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CHAPTER 4
THE FIRSTBORN
We read in Exodus 10:24-29:
"And Pharaoh called unto Moses, and said, Go
ye, serve the Lord; only let your -flocks and your herds be stayed: let your little ones also go with
you. And Moses said, Thou must give us also sacrifices and burnt offerings,
that we may sacrifice unto the Lord our God. Our cattle shall also go with us;
there shall not an hoof be left behind; for thereof must we take to serve the
Lord our God; and we know not with what we must serve the Lord, until we come
thither. But the Lord hardened Pharaoh's heart, and he would not let them go.
And Pharaoh said unto him, Get thee from me, take heed to thyself, see my face
no more for in that day thou seest my face thou shalt die.
And Moses said, Thou hast spoken well, I will see thy face again no more."
When Moses said, " ... not an hoof shall be left
behind," he meant that everything that he had must be given over to God. Have we
come to that point yet? It is one thing to say, "All to Jesus, I
surrender; all to Him I freely give," but another thing to do it. Many
have sung it
but not
always meant it. The Lord will hold us to that vow. For us to see the full
blessings of God, we have to make a full surrender to God. God is not forcing
us to give all to Him; but to see His greater blessings, we must present our
whole being to God, a living sacrifice. Our wives, husbands, children, and
possessions speak of the entire human personality. A man speaks of the spirit,
his wife the soul, and his children the virtues of this union that God wants
brought unto his life. The cattle speak of possessions. God intends for man to
surrender all to Him. Jesus said that a disciple is one who forsakes all that
he has.
"So likewise, whosoever he be of you that forsaken
not all that he hath, cannot be My disciple."
Luke 14:33
You can be a believer but not a disciple: there is a world of
difference between the two! A disciple is one who is disciplined or taught into
the ways of God. A believer simply believes, but he has to be instructed. If
you are going to see the full deliverance of God in this day, God will say,
"You must put all on the altar of sacrifice."
"I therefore beseech you, by the mercies of
God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God,
which is your reasonable service."
Romans 12:1
Let us not compromise with this world system, but
become fully committed to the Lord. That is the kind of people God is looking
for in this day.
When Israel left Egypt, they were to leave with
some possessions, God instructed Moses:
"And Moses said, Thus saith the Lord, about
midnight will I go out into the midst of Egypt; and all the firstborn in the
land of Egypt shall die, from the firstborn of Pharaoh that sitteth upon his
throne, even unto the firstborn of the
maidservant that is behind the mill: and all
the firstborn of beasts. And there shall be a great cry throughout all the land
of Egypt, such as there was none like it, nor shall be like it anymore."
Exodus 11:4-6
There are similar words of Jesus in Matthew 24.
This speaks of tribulation conditions that are to come on the face of the
earth. God said He would go into Egypt at midnight and slay the firstborn.
Notice that Exodus 11:5 states that all of the firstborn in the land of Egypt shall
die. It doesn't say "of the land of Egypt,"
but "in the land of Egypt."
There is a difference there, and this difference is seen in verse 7:
u ••• but against any of the
children of Israel shall not a dog move his tongue, against man or beast; that
ye may know how that the Lord doth put a difference between the Egyptians and
Israel."
God is the One Who put the difference between the
firstborn in the land of Egypt and those of the land of Israel. The Israelites
had their firstborn also, but God made a difference between His people and the
Egyptians.
What was that difference? You may say,
"Isn't God unfair? Why allow the Egyptian's firstborn to be slain and not
the Israelites'?" It is simply because God's Holy Law must be satisfied.
His justice must be satisfied; and God made provision for Israel to escape that
judgment through the Passover lamb. The principle of the innocent dying for the
guilty is seen in the feast of the Passover lamb, which symbolizes Jesus'
sacrifice for guilty mankind. And it is only because they came under the
shelter of the blood of the lamb that they were spared. So we see the grace of
God unto the Israelites.
Read now the full chapter 12 of Exodus.
God said to Moses and Aaron in verse 2,
"This month shall be unto you the beginning
of months: it shall be the first month of the year to you."
God gave Israel seven feasts to observe, and the
very first feast was the Feast of the Passover. God has a reason for doing the
things that He does. This feast was in the first month, the "beginning
of months." Therefore, Passover speaks of that which has a new
inception. The first month for the Israelites was to be in March or April
according to our present solar calendar. How important this month was going to
be!
"In the tenth day of this month they shall
take to them every man a lamb, according to the house of
their fathers, a lamb for an house."
Verse 3
In the garden of Eden, it was a lamb for an
individual when God clothed Adam and Eve. No doubt that involved the shedding
of blood, most likely that of a lamb. Here we see a lamb for an house. Later we
will see a lamb for a nation. Then when John the Baptist announced Jesus Christ,
he said, "the Lamb that taketh away the sins of the world" (Jn.
1:29). Jesus is for the individual, family, nation, and all nations. But
here it was for an house; the houses made up the nation. This lamb was to be
set apart from the tenth day.
"And if the household be too
little for the lamb, let him and his neighbor next unto his house take
it according to the number of the souls; every man according to his eating
shall make your count for the lamb. Your lamb shall be without blemish,
a male of the first year: ye shall take it out from the sheep, or from the
goats."
Exodus 12:4-5
Look at three words: a lamb, the lamb, and your lamb.
When you don't know the Lord, you think He was a good man and you look upon Him as a man among men. You may even think of Him as A SAVIOUR of man. But then the Holy Spirit moves
upon you, and you see that He is more than a man or Savior of man, but THE
SAVIOUR, the only Savior. Then your eyes are spiritually opened, and you come
to the place where you see Him not only as the hope of man, but you acknowledge
Him as YOUR
LAMB,
YOUR SAVIOUR, and YOUR LORD. Behold the gems God has given us in His Word! Only
the Holy Spirit can reveal these to us. We need to be filled with the Spirit
day by day.
What kind of lamb was to be used for sacrifice?
It had to be a lamb "without blemish" and one year old, and a
lamb in its prime. Jesus Christ was the spotless One; He had no sin, and He
died in the prime of His youth. He was in the flower of manhood when He laid
down His life on the cross. All of this is given in shadow in Exodus.
"And ye shall keep it up until the
fourteenth day of the same month; and the whole assembly of the congregation of
Israel shall kill it in the evening."
Verse 6
Notice it doesn't say the lambs (even though they
would kill more than one lamb), for in God's sight, only one was in mind (they
shall kill IT). All the lambs were to represent ONE LAMB, Jesus CHRIST. This
lamb was set apart from the tenth day to the fourteenth day. That yields four
days, from the evening of the tenth to the evening of the fourteenth. When John
the Baptist announced Jesus as the Lamb of God, it was roughly four years more
until Jesus was sacrificed. When Jesus came on the scene He was about thirty
years of age; when He went to the cross, He was about thirty-three and-a-half
years. The last four days of His Life He was exposed to the scrutiny of Pontius
Pilate who examined Him and said, "I find no fault in Him" (Jn. 19:4).
This Lamb was without blemish! All the accusations were false.
