And the same day the Lord brought forth the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt by their companies.
וַיְהִ֕י בְּעֶ֖צֶם הַיּ֣וֹם הַזֶּ֑ה הוֹצִ֨יא יְהוָ֜ה אֶת־בְּנֵ֧י יִשְׂרָאֵ֛ל מֵאֶ֥רֶץ מִצְרַ֖יִם עַל־צִבְאֹתָֽם׃
5 Church Fathers comment on this verse
Christ does not lead us from the land of Egypt to the territory of the Jews; rather, He guides us into everlasting inheritance away from this transient world. He serves as both the Lamb and the Shepherd, directing His flock. He proclaims, "I will go before you," guiding them towards eternal life.
From that point forward, the Lord enveloped them during the day with a cloud and guided them at night with a pillar of fire.
Following the Passover, the ancient Israelites, having adhered to God’s commands, were finally liberated from the burdens of Egypt. Their adversaries, who wished to keep them enslaved, were humiliated. God Himself guided them with the pillar of cloud, continuously bestowing His blessings until they arrived at the Promised Land. Similarly, the new Israel, engaging in the spiritual practices necessary for their journey toward eternal joy, through the intercession of the Lamb, whom God provided to cleanse them through faith in His blood (Rom. 3:25), will inevitably arrive at the promised destination. The Lord is both the author and co-worker of this journey (Heb. 11:10).
This parimia presents God's command regarding the sanctification of the firstborn, incorporating details from Leviticus and Numbers about the purification of a mother after childbirth and the substitution of the firstborn with the Levites. The Lord instructed Moses on the day He delivered the Israelites from Egypt, saying to consecrate every firstborn male among the children of Israel. As the Hebrews partook in the Passover sacrifice under God's direction, the angel of death traversed Egypt, taking the lives of all male firstborns—from Pharaoh's heir to those imprisoned— as well as the firstborn of their livestock. However, the angel spared the firstborn of the Hebrew households marked with the blood of the Passover lamb on their doors. Loud wails of anguish echoed throughout Egypt.
The severity of this judgment compelled Pharaoh and the Egyptians, who had previously resisted releasing the Hebrews, to urgently expedite their departure and to generously offer them valuables to ensure their swift exit. The Israelites, having been prepared, gathered in Ramesses, the principal city of Goshen, numbering six hundred thousand men, excluding women and children, and then proceeded in organized ranks towards the Red Sea. Their initial encampment was at 'Sokhof', a place named after the temporary shelters the Hebrews used during their stay. This occurred on the fifteenth day of the newly established ecclesiastical month of ‘Abib’.
On the same day, while still at Sokhof, the Lord sought to solidify the memory of the Hebrews' deliverance from the devastations of the destroying angel, which marked the end of their Egyptian bondage, by instituting the law of firstborn sanctification. He commanded Moses to consecrate every firstborn that opens the womb among the children of Israel, instructing him to declare to the people that they should set apart their firstborn for sacred purposes in His honor. This command encompasses the firstborn among the Israelites, including both human and animal life, specifically the firstborn of the mother, rather than the father, who may have had a prior wife or multiple wives. The firstborn signifies the primary child of a mother who was not baptized, as well as the firstborn male in general. Autonomously, the firstborn son, regarded as the first fruits of a father's vigor, holds a special status in inheritance—receiving a greater share and authority over siblings upon the father's death—yet, in the realm of sanctification, it is the firstborn of the mother who takes precedence unless that same child is also the firstborn of the father. Hence, if a man were to have two wives, the firstborn from each would be consecrated to God. The exact sacred purpose of the firstborn will be discussed further.
This means organized by tribes. It is clear that Israel maintained its acknowledgment of its heritage from Jacob's descendants and adhered to this structure, as demonstrated by their arrangements in the wilderness. However, it is likely that even at the moment of their departure from Egypt, the men of each tribe, armed to the best of their ability, organized themselves into a militia to protect their families and livestock.
Passages read together with this verse.
THEOSIS