Posted on by Abe Austin

Scriptural Analysis- Exodus 13:14-16

14 And it shall be when thy son asketh thee in time to come, saying, What is this? that thou shalt say unto him, By strength of hand the Lord brought us out from Egypt, from the house of bondage:

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 to the Lord all that openeth the matrix, being males; but all the firstborn of my children I redeem.

16 And it shall be for a token upon thine hand, and for frontlets between thine eyes: for by strength of hand the Lord brought us forth out of Egypt.

Verse 15 makes it clear that the purpose for which the firstling flocks were to be sanctified to the Lord was for sacrifice. They were not going to become the priests’ flocks, they were not going to be used by the community, they were simply being offered up as a sacrifice to God.

And what is the point of making an offering to God anyway? Why is it good for a person to destroy some of his resources, thus harming his personal status and also his society’s economy? What is the benefit in deliberately giving up a benefit?

To comprehend this paradox we must recognize that the act of sacrifice, in and of itself, naturally increases our connection to the sacred. It is good for us to take that which we have and give it away to the Lord, as doing so simultaneously debases the value of that worldly thing and elevates the value of God in our hearts. It is in our nature to respect and revere the things that we give away our resources to, as doing so signals to our minds that those things must be worth more than what we have given up. Thus, even today, while the Christian is not expected to make an animal sacrifice, he is expected pays his tithes and consecrate his time in worship services. If he does not do those things, then he is sending a signal to himself that God is not worthy of respect or reverence. What is more, he sends the same signal to his children and that sows a terrible future for them.

No wonder then that in these verses it is again made clear that the rising generation is to see and hear what sacrifices their parents are making to God and why. Again it is stressed that these rituals and traditions are to be a “token upon the hand, and for frontlets between the eyes” of the children. Their minds and their spirits are to be trained by these offerings, bringing them to have the proper estimation of God in their hearts. They are to impress upon the children just how mighty that “strength of hand that the Lord brought them out of Egypt” must have been that their parents would still mark it years afterward by offerings up every firstling of their flocks. The benefit of the sacrifice was how it would orient the children to the divine instead of the mundane.

Posted on by Abe Austin

Scriptural Analysis- Exodus 13:11-13

11 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,

12 That thou shalt set apart unto the Lord all that openeth the matrix, and every firstling that cometh of a beast which thou hast; the males shall be the Lord’s.

13 And every firstling of an ass thou shalt redeem with a lamb; and if thou wilt not redeem it, then thou shalt break his neck: and all the firstborn of man among thy children shalt thou redeem.

Obviously Israel departing Egypt and marching to Canaan was a fulfillment the promise God made to Abraham. But as verse 11 points out, it was not only a promise to Abraham. Moses told the Israelites “the Lord shall bring thee into the land of the Canaanites, as he sware UNTO THEE and to thy fathers. God had promised the land of Canaan anew to all of the people of Israel that lived in that day. In fact, if anything, the promise was more to them than to Abraham, as Abraham would only receive it through them.

And in return for God giving this gift to His people, the people were again reminded of how they must consecrate their firstborn to the Lord. “All that openeth the matrix” means the first child that breaches the walls of its mother’s womb. Though again, it was specifically to be the firstborn male. It is unclear to me if the firstborn was a female, whether the first male born thereafter would still be taken and consecrated to the Lord, or if there would be no consecration from that family unit, since the first male would not have “opened the matrix.”

Also, note that it was only clean beasts that were meant to be given as an offering, which is why the firstling donkeys were not eligible. A clean lamb could be given in its place, presumably a lamb that was not already owed to the Lord by being a firstborn, or if the person refused to give a lamb or had none to give, the donkey would be put to death, as then no one would have a claim on it.

Posted on by Abe Austin

Scriptural Analysis- Exodus 13:8-10

8 And thou shalt shew 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.

9 And 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.

10 Thou shalt therefore keep this ordinance in his season from year to year.

Once again the Israelites were instructed to point their children to the miracles in Egypt whenever they held their yearly Passover. Constantly reinforcing the reasons for the tradition in this way would help to prevent any adulteration of the practice, such as co-opting it for pagan rituals.

