Consecrate Yourself and Every Firstborn to God

<Ex 12> 43 The Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “These are the regulations for the Passover meal: “No foreigner may eat it. 44 Any slave you have bought may eat it after you have circumcised him, 45 but a temporary resident or a hired worker may not eat it.

46 “It must be eaten inside the house; take none of the meat outside the house. Do not break any of the bones. 47 The whole community of Israel must celebrate it.

48 “A foreigner residing among you who wants to celebrate the Lord’s Passover must have all the males in his household circumcised; then he may take part like one born in the land. No uncircumcised male may eat it. 49 The same law applies both to the native-born and to the foreigner residing among you.”

OT Passover meal and NT Holy Communion.

• Sacred, exclusive, not “common”.
• Must be consecrated (circumcised) to eat Passover meal.
• NT: Holy Communion, baptised then can partake.
• Holy Communion: Remember the redemptive work of Christ.
• <1 Co 11:26> For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.
• Passover and Communion: Unity of the body of Christ.
• Same church but everyone different.
• Diversity united in Christ.

<Ex 13:1> The Lord said to Moses, 2 “Consecrate to me every firstborn male. The first offspring of every womb among the Israelites belongs to me, whether human or animal.”

3 Then Moses said to the people, “Commemorate this day, the day you came out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery, because the Lord brought you out of it with a mighty hand. Eat nothing containing yeast. 

4 Today, in the month of Aviv, you are leaving. 5 When the Lord brings you into the land of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Hivites and Jebusites—the land he swore to your ancestors to give you, a land flowing with milk and honey—you are to observe this ceremony in this month:

6 For seven days eat bread made without yeast and on the seventh day hold a festival to the Lord. 7 Eat unleavened bread during those seven days; nothing with yeast in it is to be seen among you, nor shall any yeast be seen anywhere within your borders. 8 On that day tell your son, ‘I do this because of what the Lord did for me when I came out of Egypt.’ 9 This observance will be for you like a sign on your hand and a reminder on your forehead that this law of the Lord is to be on your lips. For the Lord brought you out of Egypt with his mighty hand. 

10 You must keep this ordinance at the appointed time year after year.

11 “After the Lord brings you into the land of the Canaanites and gives it to you, as he promised on oath to you and your ancestors, 12 you are to give over to the Lord the first offspring of every womb. All the firstborn males of your livestock belong to the Lord. 13 Redeem with a lamb every firstborn donkey, but if you do not redeem it, break its neck. Redeem every firstborn among your sons.

14 “In days to come, when your son asks you, ‘What does this mean?’ say to him, ‘With a mighty hand the Lord brought us out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. 15 When Pharaoh stubbornly refused to let us go, the Lord killed the firstborn of both people and animals in Egypt. This is why I sacrifice to the Lord the first male offspring of every womb and redeem each of my firstborn sons.’ 16 And it will be like a sign on your hand and a symbol on your forehead that the Lord brought us out of Egypt with his mighty hand.”

“Commemorate this day” <Ex 13:3>.

• God saved with His MIGHTY hand! <Ex 13:3, 9, 14, 16>.
• After leaving Egypt and clutch of Pharaoh  more enemies <Ex 13:5>.
• To help us remember, God gave us ordinance and sign <Ex 13:9-10>.
• To remember is not just “recalling”, but let God’s redemption impact our whole life, such that we live truly as a redeemed person. (cf. <Ro 12:1>)
• John Calvin: “We are not our own…let us therefore forget ourselves and all that is ours. Conversely, we are God’s. Let us therefore live for God and die for God. We are God’s. Let God’s wisdom and will therefore rule all our actions. We are God’s. Let all the parts of our life accordingly strive toward God as our only lawful goal.”

Consecrate firstborns to God <Ex 13:2, 11-12>.

• Firstborn: “first and best”, what is precious.
• In fact, God owns everything and “lends” some for our use and enjoyment.
• Giving God our firstborns is not really a “sacrifice” (loss) on our part, they belong to the Lord in the first place.

Redeemed with substitution <Ex 13:13>.

• <Ex 13:13>: Redeem with a lamb every firstborn donkey, but if you do not redeem it, break its neck. Redeem every firstborn among your sons.
• Donkey unclean, cannot sacrifice to God; human child sacrifice not to be practiced.
• Here, humans (sinners) in same category as unclean animals.
• An unregenerate man is unclean, and thus unacceptable to God.
• But if Christ substituted a sinner and paid the wages of sin, that person cannot be condemned afterwards. For God cannot demand double payment.
• A choice to be made: Donkey’s life OR lamb’s life?
• God’s choice: Vile sinners VS God’s holy and only Son?
• God chose that His Son die so that sinners (who believe in Him) get to live!
• Redemption is not cheap. It comes at a price.
• <1 Co 6:20> you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies.
• What if a donkey is not redeemed?  Die
• If we withhold from God what belongs to Him, that thing will become useless to us too.
• The unredeemed sinner must also die.
• Only ONE way to live: Redeemed by the Lamb.

Pass down the Passover <Ex 13:8, 14-16; Ex 12:24-27>.

• Excite our children to ask questions about God.
• Do not over-delude our children to think so positively about themselves that they don’t realise they are sinners in need of redemption.
• We don’t want to over-scare our children, yet withholding the right fears from them may harm them.
• Try to let children believe in God when they are young.
• We too will grow spiritually as we teach our children about God.