And thou shalt say to Pharaoh, Thus saith Jehovah Israel is my son, my firstborn.
God's first word to Pharaoh is a claim of family: the slaves he had ground down belong to the Lord as His son. That claim raises three questions: why "firstborn," why tell Pharaoh and not Israel, and what the title cost him.
Notice who receives this message, and who does not.
God sent this announcement to the proud Egyptian king, and not to Israel. That was significant, and it taught much. He was the one God told. He was to hear that the nation of slaves he had trampled on was the son, the firstborn of the Lord of Hosts. It was significant, because it showed that God was not acting according to man's thoughts. Who could have supposed that He would pass by the dominant, highly civilised and cultured race of the day? Instead He took up the cause of a nation of slaves and formed so close a tie with them. … Pharaoh might deny all knowledge of the Lord and refuse to obey His commands. But the night would come when he would mourn the death of his firstborn. In that bitter way he would learn what a wonderful privilege it is to be in such a relationship with the one true and living God.
The word is not about dates. Older translations read the verse as "Israel is My son, even My firstborn," and the writers quote it that way.
Here too "firstborn" does not mean that Israel became a nation first. It means a high place of honour above other nations. For instance, Egypt held a high place among the nations before God called Abram. Centuries later, Abram's descendants were still slaves. Yet the Lord's message to Pharaoh was "Israel is My son, even My firstborn … Let My son go."
Nothing in Israel's record earned the title. Their standing traces back to God's own choice and His promise to their ancestors.
They owe their place among the nations to His adoption of them. He kept faith with the covenant He had made with their fathers. They had not worked for this; it was according to God's sovereign choice… Yet this grace to Israel does not mean God rejected other nations. It means the opposite, as He promised Abraham long before: "in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed."
God gives Moses more than a demand to carry. He teaches him a relationship never stated before. That relationship settles how the final blow on Egypt will fall.
He now teaches him the true relationship into which He had by grace taken Israel. Here God makes this revelation for the first time: "Israel is My son, even My firstborn." This is what decides the character of the blow that was to fall on Egypt.
The demand that follows the title gives the reason for the exodus. God is not just ending their labour. He is setting them free to serve Him, which Egypt made impossible.
As a nation, Israel is to be God's firstborn son. The Lord's demand is, Let My son go, that he may serve Me. God will bring His firstborn out of Egypt, where service for God was impossible.
One writer applies the same words to anyone who trusts Christ today.
Note this — there is relationship. If you are a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ, God no longer looks at you as a poor sinner. You are no longer a slave. What is the message Moses has to carry? "Israel is my son." … God comes in and says, I must have My people all to Myself.
The title did not stay with this nation. Another Son was called out of Egypt, and the writers mark where the likeness stops.
The Lord had called this people out of Egypt. He saw fit to call the nation "My son, even My firstborn." Now that nation was being set aside… Into this gap steps One who, like the nation before Him, is called out of Egypt… There is a likeness here, but there is also an essential difference. Israel became the Lord's son because He called the nation to that place. Son is not what Christ became, but what He is in His eternal Being.
- Named — God gives a nation of slaves the title of son and firstborn. He announces it to their oppressor, not to them.
- Ranked — "Firstborn" marks rank, not age. Older and greater nations existed, but this one holds the chief place.
- Given — The place rests on God's covenant and choice, not on anything Israel achieved. It shuts no other nation out of blessing.
- Claimed — The relationship decides the judgment. Pharaoh must let God's son go, or he will mourn his own firstborn.
- Freed for God — God frees His son to serve Him, which Egypt made impossible. God called Israel into sonship; Christ did not become the Son — He is the Son.
And I say to thee, Let my son go, that he may serve me. And if thou refuse to let him go, behold, I will kill thy son, thy firstborn.
Commentary for this verse has not been generated yet.