How long is a day with the Lord? Peter tells us "a
day with the Lord is as a thousand years" (II Pet. 3:8). Four days
would be four thousand years. When Adam and Eve sinned, then death began to
work in man. From the fall of Adam until Christ was four thousand years. So
Jesus was shut up in heaven for four thousand years awaiting the time when He
would come to earth to become the Lamb of God for the sin of man. When Lazarus
was sick and died, Jesus waited four days to come raise him up (Jn. 11:17). Lazarus means 'he whom God
helps'; and depicts, among other things, man who is dead in trespasses and
sins. Jesus said,
" ... The hour is coming ... when the
dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God: and they that hear shall live.
"
John 5:25
When Jesus came to the tomb, He cried, "Lazarus,
come forth" (Jn. 11:43). And
when He died on the cross, He cried, "It is finished!" (Jn.
19:30). Four thousand years had to pass before He came to raise man from
spiritual and physical death. He had to wait for that time because God is a God
of times and seasons and law and order.
David had to wait forty days before he could slay
the giant, Goliath. Goliath came against the Israelites for forty days and no
one could defeat him, until David came out with his sling and felled the giant
with a stone on the forehead. Forty days equate to forty centuries. Forty
centuries passed into history before Jesus, our Heavenly "David,"
came to meet Goliath (which means 'the winepress'), who is a picture of Satan.
Like Goliath, Satan terrorized man for forty centuries with no one to stand up
to him. But then our Heavenly "David" came with the sling and the
stone. He took on Satan in the wilderness by saying, "it is written, it is written, it is
written." David used one stone out of five stones which he took out of the
brook. The five books of Moses are called the Pentateuch. And Jesus used one of
the five books, Deuteronomy, to disarm the devil.
"Thou shalt fear the LORD thy God; Him shalt
thou serve .... "
Deuteronomy 10:20
H ••• it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and Him only shalt
thou serve."
Matthew 4:10
The Lamb was to be slain on the "fourteenth day at even."
In Hebrew, that means between the two evenings. There was a three
o'clock hour and a six o'clock hour. The lamb was to be slain at three o'clock
on the fourteenth day. When Jesus died on the cross and said, “It is
finished," and then commended His Spirit to the Father, it was three
o'clock in the afternoon the same time they killed the Passover lamb! He had to
fulfill all that was written in the Scriptures. That's why He told the two on
the way to Emmaus about Moses and the things concerning Himself in the Prophets
(Lk. 24:27).
God told the Israelites to take of the blood of
the lamb and sprinkle it on the two side posts and on the upper doorposts of
the houses wherein they would eat it (Ex. 12:22). We are the house, the
temple of God. The two side posts speak of our soul, and the upper doorpost
speaks of our body. In other words, our "house" must come under the
shelter of the Blood of Jesus Christ. We must flee to Him for refuge and allow
Him to cleanse us with that Blood and sprinkle that Blood upon us; for it is in
the Blood that we have protection and deliverance from sins. It says, "they
shall eat the flesh" (Ex. 12:8). Eating speaks of appropriating. We
cannot eat of an animal unless it is first killed and the blood drained and the
flesh cooked. There are many ways to cook by boiling, by frying,
or applying the fire (as in roasting). Now the natural speaks to us of the
spiritual. Jesus could not become our food until He went to the cross. We are to feed on His
death. We are to ingest the blessings of sins forgiven we are to feed on Him
Who purchased our salvation. This is not in a literal sense, but it is a
"spiritual feeding" of the Lord. They were to eat the flesh "roast with fire"
(Ex. 12:8-9). When Jesus died on the cross, He faced the fire of God's
wrath in His Person. This fire speaks of the judgment that came on our Lord
Jesus Christ, the price with which He redeemed us. It was to be roast with fire
and they were to eat the flesh with unleavened bread.
Samson gave a riddle "Out of the eater
came forth meat, and out of the strong came forth sweetness" (Jdg. 14:14).
Samson
promised thirty sheets and thirty changes of raiment to the one who answered
the riddle (v. 12). Samson's wife gave the
Philistines the answer but he knew what she had done (v. 18). The answer was: "What is sweeter than honey? and what
is stronger than a lion?" (v. 18). What is it that eats or
devours? Death. Death is that which consumes man. Out of the eater came forth meat and out of death will come forth Life. Out of the strong came forth sweetness and out of His death
will come forth the sweetness of salvation. So it is through His death that we
can have a feast! Who can understand this parable? The natural mind cannot
understand the spiritual things (I Cor. 2:14).
But to those
of us who understands it, a "change of garment" will be given! For those that understand
that man cannot conquer death but only Jesus can and did, will be given a change of
raiment. He exchanges your old garments and gives you a new robe, a robe of
righteousness.
Here we also
see the Gospel in the Book of Judges.
So they were to eat the lamb roasted in fire and
with unleavened bread. Leaven is a picture of sin. If you are going to feed
on Christ, you must put away sin. If you have committed sin, confess it right away and get rid of it, and then you can
feed on the Lamb of God.
They were to eat the lamb with bitter herbs (Ex. 12:8).
Bitterness symbolizes that our sins caused Him to be nailed to the tree;
and that should cause us remorse and deep grief. We should always remember that
it was our sins that He took upon Himself. To eat of the Passover lamb with
bitter herbs is simply to realize that when you come to the Lord, you come with
a sorrow in your heart about the wrong that you have done. Never take your
salvation lightly. The songwriter says,
When I survey the wondrous Cross On which the Prince of Glory
died, My richest gain I count but loss, And pour contempt on all my pride.
We can crucify Him afresh by willfully sinning and doing wrong.
Therefore we must feast on Him in sorrow for our sins and wrongdoing.
Remember, they were to eat the lamb roast with
fire (Ex. 12:8), as Jesus had to face the fire of God's
judgment. What parts of the Passover lamb that was to be roasted with fire are
mentioned? The head, legs and purtenance (or inner parts). The head is
concerned with your thoughts; the legs speak of your walk; and
the inward parts speak of your heart's affections. Therefore, the head
speaks of the thoughts of Jesus, the legs of His walk, the inward parts of His
heart's affections. When we come to the Lord Jesus we must think of the way He
thought, the way He walked, and the heart of love that He had. We must
contemplate His Person, not just His sacrifice. Many people want to get
cleansing from sin and that's all, but you can't have salvation without a Saviour:
The Person of the Lord is more important than the work of the Lord,
though you can't divorce the two. Think on His wonderful Person. He is the One
Who must fill our vision.
They were told to "let nothing remain until the
morning."
That which did remain until morning had to be burned with
fire. You cannot commune with Him unless you have been redeemed. His
work was not something that was left over for the next day. It was a finished
work. It was a complete work, for redemption is already completed. We can only
feed on that which is a finished work, and not let it remain until the morning.
There is a deeper meaning in this if you can see it.
In Exodus 12:11, we are told of the way they were to eat
the Passover. How do we eat or feed on Christ?
"And thus shall ye eat it; with your loins
girded, your shoes on your feet, and your staff in your hand; and ye shall eat
it in haste: it is the Lord's passover."
It is first "the Lord's Passover" and
then it becomes man's Passover. Jesus had to satisfy the Father first before
man could be satisfied, In Leviticus 1, in the five offerings that were to be given,
the burnt offering is first. There was the burnt offering, the meat (or meal)
offering, the peace offering, the sin offering, and the trespass offering. As
far as we are concerned, the greatest is the sin offering and trespass
offering, yet God puts those last However, before man can be satisfied, God's
Law must be fulfilled, God's tenets must he upheld, God's justice must be
satisfied. The burnt offering had nothing to do with sin; it was to please God.
