Exodus 13:1-16 – Set Apart
After the 10th and final plague God tells Moses in chapter 13:1-2, to “Consecrate to me all the firstborn…Whatever is the first to open the womb…is mine.”
God had demanded the death of the firstborn but through the sacrificial lamb the firstborn of Israel was set free. They belonged to God – not just freedom from punishment but set apart by God as his treasured possession.
This practice of setting apart (consecrating) was to continue on into the Promised Land. The firstborn was to be set apart and redeemed with a sacrifice. A price had to be paid to set them free. They belonged to God.
The whole of Israel is described as God’s firstborn son, so it is right to say that all of Israel belongs to God. All of Israel owes their lives to God. Through the sacrificial lamb the price was paid to set them free from slavery and now they are God’s treasured possession.
As we come to the New Testament we find that Jesus Christ, God the Son, became the firstborn for us, and this firstborn paid the price for all his people.
In Jesus Christ we are not just set free but also set apart. We are God’s treasured possession.
Paul says in 1 Corinthians 6:19-20, “We have been bought for a price, now we are not our own.”
The Heidelberg Catechism asks in question 1, “What is your only comfort in life and death?”
The answer, “That I, with body and soul, both in life and death, am not my own, but belong unto my faithful Saviour Jesus Christ; who with his precious blood has fully satisfied for all my sins, and delivered me from all the power of the devil…and makes me heartily willing and ready, henceforth, to live unto Him.”
We have been delivered and set apart that we might live unto Him.
Questions
- What lessons do we learn from the consecration of the firstborn?
- What is your only comfort in life and death?
Prayer Points
- Give thanks that you have been delivered and set apart.
- Use prayer points from your congregation.
- Pray for family matters.