We are moving into chapter thirteen of Exodus where we will be looking at a lot of words that give us detail as to how God wanted the day, he brought them up out of slavery to be remembered. Our word for today is actually two different Hebrew words but both translated similarly in our chapter today. קָדַשׁ be set apart, consecrate, be holy, removed from common use, be pure, clean, sacred. It is used 171 times in the Old Testament. We find our word used in the sense of getting ready to meet God in worship. Exodus 19:10, 14, 22-23 And the Lord said to Moses, “Go to the people and וְקִדַּשְׁתָּ֥ם consecrate them today and tomorrow. Have them wash their clothes and be ready by the third day, because on that day the Lord will come down on Mount Sinai in the sight of all the people… After Moses had gone down the mountain to the people, he וַיְקַדֵּשׁ֙ consecrated them, and they washed their clothes… Even the priests, who approach the Lord, must יִתְקַדָּ֑שׁוּ consecrate themselves, or the Lord will break out against them. Moses said to the Lord, “The people cannot come up Mount Sinai, because you yourself warned us, ‘Put limits around the mountain and וְקִדַּשְׁתּֽוֹ set it apart as holy.’”
And our other word עָבַר pull along, move through, pass from one side to the other, set apart. It is used 541 times in the Old Testament. Our word is used in the sense of offering as a sacrifice conceived as passing it over to another. The nations where the Israelites were headed practiced the detestable worship of sacrificing their own children to Molech to pay for their own sins or gain favor from this demonic false god. God made it clear not to follow this abhorrent practice. Leviticus 18:21 Do not give any of your children לְהַעֲבִ֣יר to be sacrificed to Molech, for you must not profane the name of your God. I am the Lord. Deuteronomy 18:10-12 Let no one be found among you who מַעֲבִ֥יר sacrifices their son or daughter in the fire, who practices divination or sorcery, interprets omens, engages in witchcraft, or casts spells, or who is a medium or spiritist or who consults the dead. Anyone who does these things is detestable to the Lord; because of these same detestable practices the Lord your God will drive out those nations before you.
This is why I think God sets up his practice of setting apart the first born so He can redeem it with the sacrifice of an animal instead. He wanted to show the people his loving kindness in providing a substitute to redeem the people pay the ransom to set them free and show them value before they could be corrupted into the bloodthirstiness of the false gods of the people around them. Let’s look at how our words are used in our chapter today.
Exodus 13:1-2 The Lord said to Moses, קַדֶּשׁ “Consecrate to me all the firstborn. Whatever is the first to open the womb among the people of Israel, both of man and of beast, is mine.” Exodus 13:11-12 When the Lord brings you into the land of the Canaanites, as he swore to you and your fathers, and shall give it to you, you shall וְלַֽאֲבֹתֶ֑יךָ set apart to the Lord all that first opens the womb. All the firstborn of your animals that are males shall be the Lord's. Both of our words are talking about the same idea of setting apart from the rest those who are firstborn to be given to the Lord. We will look more into this idea of God providing the sacrifice as a substitution to redeem us later in the chapter but for today let’s think about God’s love for us. We have a God who has provided a sacrifice so we can escape his wrath unlike all the false demonically influenced false gods who are bloodthirsty and want to destroy. I’ll close with this great reminder of God’s grace and love to rescue us. John 3:17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.