As previously mentioned, there were four things
the children of Israel had to do when they ate the Passover. First, they were
to gird their loins. The loins are the seat of the reproductive powers, but the
loins also speak of the mind. In Ephesians 6:14, it states that we are to gird up our loins
with truth. In the Epistle of Peter, we read,
"Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind,
be sober, and hope to the end/or the grace that is to be brought unto you at
the revelation of Jesus Christ."
I Peter 1:13
The mind.is like a womb to receive seed.
Seed-thoughts are either from God or from Satan. God wants your mind to be
girded with truth. Truth will keep your garments together, so you can run
without your garments' hindering your walk. God's word is truth and must be in
our minds. The Psalmist said,
"Thy word have I hid in my heart that I
might not sin against Thee."
Psalm 119:11
Second, they were to have shoes on their feet.
They had to wear shoes because they were going on a long journey. We read later
that their shoes did not to wear out.
"And I have led you forty years in the
wilderness: your clothes are not waxen old upon you, and thy shoe is not waxen
old upon thy foot."
Deuteronomy 29:5
When the prodigal son came back to his father's
house, the father said to bring shoes and put them on his feet (Lk. 15:22). Shoes on the feet
are mentioned in Ephesians 6:15, "and your feet shod with the
preparation of the Gospel of peace." This was part of the whole armor
of God. God wants you to walk in peace, but when you sin you do not have peace.
Confess sin, live in harmony with God and you will live in peace. Here we see
the need for the Christian to put on the Gospel shoes, the Gospel of peace. God
wants us to walk in peace and fellowship with Him in a peaceful heart. This
comes through the Blood of the Lamb.
Third, they needed the staff in their hands. One
could lean on the staff as he traveled. To have the staff in your hand means
that one is a pilgrim, passing through this world. The staff is a picture of
the word of God. Rely on the word of God, for the word of God is
our strength, there to sustain us in our journey.
Fourth, they were to eat the Passover lamb in
haste. When we are to be fellowshipping with the Lord, He does not want us to
be lingering in Egypt. God wants us to leave all that is of Egypt behind and
dash for our freedom. If you linger in Egypt, you will be assaulted by the
enemy.
"Love not the world, neither the things that
are ill the world."
I John 2:15
Get occupied with the Lord and get your attention
in Him, and have nothing to do with the world that will draw you away from the
Lord.
"For I will pass through the land of Egypt
this night, and will smite all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and
beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment: I AM the
Lord."
Exodus 12:12
God is going to bring judgment on the false gods,
the idols, and the demon spirits in the land of Egypt to show His great power.
"And the blood shall be to you for a token
upon the houses where ye are: and when I see the blood, I will pass over you,
and the plague shall not be upon you to destroy you, when I smite the land of
Egypt."
Exodus 12:13
Where was their shelter? Under the blood of the lamb.
God said when He saw the blood He would pass over them. This is where
the word Passover
comes
from. Passover means 'to protect' or 'to dance' or 'to skip' or 'to leap over.'
It also means 'to spread the wings over.' God is like unto a mother hen
gathering her brood under her wings. Jesus said, "0
Jerusalem,
Jerusalem ... how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a
hen gathereth her chickens under her wings .... " (Matt. 23:37, Lk.13:34).
God can
teach us through the natural things in life! This natural realm portrays
spiritual truth to us.
Remember, Passover means 'to protect,' 'to hover
over,' and in Isaiah 31:5, it is translated
'preserve.'
"As birds flying, will the Lord of hosts defend
Jerusalem: defending also He will deliver it; and passing over He will preserve
it."
That Scripture was fulfilled in 1917, when God
defended Jerusalem like birds flying. He caused the British army under General
Allenby to take over Jerusalem from the Turks. When the Turks saw the British
planes flying over Jerusalem they surrendered immediately, because they did not
have the power to match aerial supremacy. So God said he would "pass
over" the Israelites; instead of death, they would have life.
This Feast was to be observed regularly by the
Israelites (Ex. 12:24). What beautiful
truth is God showing us here? This Passover feast is a picture of the sacrifice
of Christ on Calvary. We are always to think on it and enter into fellowship
with Him in His death and in His resurrection. We cannot do away with Calvary.
No matter how far we go, we will always be grateful to God for the Blood of the
Lamb. We must thank God every day for the blood, for the cross, for redeeming us.
This is how we keep the feast of Passover.
This Feast was celebrated seven times in the
nation of Israel that are recorded. Seven is a number of completeness. The
seven observances of the Feast given are as follows: first, in Egypt (Ex. 12); second, in the wilderness (Num. 9); third, in Canaan (Josh. 5:10); fourth, in the days of
Hezekiah (II Chron. 30); fifth, under King Josiah (II Chron. 35); sixth, after the
return from captivity (Ezra
6); and
seventh, by our Lord and His Apostles when He said, “… with desire have I desired to eat this
Passover with you ... " (Luke 22:15). After this, the Passover gave way to the
Lord's Supper. He said, "Except you eat My flesh and My blood, you have no
Life in you" (Jn. 6:53). And the Apostle Paul wrote,
"As often as we eat His flesh and drink His blood, we do show forth His
death until He come" (I Cor. 11:26). So we see the connection with
the Passover and the Lord's Supper. They did not drink the symbolic wine in
Egypt; there was just eating. In the Old Testament, the blood was sprinkled,
but the lamb was eaten. But then in the New Testament, His flesh was given for
us and His blood was poured out for us. Therefore, we are to "eat His
flesh and drink His blood."
Exodus 12:22 states,
"Ye shall take a bunch of hyssop, and dip it
in the blood that is in the basin and strike the lintel and the two side posts
with the blood that is in the basin: and none of you shall go out at the door
of his house until the morning."
The word "basin" in the original means
'threshold.' Strongs 5592; caph
{saf}
·
from 05605, in its original sense of
containing; TWOT 1538a,1538b;
·
AV door 12, threshold 8, basin 4, posts 3,
bowls 2, gates 2, cup 1; 32
·1) a spreading out, basin,
goblet, bowl 1 a) basin, goblet 2) threshold, sill 2a) threshold, sill,
door-keeper
The blood was on the threshold. The hyssop was
used to sprinkle the upper crossbeam and the two side posts from the threshold.
This is a picture of how Jesus died. He was on the crossbeam. There was a
horizontal and a vertical post to the cross. The blood was pouring out from His
head from the crown of thorns. The two side posts speak of the blood flowing
from His hands and the blood on the threshold speaks of the blood that flowed
from His feet. This was pictured for us back in Egypt when the blood sprinkled
on the house showed us how He would die and how His Blood would be a covering
for us. Notice how Jesus fulfilled ALL that was written concerning Himself. He
finished the work that the Father had given Him to do. We cannot add to or take
away from this work. It is complete.
Then in Exodus 12:14, we read,
"And this day shall be unto you for a
memorial; and ye shall keep it a feast to the Lord throughout your generations;
ye shall keep it a feast by an ordinance for ever. "
Do you know why this was called the first feast
and why it was held in the first month? Because it will be a new beginning for
you! When we acknowledge Him as our Passover Lamb, "old things are
passed away; behold, all things become new" (11 Cor. 5:17). It is only
when you have Him as YOUR Lamb, not a lamb or the lamb, but YOUR
Lamb, that a NEW beginning comes for you. Passover's being the first feast
shows that you cannot feast on the Lord without first acknowledging Him as YOUR
Lamb and finding shelter for your sins through His blood. See how deep the word
of the Lord is!
