Redemption of the Firstborn – VaYeitzei – Nov. 21

The story of Jacob and Esau is one of extreme contrasts.  As outlined in last week’s Torah Portion commentary, The Suffering of the Chosen, the struggle between Jacob and Esau began while they were yet in the womb.  From these twin boys emerged two distinct peoples and two distinct nations.  Even in their childhood the contrast between them was clearly marked as we read in the Scriptures: “When the boys grew up, Esau became a skillful hunter, a man of the field, but Jacob was a peaceful man, living in tents” (Gen. 25:27).  Jacob and Esau were twins of the same mother but different in every way.

The Right of the Firstborn

There was another point of contention between Jacob and Esau; the right of the firstborn.  Esau was the natural firstborn as he came out of the womb first, however, God had chosen Jacob to have the authority and right of the firstborn (Gen. 25:23).  Even though the right of the firstborn was granted to Jacob by God, Jacob bought the right of the firstborn from Esau at the cost of a bowl of lentils.  Jacob also stole the blessing of the firstborn, with the help of his mother.  The battle for the right of the firstborn was a struggle that stayed with Jacob all of his life.  We see this clearly illustrated in this week’s Torah Portion as well.

The name of this week’s Torah Portion is “ויצא” – “Vayeitzei,” which literally means “and he left” or “and he went out.”  This week’s study continues the story of Jacob as he leaves his parents, Isaac and Rebekah, and sets out from Beer Sheva to go to Haran, the land of his ancestors and Rebekah’s’ family.  It is here in Haran that Jacob would continue to learn about the price that he would pay for attaining the right of the firstborn.  Jacob was 77 years old when he left home.

The Search for a Wife

Jacob arrived at Haran and met Rachel soon after arriving when she came to the well to draw water for the flocks of her father.  Jacob watered the flocks of his uncle Laban and introduced himself to Rachel as her relative, the son of Isaac and Rebekah (Gen. 29:9-12).  Rachel ran to tell her father of the good news of Jacob’s coming and Jacob was welcomed into the family of Laban.

After staying a month with his uncle Laban, Jacob expressed to his uncle his desire to marry Rachel.  The negotiations were made as Jacob offered to serve Laban seven years for Rachel and Laban agreed.  The Bible explicitly tells us in this account that Laban had two daughters, Leah the older and Rachel the younger.  We also learn that Leah had weak (or soft) eyes but Rachel was beautiful of form and face (Gen. 29:16-17).  These details are important as the story develops.

The Wedding Day

Jacob had completed his seven years of service to Laban by tending his flocks and was ready to receive his bride.  Jacob was now 84 years old and, although we don’t know the exact age of Rachel, she was more than likely between the ages of 19 – 25.  Laban called together the men of his town and made a big celebration to honor the wedding of his daughter Rachel with his nephew Jacob.  During the first night of the feast when Jacob and Rachel were supposed to begin their new life together, Laban deceived Jacob by giving him Leah as a wife instead of Rachel (Gen. 29:21-24).

When Jacob arose the next morning and saw that he had slept with Leah instead of Rachel he was frustrated at the deceitfulness of Laban:

So it came about in the morning that, behold, it was Leah! And he said to Laban, “What is this you have done to me? Was it not for Rachel that I served with you? Why then have you deceived me?” – Gen. 29:25

We all know this story well and there are many who explain that Jacob was “getting a taste of his own medicine.”  They say that Jacob had deceived his father by stealing the blessing of the firstborn from his brother and now Jacob was receiving his due punishment.  This may be true, however, I believe that there was a deeper lesson that Jacob needed to learn.

The Price of the Firstborn

It seems obvious that Laban had been planning this deceptive “switching of the brides” long before the day of the wedding.  Laban had seven years to think about this marriage between Jacob and Rachel and the situation of his older daughter Leah.  We learn from Laban’s response that he had a ready answer for Jacob’s question regarding the reason for the deception:

But Laban said, “It is not the practice in our place to marry off the younger before the firstborn. Complete the week of this one, and we will give you the other also for the service which you shall serve with me for another seven years.” – Gen. 29:26

Because of cultural norms at that time, Laban felt justified in giving his firstborn daughter Leah to Jacob in place of his younger daughter Rachel, whom he was planning to marry.  There was a certain order regarding the firstborn and Jacob needed to learn how it was supposed to work.  Jacob was about to receive a huge lesson regarding the subject of the price of the firstborn.

