B’kohr: The FIRSTBORN Child

FIRST-BORN: b’kohr/v’kohr, masculine noun (Strong’s 1060); bikkurim, masculine noun (Strong’s 1061); bekorah, feminine noun (Strong’s 1062);  bikkurah, feminine noun (Strong’s 1063);  bekirah (Strong’s 1067);  bakkar, verb “to bear new fruit”, (Strong’s 1069). 

Root: בָּכַר

Sounds like: v’kohr/b’kohr

Today is my birthday, and my first as an empty-nester. There’s no party balloons or rousing renditions of “Happy Birthday”, but that’s okay. I saw some work friends yesterday, my church family this morning, and a nice lunch with my in-laws today. However, at 51 I’m quite happy to have a quiet night alone with my favourite foods, a few phone calls, and a recurrent deep dive into the Bible for school work… yes, for fun. (I have a pressing paper that needs writing!).

I’m an only child and, by default, a firstborn. A firstborn birth is a uniquely special moment for parents. Certainly all births are wonderful and miraculous, but the first baby is a distinctive experience, because it is the first… a never before experience for first-time parents.

The idea of giving birth is associated, at least in Hebrew, with the concept of bearing new fruit. The word b’kohr (firstborn) comes from the root verb bakar, meaning “early”, “new fruit” and “to bear new fruit”.

Sanctify the Firstborn

In the Ancient Near East the firstborn (or the first fruit of the human womb) was an elevated status and it came with a major perk in the form of a birthright. YHWH, had a different perk in mind for them:

Exodus 13:1-2

Then YHWH spoke to Moses, saying, “Sanctify to Me every firstborn [kal b’kohr כָל־בְּכֹ֜ור], the opening of every womb among the sons of Israel, among people and animals alike; it belongs to Me.”

The dedication of the firstborn to YHWH was sacrosanct, but it did not mean that every eldest son had to go into priestly service. YHWH had another plan to fill up the roster of ecclesiastical duties.

Numbers 3:11-13

Again YHWH spoke to Moses, saying, “Now, behold, I have taken the Levites from among the sons of Israel instead of every firstborn [kal b’kohr כָּל־ בְּכ֛וֹר], the opening of the womb among the sons of Israel. So the Levites shall be Mine. For all the firstborn [kal b’kohr כָּל־ בְּכוֹר֒] are Mine; on the day that I fatally struck all the firstborn [kal b’kohr כָל־ בְּכ֜וֹר] in the land of Egypt, I sanctified to Myself all the firstborn [kal b’kohr כָל־ בְּכוֹר֙] in Israel, from the human to beast. They shall be Mine; I am YHWH.”

Death of the Firstborn 

In the above statement YHWH mentioned the time when He fatally struck the firstborns in the land of Egypt. This was a repeated story, meant to be remembered. It was the time when the Hebrew people, enslaved in Egypt, fought for their freedom. Moses led the charge and faced Pharaoh with the words of God- “Let my people go!”

Exodus 11:4-6

Then Moses said, “This is what YHWH says: ‘About midnight I am going out into the midst of Egypt, and all the firstborn [kal b’kohr כָּל־ בְּכוֹר֮] in the land of Egypt shall die, from the firstborn [mi-b’kohr מִבְּכ֤וֹר] of the Pharaoh who sits on his throne, to the firstborn [ad b’kohr עַ֚ד בְּכ֣וֹר] of the slave girl who is behind the millstones; and all the firstborn [w-kol b’kohr וְכֹ֖ל בְּכ֥וֹר] of the cattle as well. So there shall be a great cry in all the land of Egypt, such as there has not been before and such as shall never be again.”

This was the final and most devastating of the ten “plagues” which were meant to provoke Pharaoh into letting the Hebrew people leave Egypt freely:

Exodus 12:12-13, 29-32

[YHWH:] “For I will go through the land of Egypt on that night, and fatally strike all the firstborn [kal b’kohr כָל־ בְּכוֹר֙] in the land of Egypt, from the human to beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments—I am YHWH. The blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you live; and when I see the blood I will pass over you, and no plague will come upon you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt.”

At midnight (Exodus 12:29-32) all the firstborns in the land, who weren’t housed behind the doors signaled with blood, died. It was terrible; it was tragic; and it was completely unnecessary had Pharaoh not been so overwhelmingly stubborn and unyielding to YHWH. Pharaoh’s oldest son was not immune, and he died like all the other firstborns not under YHWH’s protection. In his grief Pharaoh finally gave up and admitted defeat, (although he later changed his mind, chased down the Hebrew people, and died in the Red (Reed) Sea).

