As you know, I've been preaching
through the book of Exodus on Tuesday nights. And this past
Tuesday night, I told you that if I could, I was going to be
preaching to you from Exodus 33 and 34 on beholding the glory
of God. And so I went home after services,
couldn't sleep, and spent the night studying and studying that
subject. And along the way, I ran across
an article by Robert Hawker on Christ the firstborn. And just
a few things in that article, I knew that I had to deal with
it this evening. So if you will turn with me to
Exodus chapter 4, Exodus the fourth chapter. The Lord God has commanded Moses
to go back to Egypt to deliver Israel from the hand of the bondman
and the oppressor and to deal directly with Pharaoh the king
in Egypt. And it says in verse 21 of Exodus
chapter 4, ìThe Lord said unto Moses, When thou goest to return
into Egypt, see that thou do all those wonders before Pharaoh
which I have put in thy hand, but I will harden his heart.î
Now folks can make what they want to of that. God said, I'll
harden his heart. I'll harden his heart that he
shall not let the people go. And thou shalt say unto Pharaoh,
Thus saith the Lord, Israel is my son, even my firstborn. And I say unto thee, Let my son
go, that he may serve me And if thou refuse to let him go,
behold, I will slay thy son, even thy firstborn." It is one thing for you to understand
that all the Scriptures speak of Christ, and I want so much
to make that clearly understood, but it is another thing to read
the Scriptures and see Christ in the passage you're reading.
And I want very, very much to show you how this passage speaks
of our Redeemer. Now, there are five important
facts in verse 22. The Lord God tells us in verse
22, Thou shalt say unto Pharaoh, Thus saith the Lord. That's the first time that phrase
is used in the Scriptures. Thus saith the Lord." Anytime
you see something mentioned for the first time, you ought to
stop and pay attention and mark how it's used. That's a pretty
good indication of how it is used throughout the Scriptures.
Now, after this, throughout the Old Testament, God's prophets
commonly prefaced their messages with those words, Thus saith
the Lord. And with those words, the Lord
commanded Moses, to declare unto Pharaoh that he stood before
him not as a mere political leader, not as one of his magicians,
the religious leaders of Pharaoh's court, but that he stood before
him as the ambassador of God Almighty, who alone is God. You talk about giving a fellow
spunk, that'll do it. This, Moses says, is the authority
by which I dare command the mightiest man on earth to do what I say. Wow! He didn't come and beg Pharaoh. He didn't come and cater and
bow and scrape to Pharaoh, hoping he might do what he said. He
said, either or. And I say it to you as God's
ambassador. The fact is God's preachers,
all of them, are men who come with boldness, not cockiness
and arrogance. That's a different thing. But
boldness. Confidence. Because they come
with the authority of God Almighty. as God's ambassadors to you to
proclaim what God has given them to say. Here's another thing. Here's
the name by which God's people are identified. Israel. Israel. The name was first given
to Jacob back in Genesis 32. And the occasion was that night
when the angel of the Lord wrestled with Jacob. Most everyone says,
on that night when Jacob wrestled with the angel of the Lord and
prevailed, but that's not what the scriptures teach. The scriptures
tell us that there was a man who wrestled with Jacob. And
when Jacob was prevailed upon, when Jacob was finally conquered,
And the angel of the Lord squeezed from him a confession saying,
ìWhat is your name?î And Jacob finally surrenders and says,
ìMy name is Jacob.î Then Jacob prevailed with the man. He prevailed
with God. And the angel of the Lord, the
man who wrestled with him, said, ìYour name shall not anymore
be called Jacob.î Tricky, deceitful sinner. But your name shall be
called Israel, prince with God. For as a prince, thou hast prevailed
and hast power with God. Now listen carefully. There's
only one way to prevail with God. And that's to surrender. There's no other way. I call
on you to throw up the white flag of surrender to Jesus Christ
the Lord. And when I do that, I know that
you will never surrender until He conquers you by His grace.
Oh, but if He conquers you by His grace, you will acknowledge
who you are before Him. If we confess our sin, He is
faithful and just to forgive us our sin and to cleanse us
from all unrighteousness. And as soon as He prevails over
you, causing you to bow to Him, you will prevail with God through
Jesus Christ our Lord. And your name shall be called
Israel, Prince with God. Now look at this third thing.
