Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. Join us now for the Bible Institute of the Air. Welcome to another broadcast of the Bible Institute of the Air, coming to you from Bob Jones University in Greenville, South Carolina. Our Bible study today comes from the book of Exodus. Our teacher is Mr. Jesse Boyd, who served as a member of the Bible faculty at Bob Jones University until the time he went to be with his Lord. And now, by tape recording, here is today's study by Mr. Boyd. Turn in your Bibles, please, to the thirteenth chapter of the book of Exodus, where we're going to consider today verses one to sixteen that records for us the consecration of the firstborn. You recall in our study so far we've covered the first major division of the book of Exodus, which records for us the subjection of Israel in the land of Egypt and accounts for a little over 300 years of their sojourn in that land. In chapter 1 there was the persecution of the people, in chapters 2 to 4 the preparation of the deliverer, and chapters 5 to 12 the program of deliverance which was in ten plagues of divine judgment. Now, beginning in verse 37 of chapter 12, and continuing through verse 2 of chapter 19, we have a record of emancipation, Israel from Egypt to Sinai, which records for us about two months of their history in the exodus Now you recall that in verse 37 we have recorded for us the fact that Israel left Egypt, had journeyed from Ramses to Succoth, and there were about 600,000 on foot, that is, which were men able to engage in combat. There was a great mixed multitude who went out with them. They went out with great herds of cattle and flocks of sheep, and they also went out with much possessions which they had received from the people of the Egyptians. At this time we also read where the Lord had given the ordinance of the Passover. And now they are at Succoth, and in chapter 13, verse 1, we read, The Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Sanctify unto me all the firstborn, whatsoever openeth the womb among the children of Israel, both of man and of beast. it is mine." So the consecration of the firstborn was to be made at the command of the Lord, this command spoken unto Moses as the leader of the children of Israel and therefore their representative. This consecration was, first of all, to be a setting apart of all the firstborn, those who were the first ones to come forth out of the womb of the children of Israel, both of man and of beast. This is because of the fact that when the Lord delivered Israel from Egypt, the last great plague was the slaying of the firstborn of the Egyptians. And so God gave Egypt for their ransom, and so the firstborn were ransomed by the slaying of the firstborn of the people of Egypt. The Lord says to Moses then that he is to instruct the children of Israel that they are to set apart devote the firstborn male, as we learn later, unto the Lord for his service, whether it be the firstborn of man or the firstborn of beast. The Lord has laid claim upon them because of his work of redemption on behalf of Israel against Egypt. Then in verses 3 to 10, We have instructions with regards to the celebration of the Feast, not just of Passover, but the Feast of Unleavened Bread, which was to begin with Passover and continue for seven days. And Moses said unto the people, Remember this day, in which ye came out from Egypt, and out of the house of bondage. For by strength of hand the Lord brought you out from this place. There shall no leavened bread be eaten. This day came ye out in the month abib. And it shall be, when the Lord shall bring thee into the land of the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites, which ye swear unto thy fathers, to give thee a land flowing with milk and honey, that thou shalt keep this service in this month." All right, here was to be a celebration of the feast, and it was to be a memorial of deliverance. It was to be celebrated at the very time each year in which the Lord delivered the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt. Now, Abib is the same month as Nisan, and it is the first of the religious months for Israel. And on the 14th of Nisan, between the evenings of the 14th and 15th, they had slain a lamb and had sprinkled the blood upon the lintel and doorposts, and had taken their families inside the houses, so that when the destroyer came through the land of Egypt to destroy the firstborn, the firstborn in the homes of Israel would be spared, and so God would pass over them. Now, beginning on the 15th of Nisan was to be the Feast of Unleavened Bread, and he says that there should be no leaven eaten at all. And when the Lord fulfilled His promise to bring the children of Israel back to the land that He had sworn to Abraham and to Isaac and to Jacob, that at this season, every year, throughout the generations of Israel, the Feast of Unleavened Bread should be observed as a memorial to the deliverance. Of course, this relates to the sanctification of the firstborn unto the Lord, because it was the deliverance of the firstborn from death, which came upon the firstborn of the Egyptians, as well as the deliverance of Israel, whom God had declared to be his firstborn, from the land of Egypt, as a result of the strong hand of God in judgment against the Egyptians. So a memorial to this deliverance. We read on in verse 6, 7 days shalt thou eat unleavened bread, and the seventh day shall be a feast unto the Of course, the first day