Firstborn Status

The firstborn status was to be respected at all costs, but it was also a risky place to be in the birth order. The high status made the firstborn a target of jealous siblings and biased parents who formed attachments to one or more of their younger children. Some fathers also were more attached to the children of favoured wives, putting the official firstborns at risk of losing their birthrights:

Deuteronomy 21:15-17

“If a man has two wives, the one loved and the other unloved, and both the loved and the unloved have borne him sons, and the firstborn son [ha-ben ha-b’kohr הַבֵּ֥ן הַבְּכ֖וֹר] belongs to the unloved, then it shall be on the day that he wills what he owns as an inheritance to his sons, he is not to bestow firstborn status [l-vakker לְבַכֵּר֙] to the son of the loved wife, at the expense of the son of the unloved, who actually is the firstborn [ha-b’kohr הַבְּכֹֽר] son. But the firstborn [ki et ha-b’kohr כִּי֩ אֶת־ הַבְּכֹ֨ר], the son of the unloved wife, he shall acknowledge by giving him a double portion of everything that he owns, for he was the beginning of his strength; to him belongs the right of the firstborn [ha-b’kohrah **].”

This was definitely a challenge for Jacob, who loved his second wife, Rachel, and hated his first, Leah. The sons of Rachel, Joseph and Benjamin, were very special to Jacob, but he could not give them firstborn status legally, although reading through Jacob’s story it is evident that Joseph and Benjamin were the firstborns of Jacob’s heart. 

Jacob himself was a younger son, but his mother, Rebekah, loved him more than her firstborn son Esau (Gen.25:28). She encouraged Jacob to resort to trickery (Gen. 27:5-10) in order to gain, illegally, firstborn status. Jacob readily agreed and with with some intel and a costume he swindled his blind father:

Genesis 27:18-19, 30-32

Then he (Jacob) came to his father and said, “My father.” And he said, “Here I am. Who are you, my son?” Jacob said to his father, “I am Esau your firstborn [b’koreka בְּכֹרֶ֔ךָ]; I have done as you told me. Come now, sit and eat of my game, so that you may bless me.”…

…Now it came about, as soon as Isaac had finished blessing Jacob, and Jacob had hardly gone out from the presence of his father Isaac, that his brother Esau came in from his hunting. Then he also made a delicious meal, and brought it to his father; and he said to his father, “Let my father arise and eat of his son’s game, that you may bless me.” His father Isaac said to him, “Who are you?” And he said, “I am your son, your firstborn [v’kor’ka בְכֹֽרְךָ֖], Esau.” 

Then Isaac trembled violently, and said, “Who then was he who hunted game and brought it to me, so that I ate from all of it before you came, and blessed him? Yes, and he shall be blessed.” When Esau heard the words of his father, he cried out with an exceedingly great and bitter cry, and said to his father, “Bless me, me as well, my father!” 

And he said, “Your brother came deceitfully and has taken away your blessing.” Then Esau said, “Is he not rightly named Jacob, for he has betrayed me these two times? He took away my birthright, and behold, now he has taken away my blessing.” And he said, “Have you not reserved a blessing for me?” 

But Isaac replied to Esau, “Behold, I have made him your master, and I have given to him all his relatives as servants; and with grain and new wine I have sustained him. What then can I do for you, my son?” 

Esau said to his father, “Do you have only one blessing, my father? Bless me, me as well, my father.” So Esau raised his voice and wept.

Isaac had no extra blessing to give to Esau. The second son had stolen it, but Esau cried out to his father “Do you have only one blessing, my father? Bless me, me as well!” Isaac felt locked in to the what he had already given Jacob and would not reverse the decision. YHWH, on the other hand, has a blessing for every one of His children, from the oldest to the youngest and everywhere in between. 

Jacob had received the blessing of the firstborn, although he was not entitled to it, but it wasn’t the only time firstborns were cheated out of their birthright at the expense of Jacob. 

When Jacob (later named Israel) blessed his grandsons (sons of Joseph) he flipped their firstborn status:

Genesis 48-14-19

But Israel reached out his right hand and placed it on the head of Ephraim, who was the younger, and his left hand on Manasseh’s head, crossing his hands, although Manasseh was the firstborn [ha-b’kohr הַבְּכֽוֹר]. And he blessed Joseph, and said,

“The God before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac walked, the God who has been my shepherd all my life to this day, the angel who has redeemed me from all evil, bless the boys; and may my name live on in them, and the names of my fathers Abraham and Isaac; and may they grow into a multitude in the midst of the earth.”

When Joseph saw that his father placed his right hand on Ephraim’s head, it displeased him; and he grasped his father’s hand to move it from Ephraim’s head to Manasseh’s head. 

And Joseph said to his father, “Not so, my father, for this one is the firstborn [ha-b’kohr הַבְּכֹ֔ר]. Place your right hand on his head.” 

But his father refused and said, “I know, my son, I know; he also will become a people and he also will be great. However, his younger brother shall be greater than he, and his descendants shall become a multitude of nations.”

