Consecration of the Firstborn
The Lord says that every firstborn male should be consecrated to Him (man or animal).....this means it is a dedication to God....or belonging to God. The Isrealites should commemorate the day of delivery from Egypt and eat nothing with yeast in it. All the firstborn belongs to God....the oldest of every Isrealite household were spared if the house was marked with blood. God then commanded the Isrealites to buy their sons back from him....this represents how Jesus Christ (another firstborn) would buy us back by paying the price of our sin once and for all. Jesus himself gets dedicated at the temple by Mary and Joseph in Luke 2:23.
Redeem means to buy back....
Crossing the sea....did you notice that Moses took the bones of Joseph? He had said "God will surely come to your aid, and then you must carry my bones up with you from this place" (Genesis 50:24)....The Lord was with them always.....either in a pillar of cloud or a pillar of fire.....this is the way the Lord could be with them, because their was no Holy Spirit indwelling in people yet (this would be a New Testament thing). Can you even imagine such a majestic thing??? Did you notice that an angel of God was traveling with them, too? (14:19) Do you think the Lord got his people's attention? I just don't think this was something they saw everyday, and oh, how they needed some comfort and splendor after all that slavery. (Do you have some "slavery" that is holding you in bondage that you need to be delivered from right now?)
The Egyptians were bumming because their slave labor was gone (the Isrealites had built two cities with their labor...Rameses and Pithom). The Isrealites are in the desert and saw Egyptians rushing after them and freak out. Moses prays to God, and God says, "Dude, quit praying and move forward!!!! Do something! I am going to gain some glory with your next steps"....The sea divides. (I know you all are thinking about that movie with Charlton Heston as Moses....LET MY PEOPLE GO) It cracks me up because God made the wheels of chariots fall off....pretty cool, huh! The Isrealites are delivered and the water closes and drowns the Egyptians, horses and chariots (I guess chariots really can't drown).
The Song of Moses and Miriam
This is probably the oldest song ever recorded (pun intended). Note that Miriam is finally named...you saw her when she saw her brother Moses picked up by Pharaoh's daughter and asked if she needed a nursemaid. Miriam is called "the prophetess"....she will receive revelations from God...(Numbers 12:1 and Micah 6:4), but also for her musical skill....Prophecy and music were often closely related in the Bible according to my study notes.
Moses leads the people into the Desert of Shur and they came upon bitter water. The people went 3 days without getting anything to drink. The people begin to grumble against Moses (this unfortunately is the beginning of repeated behavior...we NEVER do this, do we?). The Lord showed Moses a piece of wood which he threw into the water and made it sweet. Apparently the bitter waters represent the people's complaining and the sweet water stands for God's provision. The Lord then tests the people and says, "If you behave and mind the rules, you won't get anything that diseased the Egyptians".....The Lord protects his children . We'll see how they fare...
Look what comes up from the depths of the sea.
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