the father of Canaan.) Ham, the father of Canaan, saw that his father was naked and went outside and told his brothers. When Noah woke up from his stupor, he learned what Ham, his youngest son, had done. Then he cursed Canaan, the son of Ham: “May Canaan be cursed! May he be the lowest of servants to his relatives.”


**Hittites: and Children of Heth are the second of the eleven Canaanite nations in the Hebrew Bible. They are purportedly descended from one Heth, a son of Canaan, son of Ham. In Genesis:23:2, towards the end of Abraham's life, he was staying in Hebron, on lands belonging to the "children of Heth", and from them he obtained a plot of land with a cave to bury his wife Sarah. One of them (Ephron) is labeled "the Hittite", several times. Per Genesis:26:34, Esau took two Hittite wives. Uriah the Hittite was the husband of Bathsheba before David had him murdered.


***Amorites: Amorites were an ancient tribe of Canaanites who inhabited the country northeast of the Jordan River as far as Mount Hermon. In the 13th century BC, the Amorites defeated the Moabites, crossed the Jordan, conquered the Hittites, and overran Canaan to the sea. Their power was broken (see Joshua 9-10) by the Hebrews, under Joshua, at Gibeon. The five kings of the Amorites were defeated with great slaughter by Joshua. They were again defeated at the waters of Merom by Joshua. The Amorites were warlike mountaineers. They are represented on the Egyptian monuments with fair skins, light hair, blue eyes, aquiline noses (hook nose or Roman nose), and pointed beards. They are supposed to have been men of great stature; their king, Og, is described by Moses as the last "of the remnant of the giants." The most famous of the Amorite leaders was Hammurabi.


****Hivites: Its meaning is "the villager" or "the midlander," the Hivites having previously inhabited central Palestine. The Hivite was the sixth son of Canaan (Genesis 10:17). Hamor, the Prince of Shechem, was a Hivite. In the time of the conquest of Palestine by Joshua, they duped Joshua and all the Israelites (Joshua 9:3-27). The Hivites had then four cities - Gibeon, Chephirah, Beeroth, and Kirjath-jearim, situated a considerable distance apart. The Gibeonites were spared by Joshua on account of his oath. The Hivites spread toward the north of Palestine, their main body lying under Mount Hermon, in the land of Mizpeh. -- http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=808&letter=H A remnant of them still existed in the time of Solomon (1 Kings 9:20).


*****Jebusites: The Jebusites were a Canaanite people, descended from Ham through Canaan. At the time of the arrival of the Israelites in Palestine they were ruled by Adonizedek (Joshua 10:1, 23). They were defeated by Joshua, and their king was slain; but they were not entirely driven out of Jebus (Jerusalem) till the time of David, who made it the capital of his kingdom instead of Hebron. The site on which the temple was afterwards built belonged to Araunah, a Jebusite, from whom it was purchased by David, who refused to accept it as a free gift (2 Samuel 24:16-25; 1 Chronicles 21:24, 25). -- www.christiananswers.net/dictionary/jebusites.html. The Books of Kings state that once Jerusalem had become an Israelite city, the surviving Jebusites were forced by Solomon to become serfs.


(6) For seven days the bread you eat must be made without yeast. Then on the seventh day, celebrate a feast to the Lord.


(7) Eat bread without yeast* during those seven days. In fact, there must be no yeast bread or any yeast at all found within the borders of your land during this time.


*yeast (leaven): Just as the Israelites were to abstain from leavened bread, so are we to avoid the leaven of malice and wickedness and partake of the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth (1 Corinthians 5:7-9). In Galatians 5:9, Paul uses the leavening of bread as a warning against insidious teaching. We can compare with this how Jesus Christ Himself warned against the leaven (insidious teaching which can begin to work and spread) of the Pharisees and the Herodians (Mark 8:15).


(8) “On the seventh day you must explain to your children, ‘I am celebrating what the Lord did for me when I left Egypt.’


(9) This annual festival will be a visible sign to you, like a mark branded* on your hand or your forehead. Let it remind you always to recite this teaching of the Lord: ‘With a strong hand, the Lord rescued you from Egypt.’


