ON THE VANGUARD

FIRSTBORNS
“’Then you are to tell Pharaoh: “ADONAI says, ‘Isra’el is my firstborn son. I have told you to let my son go in order to worship me, but you have refused to let him go. Well, then, I will kill your firstborn!’”’”
Exodus 4:22

I was listening to a minister’s CDs recently where this verse was read. I had read it before but I guess I had read it so quick that it didn’t stick in my head. So when I heard it again, I knew I had to go back and read it. In a way, I was surprised something so blunt could be missed by me. But then again, even the simple truths seem to get hidden every now and then. They normally have to do with the lessons I either fail to learn, or the issues God has been sharing with me recently. Despite all that, this verse stuck out this time around.
In reading this verse in context, we find Moses has returned from the burning bush in the desert and has shared this new mission with his father-in-law, Jethro. Moses has asked his father-in-law if he can have permission to return to Egypt. He uses the phrase, “return to my kinsman in Egypt, to see if they are still alive.” I question if that is a piece that we miss from the burning bush, or was Moses not fully telling Jethro the truth and reason of his trip to Egypt. Nevertheless, Moses obtains the permission desired and takes his wife and sons with him.
After the granted permission and the departure, however, is Exodus 4:22. It is here that God speaks to Moses to do before Pharaoh all the wonders he has been and will be enabled to do. Knowing though that Pharaoh will resist, God tells Moses that he is supposed to tell Pharaoh what will happen if resisted. As Israel is God’s firstborn, failure to allow the firstborn to go will result in Pharaoh himself losing his firstborn. We see this played out later in Exodus 11 where the warning of this death coming is spoken of again. We also see the death angel resting over Egypt in Exodus 13:15. In all we see that God is a God of His Word.
But the part that chokes me up in reading this is that we are considered God’s firstborn. For years growing up I was raised Christian, mainly of the Charismatic denomination. Only less than ten years ago was it explained to me that I was Jewish. As such, I grew up with the mentality that I was a part of God’s family, but never that I was within the firstborn. To see these words now as a Jewish person, I find myself gleeful. While it is true I have been grafted and adopted in from my Gentile ways, I now find myself having a different outlook. God calls us His bride, His beloved, and His chosen one. But here we see that the nation of Israel is also His firstborn. Being a father of two, I know that pride that still swells in me concerning my firstborn son. I picture God the same way. There is nothing He will not do for us, but there is also a line concerning us that He draws. It is that line that God was telling Moses about. The people would go away from Egypt one way or another, but the way was already known to God. It would come down to a drawl, but God would win.
In light of all that is happening within Israel now, this same prophecy still stands. Israel has never moved from being God’s firstborn. As such, God has never moved from protecting His children. Fight as Palestine may, they will not win. God’s hand is on His child, and the end is already known.