Ex. 13:1-13
WHEN THE children of Israel went forth out of Egypt they were given the passover feast as a perpetual remembrance of what God had done for them. Now they are given an ordinance that would remind them of the way the Lord had spared their firstborn from death.
If God in grace acts for His people, He establishes claims upon them, and it is these claims that we have brought before us here. A redeemed people henceforth belong to the Redeemer.
“And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Sanctify unto Me all the firstborn... among the children of Israel, both of man and of beast: it is Mine.” This act of sanctifying, or setting apart, to the Lord was expressly connected with the destruction of the firstborn in the land of Egypt. Israel had been spared that terrible night solely on the ground of the sprinkled blood of the slain lamb. Thus if God spared the firstborn because of the passover lamb, from then on He claimed them as His own. And so it is with beliers now. They belong to Him who has redeemed them, because He took their place, and bore their sins in His own body on the tree. He died for all, that they who live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto Him who died for them and rose again (2 Cor. 5:15).
Of course, in Israel this was a law—they must own the Lord’s claim—but in Christianity it is the love of Christ that constrains us. When we think of all that He has done for us, of the great cost of our redemption, surely we should feel that we belong to Him. “Ye are not your own. For ye are bought with a price.” 1 Corinthians 6:19,20. May we who are saved be like those saints in Macedonia, who “first gave their own selves to the Lord.” 2 Corinthians 8:5.
Lord, we are Thine: Thy claims we own,
Ourselves to Thee we’d wholly give;
Reign Thou within our hearts alone,
And let us to Thy glory live;
Here let us each Thy mind display,
In all Thy gracious image shine;
And haste that long-expected day
When Thou shalt own that we are Thine.
“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 Egypt. And it shall be for a sign unto thee upon thine hand, and for a memorial before 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.” vv. 8,9. The remembrance of what the Lord had done for them was to be upon their hands—affecting all they did; for a memorial between their eyes—they were to keep before their eyes and hearts that they were a redeemed people; and in their mouths—the subject of their conversation. In other words, it was to affect all their life from then on. So the knowledge of Christ as our Saviour should affect our whole life.
ML-05/11/1969