*mark branded: Most likely, Pharaoh had physically branded these slaves to show they belonged to him - just as Hitler had branded the Jews during the Holocaust: A. Cowley (in his 1923 book Aramaic Papyri of the Fifth Century B.C.) showed that in Elephantine [a city in Hellenistic Egypt], slaves of Jews were marked with the names of their owners as was the general practice. -- www.myjewishlearning.com/daily_life/TheBody/Adorning_the_Body/Tattoo.htm

Moreover, Isaiah 49:16 says God was branded with their name: See, I have written your name on the palms of my hands.

Ezekiel 9: He said to him, “Walk through the streets of Jerusalem and put a mark on the foreheads of all who weep and sigh because of the detestable sins being committed in their city.”Then I heard the Lord say to the other men, “Follow him through the city and kill everyone whose forehead is not marked. Show no mercy; have no pity!

 Isaiah 44:5: Some will proudly claim, ‘I belong to the Lord.’ Others will say, ‘I am a descendant of Jacob.’ Some will write the Lord’s name on their hands and will take the name of Israel as their own.”

 Galatians 6:17: From now on, don’t let anyone trouble me with these things. For I bear on my body the scars that show I belong to Jesus.

 Revelation 7:3: “Wait! Don’t harm the land or the sea or the trees until we have placed the seal of God on the foreheads of his servants.”

Revelation 9:4: They were told not to harm the grass or plants or trees, but only the people who did not have the seal of God on their foreheads.

Revelation 13:16: He required everyone—small and great, rich and poor, free and slave—to be given a mark on the right hand or on the forehead. And no one could buy or sell anything without that mark, which was either the name of the beast or the number representing his name.

 Revelation 14:1: Then I saw the Lamb standing on Mount Zion, and with him were 144,000 who had his name and his Father’s name written on their foreheads.

Revelation 22:4: And they will see his face, and his name will be written on their foreheads.


Leviticus 19:28: Do not cut your bodies for the dead, and do not mark your skin with tattoos. I am the Lord.


(10) So observe the decree of this festival at the appointed time each year.


(11) “This is what you must do when the Lord fulfills the promise he swore to you and to your ancestors. When he gives you the land where the Canaanites now live,


(12) you must present all firstborn sons and firstborn male animals to the Lord, for they belong to him.


(13) A firstborn donkey may be bought back* from the Lord by presenting a lamb or young goat in its place. But if you do not buy it back, you must break its neck. However, you must buy back every firstborn son**.


*bought back: Hebrew padah - redeemed or ransomed.


**firstborn son: Firstborn sons had to be redeemed, presumably at this stage by the ‘payment’ of the sacrifice of a lamb (later it would become five shekels - Numbers 18:15-16). This was to be a continual sign to all of how Yahweh had spared the firstborn of Israel when He had smitten all the firstborn in the land of Egypt. Later in 22:29, it is stated that the sacrificing was not to take place until the eighth day after the birth.


1 Corinthians 6:19-20: ...You do not belong to yourself, for God bought you with a high price. So you must honor God with your body. - This is the essential meaning of the word "redeemed".


(14) “And in the future, your children* will ask you, ‘What does all this mean?’ Then you will tell them, ‘With the power of his mighty hand, the Lord brought us out of Egypt, the place of our slavery.


*your children: This idea of testimony to the young is constantly emphasized. It is seen as important that they know what Yahweh did for His people in revealing His strength against the might of Egypt and delivering them from bondage. It was a continual reminder to them of the power of their God and His love for His people. How good are we fathers at teaching our children?


(15) Pharaoh stubbornly refused to let us go, so the Lord killed all the firstborn males throughout the land of Egypt, both people and animals. That is why I now sacrifice all the firstborn males to the Lord—except that the firstborn sons are always bought back.’


(16) This ceremony will be like a mark branded on your hand or your forehead. It is a reminder that the power of the Lord’s mighty hand brought us out of Egypt.”


   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 (phylacteries) 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 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. -- www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/chuck_smith_c2000/Exd/Exd013.html


   Later, Jesus condemned abuse of the wearing of phylacteries (Hebrew-tephillin) among the Pharisees. They made their phylactery boxes large and ostentatious as a display of greater spirituality (Matthew 23:5). In the end times there will be a Satanic imitation of this practice when the number of the Antichrist will be applied to either the hand or forehead of all who will take it (Revelation 13:16).