The Lord God declares, Israel is my son. Now with those words,
the God of glory identifies his special relationship with Jacob's
descendants. Specifically, he is here telling
us about Jacob's physical descendants. He chose Israel from among the
nations of the world and bestowed special privileges and special
blessings upon them because of his covenant with Abraham. But
in his broader, fuller reference, this is not just about Jacob's
physical descendants. but about Jacob's spiritual descendants
who are described in the New Testament as the Israel of God. That is, every believing sinner
is a part of this great holy nation called the Israel of God. When the scripture says, and
so all Israel shall be saved in Romans chapter 11, it's talking
about these who are God's true Israel, not the physical descendants
of Abraham, who are Israelites. They are those to whom pertain
the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving
of the law, and the service of God, and the promises. They are
not all Israel which are of Israel, the Spirit of God says. Those
who are the children of Abraham after the flesh, they are not
the children of Abraham, but those who are his children according
to promise, the children of grace. Now look at this fourth thing.
There is definitely In this statement in Exodus 4.22, there is definitely,
there is definitely a reference to the Lord Jesus Christ himself
when the Lord God says, Israel is my son. Now let me show you.
I want you to turn to two passages. Turn to Hosea chapter 11 and
Matthew chapter 2. Hosea chapter 11, Matthew chapter
2. The best commentary on Scripture
is Scripture. The best way to interpret that
book you have in your hand is by that book you have in your
hand. The best way to read it is to read it in the light of
itself. Here in Exodus 4.22, the Lord
God commands Moses to tell Pharaoh, Israel is my son. But he is talking
specifically here. not just about those physical
descendants of Jacob who were in the land of Egypt, nor even
about we who are the spiritual Israel of God, His elect representative
of those people. Rather, he is talking specifically
about the Lord Jesus Christ here typified by Israel. Let me show
you. In Hosea 11, verse 1, the Spirit
of God says exactly what I'm telling you. When Israel was
a child, then I loved him, and called my son out of Egypt."
Well, Pastor, that doesn't tell us that this is talking about
Christ. Oh, yes, it does. Look in Matthew chapter 2. Matthew
chapter 2. Joseph and Mary fled to Egypt,
and when they heard that he was dead who sought the child's life,
they took the Lord Jesus, their infant son, and came back to
their homeland for this purpose. Matthew 2, verse 15, there he
was until the death of Herod, that it might be fulfilled. Do
you see it? That it might be fulfilled, which
was spoken of the Lord by the prophets, saying, Out of Have
I called my son? Looks to me like the Lord God
Almighty, back here in Exodus 4.22, is talking about the coming
of the Lord Jesus Christ, who would be called by Him out of
Egypt. Hosea 11.1 and Matthew 2.15 tell
us plainly that He is talking about the Lord Jesus, our Savior,
that baby boy brought up from Egypt by Joseph. And this is
what he's telling us all the way back here in Exodus 4.22.
He's telling us that that man, Christ Jesus, is God the Son. He says, I have called my Son
out of Egypt. Now, this is the message that
God gave to Moses. He says, you go down to Pharaoh
in Egypt and declare this to Pharaoh. Israel is my son. Israel is my son. And not only that, even my firstborn. This one whom I send to redeem
and save my people. This one whom I have looked upon
from everlasting as the lamb slain from the foundation of
the world. This one who is the seed of woman, the Son of God,
this is my Son, my firstborn, the one in whom is all excellence
and honor and majesty and glory, into whose hands I have given
everything, that in all things he may have preeminence, because
he is the Savior of my people. That's God's message by Moses
to Pharaoh. And that is God's message by
every man sent of God into this world to proclaim to all men
everywhere. This is what faith is. It is
knowing, believing, trusting the Lord Jesus Christ as that
one who has come into the world having accomplished all that
he came to accomplish, God Almighty, our Savior, the God-man. God's
purpose in all things, the purpose of the triune God, commonly in
the scriptures we read of the covenant relationship, the father
has done this with the son, or the father has given this to
the son. In reality, the purpose of the triune God, Father, Son,
and Holy Spirit, is that the Lord Jesus Christ, the God-man
as our Mediator, the Lord Jesus Christ, because of His obedience
to the Father, committed to Him from eternity, that He in all
things have the preeminence and be firstborn. Even my firstborn. Now that's the wondrous thing
I want to show you from the Scriptures. How often have you read in the
Old Testament about the firstlings of the flock, and the firstborn
that comes forth from the womb, and the firstfruits offered to
God, and the first, the first, the first, the first. Everything
throughout the Old Testament has great significance that is
identified as the first. And it's obvious there's something
about the first that ought to catch our attention. Every time
you read about the first things in the Old Testament, understand
this, and I want you to get this, if you don't get anything else
I say tonight, it's pointing us to Christ. It's directing
the eye of faith to Him who is to come, God's firstborn. What does that word firstborn
mean? The first one to be born, that's obvious. But it also has
reference to that which is first. That which is chief. that which
is exalted, that which is above all, that which is preeminent. The Holy Spirit tells us that
God's purpose in saving His elect is that His Son, the Lord Jesus
Christ, might be the firstborn among many brethren. In Colossians
chapter 1, we're told the same thing several times. Our Savior
is called the image of the invisible God, the firstborn from the dead,
the head, the body, the church, the beginning, the firstborn
from the dead, that in all things He might have the preeminence.
