SPECIAL TOPIC: FIRSTBORN

SPECIAL TOPIC: FIRSTBORN

YHWH's Special Choice of Israel (my exegetical notes from Exodus)
1. Exod. 4:22 "Thus says the Lord, 'Israel is My son, My firstborn'" This is extremely significant in that it speaks of the fatherhood of God (see SPECIAL TOPIC: THE FATHERHOOD OF GOD). This is not an unusual OT concept but can be found in Deut. 1:21; 8:5; 32:6; Hos. 11:1; Isa. 1:2; 63:16; Jer. 3:19; Mal. 1:6. However, it must be seen that God's fatherhood is not in the sense of creation but in His unique relationship to Israel (see SPECIAL TOPIC: SON OF GOD), His covenant people (see SPECIAL TOPIC: COVENANT). This same concept of "My Son" will later be used of the Messiah (cf. Hos. 11:1; Matt. 2:15; see SPECIAL TOPIC: MESSIAH). This is also the first time in Exodus that the significant concept of the "firstborn" is used. The firstborn had preeminence in the family, was the major inheritor, and became the protector of the family and family rights (cf. III. A. #2).
  There is also an undercurrent here that I think is significant. God is father only in the sense of redemption but I think the ultimate purpose of God is the redemption of all humans made in His image (cf. Gen. 1:26-27). As Israel was the "firstborn" (i.e., a kingdom of priests unto God, Exod. 19:4,5), the goal of the firstborn was to encourage the other children to faith in God. See SPECIAL TOPIC: YHWH'S ETERNAL REDEMPTIVE PLAN.
2. Exod. 4:23 "I will kill your son, your firstborn" This is a foreshadowing of the tenth and last plague, where just as Pharaoh refused to let Israel, God's firstborn, go, he shall lose his firstborn, not only his son, who was considered to be the son of the sun god, Ra, but also the firstborn of all the land of Egypt, as well as the firstborn of live stock (another example of YHWH's power over Egypt's gods).
The Rite of Redemption of the Firstborn in the Exodus (OT)
1. Because of the death of the firstborn of Egypt, the firstborn of non-priestly families was given to serve YHWH (cf. Exodus 13; 22:29; 34:20).
2. The Levites and Priests as a tribe took the place of the firstborn males in serving YHWH (cf. Num. 3:12,45; 8:14).
3. The priest (any priest) had to be paid a set price by the parents to buy back their firstborn male child (cf. Num. 18:16).
4. This seems to be reflected in Luke 2:23 and 27b, while the mother's rite of purification is in Luke 2:22,24.
5. The rabbis say that this redemption can be done with any priest on the thirty-first day. This does not fit the timing of Mary's forty-day uncleanness. Some scholars would see only two rituals in this context.
The Greek word "firstborn" (prōtotokos) is used in the Bible in several distinct senses
1. its OT background refers to
  1. the firstborn belongs to YHWH (BDB 114, KB 131, cf. Exod. 13:2,12; 22:29; 34:19; Num. 3:13)
  2. the pre-imminence of the firstborn son of the family (cf. Deut. 21:17; Ps. 89:27; Luke 2:7; Rom. 8:29; Heb. 1:6; 11:28)
  3. used in the sense of a special, inaugurating choice by God (cf. Exod. 4:22; Jer. 31:9; also note God's compassion for Ephraim in Hosea 11:8-10)
2. its use in Col. 1:15 speaks of Jesus as the first of creation which is a possible OT allusion to Prov. 8:22-31, or God's agent of creation (cf. John 1:3; 1 Cor. 8:6; Col. 1:15-16; Heb. 1:2)
3. its use in Col. 1:15,18; 1 Cor. 15:20,23; Rev. 1:5 refers to Jesus as the firstborn from the dead
4. it is an OT title used of the Messiah (cf. Ps. 89:27; Heb. 1:5,6; 12:23); it is a title which combines several aspects of the primacy and centrality of Jesus.