The Lord "passed over" Israel in mercy,
for the tenth plague was the slaying of the firstborn in the land of Egypt.
Because Israel came under the blood of the Passover lamb, they were protected
by the grace of God. God said, "1 will smite all the firstborn in the land of Egypt"
(Ex. 12:12).
Before the tenth plague fell on Egypt, God caused
Moses and Aaron to instruct the people about the Passover feast and about
another feast called the Feast of Unleavened Bread.
In I Corinthians 5:7-8, the Apostle Paul wrote,
"Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye
may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our Passover is
sacrificed for us. Therefore let us keep the feast."
Christians are admonished to keep the feasts, not
just the Jews. Christ is our Passover. In Exodus, it is called the
Lord's Passover. When Jesus Christ became that Lamb for us, He first had to
satisfy the demands of the Father and then, when God's Laws were accomplished
and His justice was satisfied, the way was open for man to be satisfied. Jesus
did not come just to deal with the matter of sin as affecting man but to deal
with sin as it mars the universe of God. Jesus had to satisfy the offended
justice of the Almighty Father. After you see God satisfied, then Christ
becomes OUR Passover. God always comes first, not man. That is God's order. God
gave the five offerings. These are all a type of Jesus Christ. For us, we say
the greatest is sin, but God put that last. The burnt offering had nothing to
do with sin. The burnt offering was a sweet smelling savor unto God. That shows
that Jesus came to do the Will of God first. When He finished the Will of the
Father, the way was open for man to be set free. Then was the veil rent in two.
Christ, our Passover, is sacrificed for us; therefore let us keep the Feast.
The Word tells us that when we accept Jesus
Christ as OUR Lamb, we have passed out of death into life.
"Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that
heareth My word, and believeth on Him that sent Me, hath
everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from
death unto life."
John 5:24
The word "Passover" has a fulfillment
in the New Testament for God's children when we are passed out of death into
life. There was death in "Egypt," but life in "Israel."
The "firstborn" that God spares in us
is our soul. "The soul that sinneth, it shall die" (Ezek. 18:4, 20).
When we accept Jesus as our Passover Lamb, then the blood of Christ
is used to
cleanse our soul and prepare us to receive Divine Life.
" ... it is the blood that maketh an
atonement for the soul."
Leviticus 17:11
That is the law in the Old Testament. So God
deals with our soul first, our inner man. Eventually our body also will be
spared from death. "For as a man thinketh in his heart, so is he" (Prov. 23:7). And the heart of
man is the meeting place for the spirit and the soul. The heart is where the
spirit and the soul are joined in mystic marriage. What you are in your spirit
and your soul will be manifested in your body, The soul that was under the
symptoms of death is now to be spared as that soul acknowledges Jesus Christ as
Saviour and Lord. The same thing that the Lord did for Israel in Egypt, He will
do for us now. We are redeemed not by the blood of bulls and goats that was
only a type but by the blood of the Paschal Lamb (Jesus Christ).
"Let him know, that he which converteth the
sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a
multitude of sins."
James 5:20
So the soul is under the sentence of death, just
as the Egyptians were. But because the Israelites were under the shelter of the
blood, they were spared.
Ezekiel prophesied, "The soul that sinneth, it shall
die."
When the soul acknowledges Christ and comes under the cleansing blood,
that soul is infused with life and can no more die! That is why Jesus said,
"For what shall it profit a man, if he shall
gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?"
Mark 8:36
So Exodus shows us that the
blood makes an atonement for the soul.
"Wherefore lay apart all filthiness and
superfluity of naughtiness, and receive with meekness the engrafted word, which
is able to save your souls."
James 1:21
So your soul can be saved when you receive the
word of truth, when you believe the Word and allow the Lord to cleanse your
soul and infuse you with divine life. As already stated, our soul, firstborn,
is the first part of us to pass from death into life. Soon our body is going to
be set free from death into immortality, and eventually, into glorification.
Praise the Lord!
We have passed, first, from death into life, and
now from darkness into light.
"Delivering thee from the people and from
the Gentiles, unto whom now I send thee, to open their eyes, and to turn them
from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive
forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith
that is in me."
Acts 26:17
So the second passing over is passing out of
darkness into light. Satan's kingdom is a kingdom of darkness, but God's
kingdom is a kingdom of light and He wants us to know that when we come to know
Him, we become children of the light. This should remind us of the ninth
plague. Darkness was in Egypt, gross and thick darkness, but in the camp of the
Israelites there was light. In this, God was showing that His people were
children of the light. The darker the night, the brighter the light that is
imparted to you. Isaiah wrote,
"Arise, shine for thy light is come, and the
glory of the Lord is risen upon thee. For, behold, the darkness shall cover the
earth, and gross darkness the
people: but the Lord shall arise upon thee and His glory
shall be seen upon thee. "
Isaiah 60:1-2
God has a message for Israel and His Church. His
children are the children of the light. Paul stated,
"But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that
that day should overtake you as a thief"
I Thessalonians 5:4
But it could overtake us as a thief if we don't
walk in the light.
"If therefore the light that is in thee be
darkness, how great is that darkness!"
Matthew 6:23
"But he that doeth truth cometh to the
Light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God."
John 3:21
We must come daily to the Light. We have passed
from the power of Satan unto the power of God, and from the kingdom of
"Egypt" to the kingdom of "Canaan."
"Who hath delivered us from the power of
darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son: in Whom we
have redemption through His blood, even the forgiveness of sins."
Colossians 1:13-14
The Passover shows us how we have crossed from
one realm into another realm.
The day is coming when we will pass from
mortality into immortality.
"For this corruptible must put on incorruption,
and this mortal must put on immortality. So when this
corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on
immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is
swallowed up in victory. 0 death, where is thy sting? 0 grave, where is thy
victory?"
I Corinthians 15:53-55
That will be the final fulfillment of the
Passover when we have passed from mortality into immortality for the body.
There is another greater change than just receiving an immortal body. An
immortal body fits you to live here on earth for many hundreds of years without
dying. But the greatest change that can come is to receive a glorified body. A
glorified body has its home in the heavens, not on the earth.
God's saints will be divided into two groups;
those in the heavens and those on the earth. Even Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob are
destined to live on the earth to inherit the land that God promised them. For
God to keep His word, they must inherit that land. But, the highest change that
will come will be the change into the glorified body which has its home in the
heavens. That is a passing over from earth into the heavenly realm. That will
be the final Passover fulfillment.
Notice that the Israelites had to cross the Red
Sea before they finally got into the wilderness. The Red Sea typifies the human
blood stream within you. The final fulfillment of the Red Sea experience is to
come out of mortality into immortality when your blood stream has been changed. To cross
over the Red Sea is to come into a body that will no longer have the blood as
its main life force. Light will be the force of that glorified body! A glorified
body is a body of light. Some will experience their blood being infused with
blood that is no longer corruptible; that will usher them into immortality. For
others who have moved on in God, their blood will be changed, and they will enter
glorification. This physical body will be changed to enter the heavenly realms in God. Do
you now see the hidden meanings God has put into this Feast of the Passover?
There were seven feasts God gave to us to observe and there are depths of
meanings to those feasts. How great is our God!
