Exodus 13:11-16

"And it shall be that when Jehovah shall bring thee into the land of the Canaanite, as he sware unto thee and to thy fathers, and shall give it thee, that thou shalt set apart unto Jehovah, all that openeth the womb, and every firstling that thou hast which cometh of a beast; the males shall be Jehovah's. And every firstling of an ass thou shalt redeem with a lamb; and if thou wilt not redeem it, then thou shalt break its neck: and all the first-born of man among thy sons shalt thou redeem. And it shall be, when thy son asketh thee in time to come, saying, What is this? that thou shalt say unto him, By strength of hand Jehovah brought us out from Egypt, from the house of bondage. and it came to pass when Pharaoh would hardly let us go, that Jehovah slew all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both first-born of man, and the first-born of beast: therefore I sacrifice to Jehovah all that openeth the womb, being males; but all the first-born of my sons I redeem. And it shall be for a sign upon thy hand, and for frontlets between thine eyes: for by strength of hand Jehovah brought us forth out of Egypt."

"When Jehovah shall bring thee into the land of the Canaanite ..." This provison, already given in Exodus 13:4 and repeated here, indicates that the regulations pertaining to Unleavened Bread and the Consecration of the First-born were to be observed after the Israelites were settled in Canaan.

"It is pretty evident that the Israelites were not required to celebrate Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread until they were brought into the promised land."[9]

"The land of the Canaanite ..." There were actually six races of those peoples supplanted by Israel, but in Exodus 13:5, above, only five were listed, the Perizzites, a minor group, being omitted. Here, they were all referred to as Canaanites, there being, in fact, some thirty-two nations or petty-states included in the general designation.

"Thou shalt set apart unto Jehovah ..." (Exodus 13:12). The word here rendered "set apart" is literally, "cause to pass over unto Jehovah."[10] This is exactly the word used to describe heathen practices of sacrificing children to their gods (1 Kings 16:3; Ezekiel 20:31). "And it may be that the Lord purposely used this word to mark the distinction between this dedication and that of the heathen."[11] All of the prophets of Jehovah emphatically denounced and condemned human sacrifice of all kinds, and in the dedication of the first-born, one sees the vast difference in the offering of a human life as a bloody sacrifice, or a burnt offering, as contrasted with a life dedicated to the honor and service of God through righteous conduct. Such a consecration was named by the apostle Paul as the requirement of all Christians, "Present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God" (Romans 12:1). Something of that contrast was also doubtless intended by the sacred regulations laid down here.

Whereas, the first-born were mentioned in Exodus 13:2, it is evident that this is limited by instructions here. Note: "all that openeth the womb, being males" (Exodus 13:15). This excluded firstborn daughters and also sons born after a daughter. This quality of additional details being supplied with subsequent mention of God's regulations pertains to the whole Bible. When God first told Noah to take two by two, it was later explained as including seven each of the clean animals. If there is one example of this in the Bible, there are hundreds. We mention this to say that this characteristic is not the basis for alleging multiple sources, doublets, contradictions, and variations! In short, the critical use of this characteristic is false, being due solely to blindness to the invariable Biblical method.

"And every firstling of an ass thou shalt redeem ... if thou wilt not, ... then break its neck ..." Here again, despite the ass only being mentioned, it was understood by the Jews that all domesticated unclean animals were to be treated in the same manner. Esses understood the significance of this, saying:

"He is telling us that if we do not receive our redemption by the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, our neck is going to get broken. We are going to get cut off and destroyed. Jesus is saying, `There is no way to the Father but by me (John 14:6).'"

"I AM THE JACKASS. And God loved me enough to redeem me with his Son, the Lamb of God, the Good Shepherd who lays down his life for the sheep. Jesus took my place upon the cross. I belong there, but he went there for me."[12]

We have included Esses' comment here because it emphasizes the extent of God's repudiation of the apostate Israel, following the divided kingdom, when he declared concerning Ephraim (the larger Israel of that day), that he is "a wild Ass" (Hosea 8:9)!