And in all those things, God is saying, I'm determined that
He have preeminence, who is firstborn. And then in Hebrews chapter 12,
do you remember how the Holy Spirit describes you and I who
are members of Christ? part of his body, his church.
He calls his church the church of the firstborn. The church
of him who is the firstborn, or more accurately translated,
it would be the church of the firstborn one. So that being
united to Christ, being grafted into Christ, being born of God's
Spirit, being in the eyes of God identical with our Savior,
the Lord God looks upon his people in Christ even as he looks upon
Christ as firstborn, imminently precious, highly exalted, treasured,
beloved, cherished of God. The Lord God declares in the
Psalms, Psalm 89, I will make him my firstborn, higher than
the kings of the earth. Now, let me show you some things
about these Old Testament types with regard to the first. They
all foreshadow him. who is described for us as the
Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, Him who is the
sum and the substance of all things written in the book of
God, Him who is the sum and the substance of all things with
regard to God's salvation. Our Lord Jesus, when He walked
with those disciples on the road to Emmaus after the resurrection,
He spoke to them and He opened to them the Scriptures, and beginning
At Moses, and in all the prophets, he showed them things concerning
himself. And in the law, and in the prophets, and in the Psalms,
that is, in all the Old Testament, he opened the Scriptures and
said, Let's talk about me. Let's talk about me. And they
said, Did not our hearts burn within us as he walked with us
by the way? Oh, Spirit of God, come now. and open the scriptures and cause
our hearts to burn after our Redeemer. There is nothing in
the book of God, nothing, that does not speak purposefully of
our all-glorious Christ. Nothing that does not in one
way or another set forth His supremacy, His excellency, and
His glory as the God-man, our Savior. Nowhere is that fact
more evident than in all these typical things in the law with
regard to the firstborn. The firstborn symbolized a father's
might and strength. This is what he says, the excellency
of dignity and the excellency of power is in the firstborn. You remember on that awesome
night when God sent his angel through the land of Egypt. to
deliver Israel out of Pharaoh's bondage, out of the darkness
and bondage and tyranny of Egypt, he delivered them by the blood
of a lamb. And on that night, the Lord God
claimed the firstborn of all Israel for himself, and destroyed
the firstborn in all the land of Egypt. All of them, no exception. And he did it to put a to put
a manifest difference, to put a manifest difference between
Israel and Egypt. Look at Exodus chapter 13 verse
2. Sanctify unto me all the firstborn,
all of them, whatsoever openeth the womb among the children of
Israel, both of man and of beast, it is mine. And on that night
when judgment came into the land of Egypt, all the firstborn in
all the land of Egypt, right down to their cattle in the field,
were destroyed, all of them. And all the firstborn in all
the house of Israel, right down to the firstborn of the cattle,
were preserved alive. How come? Look at Exodus chapter
11, verse 7. Before it ever came to pass,
the Lord God says, but against any of the children of Israel
shall not a dog move his tongue." What a word! That doesn't mean the dog's not
going to bark, it just means he's going to hurt. Against the
children of Israel shall not a dog move his tongue. Not even
against your cow or your dog. Not even against the beast. That
you may know, that you may know, when judgment comes, when wrath
comes, when fury comes, when terror comes, nothing going to
harm you. That you may know how that the
Lord doth, doth, that's a word of continuance. It's done from
eternity. It shall be done tomorrow, but
it is being done now. He doth put a difference between
the Egyptians and Israel. Well, what was the difference?