"And the same day, when the even was come,
He saith unto them, Let us pass over unto the other side."
Mark 4:35
Notice the words "pass over."
"Even" time is the end of the day. The day of grace is coming to an
end and Jesus was showing us by His very life what was going to come, ''for
the testimony of Jesus Christ is the spirit of prophecy" (Rev. 19:10). He
portrayed prophecy by His movements. He said we were going to "pass
over." Some people think we will pass over without any problems and
sorrows. What happened when they were crossing to the other side? A storm arose
(Mk.4:37). See the naked Word of God. We must be willing to subject our
ideas to what God has said, rather than use the word of God to suit our ideas.
Our fellowship is not around mere doctrine it is around Jesus Christ. Keep Him
central. Bible prophecy has always divided the people. We must have an open
heart to weigh the Scriptures. Search them. As you look into the very life of
Jesus, see what is going to happen. A storm is coming. Remember the hail and
lightning and storm that came on Egypt (Ex. 9:23)? We see this
coming. It is the tribulation storm that is coming. In the Sermon on the Mount,
Jesus said,
"Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings
of Mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his
house upon a rock."
Matthew 7:24
If not, your house will be built on sand. But both
houses were exposed to the storm. That house He is building is His church. He said,
H ••• I will build My
church; and the gates of Hell shall not prevail against it."
Matthew
16:18
Just as Pharaoh tried to hinder the Israelites,
Satan is trying to hinder the Church, to frustrate the purposes of God. But my
God is greater than Satan, and as God intervened for the Israelites, He will
intervene in this end time. Fear not the storm if you are rooted and grounded
on THE Solid Rock, Jesus Christ. God is going to see you through. Satan is the
foolish man that built his house on sand. His house is Mystery Babylon, the
false church. The wise man is Jesus Christ and His house is His Church. He
said, "upon this Rock
(the
confession of who He was) I
will build My church" (Matt. 16:18). "For other foundation can no man
lay than that that is laid, which is Jesus Christ" (I Cor. 3:11). So the storm came and the
disciples thought they were going to sink (Mk. 4:38). In the coming storm, there will be Christians crying
out to God for fear that they are perishing; but when that time comes, God will
intervene: the storm will be stilled. Jesus will again say, "Peace, be still" (Mk. 4:39).
"Seven days shall ye eat unleavened bread; even the
first day ye shall put away leaven out of your houses: for whosoever eateth
leavened bread from the first day until the seventh day, that soul shall be cut
off from Israel.
And ye shall observe the feast of unleavened bread; for in
this selfsame day have I brought your armies out of the land Egypt: therefore
shall ye observe this day in your generations by an ordinance for ever.
In the first month on the fourteenth day of the month
at even, ye shall eat unleavened bread, until the one and twentieth day of the month at even. Seven days shall there be
no leaven found in your houses: for whosoever eateth that which is leavened,
even that soul shall be cut off from the congregation of Israel, whether he be
a stranger, or born in the land. Ye shall eat nothing leavened; in all your
habitations shall ye eat unleavened bread."
Exodus 12:15, 17-20
Leaven is a picture of the working of sin. It is
fermented dough that causes a rising, or a false appearance. The air cells
cause the bread to rise when leaven is at work. Satan is called "the
prince of the power of the air" (Eph. 2:2). Just as air cells cause
the puffing up, the false appearance, Satan brings the leaven of wickedness and
sin.
Unleavened bread is the second feast. On
Passover, the lamb was slain at three 0' clock in the afternoon,
and from even on the fourteenth day until even of the twenty-first day of the
first month was the Feast of the Unleavened Bread. The Israelites were to
observe this feast for seven days, and they were to have no leaven in their
houses for seven days. Seven is the number of completeness, as we discern from
various Scriptures. Seven days make one week. Naaman had to dip seven times in
the River Jordan before he was cleansed of leprosy (II
Ki. 5:14).
The seven churches in the Book of Revelation speak of the complete
church. Therefore, this is a complete message for the complete church. The
seven days of unleavened bread speak of the complete existence of your
Christian life, or the days that you live.
What does the unleavened bread portray? Didn't
Jesus say, HI am the bread of
Life" (Jn. 6:35)? Wasn't He without sin or "unleavened" (Heb. 4:15)? The bread used by the Jews was 100 whole wheat bread. Whole wheat bread has within it all the
basic nutrients that the physical body needs. When God
speaks of bread, He is talking about Jesus, the Bread of Life. And Jesus Christ is
the One Who has all the nutrients for every human being. Jesus Christ has all
the answers for man's problems. He is all that we need!
The reason that the bread is unleavened is that
Jesus' physical body had no sin in it. In communion we should have unleavened
bread in order to show that Jesus' body was without sin. To eat leavened bread
at communion would be an insult.
They were not to have leaven in their homes for
seven days. God is saying that the Christian life is a holy life and we must
put away sin. He wants us to hate sin and love righteousness. God wants the Christian, after he
has come under the blessings of the Blood of the Lamb and received Divine Life,
to feast on "unleavened bread," and to have fellowship with Jesus,
and put away sin. All the days of his life, he must put away sin. "Put off
the old man and put on the new man" (Eph. 4:22, Col. 3:9).
"And have no fellowship with the unfruitful
works of darkness, but rather reprove them."
Ephesians 5:11
" ... for what fellowship hath
righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with
darkness? And what concord hath Christ with Belial?"
II Corinthians 6:14·15
"Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye
may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened, .for even Christ our passover is
sacrificed for us: Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven,
neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened bread
of sincerity and truth."
I Corinthians 5:7-8
We are made like unleavened bread because of the
cleansing power of the blood of Jesus Christ. "We, being many, are one
body" (Rom. 12:5) or one
bread, unleavened bread, and holy in the sight of God. Purge out the leaven:
allow the Blood to cleanse, allow the Word to wash, allow the fire of the
Spirit to purge. Daily we need the threefold cleansing of God. The cleansing of
both the Blood and the Word and the purging of the Spirit of God, keep us free
from sin and in pure relationship with Him. When we sin, we must confess it.
Daily we need to come under the Blood, for we live in a sinful world, but we
are not of the world, so we should make no provision for sin (Jn. 15:19).
Feast on the Lord Jesus.
"God is a spirit and they that worship Him
must worship Him in spirit and in truth."
John 4:24
That is, in the power of the Holy Spirit and in the Word of God. The
Word and the Spirit go hand in hand together.
So, leaven is a picture of the mystery of
iniquity. God said to put away sin. We are still liable to sin, but He is able
to keep us from falling if we will depend on Him and abide in Him. We have an
advocate with the Father; confess sin and let Him cleanse you from sin. The
whole Christian life is feasting on Jesus Christ; and to do so, we put away sin
from our homes, our hearts, and our lives.
The Scriptures speak of three kinds of leaven:
that of the Pharisees, the Sadducees, and of Herod. If leaven is a picture of
sin, we can trace this through.
"Then Jesus said unto them, Take heed and
beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Saducees."
Matthew 16:6
Just as there were Pharisees in the days of Jesus, there are Pharisees
still here today in our churches. The Pharisees were concerned about the letter
of the Law. They did not want to hear anything about the spirit of
the God's Word or Law. Many people use the Word of God like a stick over
other's heads. The Word of God is to free us, not to enslave us! It takes the
Spirit to make the Word alive. You can memorize the entire Bible, but without
the Spirit, it doesn't minister life. You may not have a brilliant mind, but
let the Word become life to you. When you speak, people will know if it's
coming from the mind or from the heart. "Be not hearers of the word only,
but doers, also" (James 1:22).