From this point on, Ephraim took centre stage in the story of Israel. In 930 BC, the ten Northern tribes revolted against the South (tribes of Judah and Benjamin). It was the tribe of Ephraim that took leadership in the revolt. After the successful campaign the ten Northern tribes were often referred to as Ephraim collectively (although the tribes still maintained their distinctiveness).

Although most of the Northern tribes were attacked and scattered by the Assyrians years earlier, YHWH promised to someday bring Ephraim, His firstborn, home:

Jeremiah 31:8-12

[YHWH:] “Behold, I am bringing them from the north country, and I will gather them from the remote parts of the earth, among them those who are blind and those who limp, the pregnant woman and she who is in labour, together; they will return here as a great assembly.

They will come with weeping, and by pleading I will bring them; I will lead them by streams of waters, on a straight path on which they will not stumble; for I am a father to Israel, and Ephraim is My firstborn   [b’kohri בְּכֹ֥רִי].”

Hear the word of YHWH, you nations, and declare it in the coastlands far away, and say, “He who scattered Israel will gather him, and He will keep him as a shepherd keeps his flock.” For YHWH has ransomed Jacob and redeemed him from the hand of him who was stronger than he.

They will come and shout for joy on the height of Zion, and they will be radiant over the bounty of YHWH— over the grain, the new wine, the oil, and over the young of the flock and the herd. And their life will be like a watered garden, and they will never languish again.”

David, the Firstborn

YHWH chose special people to issue forth His Kingdom. One person that stands out was David, who was actually born as a youngest child with seven older brothers. The 89th Psalm, written by Ethan the Ezrahite, was about David’s blessing from YHWH, and in it YHWH bestowed on David the title of firstborn:

Psalm 89:24-37

[Ethan the Ezrahite speaks the words of God:] “My faithfulness and My favour will be with him [David], and in My name his horn will be exalted. I will also place his hand on the sea, and his right hand on the rivers. He will call to Me, ‘You are my Father, My God, and the rock of my salvation.’

I will also make him My firstborn [b’kohr בְּכ֣וֹר], the highest of the kings of the earth. I will maintain My favour for him forever, and My covenant shall be confirmed to him. So I will establish his descendants forever, and his throne as the days of heaven.

If his sons abandon My Law and do not walk in My judgments, if they violate My statutes and do not keep My commandments, then I will punish their wrongdoing with the rod, and their guilt with afflictions. But I will not withhold My favor from him, nor deal falsely in My faithfulness.

I will not violate My covenant, nor will I alter the utterance of My lips. Once I have sworn by My holiness; I will not lie to David. His descendants shall endure forever, and his throne as the sun before Me. It shall be established forever like the moon, and a witness in the sky is faithful.” Selah

David, of course, was chosen to be the first King in the line of the coming Messiah. His line would bring everlasting salvation… the firstborn of redemption for all the days to come.

The Firstborn Sacrifice: A New Revealing

Exodus 22:29-30

[YHWH:] “You shall not hold back the offering from your entire harvest and your wine. The firstborn [b’kohr בְּכ֥וֹר] of your sons you shall give to Me. You shall do the same with your oxen and with your sheep. It shall be with its mother for seven days; on the eighth day you shall give it to Me.”

Although YHWH made it clear that humans were never ever to be physically sacrificed, the sheep and oxen were allowed to be sacrificed on the altar. The peace offering required bulls, rams, goats and lambs to be a food source, brought to the priests for butchery. The priests would take their portion as payment (traditionally the right side of the animal) and the bringer would receive the remainder of the animal to be shared in fellowship with the community. Only a few times did YHWH demand a sacrifice to be completely burned and never consumed as food by priests or people. This included the burnt offering, and a sin or guilt sacrifice which was offered up on behalf of the whole community. 

But there came a time when YHWH was tired of the Hebrew ritual of blood sacrifice. People had forgotten the significance and it became a monotonous routine, devoid of meaning. Priests were the butchers of meat and that was supposed to mean something. The loss of an animal’s life, so that people could eat and be grateful, was the underlying meaning of sacrifice, but along the way the people forgot and the ritual became meaningless. The sacrificial lamb was a reminder of their redemption from Egypt and the firstborn sacrifice was meant to point to a future sacrifice that would redeem the whole world. But tradition without meaning is just a dance without music. If you can’t feel the rhythm then there’s no meaning to the steps. YHWH was tired of their ambivalence:

Isaiah 1:11-17 (see also Psalm 51:16-17; Jeremiah 6:20; Amos 5:21-24)

[YHWH:] “What are your many sacrifices to Me?” says YHWH. “I have had enough of burnt offerings of rams and the fat of fattened cattle; and I take no pleasure in the blood of bulls, lambs, or goats. When you come to appear before Me, who requires of you this trampling of My courtyards?

