Consecrate the firstborn. Exodus 13:1-16 Among the more than two million Israelites who left Egypt in an orderly manner were thousands of firstborns who would have died if the lambs had not been sacrificed and their blood had not been applied to the doorposts and lintel as God instructed. Those who were firstborn now belonged to God, both men and animals.
Every firstborn, whether human or animal, belonged to God. He had adopted Israel as His firstborn son [4:22] and claimed the firstborn as His. Mary’s firstborn son was presented to the Lord because it was required by the law when Jesus was born [Lu. 2:22].
Consecration is a serious matter with God. It involves sacrificing or considering something or someone as belonging to God. It was a dedication practiced to remind the people that God had delivered them. The word means “to set apart” because it signifies that something belongs to God for His purposes. The hopes and joys of a family were centered on that first living testimony of a new generation of people who would serve as a living witness to God’s grace and goodness. The parents and siblings that followed would be influenced by the fact that God is involved in "this family.”
The words “sanctify” and “consecrate” have similar meanings. The Lord sanctified the seventh day in Genesis 2 as a day of rest. This is the second time the word “sanctify” is used, indicating that the firstborn is completely dedicated to God. To sanctify something involves being clean and purified as well as being set apart and consecrated for a specific purpose.
Nothing impure is acceptable in God's presence. God is holy, and He desires His people to be holy. Anything less than holiness would perish in God's presence. By His grace, God is pleased to accept a holy substitute in place of the unholy. Our Lord Jesus Christ is the only one who could meet God’s demand for holiness as a substitute. That is what He did when He suffered for our sins, “the just One for the unjust ones,” to bring us to God.
Believers have been consecrated by Christ [Jn. 17:23] so they may be made complete in one body in the Lord, and so the world will realize through consecrated people that the Father sent the Son to be the Savior of the world. Through the love of consecrated people, unbelievers can know that God loves them as He loved the One who died as the Substitute for the ungodly.
Christians are called to consecrate themselves fully and entirely to God as a living sacrifice [Ro.12:1-2]. We are privileged to dedicate the control of our bodies to God. This marks the beginning of our spiritual priesthood, where we offer spiritual sacrifices as God desires. We are also set apart by distancing ourselves from the world and everything associated with it, by “coming out from among them” and being separate [2Co.6:14-18]. In Revelation 14:1-6, we read about those who will be dedicated to God during the difficult times of the tribulation. They will be redeemed (bought) and will serve as the firstfruits to represent God in the darkness of those years of judgment.
In 1st Peter 2:5, 9, we also see that believers are “built up” as dedicated and special people who offer spiritual sacrifices to God. They proclaim God's virtues to each new generation. Dedicated people belong to God and take joy in Him. He has brought us from darkness into His “marvelous light.”
This remarkable start to modern history, written in chronological order, began with a divine charge to remember what He had done. During the night of the first month, called Abib, God's redeemed people set out, guided by His promises. That was truly a day to remember. The sacrifice of lambs was essential for the firstborn to join the nation in the exodus from Egypt.
Before Israel crossed the Red Sea, some instructions laid the foundation for them as a nation. The firstborn was dedicated to the Lord. The Feast of Unleavened Bread was to be observed as a reminder that the Lord was the one who delivered them from slavery in Egypt. The third was the law regarding unclean animals and the firstborn of every family. An innocent victim had to take the place of an unclean animal if it could survive, and also take the place of every firstborn child because they were born in sin and shaped in iniquity.
"Christ, our Passover is sacrificed for us. Therefore, let us keep the feast." We can enjoy the freedom and privileges of God's redeemed people because of the sacrifice of the "Lamb of God." Such a call to remember Him is not something to take lightly or twist to fit our own plans. The Passover feast was to be observed as God intended, at the time He designated. The same is true of the Lord's Supper.
The oldest in the family belonged to God by redemptive right. They had been redeemed to serve. God did not permit human sacrifice but intended the firstborn to be dedicated to God's service. If the firstborn was an ass (donkey), a lamb had to be sacrificed for it to continue living for special service; otherwise, its neck would be broken. When future generations asked about this, they would be told that it commemorated the death of the firstborn in Egypt and how the firstborn of Israel would live because of the lamb's sacrifice. Those who were the firstborn were to perform priestly duties for the children of Israel. At Sinai, the tribe of Levi was substituted for the firstborn of each family. A payment of five shekels was made for them in later generations [Num.18:15-16], even while they were still infants.
Perhaps every firstborn son, from the time he could understand the meaning of Passover, would be made to think each first day of the first month - "I live because a redemptive price was paid for me." We remember this weekly in the remembrance of the One who was "the Firstborn among many brethren" and the "Firstborn from the dead." Because He paid the price of redemption by giving His life, which He lived perfectly, we live who were condemned to die because of our sins.
The impact of that Passover sacrifice was to guide and protect everything the children of Israel did, serving as a constant reminder of their identity. It was intended to motivate righteous living in every home across the nation. It reminded them of how God saved their firstborn and freed them from slavery. It demonstrated the value God places on human life compared to the evil gods of pagan worshipers, who believed their gods demanded human sacrifices. It pointed forward to the day when the Lord Jesus Christ would pay the redemption price for sin once and for all through His death on the cross of Calvary. It was one way for people seeking peace and forgiveness of sin to understand the truth of being born again.
God has rights over every person because He created us. “In Him, we live and move and have our being.” He has further claims on those who are saved because we have been bought with the “precious blood of Christ.” He is our Lamb “without blemish and without spot.” Believers belong to our Lord—body, soul, and spirit—and are His to use as He desires in His service. The fact that the sacrifice of Christ has paid for us certainly influences what we do in life.
It is our privilege to serve the Lord with reverence and godly fear. We do what we do as unto the Lord, not just unto men or for our own satisfaction. The children of Israel left Egypt with the firstborn, who was sheltered by the blood. Today, children of God are in the “church of the Firstborn, who is our Lord Jesus Christ.” He gave Himself for us so that we might be a “peculiar people zealous of good works.”