This idea of teaching and reminding the rising generation is continued in verse 9. Here we have the first reference to the phylacteries, small boxes with rolls of scripture that could be bound to the back of the hand or across the forehead. The wearing of the phylacteries would be the literal fulfillment of God’s commandment, and recalling His instructions in every thought and action would be the metaphorical fulfillment.

The notion of teaching the next generation what God had done previously and instilling faith in those past events has always been an essential element of discipleship. As I mentioned yesterday, the Israelites in Moses’s time were already far removed from the miracles that Abraham saw; they only had stories of those events. Of course, now they had seen their own set of miracles in Egypt, but their children would again only have the stories. Eventually, those children would see the parting of the Jordan River and the falling of Jericho, but the children’s children would again only have the stories. And so on and so on. Now and again, God’s people do see incredible signs and wonders, but in between those special moments, the belief is preserved by faith in the stories of old. We believers operate by trust and hope, living our lives in anticipation and reflection, only receiving a surety when we pass to the other side.

Posted on by Abe Austin

Scriptural Analysis- Exodus 13:5

5 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 he sware unto thy fathers to give thee, a land flowing with milk and honey, that thou shalt keep this service in this month.

As I mentioned before, the Israelites who left Egypt were as far removed from Joseph as we are from William Shakespeare. Obviously, they were even further removed from Abraham, to whom God had originally promised the land of Canaan. From when God gave Abraham His promise to the birth of Isaac was a period of approximately 25 years. Isaac was 60 years old when Jacob was born, and Jacob was 130 when he entered Egypt. The Israelites dwelled in Egypt for 430 years. Thus, God’s original promise for Abraham’s seed to inherit the land of Canaan was now 645 years old when Moses led the people out of Egypt. Of course, because of some rebellion that we will soon read about, the fulfillment of the promise would be delayed another 40 years, making a wait of approximately 685 years. For comparison, 685 years before today was 1,338, at which time the Byzantine Empire was still standing!

But God had already fulfilled one of His promises to Abraham. He had made the man’s descendants into a great nation, approximately with 2 million souls, and the fulfillment of that promise was preparatory to Israel having the strength to claim the second.

No matter how much time has transpired, no matter how forgotten by man the promise might be, and no matter how many unexpected twists and turns come along the way, God will not forget or renege on His word. Many generations might pass away, but His pledge will not.

Posted on by Abe Austin

Scriptural Analysis- Exodus 13:3-4, 6-7

3 And Moses said unto the people, Remember this day, in which ye came out from Egypt, 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.

4 This day came ye out in the month Abib.

6 Seven days thou shalt eat unleavened bread, and in the seventh day shall be a feast to the Lord.

7 Unleavened bread shall be eaten seven days; and there shall no leavened bread be seen with thee, neither shall there be leaven seen with thee in all thy quarters.

The requirements for observing the Passover had been stressed multiple times before it was observed and Israel was freed, and now on the other side of that miracle Moses doubled down on the requirements yet again. Before they left Egypt Moses pointed them forward, telling them what this observation would signify, and now that they had left Egypt Moses was pointing them backward, reminding them what the observation did signify.

This before-and-after teaching reminds me of a poetic structure that is found several places throughout the Bible called a chiasmus. In this form things are written in a palindromic way, with ideas mirroring one another as they approach the center. As it turns out, not only were Moses’s instructions palindromic, so was the very life that the Israelites were living.

  1. They were once free in Canaan
  2. Then they journeyed into Egypt
  3. They were made into slaves
  4. God worked His miracle among them
  5. They were made free
  6. They journeyed out of Egypt
  7. They were on their way back to Canaan

The central pivot point between the descent and the ascent is the miracle that God worked that first Passover night. Moses repeating the instructions for the Passover both before and after the miracle further reinforces how it is the central focus of the story, and the Israelites are to align themselves to that moment moving forward. Any time in the future when they lost their way and ended up in trouble, they would be restored only by remembering the lesson that the Passover had taught to them: that God alone could save them, even if by a miracle, as they surrendered to His will.

Posted on by Abe Austin

Scriptural Analysis- 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.

