In what ways does Exodus 13:15 connect to the sacrifice of Jesus Christ? The verse in focus “And when Pharaoh stubbornly refused to let us go, the LORD killed every firstborn in the land of Egypt, both of man and beast. That is why I sacrifice to the LORD the first male offspring of every womb and redeem every firstborn of my sons.” (Exodus 13:15) Snapshot of the scene • Pharaoh’s hard heart brings judgment. • God strikes Egypt’s firstborn. • Israel is spared through the blood of the Passover lamb (Exodus 12:13). • A perpetual law follows: every firstborn belongs to God, either sacrificed or redeemed. Immediate meaning for Israel • The firstborn symbolize the nation’s deliverance—life purchased by another’s death. • Every future family testifies: “We live because God accepted a substitute.” Ways the verse points forward to Jesus The Firstborn theme • Jesus is called “the firstborn over all creation” (Colossians 1:15) and “the firstborn among many brothers” (Romans 8:29). • God demands the firstborn; at Calvary He provides His own (John 3:16). Substitutionary sacrifice • Israel’s firstborn live because a lamb died; believers live because “Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed” (1 Corinthians 5:7). • The logic is identical: innocent for guilty, life for life (Isaiah 53:5). Redemption price • An unclean firstborn donkey had to be redeemed with a lamb or its neck broken (Exodus 13:13). • Humanity, “dead in trespasses” (Ephesians 2:1), faced destruction. Christ paid the price, “not with perishable things…but with the precious blood of Christ” (1 Peter 1:18-19). Judgment and mercy side-by-side • Egypt experiences wrath; Israel receives mercy through blood. • At the cross, wrath and mercy meet: “He Himself bore our sins in His body on the tree” (1 Peter 2:24) so that those who trust Him escape judgment (Romans 8:1). Perpetual remembrance • Israel’s ongoing firstborn rituals kept redemption fresh. • Believers remember the greater deliverance through the Lord’s Supper: “Do this in remembrance of Me” (Luke 22:19). Putting it together Exodus 13:15 is more than a historical explanation; it is a prophetic signpost. The death of Egypt’s firstborn and the continual consecration of Israel’s firstborn look ahead to the day when God offers His own Son—His Firstborn—as the final, sufficient sacrifice. In both events life comes only through substitution, and God’s people are forever called to remember the cost of their freedom. |
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