born were slain. If we reckon that every Israelite had two sons, as well as daughters, (which, consi- dering the care that had been taken to destroy all the male children, may be taken as a fair average,) and one out of those sons had been slain, we may calcu- late, that not above one third of that nation would ever have come into existence. On account of the distinguished greatness of that deliverance, God ap- pointed that it should be kept in remembrance, by means of a variety of ordinances instituted for that purpose. Some "of these institutions were to be annually observed, (as the Passover and the feast of unleavened bread,) and others were designed as daily memorials of it. Such was the redemption of the first-born, mentioned in our text. In consequence of the preservation of the first-born, both of men and beasts, among the Jews, God claimed all their future first-born, both of men and beasts, as his property : the clean beasts were to be sacrificed to him; the unclean were to be exchanged for a lamb, which was to be sacrificed ; and the first-born children were to be redeemed at the price of five shekels, which sum was devoted to the service of the sanctuary. This ordinance the Jews, to the latest generations, were bound to observe, I. As a memorial of God's mercy —
In this view, the end of the appointment is re- peatedly mentioned in the text. Every time that the redemption-price was paid for the first-born, either of man or beast, it was to be like " a token upon their hands, or a frontlet, or memorial, between their eyesa," to bring this deliverance to their remembrance.
Now the deliverance vouchsafed to us, infinitely exceeds theirs —
[Theirs was great, whether we consider the state from which they were brought (a sore bondage), or the means by which they were delivered (the slaughter of the Egyptian first- born), or the state to which they were raised (the service and enjoyment of God, both in the wilderness and in the land of Canaan). But compare ours in these respects, the guilt and
8 See ver. 9.