What was the difference? How did God fix this great gulf
between Israel and Egypt? So that here stands Israel, unharmed
and unharmable, safe and saved absolutely. And here is Egypt. forever damned under the wrath
of God. What is the difference? Just
one thing. The firstborn were all redeemed
by blood. Blood sprinkled on the door of
the house. And that blood, we're told plainly
by the Spirit of God, is the blood of a lamb on that Passover
night, typical of, in all things signifying, Christ our Passover,
who is sacrificed for us, and this, and this alone is the distinction
of God's firstborn, Jesus Christ's precious blood has redeemed us,
who from old eternity were sanctified under God forever, as it was
on that great night of judgment and mercy, the judgment for Israel
and for Egypt. but mercy for Israel alone. So
it was in the year that our Lord Jesus Christ came in the fullness
of time and redeemed and saved His people. That day was a day
of judgment and of mercy. Look in Isaiah 63. Isaiah 63. In verse 3, the Lord Jesus is
speaking. He says, I have trodden the winepress
alone, and of the people there was none with me, for I will
tread them in mine anger, and trample them in my fury. Their
blood shall be sprinkled upon my garments, and I will stay
in all my raiment. But Larry, he's talking about
redeeming us. He did it in the exercise of
his absolute strict justice against himself. Look at this. For the
day of vengeance is in my heart, and the year of my redeeming
has come. They're one thing. One thing. And I looked, and there was none
to help, and I wondered that there was none to uphold. Therefore,
in my fear of Him, In my anger, in my vengeance, in my justice,
in my judgment, mine own arm brought salvation to me and my
fury, it upheld me. And so by justice and by mercy,
our sins were put away. And yet there is a day of vengeance
in His heart that is yet to come. A day when He will show forth
His justice both upon Israel and upon Egypt, in blessing Israel,
his redeemed, and in destroying every foe that stands against
him. The birthrights in the Old Testament
belong to the firstborn among the children of Israel. And that
birthright belonging to the firstborn gave him preeminence in the family. He stands exalted above all the
rest of the family. The firstborn is that one to
whom belonged the right of priesthood in the family. Turn to Numbers
chapter 3, let me show you. Numbers 3. Here in Numbers 3,
God transfers the priesthood from the house of Aaron to the
house of Levi. And he sets aside one tribe in
Israel as his firstborn, representing all the firstborn in the land.
Numbers 3 verse 12. And I behold, I have taken the
Levites from among the children of Israel. Now look at this. Instead of all the firstborn
that openeth the matrix among the children of Israel, therefore
the Levites shall be mine, because all the firstborn are mine. For
on the day that I smote all the firstborn in the land of Egypt."
He keeps going back to this thing that happened in Egypt. I hallowed
unto me all the firstborn in Egypt." How? By blood, by the
blood of the Paschal Lamb. Both man and beast, mine shall
they be, I am the Lord. Look at verse 40, And the Lord
said unto Moses, Number all the firstborn of the males of the
children of Israel from a month old and upward, and take the
number of their names, and thou shalt take the Levites for me,
I am the Lord. instead of all the firstborn
among the children of Israel. I love the way God expresses
his authority, don't you? Well, why should we do that?
Because I'm God. I am the Lord. Explain yourself. I am the Lord.