"Not every one that saith unto me, Lord,
Lord, shall enter the Kingdom of Heaven; but he that doeth the will of My
Father Which is in Heaven."
Matthew 7:21
Let it not be a dead letter but let it be a living Word in you. Let
Christ be manifested in you as you speak the Word of God. The Pharisees
believed in the resurrection. They were Orthodox, but God wants us to be living
epistles. When He says, "beware of the leaven of the Pharisees," it
means hypocrisy. Hypocrisy means to put on a front, or to act a role that is
not in harmony with your true self. Ask God to give you a broken and contrite
spirit.
cc ••• 1 dwell in the high and
holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit .... "
Isaiah 57:15
God said to beware of the leaven of the Pharisees
is to guard against hypocrisy, and to guard against sectarianism. The Bible
says the greatest among us must be as one that serves, and do not glory in your
flesh (Luke 22:26-27, Gal. 6:13-14). The leaven of the Pharisees also speaks of the
traditions of man. They were careful to maintain the traditions of the elders.
They made the Word of God void and of no effect with their traditions (Matt. 15:6).
Remove the leaven of the Pharisees out of your hearts today.
Who were the Sadducees? They were like unto what
we might call the Modernists. They didn't believe in angels or in resurrection.
They mocked Jesus with their question about the woman who married seven
brothers and asked which one would be her husband in the kingdom. That's how
carnal they were. There are no marriages in heaven; marriage is only for
this earth realm (Mk. 12:25). They were trying to make the resurrection
incredible. Jesus told them they knew not the Scriptures, nor the power of God (Mk.
12:24). You can go to many churches today and find neither the Scriptures,
the 'Word of God, nor the Holy Spirit there. It is just a dead society. It is
"the dead burying their dead." "Why seek ye the living
among the
dead?" (Lk. 24:5) God is dead in some churches. Beware of those who try
to interpret the Bible and do away with what it is saying. They say all of
those plagues did not really happen. Some critics say that Israel was able to
cross the Red Sea because it was low. If those people crossed the Red Sea when
it was low, then how did the entire army of Pharaoh drown in a trickle of
water? The Modernists try to do away with the supernatural. We need the Word
and we need the Spirit, so beware of those who say we don't need the
Scriptures. There are some who want the Word and don't want the Spirit and some
who want the Spirit and don't want the Word, but we must have both. The Word
without the Spirit will cause you to dry up; the Spirit without the Word will cause you to blow up; the Word and the Spirit will cause you
to go up. Keep that in mind and you will guard against the
leaven of the Sadducees.
"And he charged them,
saying, Take heed, beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, and of the leaven
of Herod."
Mark 8:15
Jesus did not explain this saying. Herod means
'hero-like.' The Herodians were a sect. They were associated with politics.
Jesus said to "go tell that fox, Herod" (Luke 13:32). Politics is a subtle thing. It is hard to be in
politics and keep yourself straight. It is not wrong to have a Christian
leader, but they are exposed to a wicked system. God could have a Daniel in
Babylon without his being defiled. But how many men today are of the caliber of
Daniel? God could have Joseph in Egypt and on the throne, yet he was pure and
uncontaminated. May God give us Daniels and Josephs today! Politics is of this
world system. Democracy may be the best man can acquire, but democracy has gone
"demon-crazy." That has happened because people use their freedom and
abuse it. The only answer is theocracy, the 'rule of God.' The day is coming
when the government of God is going to rule over this earth. Then, all the
incorruption and injustice will be dealt with. And every man will sit under his
vine and his fig tree, the Bible tells us (Mic. 4:4). Thank God for the
democratic system; but do not assume it is the best of all systems. We still
see the inequalities here. There is still injustice in the land. God is not
going to spare this. Thank God for the freedom we still enjoy here, but the
best is yet to come, when the rule of God is seen. Herod is connected with
politics, which makes "heroes" out of men. Beware of hero worship!
Beware of worshipping preachers. Jesus said He came not to speak of Himself; He
did not seek His own will, but the will of Him that sent Him (Jn. 5:30). That is the spirit that
God wants to find within us. When He said beware of the "leaven of
Herod," He meant beware of the snare of politics. Beware of the sly fox.
Beware of hero worship. John the Baptist said, "He (Christ) must
increase, but I must decrease" (Jn. 3:30).
May God guard us against these three kinds of
leaven and make us unleavened bread as we put away leaven from our homes!
"And the people took their dough before it was leavened,
their kneading troughs being bound up in their clothes upon their
shoulders."
Exodus
12:34
If you linger in Egypt, in this world system, and
you don't dash for your freedom when God gives it to you, you will be infected
by sin. The best way to get over leaven is to leave the ways of the world and
get occupied with Jesus. One of the secrets to overcoming sin is to get
occupied with the Savior. Because they left in a hurry, the dough didn't
become leaven. We are in a world of sin. Sin is all around us. If you don't
want to get affected by sin, get your eye on Him. Allow Him to be your source,
your shield, and your strength.
"And the Lord said unto Moses and Aaron, This is the
ordinance of the Passover: There shall no stranger eat thereof.
A foreigner and an hired servant shall not eat thereof."
Exodus
12:43 ,45
For you to be able to eat of the Passover, you
must become an "Israelite." God made a difference between the
Israelites and the Egyptians. You cannot enter the blessings of God as long
as you want to become occupied with Egypt. Either Pharaoh is your master or God is your
master. As long as you are not associated with Israel, you are a stranger. The
Israelites are the children of God. You must decide whether you want to be a
child of Satan or a child of the King. Those who are sinners and remain in
their sin are strangers. You can be cleansed from your sin and no longer be a
stranger; you are brought nigh by the blood of the lamb (Eph. 2:13). Those who are called strangers are
those who are in bondage to sin and to Satan. They cannot enjoy the Passover
blessings unless they first acknowledge Jesus as their Lamb.
A hired servant works for pay. You cannot work
for your salvation, no matter how many good works you do. There is a place for
good works, but they cannot save you. After you are saved, God expects good
works from you; but that comes through the working of the Holy Spirit in you,
not by your flesh attempts. Faith without works is dead. Those who work for
salvation will never get it. Many people think that before God will hear them,
they must do penances or ordinances; salvation is a gift. This is what Martin
Luther brought out: "the just shall live by his faith " (Hab.
2:4, Gal. 3:11).
"For by grace are ye saved through faith;
and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God.
Ephesians 2:8
We are told that no uncircumcised person shall
eat the Passover. An uncircumcised person is one who is not in covenant
relationship with God. The only way you can eat of the Lamb is to approach the
ground of the blood. Natural circumcision is a picture of the circumcision of
the heart. It takes the blood to cleanse us and make our heart ready. Those who
will not let God make them new creations in Christ will not benefit from the
Passover Lamb. God says, "I will give you a new heart and will cleanse you
from your filthiness; 1 will put my spirit within you" (Ezek. 36:25-26).
This was a picture of how God was to reach down to the Gentiles
salvation is not only for Israel, but also for the world. God used Israel as an
instrument in His hand to bless the nations. God is telling us here that the
way would be open for the strangers, the uncircumcised, and the hired servants
the Gentile nations who are unclean in their ways.
