From the Father and His Lost Family article we learned how Adam Eve, Cain and Abel are a type of the first family of all families of the earth who lost their sons. In the previous article, The Elder "Lost" Son (Part 1), we started to take a closer look at the eldest son, Cain, who holds a firstborn position in the family. In that article, we learned how the firstborn position is actually a legally binding office needed to maintain the family's eternal inheritance. Unfortunately, due to Cain's failure, firstborn reform was needed to save his family. This reform began centuries later, on Passover during the Exodus of Egypt in Israel's day. That event paved the way for firstborn reform on a national level. In this article we will continue our discussion of the firstborn fix and a need for a firstborn replacement.
The Firstborn Gotten of the Lord
As learned so far, the firstborn birthright was established by Jehovah to be the legal custodian and executor of the family inheritance on an eternal scale. The first family understood this concept very well, which explains why Eve pronounced “she had gotten of the Lord” (Gen. 4:1). Judging by Eve’s proclamation, she mistakenly looked to Cain as being the promised “seed” of the woman.[1] Cain's parents looked to him to do the job only the Messiah was meant to do, which was to “bruise the head of the serpent,” and to restore the family's eternal inheritance.[2] Since the redemptive plan was yet to be fully disclosed by Jehovah, it would seem that the first family was looking for their salvation through the wrong son.
The Firstborn Reform and Replacement
Tangible evidence of this firstborn reform began at the time of Moses, who was appointed to lead God’s people out of Egypt. In Exodus, we learn that Moses was charged to confront Pharaoh in an unusual manner:
Ex. 4:22-23: “And thou shalt say unto Pharaoh, Thus saith the LORD, Israel is my son, even my firstborn: And I say unto thee, Let my son go, that he may serve me: and if thou refuse to let him go, behold, I will slay thy son, even thy firstborn.”
From Exodus, we learn Jehovah wanted all of Egypt to know that His relationship with Israel was the same as Pharaoh’s relationship with his firstborn son. This firstborn association later parallels with Pharaoh’s refusal to let Israel go, which ultimately resulted in the death of all firstborns of the land, including Pharaoh’s own son.[3]
The New Testament supplies an even fuller meaning to the first Passover in Egypt as it relates to Israel’s Messiah becoming their firstborn replacement and their reformer. The "firstborn replacement” theme becomes evident in Matthew’s account of the birth of Christ. [4] He purposely links Pharaoh’s killing of the firstborn in Egypt to Herod’s pursuit to kill the babe born in Bethlehem. Matthew tells us it was because of the Jewish prophecy about “their coming King” that fueled Herod’s fears.
Herod issued an evil decree to kill all firstborn males that caused Joseph and Mary to flee to Egypt to save their firstborn son, Jesus. Matthew tells us that their return became the fulfillment of Hosea’s prophecy, “out of Egypt, I called my son.” However, after reading the complete verse of Hosea 11:1 (of which Matthew 2:14-15 quotes), Hosea spoke of Israel, not Jesus. Hosea’s account reads, “When Israel was a child I loved him, and out of Egypt I called my son.”
So then, how should we interpret this passage by Matthew? It all goes back to the Firstborn Primitive Office.
If Israel and Jesus share the same firstborn status according to Jehovah[5] then the Exodus-Passover event was meant to be compared from two sides of the same "firstborn" coin.
From the Old Testament perspective, National Israel, as Jehovah’s firstborn son, is called out of Egypt and lives because of the blood applied. From the New Testament perspective, Jesus, as the Firstborn Son of God, is called out of Egypt to die as the Lamb of God. It was because of the blood the “firstborn” replacement body that caused Israel to live as one, national “firstborn” body.
In the context of viewing Jesus as the “Lamb of God who taketh away the sin of the world,”[6] the offer extends to all nations, not just Israel. The invitation is “whosoever will,” must apply the blood of the Lamb “spiritually” on the door-frames of their heart to be “Passed-over.”
