The Lord told Moses, “Consecrate to me all the firstborn. Whatever is the first to open the womb among the people of Israel, both of man and of beast, is mine.”
There was a feast of unleavened bread to remember the day the people of Israel came out of Egypt and slavery. For seven days they ate unleavened bread, and on the seventh day there was a feast to the Lord.
When the Lord brought the people into the land that was sworn to them, they were commanded to set apart their firstborns.
I did not understand this part. The firstborns were to be the Lord’s, but then they would be redeemed? As in, they were all sacrificed and killed? And what is the mark?
“Therefore I sacrifice to the Lord all the males that first open the womb, but all the firstborn of my sons I redeem.’ It shall be as a mark on your hand or frontlets between your eyes, for by a strong hand the Lord brought us out of Egypt.”
-Exodus 13:15-16
Moses took the bones of Joseph with them, for Joseph had made the sons of Israel swear to carry his bones out of Egypt. When Pharaoh let the people go, God led the people around by the way of wilderness toward the Red Sea. The Lord led the people on their journey.
“And the Lord went before them by day in a pillar of cloud to lead them along the way, and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, that they might travel by day and by night. The pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night did not depart from before the people.”
-Exodus 21-22
The Lord had hardened the Pharaoh’s heart so that he would pursue them. Then, He could have glory over the Egyptians so the people of Israel would know that He is the Lord.
When Pharaoh drew near, the people of Israel were afraid and asked Moses why he had taken them out of Egypt for they were “safe” there; and now they would probably die in the wilderness. Moses told them not to fear and to see the salvation of the Lord.
The Lord told Moses to lift up his staff and stretch his hand out over the Red Sea and divide so the people of Israel could go through the sea on dry ground. The Lord would harden the hearts of the Egyptians so they would follow the people into the sea.
Then the angel of God who was leading them, moved and went behind them to keep distance between the people of Israel and the Egyptians. Moses parted the Red Sea and they all walked through it on dry ground. There were walls of water on each side of them.
The Egyptians pursued them and followed into the sea. Then the Lord told Moses to stretch his hand over the sea once more and the sea returned to its normal course. The Lord through the Egyptians into the midst of the sea. The waters returned and covered every Egyptian host, chariot, and horse. Thus the Lord saved Israel that day from the hand of the Egyptians.
“Israel saw the great power that the Lord used against the Egyptians, so the people feared the Lord, and they believed in the Lord and in his servant Moses.”
-Exodus 14:31
Then Moses and the people of Israel sang a song to the Lord.
After they crossed the Red Sea, they went back into the wilderness. They did not have any water to drink. When they came to Marah, they could not drink that water because it was bitter. The Lord showed Moses a log, and he threw it into the water, and the water became sweet.
“There the Lord made for them a statute and a rule, and there he tested them, saying “If you will diligently listen to the voice of the Lord your God, and do that which is right in his eyes, and give ear to his commandments and keep all his statutes, I will put none of the diseases on you that I put on the Egyptians, for I am the Lord, your healer.”
-Exodus 15: 25-26
Then they went to Elim, where there were twelve springs of water and seventy palm trees and there they camped.
I’m a student of the Bible, like you. God did accept animal sacrifice, but DETESTED human sacrifice. I think God asked for the sacrifice of the firstborns (male children and animals) to show he was serious. Firstborn children could be redeemed – bought back for a price. The final plague was the death of the firstborn of EGYPT, and the Israelites were passed over. With help from the notes in my Life Application Bible (NIV), I’m going to try to address your concern about the firstborns.
Note on Exodus 12:29-30: Every firstborn child of the Egyptians died, but the Israelites children were spared because the blood of the lamb had been placed on their doorframes. So begins the story of redemption, the central theme of the Bible.
Redemptions means “to buy back” or “to save from captivity by paying a ransom.” One way to buy back a slave was to offer an equivalent or superior slave in exchange. That is the way God chose to buy us back – he offered his Son in exchange for us.
In Old Testament times, God accepted symbolic offerings. Jesus had not yet been sacrificed, so God accepted the life of an animal in place of the life of the sinner. When Jesus came, he substituted his perfect life for our sinful lives, taking the penalty for sin that we deserve. Thus he redeemed us from the power of sin and restored us to God. Jesus’ sacrifice made animal sacrifice no longer necessary. (End Note.)
An interesting side note, the animal to be sacrificed was to be without defect (perfect) which foreshadows the perfect, sinless Christ, the Lamb of God, the final sacrifice.
Note on Ex 13:2: Consecrate means to sacrifice OR (emphasis mine) to consider something as belonging [dedicated] to God. This dedication practice described in Ex 13:11-16 was to remind the people of their deliverance through God. (End Note.)
Concerning the “mark,” if you look closely at Ex 13:9-10, it says: This observance [The Feast of Unleavened Bread which comes after the Passover] will be for you LIKE (emphasis mine) a sign [mark] on your hand and a reminder on your forehead that the law of the LORD is to be on your lips. For the LORD brought you out of Egypt with his mighty hand.
There are a couple places in the Bible where it refers to a sign on your hand and forehead, for example, Deuteronomy 11:18: Fix these words of mine in your hearts and minds; tie them as reminders on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. I think it means to REMEMBER – how hard is it to forget something on your hand or on your forehead. It makes me think of today’s tattoos.
A final note on human sacrifice: Leviticus 20: 1-2 says, The Lord said to Moses, “Say to the Israelites or any alien living in Israel who gives any of his children to Molech [a false god] must be put to death. The people of the community are to stone him.
I know this is long, but I felt it’s important for you to know that the Israelites did not sacrifice human life and that God strictly forbid it.
Thank you!
Yes, thank you.