"That at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of
Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus, ye who sometimes
were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ."
Ephesians 2:12-13
Now look once more at "the Gospel according to Moses"; "In
one house shall it be eaten; thou shalt not carry forth ought of the flesh
abroad out of the house; neither shall ye break a bone thereof."
Exodus 12:46
When Jesus died on the cross, it was the custom
to break the legs of those to be crucified. When the soldiers came to Jesus, He
had already died, so they did not break His legs. No one could take His life.
The soldier's spear did not kill Jesus. He laid down His own life. He said, "Father,
into Thy hands I commend My spirit" (Luke 23:46). He gave up His
spirit. They did not break His bones, but a soldier pierced His side. This is a
fulfillment of prophecy from Exodus. Not a bone was to be broken.
"But when they came to Jesus, and saw that
he was dead already, they brake not his legs.
For these things were done, that the Scripture
should be fulfilled, A bone of him shall not be bro
ken."
John 19:33,36
Why did God allow the firstborn to be slain? I
mentioned earlier that the firstborn is a type of the soul. The soul is the
first part of man that passes from death into life. Why is the soul mentioned
and not the spirit? Our spirit is in darkness until we allow it to be infused
with light from the Lord. But our soul is the first to be spared from death.
The only part of man that cannot die is his spirit. The soul can die (Ezek. 18:4, 20). When the soul is
cleansed by the blood and infused with the Life of Jesus Christ, it has life.
When your soul and body are destroyed, your spirit still lives. Your spirit
came from the substance of God and is therefore eternal. Your spirit can be
rebellious or submissive. The soul is the first part of us to come out of
death, and then, eventually, the body. The whole spirit, soul, and body will be
seen in its full redemption when we come into immortality and then, eventually,
glorification.
CHAPTER 5
THE
FIRSTBORN
Let's look at some Scriptures that deal with the "firstborn."
The firstborn was the first son born into a family. Adam and Eve's
firstborn was Cain. Isaac and Rebekah's firstborn was Esau. God rejected Cain
and Esau and accepted Abel and Jacob. The firstborn is that which we bring
by our own efforts. When we are born into this world, we are born naturally
first and then spiritually. You are first born of the flesh, and when you are
"born again," you are born of the Spirit. First comes the natural and
then the spiritual. The word Esau means 'red' or 'hairy,' and Jacob means 'the
replacer.' God said, "Jacob
have I loved, but Esau have I hated" (Rom. 9:13,
Mal. 1:2-3). God hates the old nature of sin that is typified by Esau, but God
loves the 'replacer' or the new nature. God said, "I will put a new spirit within
you" (Ezek. 11:19). "If any man be in Christ, he is a new
creation" (II Cor. 5:17). So, the Bible speaks of the old man and the new man.
The old man is what we are by nature; the new man is what we are by grace. God
rejects the old man, the firstborn, and accepts the new man, or second-born.
The firstborn being slain represents man in his nature of sin. "The wages of sin is death"
(Rom. 6:23).
The old man must give way to the new man. May we marvel at the
wisdom of our God!
"And
the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Sanctify unto Me all the firstborn, Whatsoever
openeth the womb among the children of Israel, both of man and of beast: it is Mine. "
Exodus 13:1
There is a lot of hidden truth here to be seen.
According to the Scriptures, the one that was born first in the family was the
one that was entitled to a double portion of the father's wealth. The firstborn
was in a position of authority. The firstborn of the family acted as a priest
of the family. This was part of the Hebrew custom. Let's look at some more
Scriptures.
First let's consider Genesis 43:33:
"And they sat before him, the firstborn
according to his birthright, and the youngest according to his youth: and the
men marveled one at another."
Joseph had set a feast before his brothers, but
notice the arrangement of the sons: the eldest occupied the highest position;
the youngest occupied the lowest position. "When you are invited to a
feast, don't choose out the best seat, but take the lowest; and when the host
comes and sees you he will say, Friend, come up higher" (Lk.14:10). Learn
to humble yourself before God, and He will lift you up in due time (I
Pet. 5:6). The firstborn was a position of authority, a commanding
position. The firstborn also was entitled to a double portion. When Jacob
blessed Ephraim and Manasseh, he put his right hand on Ephraim and his left
hand on Manasseh. Joseph told him that Manasseh was the firstborn and to bless
him with the right hand, but Jacob knew what he was doing and that that was
God's way (Gen. 48:17-19). So Ephraim, the second-born, took priority
over Manasseh, the firstborn. Ephraim means 'double-fruitfulness.' The blessing
of the firstborn is a double portion.
The firstborn had an association with the Levites. God
said, "The firstborn are
Mine" (Num. 3:13). They were to be fully given to God. Later, God said He would
take the Levites to be like the firstborn unto Him (Num. 8:18). Now consider: there were twelve
tribes. When the Israelites built a golden calf in the wilderness, and God was
going to destroy them, Moses prayed for them and the Levites stood up for God.
God said He would take the Levites to be the firstborn unto Him. They were to
come closer to God and sit at the head and minister to Him.
"And after that shall the Levites go in to do the
service of the tabernacle of the congregation: and thou shalt cleanse them, and
offer them for an offering. For they are wholly given unto Me from among the
children of Israel; instead of such as open every womb, even instead of the
firstborn of all the children of Israel, have I taken them unto Me, For all the
firstborn of the children of Israel are Mine, both man and beast: on the day
that I smote every firstborn in the land of Egypt I sanctified them for Myself.
And l have taken the Levites for all the firstborn of the children of Israel. And I have given the Levites as a gift to
Aaron and to his sons from among the children of Israel, to do the service of
the children of Israel in the tabernacle of the congregation, and to make an
atonement for the children of Israel: that there be no plague among the
children of Israel when the children of Israel come nigh unto the sanctuary. "
Numbers
8:15-19
The children of Israel could not go into the
Tabernacle without a priest. Only the High Priest could go into the Holy of
Holies and the presence of God. The Levites had a closer association with God
than the rest of the congregation. The Hebrews were all God's people, but there
were those who were closer to God than the others. Look at an example of Jesus
and His Apostles. He had seventy disciples at one time and they were sent out
two by two. Then He had twelve and they were closer to Him than the seventy. Of
the twelve, He took three where He did not take the nine. Why? Peter, James,
and John went with the Lord where the others did not go. He could trust them
more than He could trust the others. They were with Him on the Mount of
Transfiguration, in Jairus' home, and in the garden of Gethsemane. There were
multitudes that followed the Lord, but they turned back. When He went to the
cross, there was one there who was faithful, and he stood with the Lord up
until the end. Do you think it is by accident that John wrote the Book of Revelation? God rewards
faithfulness. John was given the greatest revelation of all because the Book of Revelation is the "book of
consummations."
So, the Levites were closer to God than the other
people, and they were to make up His firstborn. The firstborn position was one
of eminence and quality. Redemption is connected with the firstborn. When we
understand what is involved with the firstborn in the Scriptures, we can better
understand the tenth plague. We see that the Levites were in close contact with
God and the people had to come to them. We see how close Peter, James, and John
were to Jesus John being the closest. God saw into their hearts. There are many
following the Lord; some follow far off, some a little closer, but there are
those who are not satisfied until they have that intimate union and communion
with Him. They are following to know Him. It is good to know Him as Savior, but
let us go on to know Him as King of kings and Lord of lords!