God had spared the lives of all the Israelite firstborn, but that didn’t mean He was leaving them untouched. Just as the Israelites had marked their doors with the blood of the lamb, God had marked all of Israel’s firstborn sons to serve Him.

Notice that God says to “sanctify” the firstborn, not to “sacrifice” them. These boys would not be killed like the Egyptians, but they would still be giving up their lives in the service of God. They would be the priests to carry out the rituals of the temple, performing sacrifice and making atonement for the masses. And just as every family in Egypt was touched by the death of their firstborn, so too every family in Israel would be linked to God, also through their firstborn. Every Israelite would personally know someone who was part of this sanctified work, the firstborn would be the leaven that raised the whole nation.

Of course, this arrangement would only persist for a season. In time, the tribe of Levi would prove itself more faithful, and as a reward God would assign them to be the new priest class. All other tribes would retain their firstborn sons, then depending on the righteousness of more pure families to keep their connection to God.

Posted on by Abe Austin

What Benefit Do You Get From Your Sins?

There are a number of reasons why people break God’s commandments. Perhaps they do not believe in God, or they don’t see the importance of the commandment, or they don’t want to feel dictated in their behavior. All of these examples are a form of the person not agreeing with the commandment, so they don’t keep it.

But there is another category of commandment-breaking as well. We also break commandments that we do agree with. All of us have things where we say, “I know I shouldn’t do that…but I do it anyway. “I know I shouldn’t yell at my kids,” “I know I shouldn’t give in to my lust,” “I know I shouldn’t be so materialistic.” We can be genuinely convinced that that behavior really is wrong, yet have no plans or intention to stop it.

In these sorts of situations, I feel it is important to ask, “What is it that I am getting from this sin?” And that question should be asked sincerely. In our shame we might be tempted to respond, “Nothing, I get nothing from it, I just do it because I’m no good,” but that’s probably inaccurate. Most likely we continue with our sin because in the midst of all of the disgraceful, destructive elements of it, there is also something of value that we gain.

  • I know I shouldn’t yell at my kids…but it gives me an element of control.
  • I know I shouldn’t give in to my lust…but it soothes my loneliness.
  • I know I shouldn’t be so materialistic…but it motivates me to work harder.

Though we might not like giving into our vices, we’re not ready to live without the benefits that come with them. We might say that we don’t think that the ends justify the means, that the positive attribute isn’t more important to us than the negative ones, but our behavior would suggest otherwise. Part of us really does believe that the vice is the best way to get what we want, and it is terrified at the idea of living without that.

Identifying which benefit our vice provides us is the first step to being able to do something about it. Once we know what it is we are trying to get from the behavior, we can start to consider better ways that we can get it. Maybe we really do need more control in our home, or reprieve from our loneliness, or motivation to work hard. Is there another way that we can achieve that? A way that doesn’t compromise our conscience? A way that is harder, but more pure?

Hopefully so. But if not, then we still have our second option, which is to surrender the benefit to God. The fact is, we can’t always have all of the benefits that we want in our lives, at least not by moral means. Having identified exactly what that benefit is, though, allows us to be very specific when we lay it on the altar. We don’t just say, “God, I give you my will,” we say, “Here, God. I lay my desire for companionship on the altar. It seems for this chapter of life I just have to be lonely and I surrender to Your will in that. I will no longer seek to numb the pain from that loneliness by immoral behavior. I will embrace the hurt, that I may learn whatever lessons that You have for me in it. Amen.”

Posted on by Abe Austin

Party of One

If I seek a place where I feel content with everyone else, I will end up in a room alone

There are all manner of groups and organizations that start with the most positive of feelings, but which degrade and fall apart because its members find that given enough time and experience, they really don’t like each other at all! Varying perspectives become dividing mantras. Minor inconveniences become insurmountable obstacles. Gentle teasing becomes inexcusable offense.

And then a line is drawn in the sand, the party splits apart, and often each side tries to build a new version of the group, the way it was always “supposed” to be, but usually that new “utopia” collapses just as surely as the first.

Sooner or later, we must face the fact that we can never make the group that only has people we get along with. We can only make ourselves get along with the people that are in the group.

