The Firstborn - Exodus 4:22-23

4:22-23 - Another point that the Lord wants Moses to make to Pharaoh is that “Israel is my son, even my firstborn… Let my son go, that he may serve me: and if thou refuse to let him go, I will lay thy son, even thy firstborn.” This isn’t touched on in the IM very much, but TB notes that “the firstborn, always speaking of the MALE firstborn, was considered a child of special significance. Pharaoh would most certainly have understood what Moses was saying to him.” God was indicating that the Hebrew people were special to Him as a group, not just one individual guy, but everyone and that He had a responsibility to care for and train the Hebrew people to be who He wanted them to be.

There are two other points that TB brings up, the second one isn’t so much for Pharaoh, but more for us, and that is that if Israel is the firstborn, “being labeled the firstborn, indicated that there is to be a second-born… and perhaps a 3rd, 4th, 5th, and more.” This is significant to us because we can see that the plan from the beginning has always been for everyone to be part of God’s family. It hasn’t just been reserved for Israel, making Israel special but not exclusive. TB asks, “so, who was to be the second born? Who would, some time later, become the new members in the family of God? It’s what we now call the Church… but in more detailed terms, it is really referring to gentiles.”

TB also points out that when Jacob bypassed Reuben for firstborn privileges, the birth order for the other boys was important too. So when Christ came to fulfill the law of Moses and move forward doctrinally, when Israel disqualified itself from leadership, the responsibility went to the next in line, the gentiles. Finally, we can see that God is setting the stage for the final plague, the death of the first born of Egypt. When the Hebrews were enslaved, their suffering made no difference to him, and probably even the firstborn of other Egyptian families wasn’t that critical, but when it came to HIS own firstborn son, the heir to the Egyptian throne, that’s when things got real.