Jesus is called the firstborn in the Scriptures,
not in the sense of the physical order; but He had the preeminence of the
firstborn.
"Who is the image of the invisible
God, the Firstborn of every creature.
And He is the head of the body, the church: Who
is the beginning, the Firstborn from the dead; that in all things He might have
the preeminence."
Colossians 1:15,18
"For Whom He did foreknow, He also did
predestinate to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the
firstborn among many brethren."
Romans 8:29
He is the first glorified human being. He is the
first human to arise from the dead in a glorified body. Moses and Elijah did
not have that kind of body. Jesus was the "firstborn among many
brethren." He is going to bring forth many like Himself. But He is the
first and He must have the preeminence in all things. He predates all things,
He is the first of all things, the first of all Creation, the Source of all
things. He is called our elder brother in one sense.
Then the Scriptures speak of the church of the firstborn:
"But ye are come unto mount Sion, and unto
the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable
company of angels, To the general assembly and church of the firstborn,
which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of
just men made perfect, And to Jesus ...."
Hebrews 12:22-24
There is a firstborn church and a general church.
In a family of sons, the firstborn had the preeminence, the others looked to
him. So we have the firstborn church with the other sons making up the general
assembly. Again, first the natural, and then the spiritual. This is how God
gives it to us to understand.
Now Joseph got a double portion from his father.
Reuben forfeited the birthright, Simeon and Levi killed some innocent men,
Judah got the blessing of the kingship, but Joseph got the birthright the
firstborn's share, a double portion.
"Moreover I have given to thee one portion
above thy brethren, which I took
out of the hand of the Amorite with my sword and with my bow."
Genesis 48:22
The birthright blessing is not necessarily
according to your age, but relates to your spiritual worth. Joseph was loved above
the others. He was the firstborn of Rachel. Reuben was the firstborn of Leah.
This is a picture of how God set aside the firstborn, Israel, and turned to the
church, symbolized by Rachel, to take out from among them a people for His
Name. God loved Joseph most because Joseph loved God most. Because Jacob loved
Joseph, he made him a coat of many colors. God is bringing forth a firstborn
church today with those who have the same spirit of Joseph. God knows who they
are. God wants us to love Him with all our heart, mind, and body, and He wants
to make us a "coat of many colors." The coat of many colors is your
inner being. Your inner being is a garment, your soul. The coat of many colors
depicts the Lord's beautifying your souls with the nine-fold fruits of the
spirit. When your inner being is beautified with the fruit of the spirit, you
will be more Christ-like. Other people will see this image in you. It is how
much of Christ we have in us that is important; not how much theology we have.
So the blessing of the firstborn is a tremendous blessing.
That is why God said He had sanctified them fully for Himself. When the
Israelites reaped their land, they were to gather a firstfruits and bring it
and wave it before Him (Lev. 23:10,11). This shows that there was a
portion of the entire harvest, only a handful of that which ripened first
that was to be given to God. It was wholly His. The firstfruits of the crops,
wheat and barley, were used as a wave offering to God. The firstborn is of the
family of humans and cattle. Because we have not understood the purpose of the
firstborn and firstfruits, there is a lot of confusion in the minds of God's
people about the end-time events. This is where the division comes.
God wants a people today to present themselves
fully to Him, but all of God's people are not willing to go all out for Him. In
Revelation 14:4, there is a company who are with the Lamb and are called
"the firstfruits unto God and to the Lamb." A lot of people say that
refers to the Israelites; however, this is a different company from those in chapter
7. The company in Revelation 7:3-4 is called "servants,"
and is protected from the plagues. The company in Revelation 14:1 is not
on earth, but on Mount Zion in the heavens. These are firstfruits; those who
are first to become ripe, the first to come into the greater blessings He has.
They are the "wise virgins" that go to meet the Lord first (Matt.
25:10); then the foolish virgins go at the close of the Tribulation.
There are those whom He likened unto Noah and
those whom He likened unto Lot. "As it was in Noah's day" and
"as it was in Lot's day" (Matt. 24, Luke 17). Why did He single out these two men? Because there
is a difference in their "days." When Noah entered into the ark, no
one knew; but when Lot left Sodom he could be seen, because he was leaving in
the morning (Gen. 19:15). When the Lord moves in this end time, He will
come suddenly. There are two groups those who go out to meet Him and those who
go out at the end of the Tribulation. So we must understand the meaning of the
firstborn before we can understand the tenth plague.
Before the Flood came, there were two men whom
God singled out for a special blessing Enoch and Noah. Enoch was translated
before the Flood came. Noah wasn't translated into heaven, for he had
to go through the floodwaters. From one perspective, Noah, by going through the floodwaters, is a picture of those who
go through the Tribulation. But Enoch had the testimony that he pleased God and
he "walked with
God" (Gen. 5:24). Are we like Enoch, walking with God,
fellowshipping with God, pleasing God? There is a spiritual qualification for
being translated. It wasn't by accident that Enoch was 365 years old when God
took him (Gen. 5:23).
365 days are
one year. Enoch had finished his earthly course and was therefore promoted to
join the heavenly realm. Paul, too, could say, " I have
finished my course there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness ... " (II
Tim. 4:7-8). He had salvation, but he wanted more than that. He wanted to rule and
reign with the Lord. It takes God's grace to work this in us.
Enoch and Elijah were the only two men that were
translated without seeing death. Why only these two men? They represent the
fact that there will be two witnesses. Enoch represents the first group in the
end time that will be translated; and Elijah represents those that will be in the second company. The second company will
include the dead in Christ, plus those who survived the Tribulation and are ready
to meet the Lord at that time.
Of the firstfruits, it says that they were "redeemed from among men," away from the earth (Rev. 14:4). That means they are not
on the earth. After the firstfruits comes the entire harvest. The firstborn are
the first to burst forth into the heavenly realm. The firstborn are those who
are going to precede their brethren into the Kingdom, leading the way for them.
The firstborn doesn't get caught up just to float in the skies; the" are
going to help the "woman in the wilderness" (the Church). There is
much more God will bring to our minds. There is a battle yet to be fought. This
is all seen in the tenth plague.
Now let us consider the meaning of
"midnight." There are about eight Scriptures that deal with midnight.
Why is it that the firstborn were slain at midnight? Look up the Scriptures on
"firstborn" and "midnight." What is the "cry"
that is going to go up in this end time? God is going to fulfill things in a
greater measure.
There are two more groups referred to in the Book
of Revelation. There is the bride who is called to the wedding, and there
are the guests who are invited to the wedding supper. The wedding is not
the same as the wedding supper. "And the Spirit and the Bride say, Come
..." (Rev. 22:17). The Bride invites those to the wedding. The wedding
supper is at the close of the Tribulation. Before there can be a wedding,
the Bride must make herself ready (Rev. 19:7). These are principles of
truth that are given in the Word that we can understand if we go by God's
pattern. There is the Bride and then the guests at the wedding supper the wise
virgins and the foolish virgins (Matt. 25:1-12); the man at midnight and
the children in bed (Luke 11:5-8);
the twelve baskets and the seven baskets; Noah and Lot; Enoch and Elijah. There
are more of such patterns. The truth of God from the Book of Genesis to
the Book of Revelation is backed up by His patterns.
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