Let’s look at this another way. Consider if the following statement is true: Even if at times you’ve rubbed some people the wrong way, or said things at another’s expense, or championed principles that you later learned were false, you can still be forgiven of all these things and by God’s grace be redeemed to live in paradise. Is that statement true?

Well, if it is true for you, then it logically follows that it is also true for any person who has rubbed YOU the wrong way, or has said things at YOUR expense, or has disagreed with YOU for their false principles. This person can also be forgiven and receive God’s grace and be redeemed to live in paradise. Like the prodigal son’s brother, we are all going to see our Father welcome people that hurt or annoyed us into His kingdom, so if we want to live there, too, sooner or later we’re going to have to let those things go.

You can learn to get along or learn to be alone. What you can’t do is cut off anyone who upsets you and still be part of a community. Unity with others must come from within, and it must be unity with all.

Posted on by Abe Austin

Scriptural Analysis- Exodus 12:50-51

50 Thus did all the children of Israel; as the Lord commanded Moses and Aaron, so did they.

51 And it came to pass the selfsame day, that the Lord did bring the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt by their armies.

In the final verses of this chapter we hear that the Israelites did all that they were instructed by the Lord. Of course, it is easier to be faithful when one has just been redeemed. In the flush of victory, obedience can become effortless. The Israelites had just gone from slavery to absolute freedom literally overnight. At this point there was no wilderness, no hardship, and no temptation to be doubtful or stubborn. But all of those hardships would come, and then faith and compliance would be far more precious.

Of course, we do anticipate a time when we all worldly burdens will finally be taken from our shoulders forever. We will have a respite from hardship and sin without end, and then being faithful should be perfectly effortless. But that time will only come in the next life, whereas here on earth refuge and peace are only fleeting. We can have the occasional season of “all is well,” but things always darken eventually. We are not here to learn how to be faithful when unburdened, we are here to learn how to be faithful no matter what. In every situation. And if it ends up taking forty years in the wilderness for us to get to that point, then so be it.

Posted on by Abe Austin

Scriptural Analysis- Exodus 12:48-49

48 And when a stranger shall sojourn with thee, and will keep the passover to the Lord, let all his males be circumcised, and then let him come near and keep it; and he shall be as one that is born in the land: for no uncircumcised person shall eat thereof.

49 One law shall be to him that is homeborn, and unto the stranger that sojourneth among you.

In these verses we have the first instances of God providing a path for a any person, even one who was not a direct descendant of Abraham, to become a part of His covenant people. Previously, God had chosen specific individuals to extend His promises to. Isaac was chosen and not Ishmael, Jacob and not Esau. Now, though, any outsider could enter into the fold of God through the sign of being circumcised. Then they would be “as one that is born in the land.”

“As one that is born in the land” means to receive the same rights, privileges, and covenants that chosen people enjoyed. They would receive the same promises that God had given to Abraham, with all of its accompanying blessings, both in this life and the next, culminating in the promise of eternal salvation. This was the most generous and hopeful gift imaginable, a path to salvation for all, an opening of the doors that Jesus would expand further many years later.

But it was, of course, necessary for the outsider to sincerely take on the Hebrew covenants and obligations to receive these promises. Too often it is argued that since the gospel is freely offered to all people that it cannot then have any requirements of those people. But the thing that is being freely offered is a law, while obtaining the positive outcomes of that law depend on it being followed. The gift from God is the opportunity to first accept His terms and then receive His rewards.

God reinforces this in verse 49 when He says “one law…to him that is homeborn, and unto the stranger that sojourneth among you.” One law, but God has described two different outcomes: one where a person becomes a part of the covenant through circumcision and one where a person remains a outsider by declining God’s offer. God is not contradicting Himself by stating “one law,” but with two outcomes, as every law necessarily separates people into different categories. Having a legal age limit to drive, for example, is just one law, but it dictates two outcomes depending on a citizen’s age. So, too, God’s law is freely given to all, but that doesn’t mean that the positive side of it is in force for all, only for those who meet the terms for it. That is still a gift, though, because it is a path for us to claim God’s greatest blessings, where otherwise we would not have any means to do that.