Above picture is from encarta.msn.com/media_681500087/Donning_Phylacteries_for_Prayer.html


(17) When Pharaoh* finally let the people go, God did not lead them along the main road** that runs through Philistine territory, even though that was the shortest route to the Promised Land. God said, “If the people are faced with a battle, they might change their minds and return to Egypt.”


*Pharaoh: His words (12:31-32) had been urgent and gave the impression that he would not mind if he never saw them again. He wanted rid of them at any cost because of what their presence had brought on himself and his people, and what their presence might continue to bring. Egypt was devastated, and now on top of the disasters every family in Egypt had lost its firstborn sons through some mysterious means. But underneath he was still the same obstinate and evil man. We can see therefore why he changed his mind a little later on, when he reconsidered his words once the worst seemed to be over. He had never ever been thwarted like this before. It was not just that Egypt were losing such a quantity of slaves, although that was bad enough, it was the fact that he had been totally humiliated. -- www.geocities.com/genesiscommentary/exodus3.html


**main road: Not only would this have led them directly into battle with the Philistines, but this was the main caravan and military route which was dotted with Egyptian forts. It commenced at the frontier post of Zilu and went straight up parallel to the coast and was at some stage called ‘the way of the land of the Philistines’. In the same way, God will never allow us to face more than we are able to bear; He knows what we can handle (1 Corinthians 10:13).


(18) So God led them in a roundabout way* through the wilderness toward the Red Sea**. Thus the Israelites left Egypt*** like an army ready for battle****.


*roundabout way: God always leads in the right way, but sometimes it is to us a round-about way, but we're expected to trust Him.


**Red Sea: Hebrew Yam Suph - Sea of Reeds or Papyri. The translation of this name as “Red Sea” comes from the sea’s Greek name in the Septuagint (Greek) version and elsewhere. The Red Sea on today’s maps is farther south, below the Sinai Peninsula. But the title Red Sea in ancient times may very well have covered both the Gulf of Suez and the Gulf of Aqaba (see Deuteronomy 1:1; 1 Kings 9:26). The name “Sea of Reeds” in various English versions (usually in the form of a marginal note) and commentaries reflects the meaning of the Hebrew word a word for reedy water plants (Exodus 2:3, 5; Isaiah 19:6; Jonah 2:5-6) that may have a connection with an Egyptian word used for papyrus and other marsh plants. On this basis some have taken the term Yam Suph as perhaps referring to Lake Menzaleh or Lake Ballah, which have abundant reeds, north of the extension of the Red Sea on the western side of Sinai. Whatever exact body of water is meant, it was not merely a marshy swamp that the people waded through, but a body of water large enough to make passage impossible without divine intervention, and deep enough to drown the Egyptian army. -- www.bible.org/netbible/index.htm


*** left Egypt: The name of this book is "Exodus", Greek for "departure" or "going out". In Luke 9:29-36 on the story of the transfiguration, where Moses and Elijah appear with Jesus, in verse 31 in the New Living Translation, it says They were glorious to see. And they were speaking about his exodus from this world, which was about to be fulfilled in Jerusalem. Unfortunately, the King James version uses the term "decease" which loses the connection with the exodus from Egypt, a type of the world, because "exodus" is the Greek word used in the original. In other words, Jesus is not just discussing with Moses and Elijah his death, but the significance of his death - his exodus from this life to the next. He is a new Moses, leading the way for God's people to a new mode of existence. He is a new Moses, leading God's people to a new chosen land. -- page 286, "The NIV Application Commentary - Exodus" – Peter Enns – Zondervan™


****army ready for battle: Not an actual army, but organized in an orderly fashion (by tribe) rather than a rag-tag chaotic mob desperately fleeing for their lives from their Egyptian masters.


   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. -- www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/chuck_smith_c2000/Exd/Exd013.html


(19) Moses took the bones of Joseph with him, for Joseph had made the sons of Israel swear to do this. He said, “God will certainly come to help you. When he does, you must take my bones* with you from this place.”


