The Firstborn Are Sanctified To God. part 1

by John Thomas Lowe
(Woodruff, S.C.)

The Firstborn Are Sanctified To God.
Exodus 13:1-2.


1. And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, 2. Sanctify unto me all
the firstborn, whatsoever openeth the womb among the children of
Israel, both of man and of beast: it is mine

COMMENTARY on
Exodus 13:1-2
1. And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
2. Sanctify unto me all the firstborn, whatsoever openeth the womb among the children of Israel, both of man and of beast: it is mine.
I. That the good are required to sanctify their firstborn unto the Lord. "All the firstborn"--that is, the most excellent of their possessions, the most valuable, and that which is viewed with the greatest regard.
1. The Divine commandment required this sanctification of the firstborn.
2. This sanctification of the firstborn was a grateful acknowledgment of the Divine mercy in sparing the firstborn from the midnight destruction. Heaven never asks more than it gives or more than is consistent with the gratitude of a devout heart to bestow.
3. This sanctification of the firstborn was to be associated with the deliverance of the Israelites from the bondage of Egypt.
II. That the good, is sanctifying their firstborn unto the Lord, are not called upon to give up the sole use of their property, but to redeem and to put it to lawful use. Who would not desire his firstborn to be the Lord's?
III. The good are required to connect the sanctification of their firstborn with sacrifice. "And all the firstborn of man among thy children shalt thou redeem" (Exodus 13:14). This redemption was to be by sacrifice. Parents need reminding of this duty.
1. Because they are liable to forget the service past mercy requires.
2. Because they are apt to be selfish in using their property.
3. They are not spiritually minded enough to see God in their property and therefore forget His claims.
4. Because they do not like to pay the redemption price.
IV. The good is to teach God's right to the firstborn, to their posterity (Exodus 13:14). Children are very inquisitive. They will ask questions, even about religious matters. At such times they should be carefully and solemnly instructed in Divine truth. The family is the best school for the young. They should be taught the meaning of self-sacrifice and the moral grandeur of giving to the Lord early. Even the young have their firstborn, which they can be taught to give to the Lord. If they grow up in the spirit of this obligation, they will in after days, impart to it a more accurate meaning and give to it a more solemn influence than before they were capable of Lessons:
1. That the good must sanctify their best things to the Lord.
2. The redemption of the Cross can only do this.
3. The young must be taught their obligation to the Lord early.
Sanctify unto Me all the firstborn
1. A command.
2. A duty.
3. A privilege.
4. A benediction.
5. A prophecy.
The man-tithe
I. Observe the first rule: "Sanctify unto Me all the firstborn of man." As the redemption of the firstborn of the more valuable animals was graciously commuted by the sacrifice of less valuable ones, so there was a substitution for the firstborn of man; not indeed by inferior substitutes as in the former case, but by his fellowman--by the institution of the priesthood, "sanctifying," or setting apart, the whole tribe of Levi in place of the firstborn of all Israel. However, as this arrangement had not yet transpired at the period of the text, the explanation was deferred till then, that in the meanwhile, the whole nation might fully realize the amount and weight of their liability to God; and further, that when Levi was sanctified, the whole Levitical priesthood--a priesthood of their brethren, "bone of their bone, and flesh of their flesh"--might symbolize the High Priesthood of the Mediator who "was in all things made like unto His brethren," that He too "might also make intercession for the sins of the people." This lies at the root of the Levitical principle, the lay agency in the church of God. Jethro's advice to his son-in-law is admirable; incidentally, it bears upon this subject. "This thing," that is, the whole burthen of the work, "is too heavy for thee; thou art not able to perform it alone. Thou shalt provide out of all the people able men, such as fear God, men of truth, hating covetousness; and place such over them, to be rulers of thousands, and rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens." Thus the work of religion, benevolence, and the rule was divided, subdivided, and redivided still, from many districts down to classes of tens, as we should desire to see the work of God among ourselves distributed among our lay deacons and elders, district visitors, collectors, and Sabbath-school teachers, who in their respective ministries should act on the suggestion of Jethro, "The hard causes they brought unto Moses, but every small matter they judged themselves."
