Mysteries of the Messiah: The Firstborn

While we could spend weeks talking about Rabbi Jason Sobel's Mysteries of the Messiah, I'm only going to focus on one more important thing he shared in his latest book: the importance of the firstborn in ancient Middle Eastern culture.

The 10th plague that God sent over Egypt in Exodus was the death of the firstborn son. As horrific as the thought of losing a child is, the significance of this cannot be ignored. Sobel explains that:

• The firstborn son was meant to lead the family after his father's passing, which is one reason he was given a double portion of the inheritance.
• Because of this, the destiny of the family depended on the firstborn son. "Destiny and identity go hand in hand. In fact, identity is destiny. The death of the first born, on a psychological level, represented the death of identity and hence a family's destiny" (pp. 107-108).

Pharaoh's son actually held the title of 'hereditary crown prince', as the firstborn son of a firstborn son, and "was meant to be the priest, protector, and primary leader of the family. The future of the family lay with the firstborn. The 10th plague struck at the heart of the Egyptians emotionally, economically, culturally, and spiritually" (page 112). 

So the enormity of the loss went beyond the depth of grief over each family losing a child (which is beyond what I can imagine). It also meant a loss of identity—and destiny—culturally and nationally.

I also find that interesting because the firstborn isn't always who God chose to lead. "The Lord hose Isaac over Abraham's firstborn, Ishmael; Jacob over his firstborn brother, Esau' Judah, the fourth son of Jacob, to be head of the 12 tribes, and David, the youngest of all his brothers, to be king over Israel" (page 112). So this doesn't matter as much to God as it does to man in this culture. 

But... Jesus, the Messiah, is the firstborn Son (the only begotten Son). Paul calls Him the first fruit of the the dead. 

For the firstborn to symbolize both identity and destiny... that is a powerful picture for those who follow the Messiah.