(Exodus) Exodus 13:1-13 — J. Vernon McGee

God Claims the Firstborn

Now, they are leaving the land of Egypt and they are moving over toward the Red Sea. And I want to begin reading here in chapter 13. And 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. 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.

As the children of Israel are now coming out of the land of Egypt, why, they have this given to them of the Lord. The firstborn in Egypt died. The gods of Egypt claim the firstborn. God, by the way, claims that.

Giving God First Place

And we find, though, that He sometimes comes off very badly today, He claims the first from believers today. And again, I think that a great many do not give Him that place that He should have. It's very important, by the way, to get this tremendous message before us that God claims the best, the very best, if you please.

And here we find that He is claiming the firstborn. I think God claims the first in everything, and He wants to have first place in our lives. The problem has always been so many believers today put Him last.

They say, if I have time, I'll do this for the Lord. And they don't have time because they've been giving time to something that is their own, something that was for their own personal interest or amusement.

There are those who say, yes, I'm going to give the Lord part of what I make if there's any left over. We always do that. I remember hearing Billy Sunday say years ago he was riding across the country with William Wrigley, the original William Wrigley, the man who really made the chewing gum and made the money from the chewing gum to begin with.

And he was a Christian, and he told Billy Sunday on the train, he said, I've always made it a practice in my life to give the Lord a tenth of everything that I make. And I don't give Him the last tenth.

I give Him the first tenth. That's quite interesting of how God is blessed and prospered. And don't misunderstand me. God doesn't guarantee that to anyone. He hasn't promised that to anyone. But it's interesting how God has blessed men and women who have put Him first.

And when you put Him first, may I say that that means you put Him first. That's no mucking around, no compromising, no half-truth in saying that we put God first. He must come first. Now, the children of Israel, just as they're on the wilderness march, they've just come out of Egypt.

Freedom from Sin and Voluntary Consecration

And remember, they've been slaves. And God says to them, the firstborn belongs to Me. And immediately, many of them could say, well, look, Lord, you've just delivered us out of slavery and now you're already claiming one of ours.

Well, the Lord Jesus does the same thing for you and me today. He saves us out of the bondage of sin and delivers us and sets us free. And He says, if the Son make you free, you'll be free indeed. But wait just a moment.

He also is saying that I want you to give yourself to Me. Well, you say, I'm free. You are. You don't have to. But the important thing is, the blessing comes when we voluntarily come and put Him first.

The Passover and Feast of Unleavened Bread

That is something that they are having now to learn. I begin reading at verse 5 now of Exodus 13. And it shall be when the Lord shall bring thee into the land of the Canaanites, and the Hittites, Amorites, 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.

In other words, they had observed the Passover feast and the feast of unleavened bread. Verse 6, seven days thou shalt eat unleavened bread, and in the seventh day shall be a feast to the Lord. 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.

Now, frankly, when they came out of Egypt, you remember, they took their kneading boards and the dough that was on it, and it was leaven. God says, I want you to get rid of that. They had to leave that back in the land of Egypt.

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. 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 the land of Egypt.

Remembering God's Deliverance Across Generations

In other words, this is to be passed from generation to generation, that God had delivered them out of the land of Egypt. 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 its season from year to year. 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 a beast which thou hast, the males shall be the Lord's.

Redeeming the Firstborn

Now the firstborn of all the stock that they had, that was true out in the field, that one-tenth, and it was the first-tenth, belonged to the Lord. And every firstling of an ass thou shalt redeem with a lamb.

You see, God didn't want one of these long-eared animals as an offering. It had to be the 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.

They were to be redeemed, as we shall see later on, by silver. Silver was the redemption money.