Jacob had obtained his own firstborn status through a quick and effortless deal in Esau’s moment of weakness.  Jacob had bartered with Esau using a bowl of his homemade lentil stew and some bread to purchase the right of the firstborn.  Jacob made the deal of the millennium and thought that he had purchased the right of the firstborn for the equivalent of a few shekels.  It may seem like Jacob obtained the right of the firstborn for almost nothing, however, was this really the case?

The Value of the Firstborn

I believe that God used Laban to teach Jacob the value of the firstborn from a whole new perspective.  Jacob needed to learn that the firstborn had a value that was not cheap.  There was a price to be paid for the firstborn.  After deceiving Jacob by giving him Leah for a wife, Laban also agreed to give Rachel to Jacob if Jacob would agree to work another seven years for Laban.  As the firstborn, Leah had priority and value beyond her “weak appearance.”

As noted earlier in Genesis 29:26, the reason that Laban deceived Jacob by giving him Leah as a wife before Rachel was because Leah was the firstborn. The Hebrew word for “firstborn” is “בכור” – “behor” for a male or “בכורה” – “behorah” for a female.  The actual Hebrew word used here for Leah is “בכירה” – “behirah,” which means the “oldest” or “firstborn.”

The Firstborn and the First Fruits

We first read of the concept of the firstborn, “בכור” – “behor,” in the Bible when Cain and Abel brought their offerings to God:

So it came about in the course of time that Cain brought an offering to the LORD of the fruit of the ground. Abel, on his part also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of their fat portions. And the LORD had regard for Abel and for his offering; but for Cain and for his offering He had no regard. – Gen. 4:3-5

Abel brought of the “firstlings,” “בכורות” – “behorot,” of his flocks.  The LORD was pleased with Abel and his offering but He did not accept Cain’s offering.  The firstborn, or the first fruits of the ground and the womb, hold high value in God’s eyes.  God demands the best and He considers the firstborn to be of the highest value.  We see this clearly all throughout the book of Genesis and even more specifically in the book of Exodus.

The Redemption of the Firstborn

When the LORD sent Moses to go before Pharaoh, He told Moses to demand that Pharaoh let the children of Israel go free to serve (or worship) the LORD.  When God spoke of Israel in this context He called Israel His firstborn son:

The LORD said to Moses, “When you go back to Egypt see that you perform before Pharaoh all the wonders which I have put in your power; but I will harden his heart so that he will not let the people go. Then you shall say to Pharaoh, ‘Thus says the LORD, “Israel is My son, My firstborn. So I said to you, ‘Let My son go that he may serve Me’; but you have refused to let him go. Behold, I will kill your son, your firstborn.”’” – Exodus 4:21-23

The Scriptures tell us that Israel is God’s firstborn son, “בני בכורי” – “beni behori.”  Israel as a nation was God’s special son among the nations and held the value of a firstborn son.  The LORD also told Pharaoh through Moses that because Pharaoh would refuse to let God’s firstborn son go free that God would kill Pharaoh’s firstborn son.

The story of the Exodus from Egypt sets the stage for the ultimate illustration of the cost for the redemption of the firstborn son.  God redeemed the nation of Israel out of Egypt at the cost of the firstborn son of every family of the Egyptians, including Pharaoh’s son.  The Passover lamb was also sacrificed with its blood smeared on the door frames of their homes in order to protect the Israelites from death.

