Posted on by Abe Austin

Scriptural Analysis- Exodus 22:29-31

29 Thou shalt not delay to offer the first of thy ripe fruits, and of thy liquors: the firstborn of thy sons shalt thou give unto me.

30 Likewise shalt thou do with thine oxen, and with thy sheep: seven days it shall be with his dam; on the eighth day thou shalt give it me.

31 And ye shall be holy men unto me: neither shall ye eat any flesh that is torn of beasts in the field; ye shall cast it to the dogs.

In these laws the people are reminded of their obligation to offer their firsts to the Lord. The first of their fruit, of their liquor, of their oxen and sheep. Even offering the firstborn of their sons as priests.

The general understanding among scholars as to why verse 30 says the firstborn cattle would remain with their mothers for a week is so that they could give their mothers relief by drawing the milk from the udder. It would also allow them to be stable, strong, and clean before being brought to the Lord.

Verse 31 is a quick aside that tells the people that they must not eat carrion. Late on we will hear more on the dietary restrictions of the Mosaic law, but the carcass of even a clean animal would not be fit for human consumption, only for the feeding of one’s dogs. This is, of course, a very practical law, one that would safeguard the Israelites from consuming spoiled or infected meat.

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

Scriptural Analysis- Exodus 12:28-30

28 And the children of Israel went away, and did as the Lord had commanded Moses and Aaron, so did they.

29 And it came to pass, that at midnight the Lord smote all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh that sat on his throne unto the firstborn of the captive that was in the dungeon; and all the firstborn of cattle.

30 And Pharaoh rose up in the night, he, and all his servants, and all the Egyptians; and there was a great cry in Egypt; for there was not a house where there was not one dead.

The Israelites obeyed Moses’s word. We will see many other instances where they did not, but here they did exercise the faith necessary to be preserved from destruction, and so it was only the Egyptian firstborn who met their fate that night. The manner of the Egyptians’ deaths is not described, but perhaps it was not silent, for we are told that their families were awoken in the middle of the night and discovered what God had done.

Verse 30 reinforces the totality of this night of destruction: “there was not a house where there was not one dead.” The word used for “house” is bayith, which is sometimes used to mean a “household.” That meaning makes more sense to me, as presumably there could have been a dwelling place that had no firstborn sleeping within its walls, but every “household” would have had a complete family unit with a firstborn who had perished.

Thus, every life in Egypt was touched that night. Each person either died, or lost a close family member. This was an act of great surgical precision by God, taking a minimum number of lives, yet ensuring that everyone would have their heart broken at once. Where human acts of conquest tend to be broad and imprecise, with all manner of collateral damage, God was able to take just what He meant to take, and leave the rest untouched.

Posted on by Abe Austin

Scriptural Analysis- Genesis 49:5-7

5 Simeon and Levi are brethren; instruments of cruelty are in their habitations.

6 O my soul, come not thou into their secret; unto their assembly, mine honour, be not thou united: for in their anger they slew a man, and in their selfwill they digged down a wall.

7 Cursed be their anger, for it was fierce; and their wrath, for it was cruel: I will divide them in Jacob, and scatter them in Israel.

Simeon and Levi are the next to be blessed by Jacob, but their pronouncement is even more dire than Reuben’s! Both of them are rebuked for their slaughter in the city of Shalem. Indeed, verse six he seems to express a fear that Jacob has held towards them himself ever since he knew such violence existed in their hearts.

Jacob refers to their act of killing, but also how they “digged down a wall,” by which I assume he means how their actions broke down his relationship with all the people in that country. This expression would be very similar to our current one of “burning bridges.”

As recompense, Jacob pronounces a curse rather than a blessing upon the tribes. He says that they will be divided and scattered in Israel. We will learn in Joshua 19 and 1 Chronicles 4 that Simeon was a stunted nation when they came into Canaan, such that it only received various cities within the kingdom of Judah, not becoming a proper state unto itself, and quite probably without all of its habitations connected as one. As for Levi, it would be even more scattered, never possessing any collected stretch of land to call its own, being distributed instead throughout the entire nation of Israel.

