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| 1 And Jehovah speaketh unto Moses, saying, |
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| 2 'Sanctify to Me every first-born, opening any womb among the sons of Israel, among man and among beast; it [is] Mine.' |
All the firstborn – Afterwards these first-born ones were represented by the tribe of Levi. R1657:2
Typifying the Church only; not our Lord Jesus. Q524:6
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| 3 And Moses saith unto the people, 'Remember this day [in] which ye have gone out from Egypt, from the house of servants, for by strength of hand hath Jehovah brought you out from this, and any thing fermented is not eaten; |
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| 4 To-day ye are going out, in the month of Abib. |
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| 5 'And it hath been, when Jehovah bringeth thee in unto the land of the Canaanite, and of the Hittite, and of the Amorite, and of the Hivite, and of the Jebusite, which He hath sworn to thy fathers to give to thee, a land flowing with milk and honey, that thou hast done this service in this month. |
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| 6 'Seven days thou dost eat unleavened things, and in the seventh day [is] a feast to Jehovah; |
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| 7 unleavened things are eaten the seven days, and any thing fermented is not seen with thee; yea, leaven is not seen with thee in all thy border. |
There be leaven – Symbol of corruption, sin. R5192:4, R2022:4, R2635:1; F464; T98
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| 8 'And thou hast declared to thy son in that day, saying, '[It is] because of what Jehovah did to me, in my going out from Egypt, |
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| 9 and it hath been to thee for a sign on thy hand, and for a memorial between thine eyes, so that the law of Jehovah is in thy mouth, for by a strong hand hath Jehovah brought thee out from Egypt; |
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| 10 and thou hast kept this statute at its appointed season from days to days. |
Year to year – Our Lord altered the manner, but not the time; and, as he has not altered the time, we dare not. It is our privilege to observe the anniversary. R803:2
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| 11 'And it hath been, when Jehovah bringeth thee in unto the land of the Canaanite, as He hath sworn to thee and to thy fathers, and hath given it to thee, |
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| 12 that thou hast caused every one opening a womb to pass over to Jehovah, and every firstling the increase of beasts which thou hast: the males [are] Jehovah's. |
That openeth the matrix – In conformity with this, the mother of Jesus presented him in consecration. (Luke 2:21-23) Q757:5
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| 13 'And every firstling of an ass thou dost ransom with a lamb, and if thou dost not ransom [it], then thou hast beheaded it: and every first-born of man among thy sons thou dost ransom. |
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| 14 'And it hath been, when thy son asketh thee hereafter, saying, What [is] this that thou hast said unto him, By strength of hand hath Jehovah brought us out from Egypt, from a house of servants; |
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| 15 yea, it cometh to pass, when Pharaoh hath been pained to send us away, that Jehovah doth slay every first-born in the land of Egypt, from the first-born of man even unto the first-born of beast; therefore I am sacrificing to Jehovah all opening a womb who [are] males, and every first-born of my sons I ransom; |
All the firstborn – Only the first-born was in danger, typifying that in the present time only the Church of the first-born has sufficient knowledge to be in danger of Second Death. R3995:5
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| 16 and it hath been for a token on thy hand, and for frontlets between thine eyes, for by strength of hand hath Jehovah brought us out of Egypt.' |
Frontlets – A phylactery, a little square leather box, containing four passages of Scripture. R4053:1
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| 17 And it cometh to pass in Pharaoh's sending the people away, that God hath not led them the way of the land of the Philistines, for it [is] near; for God said, 'Lest the people repent in their seeing war, and have turned back towards Egypt;' |
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| 18 and God turneth round the people the way of the wilderness of the Red Sea, and by fifties have the sons of Israel gone up from the land of Egypt. |
Way of the wilderness – The best of three roads for them, leading through the wild mountain regions of Sinai. R5277:3
Went up harnessed – In military order, either five abreast or in five companies. R2919:2
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| 19 And Moses taketh the bones of Joseph with him, for he certainly caused the sons of Israel to swear, saying, 'God doth certainly inspect you, and ye have brought up my bones from this with you.' |
The bones of Joseph – Israel hoped for a resurrection from the tomb and hence they were particular in caring for the corpses of their dead. R2601:6
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| 20 And they journey from Succoth, and encamp in Etham at the extremity of the wilderness,
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| 21 and Jehovah is going before them by day in a pillar of a cloud, to lead them in the way, and by night in a pillar of fire, to give light to them, to go by day and by night; |
Pillar of a cloud – Shielding us from the things that would be too trying for us. R4029:6
Affording them a measure of shelter from the heat of the sun. R3997:2
The Lord's providences guide us and shelter us from the heat of persecution. R3997:3
To lead them the way – The leading of divine providence is ours until we pass over Jordan into heavenly Canaan. R3997:3
Only when they finally crossed Jordan into Canaan was this phenomenon discontinued. R3997:2
A pillar of fire – Enlightenment in darkness and God's keeping, protecting power. R4029:6
To give them light – At other times, the Lord's providences enlighten us in dark seasons. R3997:3
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| 22 He removeth not the pillar of the cloud by day, and the pillar of the fire by night, [from] before the people. |
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