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Exodus 13

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1 And Jehovah speaketh unto Moses, saying,

2 `Sanctify to Me every first-born, opening any womb among the sons of Israel, among man and among beast; it [is] Mine.'

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;

4 To-day ye are going out, in the month of Abib.

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.

6 `Seven days thou dost eat unleavened things, and in the seventh day [is] a feast to Jehovah;

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.

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,

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;

10 and thou hast kept this statute at its appointed season from days to days.

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,

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.

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.

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;

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;

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.'

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;'

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.

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.'

20 And they journey from Succoth, and encamp in Etham at the extremity of the wilderness,

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;

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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Arcana Coelestia # 8080

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8080. 'And all the firstborn of man among your sons you shall redeem, means that the truths of faith are not to be ascribed to the Lord, but forms of the good of faith. This is clear from the meaning of 'the firstborn' as faith, dealt with in 352, 2435, 6344, 7035, 8042; from the meaning of 'sons' as truths, dealt with in 489, 491, 533, 1147, 2623, 3373; and from the meaning of 'redeeming' as giving something else instead, as above in 8078, 8079. The fact that those truths of faith are not to be ascribed follows from the full message that is implied by these words, And all the firstborn of man among your sons you shall not make over, that is, you shall not sacrifice, but you shall redeem', 'not making over' being not ascribing, as above in 8074, 8078. From this it is evident that 'all the firstborn of man among your sons you shall redeem' means that the truths of faith are not to be ascribed to the Lord, but something else instead. Proof that this something else is the good of faith is provided by the consideration that generally 'the firstborn' means the good of faith, as above in 8042, 8043. But since it speaks here about 'the firstborn of man among his sons', the truth of faith is meant; for there is the truth of faith and there is the good of faith.

[2] Further proof that the good of faith, which is charity, is this something else which is to be ascribed to the Lord instead of the truths of faith is provided by the fact that the firstborn of the children of Israel were not accepted but the Levites instead; and the reason for this was that 'Levi' represented the good of faith, or charity, 3875, 4497, 4502, 4503. With regard to the acceptance of the tribe of Levi instead of all the firstborn, see Numbers 3:12-13, 40-end; 8:16-18. Even more proof that the good of faith is the something else to be ascribed to the Lord is provided by the consideration that faith without charity is not faith, 654, 724, 1162, 1176, 2231, 2343, 2349, 2429, 2839, 2982, 3146, 3325, 3849, 3865, 4368, 5351, 7039, 7082-7084, 7342 (end), 7950, and also by the consideration that the good of faith in actual fact occupies first place, while the truth of faith merely appears to do so, 3539, 3548, 3556, 3563, 3570, 3576, 3603, 3701, 4925, 4926, 4928, 4930, 4977, 5351, 6256, 6269, 6272, 6273, so that charity is the firstborn, 3325, 3494, 4925, 4926, 4928, 4930.

[3] The reason why the truth of faith regarded in itself without the good of faith is not to be ascribed to the Lord, that is, not to be given to Him or acknowledged to come from Him, is that no truth of faith has any life within it until it becomes the good of faith; and the truth of faith becomes the good of faith through the willing and doing of it, 7835. When therefore it becomes the good of faith it is acknowledged by the Lord as being His, for the Lord imparts faith indirectly through the good of faith. Every truth of faith too that a member of the spiritual Church possesses becomes the good of faith when he is regenerated. Not till then does it become the Lord's.

[4] The law regarding the redemption of the firstborn of man was laid down to prevent them from sacrificing their sons, a practice that had come into use among gentiles with whom statutes of the Ancient Church - which was a representative Church - remained in force, but in a form that had been completely adulterated in the course of time. The consecration of the firstborn to God was one of those statutes of the Ancient Church; but by consecration they began to understand sacrifice. The descendants of Jacob leaned likewise towards the same practice, and therefore that law of redemption was marked out for them. And to prevent them from following that practice the Levites were adopted instead of the firstborn, as has been stated. The law was marked out in keeping with its corresponding meaning in the spiritual world, which is that the truths of faith are not holy, thus that these are not to be consecrated or ascribed to the Lord but forms of the good of faith. Later on that consecration to Him was taken to mean that they were to give or present the firstborn to Jehovah, and to offer a sacrifice for him, as the following stated in Luke shows,

When the days of their purification according to the law of Moses were completed, they brought Jesus to Jerusalem to present Him to the Lord (as it has been written in the Law of the Lord, that every male opening the womb should be called holy to the Lord) and to offer a sacrifice. Luke 2:22-24.

  
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Thanks to the Swedenborg Society for the permission to use this translation.