In terms of Cain and Israel’s firstborn fix, the two sides of the "Firstborn Passover" coin stands as Jehovah’s highest aim. In order to succeed in firstborn reform, the “sin-offering” requires the blood of a perfect Firstborn body (Christ) to redeem and replace the imperfect firstborn national body (Israel).
The Firstborn Connection
If Cain represents the firstborn of all humanity, and Israel represents the firstborn of all nations in the world—both of which need redemption—then we have found our first common link between Cain and Israel. This firstborn connection between the two shows us why both desperately needed the “sin offering,”[7] especially in the light of the Cain and Abel story. Unfortunately, the first family did not have the benefit of knowing both sides of the "Firstborn Passover" coin to aid in their understanding. If they did, they would have understood that the only reason the Firstborn Primitive Office had any potential value at all was because of the “sin offering.” Instead, firstborn Cain, who represents Firstborn National Israel and also the older brother in the prodigal son parable, depended on the legal aspect of the Firstborn Office. The first family failed to realize that the family inheritance of the earth and eternity was bankrupt, and their right to rule forfeited due to the fall.
From the example above, one can conclude that the two summary statements [8] produced by the Cain and the Christ-line ultimately represent two family lines of firstborns. The Cain-line speaks of Israel as the firstborn son on a national level, while the Christ-line speaks of Christ as the firstborn on a personal level, and for all who are positioned “in Christ.” The Christ-line assumes Christ as the firstborn replacement son for all levels, both individually and nationally. By this design, National Israel’s Firstborn Office becomes fully vested at the exact moment Israel, as one united body, publicly accepts their Messiah. This one future event is their “earmarked” destiny of which the Cain-line summary statement suggests.
Part three of this article will continue with a brief profiling of the firstborn of fallen man. From this process, we will learn the common traits in order to trace the firstborn "mark" throughout the course of biblical history.
Footnotes:
[1] Gal. 3:16: Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ.
[2] Gen. 3:15: And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.
[3] Ex. 12:29-30: And it came to pass, that at midnight the LORD smote all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh that sat on his throne unto the firstborn of the captive that was in the dungeon; and all the firstborn of cattle. And Pharaoh rose up in the night, he, and all his servants, and all the Egyptians; and there was a great cry in Egypt; for there was not a house where there was not one dead.
[4] Mt. 2:14-16: When he arose, he took the young child and his mother by night, and departed into Egypt: And was there until the death of Herod: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, Out of Egypt have I called my son. Then Herod, when he saw that he was mocked of the wise men, was exceeding wroth, and sent forth, and slew all the children that were in Bethlehem, and in all the coasts thereof, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had diligently inquired of the wise men.
[5] Mt. 17:5: While he yet spake, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them: and behold a voice out of the cloud, which said, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye him.
[6] Jn. 1:29: The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.
[7] Christ as the “sin-offering: appeared once "to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself" (Heb. 9:26). Having once died, there remains no more sacrifice for sins, “For by one offering he hath perfected forever them that are sanctified” (Heb. 10:14). Without faith in the sacrificial death of Christ there is no salvation: (a) Christ “was delivered for our offences, and raised again for our justification” (Rom. 4:24,25), and (b) Christ poured out His soul unto death for the sins of His people, in order to take them away (1Co. 15:1-4). 3. All the sacrifices of the Old Testament find their fulfillment in Him: (a) Every morning and evening a lamb was sacrificed in the temple, and (b) To show that Jesus Christ was typified by those Old Testament sacrifices, He was declared by John the Baptist to be “…THE LAMB OF GOD, which taketh away the sin of the world” (Jn. 1:29).
[8] Christ-line Summary Statement: (Gen. 5:1-24- from Adam, Seth-Noah)
“Man [is] appointed mortal sorrow, [but] the blessed God shall come down teaching [that] His death shall bring the despairing rest.”
Cain-Line Summary Statement: (Gen. 4:17-24- from Cain-Tubal Cain)
“Man, acquired [as a] dedicated teaching witness, declined [as a fleet of] fugitives, smitten by God, who is of God, powerfully humbled [as] the despairing, leads a joyous jubilee.”
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