Do not go on bringing your worthless offerings, incense is an abomination to Me. New moon and Sabbath, the proclamation of an assembly— I cannot endure wrongdoing and the festive assembly. I hate your new moon festivals and your appointed feasts, they have become a burden to Me; I am tired of bearing them.

So when you spread out your hands in prayer, I will hide My eyes from you; yes, even though you offer many prayers, I will not be listening. Your hands are covered with blood. Wash yourselves, make yourselves clean; remove the evil of your deeds from My sight.

Stop doing evil, learn to do good; seek justice, rebuke the oppressor, obtain justice for the orphan, plead for the widow’s case.”

The sacrifice YHWH wanted to see from His people was the sacrifice of our egos. He desired to see His image bearers truly bearing His image, and that meant caring for people… the poor, the oppressed, the widows and the orphans, and all who ached in loneliness. The prophet Micah understood what God wanted to see in His people:

Micah 6:6-8

With what shall I come to YHWH and bow myself before the God on high?

Shall I come to Him with burnt offerings, with yearling calves? Does YHWH take pleasure in thousands of rams, in ten thousand rivers of oil? Shall I give Him my firstborn [b’kohri בְּכוֹרִי֙] for my wrongdoings, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?

He has told you, mortal one, what is good; and what does YHWH require of you but to do justice, to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?

Yeshua, Firstborn Kingdom Builder

Yeshua (Jesus) was the living embodiment of the perfect firstborn son. 

Luke 2:7

And she (Mary)  gave birth to her son, the firstborn [Greek: ton prototokon]; and she wrapped Him in cloths, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.

Many translations read, “And she gave birth to her firstborn son”, but hyper-literally, as Luke intended, it reads, “And she gave birth to her son, the firstborn.” Yeshua was titled “The Firstborn.”

Paul’s letter to the Colossians highlighted this point. Yeshua (Jesus) was the firstborn of all creation and the firstborn from the dead:

Colossians 1:13-20

For He [YHWH] rescued us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

He [Jesus] is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn [Greek: prototokos] of all creation: for by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones, or dominions, or rulers, or authorities—all things have been created through Him and for Him. He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together. He is also the head of the body, the church; and He is the beginning, the firstborn [Greek: prototokos] from the dead, so that He Himself will come to have first place in everything. For it was the Father’s good pleasure for all the fullness to dwell in Him, and through Him to reconcile all things to Himself, whether things on earth or things in heaven, having made peace through the blood of His cross.

Yeshua was the firstborn of ALL creation! He was created to be the peace offering, the sin offering, the guilt offering; He paid the full cost of our salvation, dying to give life. He was the firstborn from the dead. He was pierced, mocked and tormented… a suffering blood-sacrifice sent by God in order to save us:

Zechariah 12:10

[YHWH:] “And I will pour out on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the Spirit of grace and of pleading, so that they will look at Me whom they pierced; and they will mourn for Him, like one mourning for an only son, and they will weep bitterly over Him like the bitter weeping over the firstborn [al ha-b’kohr הַבְּכֽוֹר].”

Yeshua rescued us from death by giving up His life. He died and went to the grave, but He had a job to do there. He conquered death on our behalf in order to bring us home:

Revelation 1:4-6

John to the seven churches that are in Asia: 

Grace to you and peace from Him who is, and who was, and who is to come, and from the seven spirits who are before His throne, and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead [ho prototokos ton nekron], and the ruler of the kings of the earth. To Him who loves us and released us from our sins by His blood— and He made us into a kingdom, priests to His God and Father—to Him be the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen.

John had a message to share from YHWH’s Kingdom: Grace and peace to us! Yeshua, by His blood, rescued us. We were His Kingdom, saved and redeemed! This was the Good News. This was the Gospel.

Whether you’re a firstborn, a middle child, or the baby of the family, like David, it doesn’t really matter. You can dedicate yourself to YHWH like a firstborn, because you are uniquely special to God.  You have the elevated status of firstborn because He loves you like you were His only child, and for that reason you should never forget how important you are:

John 14:1-3

[Jesus:] “Do not let your heart be troubled; believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father’s house are many rooms; if that were not so, I would have told you, because I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I am coming again and will take you to Myself, so that where I am, there you also will be.”

Child, there’s a place for you in the Kingdom and Yeshua has paid the entrance fee. Receive your birthright. It’s free for the taking!

 

Next week: My thumb reconstruction surgery (right hand) is on Wednesday, so I’d appreciate any prayers for a good outcome and successful healing. I’ll give you all an update next Sunday. I won’t have a chance to do an extensive word study, but you can check out my latest sermon (Jesus & Money; Coins & the Kingdom) here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3z9E-E9ABvw&t=183s  (Sorry, the audio quality isn’t the greatest. You may need to put on close captioning). Shalom, one and all!