It is by using the Exodus from Egypt that God would establish the standard for redeeming all firstborn males from the womb, both of animals and humans:

Now when the LORD brings you to the land of the Canaanite, as He swore to you and to your fathers, and gives it to you, you shall devote to the LORD the first offspring of every womb, and the first offspring of every beast that you own; the males belong to the Lord. But every first offspring of a donkey you shall redeem with a lamb, but if you do not redeem it, then you shall break its neck; and every firstborn of man among your sons you shall redeem. – Exodus 13:11-13

It is from this command of God after the Exodus that the foundation of the “פדיון הבן” – “Pidyon Haben” was established.  The phrase “פדיון הבן” – “Pidyon Haben” simply means “redemption of the son” or “redemption of the firstborn.”  This practice of redeeming the firstborn son was established in the Law (Num. 8:17) and is still practiced in Judaism today.

God commanded that all firstborn males of Israel should be redeemed.  On a national scale God also chose the Levites instead of the firstborn males:

But I have taken the Levites instead of every firstborn among the sons of Israel. I have given the Levites as a gift to Aaron and to his sons from among the sons of Israel, to perform the service of the sons of Israel at the tent of meeting and to make atonement on behalf of the sons of Israel, so that there will be no plague among the sons of Israel by their coming near to the sanctuary. – Num. 8:18-19

God had set apart the Levites as priests unto Him in place of the firstborn sons of the Israelites.  The priests were to continue to make atonement on behalf of the people of Israel.

The Cost of the Firstborn

God chose Israel as His firstborn and He claimed all of the firstborn among Israel as His own:

For every firstborn among the sons of Israel is Mine, among the men and among the animals; on the day that I struck down all the firstborn in the land of Egypt I sanctified them for Myself. – Num. 8:17

The firstborn are honored in God’s site and He desires them for Himself, however, there is a cost.  There was a cost when God redeemed the nation of Israel as God’s firstborn son by every firstborn son of Egypt and by the sacrificial lamb.  There was also a continual reminder of the cost of the firstborn son as the priests served before God and made daily atonement for the sons of Israel.

Atonement and redemption of the firstborn is a biblical principle from the beginning of the Bible until its end.  The price of the firstborn was always costly and Jacob needed to learn this lesson.

Jacob and the Prophet of God

This week’s corresponding section from the prophets (“haftara”) is found in the book of Hosea.  In the first two verses of this section of the prophets we read these words:

Now Jacob fled to the land of Aram,

And Israel worked for a wife,

And for a wife he kept sheep.

But by a prophet the LORD brought Israel from Egypt,

And by a prophet he was kept. – Hosea 12:12-13

What do we learn from these few lines from the prophet Hosea which rhyme and are a play on words?  I believe God wants us to learn something from the years that Jacob labored as a shepherd for his wife.  Jacob left the Land of his father and mother after he obtained the right of the firstborn, however, there was a price to be paid.  Through the twenty years (14 years for his wives and 6 years for his family) that Jacob labored for Laban Jacob learned that there was a price to be paid, especially for the firstborn, Leah.

The second part of these poetic verses in Hosea states that the LORD brought Israel out of Egypt by a prophet and kept Israel by a prophet.  This prophet was Moses.  Although God brought Israel out of Egypt by the prophet Moses, there was still a cost. God redeemed Israel out of Egypt at the cost of the firstborn son of Pharaoh, by the firstborn sons of all the Egyptians, and by the blood of the Passover lamb.

Redemption of the People of God

Just as the nation of Israel is identified as the people of God in the Bible, so all who call on the name of Yeshua today are identified as the people of God.  To be called a child of God is a great privilege and it comes at a great price.  Just as Israel was redeemed as God’s firstborn son at a tremendous cost when they were delivered out of Egypt so there is a high price to be paid for all who are considered children of God today.  The price of redemption has been paid by Yeshua and we all, Jew and Gentile alike, have the opportunity to be called God’s children today because of what He has done:

He came to His own, and those who were His own did not receive Him. But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God. – John 1:11-13

I often hear people make comments that believing in Yeshua is too easy because all one needs to do is to believe in His Name and then they are forgiven for all of their sins.  This is compared to other religions where people work hard to atone for their sins.  The truth is, however, that our redemption came at a great cost, the death of the Son of God.  It is only through the death of the firstborn Son of God that we are redeemed to be sons and daughters of God.

Shabbat Shalom!

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Torah Portion: Gen. 28:10 – Gen. 32:3

Hafatara: Hosea 12:12 – Hosea 14:10

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