Ep. 30. Exodus 13 | The Firstborn and The Pillar
EPISODE 30
THE FIRSTBORN AND THE PILLAR: EXODUS 13
Because God struck down the firstborn of the Egyptians and spared the firstborn of the Hebrews, the firstborn of the Hebrews would belong to God. God owns them. It is not wholly dissimilar to what we noted in Romans six a few days ago; having been set free from slavery to sin, we now belong to God. Jesus is the firstborn of God. We know he was not created, as we have already seen in John and Colossians, but Jesus is the firstborn in that he is consecrated to God. Thankfully, for us, we are identified with Christ by faith. Note, "Those he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, so that he might be the firstborn among many brothers." Or "He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent." So then Christ is before all creation, the first to rise from the dead in glory, and the beginning of all those brethren who would belong to God. He is "the firstborn brought into the world," and we now belong to the "assembly of the firstborn," having been united together in one bride through the precious blood of Jesus. He is "the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead." Ultimately, we will see the Levites as the ones set aside to represent the firstborn of all the Hebrews. They will be the ones consecrated to belong to God. The priests will be representatives before God of the work he has done. So also, Christ, our high priest, will consecrate us to himself as people of the firstborn, belonging to God. He has ransomed our lives from death, and now we are conscripted to his service.
This differs from the pattern we've seen of the "second-born son" thus far in our studies. The "second born" theme flows from the Ishmael/Isaac narrative and reaches forward to comparing flesh/spirit, old covenant/new covenant, and even Adam/Jesus. This firstborn imagery speaks specifically to the rescue from captivity. The firstborn, in this case, rather than representing the earthly perspective of something, represents God's saving work. There is no "second son" in the picture of the Passover.
Also of note in this section is that God leads his people by a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night. God will go before his people until he leads them to the promised land. Graciously, God has supplied us people of faith, a similar leading in the Holy Spirit by which each of us was sealed in him. We can confidently rest that as God led the people faithfully all their days until they reached their desired home, so we are also being led by the Spirit until the time we should be welcomed into our final rest in the presence of God.
ADDITIONAL READING: Romans 8:29, Colossians 1:15-18, Hebrews 1:6, Hebrews 12:23, Revelation 1:5, Genesis 50:24-25, Ephesians 1:12-13
