Pinyon haBen: Redemption of the First-Born

Every first-born of man among your sons you shall redeem. And when in time to come your son asks you, "What does this mean?" you shall say to him... (Exodus 13:13-15) A man, husband, and father in Israel is to be prepared to answer this question. Even further, the "why?" which lurks just below the surface. So, this is my answer to my son and all Israel. "By strength of hand Yahweh brought me out of Egypt, from the house of bondage. For when Pharaoh stubbornly refused to let go, Yahweh slew all the first-born in the land of Egypt... Therefore I sacrifice to Yahweh all the males that first open the womb; but all the first-born of my sons I redeem." The God of Israel gives a command to the fathers in Israel. I am a father in Israel and I have a first-born son. So, the command as given in Numbers 18:15 is a command for me: "Nevertheless the first-born of man you shall redeem. And their redemption price you shall fix at five shekels of silver, according to the shekel of the sanctuary."

But there is a real problem according to Psalm 49:7---"Truly no man can ransom himself, or give to God the price of his life, for the ransom of his life is costly, and can never suffice..." The mockery directed to Yeshua is appropriate for me: "Show your power... Save yourself. If you cannot save yourself, how can you save another?" So I cannot redeem myself, neither can I redeem the life of another, even one as precious as my first-born and only son. Luke (24:21) poignantly utters the cry of every Father: "But we had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel." The prophecy of Luke 1:68 seems to be false or delayed---"Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for he has visited and redeemed his people, and raised up a horn of salvation for us..."

But then Yahweh, Father of Yeshua, arises with a mighty arm and redeems by his power his First-Born!!! So the pattern, the Torah of covenant is revealed. Thus says Yahweh: "You were sold for nothing, and you shall be redeemed without money." (Isaiah 52:3) "You know that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your fathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ." (1 Peter 1:18) And further "In him we have redemption through his blood... according to the riches of his grace..." (Ephesians 1:7)

Yahweh redeems his First-Born; Yeshua redeems his first-born, the first among many brethren---the sons and daughters of the Kingdom of Israel. "Who gave himself for us to redeem us from all iniquity and to purify [according to Torah] for himself a people of his own..." (Titus 2:14) All this was made known from the beginning: Yahweh's desire to have a people of his own possession, a holy nation set apart unto him, a kingdom of priests... (Deut. 7:6) And the end of the matter is the same plan and purpose (1 Peter 2:5-9, Rev. 5:9-10) Redemption, in every respect, is the sole work of Yahweh and his Messiah: for a people---Israel---a people of his own possession. He is the Aleph and the Tav of Redemption!

A few Hebraic circulars: the question of the Passover Seder ["What does this mean to you?"] and the question of the Redemption of the First-Born are the same. The five silver coins of the Bridal Price/Redemption and the five silver coins of the Redemption of the First-Born are also the same...

This is my answer to the "what does this mean to you?" and the "why do you do this?": I bring five silver coins for my first-born son to be obedient to the Torah command. I may not fully understand the matter, but as my insight about the Sabbath has deepened by being obedient, so I believe I will receive the same gift of understanding in the same way---the way of obedience. I remember Yahweh redeems: in the past, now, and in the future. The redemption of the children of Israel in the past and present, according to covenantal promises, are the earnest credibility of those promises for the future for all Israel. Yeshua, as First-Born Son---Israel---sits at the right hand of his Father, and at the end, all his brethren shall be gathered in his Kingdom. Yeshua first, then us. The coins are tangible signs of my remembering. The coins, like the wine and challah ("do this in remembrance of me...") give material expression to the past and present experience of Yahweh's/Yeshua's redemption. Finally, the coins testify to my hope as a father in Israel to see the completion, the fullness of Yahweh's redemption. It may be that my hope will need be expressed in the same appeal and cry of Yeshua, "Eli, Eli... The coins represent my appeal as a man of Israel.

In this present and deepening darkness, we see through a mirror dimly. Yet, we see in Spirit the covenant, the promises, the gifts, the depths of Yahweh's plan for Israel. In the culmination of Yahweh's redemption of all of the First-Born of Yeshua's Kingdom, then, we shall see face to face, even as Moses. "O give thanks to Yahweh... Let the redeemed of Yahweh say so, whom he has redeemed from trouble and gathered..." (Psalm 107:2) "Come bless Yahweh, all you servants of Yahweh, who stand by night in the house of Yahweh! Lift up your hands to the holy place, and bless Yahweh! May Yahweh bless you from Zion, he who made heaven and earth! (Psalm 134)