Levi’s curse did have a blessing inside of it, though, as their scattering was due to their being the priest caste that oversaw the functions of the temple. This assignment seems to be due at least in part to the fact that Moses and Aaron were of that tribe, and they were the ones entrusted with the priesthood when Israel was led out of Egypt. One other notable figure in Levi’s descendancy is John the Baptist. Of course, John was the cousin of Jesus, who was of the tribe Judah. The two men’s connection was through their mothers, while their fathers were of separate tribes.

Posted on by Abe Austin

Scriptural Analysis- Genesis 49:3-4

3 Reuben, thou art my firstborn, my might, and the beginning of my strength, the excellency of dignity, and the excellency of power: 

4 Unstable as water, thou shalt not excel; because thou wentest up to thy father’s bed; then defiledst thou it: he went up to my couch.

Reuben, the firstborn, receives his blessing from Jacob. Jacob acknowledges the strength and dignity and excellency that Reuben began with, but for his crime of adultery he has lost his place. Jacob foretells that Reuben will not excel among his brethren, and this proves to be true. Reuben will never produce a king or a prophet, at least none that are noted in the biblical narrative.

Reuben will be part of the ten tribes that break off from Judah and will be taken captive by the Assyrians with the rest of the kingdom, more than seven hundred years before the birth of Christ. What happened to them after that is a matter of broad speculation, but as with most of the tribes there is no clear answer.

Posted on by Abe Austin

Scriptural Analysis- Genesis 27:18-20

18 And he came unto his father, and said, My father: and he said, Here am I; who art thou, my son?

19 And Jacob said unto his father, I am Esau thy firstborn; I have done according as thou badest me: arise, I pray thee, sit and eat of my venison, that thy soul may bless me.

20 And Isaac said unto his son, How is it that thou hast found it so quickly, my son? And he said, Because the Lord thy God brought it to me.

Yesterday I mentioned that Jacob going to his father in the guise of Esau might be a symbolism for how we are remade in the image of Christ. And in today’s verses, notice how Jacob’s words are almost a perfect fit for what our Savior might have said to his Heavenly Father.

“I am Jehovah thy firstborn; I have done according as thou badest me: arise, I pray thee, sit and receive of my sacrifice, that thy soul may bless me.”

And when each of us is introduced at the judgment seat, I expect we will be introduced in much the same way, having put on his name and image through the atonement. We will be received as God’s firstborn, who did according to how we were commanded, who brought glory to God, and who are now worthy of God’s blessing.

Posted on by Abe Austin

Scriptural Analysis- Genesis 25:24-28

24 And when her days to be delivered were fulfilled, behold, there were twins in her womb.

25 And the first came out red, all over like an hairy garment; and they called his name Esau.

26 And after that came his brother out, and his hand took hold on Esau’s heel; and his name was called Jacob: and Isaac was threescore years old when she bare them.

27 And the boys grew: and Esau was a cunning hunter, a man of the field; and Jacob was a plain man, dwelling in tents.

28 And Isaac loved Esau, because he did eat of his venison: but Rebekah loved Jacob.

I imagine that this detail about Jacob reaching out and taking hold of Esau’s heel was preserved to us by Rebekah. Because of what God had foretold of her twins, she would have been the most likely to perceive the significance in the younger brother grabbing hold of the other’s heel, as if to catch and surpass him.

From the very moment of their birth the two were opposites to one another, and so they continued throughout the rest of their lives. Esau became hairy and wild and beloved of his father, Jacob smooth and calm and beloved of his mother.

Esau was expected to receive Isaac’s blessing and inheritance, because that was what the culture of the time said should happen. But God had already revealed to Rebekah that the custom of firstborn sons receiving the inheritance meant very little to Him. He would not be choosing Isaac’s successor based on which son happened to be born first, but on which of the sons was worthy.

God’s choice of Jacob over Esau reminds me of another firstborn that he passed over years later, when Samuel the prophet was looking for the next king of Israel. Samuel was going to anoint Eliab, Jesse’s firstborn, but the Lord told him “I have refused him: for the LORD seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the LORD looketh on the heart” (1 Samuel 16:7). Then and now, what matters to God are not the random circumstances of our birth, but the intentional choices of our life.