was the feast of Passover, and the seventh day likewise was to be a Sabbath and a day of great feasting unto the Lord. Unleavened bread shall be eaten seven days. There shall be no leavened bread that shall not be seen with thee, neither shall there be leaven seen with thee in all thy quarters. And thou shalt show thy son in that day, saying, This is done, because of that which the Lord did unto me when I came forth out of Egypt. Unleavened bread then was to be eaten, all leavening was to be removed from all the quarters of the homes of the children of Israel, and the father was to communicate to the son the fact that this feast was observed because the Lord had passed over the homes of the Israelites in Egypt when he destroyed the firstborn, and had delivered Israel as his firstborn son out of the land of Egypt to bring them into the promised land. This is done because of that which the Lord did unto me when I came forth out of Egypt. 9. It shall be for a sign unto thee upon thine hand, and for a memorial between thine eyes, that the Lord's law may be in thy mouth. For with a strong hand hath the Lord brought thee out of Egypt. Thou shalt therefore keep this ordinance in his season from year to year. Now, this simply means that the instructions regarding the Feast of Unleavened Bread should be as a sign upon the hand, the hand of service, and for a memorial between the eyes that is fixed upon their minds so as to remember the power of God by which He delivered Israel from the land of Egypt, and should be in their mouth. That is, the law of the Lord might be in their mouth for a testimony to the nations about that the Lord had with strong hand and great mercy delivered Israel from Egypt. And this is the way this ordinance was to be kept in his season year in and year out throughout the generations of the nation Israel. So that was the command of the Lord in verses 1 to 2. In the celebration of the feast, verses 3 to 10. And then in verses 11 to 16, there is a command with regard to the commitment of the people. And it shall be when the Lord shall bring thee into the land of the Canaanites, as he sware unto thee and to thy fathers, and shall give it thee, that thou shalt set apart unto the Lord all that openeth the matrix, and every firstling that cometh of the beast which thou hast, the male, shall be the Lord's." All right. The people of Israel were to commit in consecration unto the Lord all firstborn ones. The Lord had won the right to possess them by sparing the firstborn in the land of Egypt when he destroyed the firstborn of the Egyptians. The females were exempted from this, but the firstborn male was to be devoted unto the Lord. And if it were clean animals, it would be sacrificed. If it were unclean they were to be destroyed or redeemed. Now verse 13 says, Every first fling of an ass thou shalt redeem with a lamb, and if thou wilt not redeem it, then thou shalt break his neck. All right, an ass is not considered a clean animal, and therefore if the ass is to be retained for service, to do the service of the Israelite, then it must be redeemed with a lamb. If the Israelite would not redeem the ass with a lamb, then he should break the neck, because that firstling of the ass was devoted unto the Lord." Now notice again, "...the firstborn of man among thy children thou shalt redeem." Now, no provision for not redeeming the firstborn male in the family, because they were not to slay their own children, but they were to redeem that with a lamb. and it shall be when thy son asketh thee in time to come, saying, What is this? Why do you do this? Why do you redeem the firstborn by the slaying of a lamb? Then what? Thou shalt say unto him, By strength of hand the Lord brought us out from Egypt, from the house of bondage." We were enslaved to the Egyptians, doing servile work for them, working under hard bondage. with affliction, and the Lord delivered us by the destroying of Egypt's firstborn. And as by the strength of His hand in judgment against Egypt, He brought us out. And then verse 15, And 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 unto the Lord all that openeth the matrix, being males. But all the firstborn of my children I redeem. And it shall be for a token upon thy hand, and for frontlets between thine eyes. For by strength of hand the Lord brought us forth out of Egypt." So this was to be remembered. It was to be the mark of service unto the Lord that the firstborn was offered in sacrifice unto the Lord because of the Lord's deliverance The firstborn child was to be redeemed by the sacrifice of a lamb. You see, the Lord intended for Israel to realize that he had made them his purchased possession. They belonged to him, to be devoted unto him, and to bear a witness to the blessedness of having Jehovah as God and of having been delivered from out of the bondage of Egypt. The Lord Jesus Christ went to the cross of Calvary that He might redeem you, to buy you for Himself that you might belong to Him, and that if you come to know Him as your Saviour, you might bear testimony to the blessedness of being redeemed from the bondage of sin and being a child of Almighty God. You've been listening to another Bible study from the book of Exodus on the Bible Institute of the Air. Mr. Jesse Boyd recorded today's program during his earthly ministry. Join us tomorrow for another program in this series on the Bible Institute of the Air, coming to you from Bob Jones University in Greenville, South Carolina.