The promised time of redemption, of deliverance, was about to arrive. The people needed to be prepared. They needed not just to believe but to act on those beliefs. God had told them what they needed to do; by faith, they now needed to do it. Though in a totally different context from what James was writing about, the principle fits very well: “But do you want to know, O foolish man, that faith without works is dead?” (James 2:17–20, NKJV).
Read Exodus 13:1–16. The Israelite firstborns were spared by God’s grace during the final plague. Why this perpetual command, and what should it mean to us today?
God mercifully guarded the Israelite families who were under the blood because, by faith, they had marked their doorframes. These new directions came from the Lord through Moses: “ ‘Consecrate to me every firstborn male’ ” (Exod. 13:2, NIV). This legislation was valid for humans as well as for animals.
One principle behind this injunction is that everything belongs to Him because He is our Creator and the Owner of everything: “The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it” (Ps. 24:1, NIV). “The silver is mine, and the gold is mine, declares the Lord of hosts” (Hag. 2:8, ESV). The Israelites’ firstborn sons were the firstfruits of God’s blessings, which He had bestowed upon them; they were also a sign of their total consecration to Him and of their understanding that all they possessed came only from Him.
Also, we see the idea of redemption, of salvation, here. The firstborn sons were spared death because they were covered by the blood. They were redeemed from death, as are all who are under the blood of Jesus. As Paul writes about Jesus: “in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins” (Col. 1:14, NKJV).
Meanwhile, regulations were given about how this dedication should be offered, a celebration of their deliverance from Egyptian slavery. They were to sacrifice the animals, but their sons were to be redeemed (Exod. 13:12, 13, 15).
Exodus 13:16 tells about what they were to put on their hands and between their eyes. How does this symbolize the important spiritual truth that, regardless of how much faith we have, we must act upon that faith?
Supplemental EGW Notes
In the deliverance of Israel from Egypt, the dedication of the first-born was again commanded. While the children of Israel were in bondage to the Egyptians, the Lord directed Moses to go to Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and say, “Thus saith the Lord, Israel is My son, even My first-born: and I say unto thee, Let My son go, that he may serve Me: and if thou refuse to let him go, behold, I will slay thy son, even thy first-born.” Exodus 4:22, 23.
Moses delivered his message; but the proud king’s answer was, “Who is the Lord, that I should obey His voice to let Israel go? I know not the Lord, neither will I let Israel go.” Exodus 5:2. The Lord worked for His people by signs and wonders, sending terrible judgments upon Pharaoh. At length the destroying angel was bidden to slay the first-born of man and beast among the Egyptians. That the Israelites might be spared, they were directed to place upon their doorposts the blood of a slain lamb. Every house was to be marked, that when the angel came on his mission of death, he might pass over the homes of the Israelites.
After sending this judgment upon Egypt, the Lord said to Moses, “Sanctify unto Me all the first-born, . . . both of man and of beast: it is Mine;” “for on the day that I smote all the first-born in the land of Egypt I hallowed unto Me all the first-born in Israel, both man and beast: Mine shall they be: I am the Lord.” Exodus 13:2; Numbers 3:13. After the tabernacle service was established, the Lord chose the tribe of Levi in the place of the first-born of all Israel to minister in the sanctuary. But the first-born were still to be regarded as the Lord’s, and were to be bought back by a ransom.
Thus the law for the presentation of the first-born was made particularly significant. While it was a memorial of the Lord’s wonderful deliverance of the children of Israel, it prefigured a greater deliverance, to be wrought out by the only-begotten Son of God. As the blood sprinkled on the doorposts had saved the first-born of Israel, so the blood of Christ has power to save the world.—The Desire of Ages, p. 51.
The dedication of the firstborn had its origin in the earliest times. God had promised to give the Firstborn of heaven to save the sinner. This gift was to be acknowledged in every household by the consecration of the firstborn son. He was to be devoted to the priesthood, as a representative of Christ among human beings.
In the deliverance of Israel from Egypt, the dedication of the firstborn was again commanded. While the children of Israel were in bondage to the Egyptians, the Lord directed Moses to go to Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and say, “Thus saith the Lord, Israel is My son, even My firstborn: and I say unto thee, Let My son go, that he may serve Me: and if thou refuse to let him go, behold, I will slay thy son, even thy firstborn” (Exodus 4:22, 23).—Jesus, Name Above All Names, p. 310.
The above quotations are taken from Ellen G. White Notes for the Sabbath School Lessons, published by Pacific Press Publishing Association. Used by permission.