*take my bones: Genesis 50:24-25: “Soon I will die,” Joseph told his brothers, “but God will surely come to help you and lead you out of this land of Egypt. He will bring you back to the land he solemnly promised to give to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.” Then Joseph made the sons of Israel swear an oath, and he said, “When God comes to help you and lead you back, you must take my bones with you.” In a great act of faith, Joseph asked that his bones be taken from Egypt. He did this because he knew that Egypt was not their final resting place, but that God had a Promised Land for them.


(20) The Israelites left Succoth and camped at Etham* on the edge of the wilderness.




Map above is from http://www.wyattmuseum.com/red-sea-crossing.htm


*Etham was in the "edge of the wilderness (the Wilderness of the Red Sea) -- the mountainous land of the mid and southern Sinai Peninsula. This was along a route that was commonly taken in those days by both caravans and the army, and it was called "the southern route." This route was taken because it was safer than traveling along the coast, where the Philistines were. Etham was not a singular location, like a town- it was a designation of the land that lay around the mid-northern edge of the Gulf of Aqaba. We know this because once they cross the sea, they are still in an area called Etham: Numbers 33:8 They left Pi-Hahiroth, crossed the Red Sea, then walked three days into the Etham Desert and camped at Marah. - www.wyattnewsletters.com/exodus/ex03.htm


(21) The Lord went ahead of them. He guided them during the day with a pillar* of cloud**, and he provided light at night with a pillar of fire***. This allowed them to travel by day or by night.


*pillar: The ancient Hebrew for pillar literally means "something standing." It was probably more of what we would think of as a "column" than a pillar.


**pillar of cloud:

1 Corinthians 10:1-2: I don’t want you to forget, dear brothers and sisters, about our ancestors in the wilderness long ago. All of them were guided by a cloud that moved ahead of them, and all of them walked through the sea on dry ground. In the cloud and in the sea, all of them were baptized as followers of Moses.

This Cloud rested upon the Tabernacle as soon as it was erected: Exodus 40:34-35 : Then the cloud covered the Tabernacle, and the glory of the Lord filled the Tabernacle. Moses could no longer enter the Tabernacle because the cloud had settled down over it, and the glory of the Lord filled the Tabernacle.

This cloud filled Solomon's temple: 1 Kings 8:10-11: When the priests came out of the Holy Place, a thick cloud filled the Temple of the Lord. The priests could not continue their service because of the cloud, for the glorious presence of the Lord filled the Temple.


***pillar of fire: As at the burning bush in 3:2. Fire usually denotes judgment.


Psalm 99:7: He spoke to Israel from the pillar of cloud, and they followed the laws and decrees he gave them.


Psalm 105:3: The Lord spread a cloud above them as a covering and gave them a great fire to light the darkness


Nehemiah 9:12: You led our ancestors by a pillar of cloud during the day and a pillar of fire at night so that they could find their way.


(22) And the Lord did not remove the pillar of cloud or pillar of fire from its place in front of the people.



On-Line Sources:



Off-Line Sources:



  • "Cruden's Complete Concordance" - Zondervan Publishing House

  • "Breath of the Holies: Secrets of Moses' Tabernacle" - DVD by Perry Stone

  • "In Search of the Mountain of God" by Robert Cornuke and David Halbrook - Broadman & Holman Publishers

  • "Life Application Study Bible" - New Living Translation version - Tyndale House Publishers

  • "Symbols of Judaism" by Marc-Alai Ouaknin - Barnes & Noble Books, publisher

  • "The Companion Bible" by E. W. Bullinger - Zondervan Publishing House

  • "The Exodus Revealed: Searching for the Red Sea Crossing" - (2001), DVD, Studio: Questar, ASIN: B00005AUE2, available from Amazon.com

  • "The Defender's Study Bible" -World Bible Publishers

  • "The Miracle of Passover" - DVD by Zola Levitt

  • "The Mountain of God" - Robert Cornuke and David Halbrook - Broadman & Holman Publishers

  • "The NIV Application Commentary - Exodus" – Peter Enns – Zondervan™

  • "The Seven Feasts of Israel - Video 1 - Passover" - Zola Levitt

  • "The Ten Commandments" (1956 film) from Paramount Pictures, directed by Cecil B. DeMille, starring Charlton Heston as Moses

  • Unger's Bible Dictionary - Merrill F. Unger

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