Ransomed… Restored
Opening Prayer
Lord, help me to understand more fully the ransom paid for my salvation.
Read Exodus 13:1–16
The Lord said to Moses, 2 “Consecrate to me every firstborn male. The first offspring of every womb among the Israelites belongs to me, whether human or animal.”
3 Then Moses said to the people, “Commemorate this day, the day you came out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery, because the Lord brought you out of it with a mighty hand. Eat nothing containing yeast. 4 Today, in the month of Aviv, you are leaving. 5 When the Lord brings you into the land of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Hivites and Jebusites—the land he swore to your ancestors to give you, a land flowing with milk and honey—you are to observe this ceremony in this month: 6 For seven days eat bread made without yeast and on the seventh day hold a festival to the Lord. 7 Eat unleavened bread during those seven days; nothing with yeast in it is to be seen among you, nor shall any yeast be seen anywhere within your borders. 8 On that day tell your son, ‘I do this because of what the Lord did for me when I came out of Egypt.’ 9 This observance will be for you like a sign on your hand and a reminder on your forehead that this law of the Lord is to be on your lips. For the Lord brought you out of Egypt with his mighty hand. 10 You must keep this ordinance at the appointed time year after year.
11 “After the Lord brings you into the land of the Canaanites and gives it to you, as he promised on oath to you and your ancestors, 12 you are to give over to the Lord the first offspring of every womb. All the firstborn males of your livestock belong to the Lord. 13 Redeem with a lamb every firstborn donkey, but if you do not redeem it, break its neck. Redeem every firstborn among your sons.
14 “In days to come, when your son asks you, ‘What does this mean?’ say to him, ‘With a mighty hand the Lord brought us out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. 15 When Pharaoh stubbornly refused to let us go, the Lord killed the firstborn of both people and animals in Egypt. This is why I sacrifice to the Lord the first male offspring of every womb and redeem each of my firstborn sons.’ 16 And it will be like a sign on your hand and a symbol on your forehead that the Lord brought us out of Egypt with his mighty hand.”
New International Version (NIV)
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Meditate
Sing “Praise My Soul the King of Heaven” or another hymn of praise, or read it through prayerfully.
Think Further
The word “redeem” originally meant “buy back,” regaining something in exchange for payment. This lies behind redeeming property at a pawnbroker, for example, or a slave regaining his freedom by the payment of a ransom. It carries the notion of saving or
rescuing.
As a reminder of the time when God had rescued them from slavery in Egypt, God’s people
Israel were to consecrate the firstborn of all animals and humans to him—mirroring the killing of the Egyptian firstborn because of Pharaoh’s stubbornness (11–16). The Israelites were saved from the same fate because of the blood of the lambs applied to the doorposts (Exod. 12)—and they needed always to remember this. So, firstborn animals would be killed (although donkeys could be redeemed by the sacrifice of a sheep instead, since donkeys were unclean creatures—possibly because they were sacrificial animals in Amorite culture, R. Alan Cole explains in Exodus, and because of the symbolism of asses in fertility cults). Firstborn humans were to be redeemed by the sacrifice of an animal in their stead, just as they were on the night of their escape from Egypt.
The New Testament uses the terms “redeem” and “ransom” sparingly, but Jesus explained that he had come to give his life as a ransom (Mark 10:45). All Christians, not just the firstborn, are redeemed from the slavery of sin with the blood of Christ (1 Pet 1:18,19). Furthermore, in the New Testament the term “redemption” not only looks back to Calvary, but also forward to the freedom in which the redeemed stand. So, says Paul, you have been bought with a price; therefore, glorify God in your body (1 Cor. 6:20; cf. Gal. 5:1).
No doubt the redeemed firstborn sons in Moses’ time appreciated the ransom paid for them—but how do we habitually show our own gratitude for the ransom paid for us? In what ways can you glorify God in your body and in your life?
Apply
Spend some time thinking what it means for you to be redeemed by Christ’s sacrifice—and respond to God appropriately.
Closing prayer
Lord, You have redeemed an innumerable multitude from the penalty of their sins, including me. Thank You for paying what I owed and could not pay.
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