II. Secondly, the text presents the rule of consecrated wealth--"Sanctify unto Me all the firstborn of beasts." At this point, there is some difficulty. "All the firstborn of cattle" were given to the Lord by sacrifice. However, in the forty-fifth verse of the third chapter of Numbers, the whole of the cattle of the Levites was considered as a substitute for the firstlings of the general cattle, just as all the men of the Levites were accepted as the substitute for all the firstborn of men from the rest of the tribes. Possibly the cattle firstlings were redeemed, as the excess of human firstborn over the number of the firstborn of the Levites were, by the half-shekel atonement for each, which was payable at the census or periodical numbering of the people. David's omission of this payment was probably the sin that incurred God's heavy displeasure in that unseasonable numbering of the people, which, in omitting the soul-tax for atonement, seemed numbered for David himself and not for God. Be this as it may, the Lord claimed all the firstborns of their beasts, which were the staple property in the ruder forms of society.
III. The text presents its demand for consecrated time. We need not dwell upon the Sabbath or the Divine claim upon the sevenths of our time. Assuming we are all agreed that this, the minimum of God's requirement, is due from every man, we may deplore how, for the most part, even this holy debt is discharged. The abuse of the Sabbath and insubordination to its constantly recurring, bounden, and emphatic law lies at the root of the national irreligion. There is a significance in the proportion of the Divine demand of only a tenth of all other things but a seventh of our time.
The Divine right to the best things of man
"It is Mine." This is the language of God about each one of us. It is Mine.
I. Because I created it.
II. Because I preserved it.
III. Because I endowed it with everything that makes it valuable. (J. S. Exell, M. A.)
The firstborn types of Christ
I. As they were God's peculiar.
1. By common nature,
2. By common grace.
3. By an individual right.
(1) Christ is Firstborn, as Son of God in His nature.
(2) In His office, by special prerogative.
(a) For the kind, He was Mediator, God, and Man in unity of the person, and the only Redeemer of His Church.
(b) For the undertaking of His office.
(c) For the accomplishing His office, in His resurrection. He is called the First-begotten, or Firstborn of the dead, in two ways:
(i) In respect of His Father, who first begot Him from the dead;
(ii) Regarding Himself, whose privilege was to raise Himself from the dead by His power.
II. The firstborn of Israel was the second and after the father of the family, yea, after the father instead of the father. So is Christ to His family, the Church; He performs all offices of a careful and tender father and" takes on Him, not the affection only of a father, but even--
1. The name of a father (Isaiah 9:6).
2. The office of a father.
(1) He supplies the means of spiritual life, as they of natural.
(2) He nurtures and teacheth His Church.
(3) He provides for the present and bestows the inheritance of eternal life.
III. The firstborn had pre-eminence among the brethren. They were chief in office and authority, rulers in the house after their fathers, and priests in the family before the Levitical order was established. Herein they were particular types of Jesus Christ, who in all things must have the pre-eminence, as first in time, in order, in precedency, and the excellency and dignity of His person.
IV. The firstborn had a double portion in goods (Deuteronomy 21:17). Signifying--
1. The plenitude of the spirit and grace in Christ, who was anointed with the oil of gladness above His fellows.
2. The pre-eminence of Christ in His glorious inheritance, advanced in glory and majesty, incomprehensible by all creatures. Use--
(1) Out of the occasion of the law of the firstborn, learn that the more God doth for any man, the more he ought to conceive himself to be the Lord's, and the more fitting and interest the Lord challengeth in him.
(2) If Christ is the true firstborn, of whom all they are but types, we must give Him the honor of His birthright.
(3) Here is a ground of much consolation.
(a) In that Christ is the truth of the firstborn, from Him the birthright is derived unto us believers, as it was from Reuben unto Judah, and we partake of the same birthright with our head. Here is a difference between the type and truth of the firstborn. They had all their privileges for themselves: but Christ not for Himself but us.
(b) Being God's firstborn throughout, we are dear unto God.
(c) God takes notice and avenges all wrongs done to the saints because they are His firstborn.