Look at this. And the cattle of the Levites,
in the stead of all the firstlings among the cattle of the children
of Israel. In other words, the Levites, I take them and all
that pertains to them as the firstborn in the stead of you
and all that pertains to you." The Levites, while they represent
the holy nation of God's elect as a spiritual priesthood, a
royal priesthood, a holy nation, specifically, if you read Hebrews
chapter 8 and 9 particularly, you'll find that the Levites
in their priesthood were typical of Jesus Christ, our Redeemer,
in His great priesthood. And the Lord God took Him, and
all that pertains to Him, everything that pertains to Him, in the
stead of you, and all that pertains to you. You remember when Elijah
was about to be taken, and Elisha knew it. He said, ìMy Lord, let me, let
your mantle fall on me, and let me have a double portion of thy
Spirit.î Now, if you listen to folks talk about that, theyíll
talk about Elisha. Elisha wanted to be a more mighty
prophet than Elijah. He wanted to have more knowledge
than Elijah. He wanted to be more useful than Elijah. Or maybe
he wanted to talk in tongues better than Elijah. It has nothing
to do with any of that. Nothing. The firstborn had a
double portion for his inheritance. He said, Elijah, let me be just
what you are, numbered among the firstborn. And let me have
a double portion of the inheritance following the firstborn. The
firstborn, we're told in Deuteronomy 21, you don't need to turn there,
listen, he shall acknowledge the Son for the firstborn by
giving him a double portion for all that he hath. For he is the
beginning of his strength. The right of the firstborn is
his. What? Now, we live in a day,
particularly in this society, People have been taught from
infancy for the last 50, 75 years, we have rights. It's my right
to live as good as you do without work or not. It's my right to
take your money if I don't have any. It's my right, and that's
what it all boils down to. You've got a right to die is
what you've got a right to do, except as the Son of God, being
one with Christ. Now listen to me. And listen
carefully, being one with Christ by God's free grace, all that
he possesses as the God-made mediator is yours by right of
blood redemption and by right of your union with him. This
is the right of the firstborn, the scripture says. To the firstborn
it was promised. thou art he whom thy brethren
shall praise. Thy hand shall be in the neck
of thine enemies. Thy father's children shall bow
down before thee." Now, all these Old Testament declarations were
intended by God the Holy Spirit to shatter forth the majesty
of the Lord Jesus Christ, the firstborn among many brethren. All the offerings God required
for every male that opens the womb pointed to Christ the firstborn. Let's look at a couple of them.
Look at Exodus chapter 34. Exodus chapter 34. Now God's serious about this
business of the firstborn. He said, either you're going
to consecrate it to me by blood redemption or you're going to
kill it. That goes for your son, as well
as the ass in the field, and your cattle in your stall. You'll
either redeem it with the shackle of the sanctuary, or you'll kill
it, one of the two. Exodus 34, verse 19. All that
openeth the matrix is mine. Not might be, may be. If you
let it be, then it's mine. It's mine. And the firstling,
every firstling among thy cattle, whether ox or sheep, that is
male, but the firstling of an ass, thou shalt redeem with a
lamb, and if thou redeem him not, thou shalt break his neck. All the firstborn of thy sons
thou shalt redeem, and none shall appear before me empty." None
shall appear before me without a sacrifice. None shall appear
before me without atonement. None shall appear before me without
a handful that will make him acceptance to me." Now this is
done to prefigure our Savior, of whom it is written in Luke
chapter 2, it is written in the law of the Lord, every male that
openeth the womb shall be called holy to the Lord. That's the
reason Mary brought him to the temple when he was eight days
old, to be circumcised and consecrated to God with the sacrifice of
two young pigeons. Now, this is the thing that really
caught my attention. Mr. Hawker suggested that when
the scriptures speak of the firstborn that openeth the womb, they must
have a prophetic reference to the virgin birth of our Savior.
And this is what Orca said, strictly and properly speaking, none but
the Lord Jesus ever did open the womb. In every other instance
from the creation of the world, the opening of the womb is accomplished
at the time of conception, not at the time of birth. What an
insightful statement. Our Lord Jesus Christ, in the
fullness of time, opened the womb. of his virgin mother, opened
her womb when he came forth into the world as that one consecrated
to the Lord from eternity as his firstborn, to fulfill his
Father's will as our Mediator, to accomplish our redemption.
The firstborn, we've read, had to be redeemed. God required
that he be redeemed. On the day he was to be redeemed,
the firstborn was brought to the priest And his parents came
with five shekels, according to the shekel of the sanctuary,
atonement money for the firstborn. And the priest took the atonement,
and the priest took the child. Took them both. And he kept the
atonement. He gave the child back to Mama
and Daddy, and they took him home to raise him. Did it with
joy. But that child, they knew. belonged to God. It was required of everyone except
one group. There was an exemption made.
There was no requirement that any of the firstborn among the
Levites be redeemed. No atonement money paid. No ransom
money paid. No shackle according to the sanctuary.
No turtle dove or young pigeon. Why was this exemption made?
Why did God require that the firstborn of the Levites not
be redeemed? It wasn't an optional thing.
He said the firstborn of the Levites shall not be redeemed. That was according to the law.
Why? Because the Levites represented God's elect as a people accepted
in the beloved, for whom redemption is accomplished. in their substitute. And the Levites represented Christ
who is the Redeemer, and He who performed redemption for us is
holy before the Lord God, and there's no need of redemption
for Him. Now let me show you very briefly
how all these things are fulfilled in Christ. Let me just pick five
statements. You can study them out for yourself. The firstborn
was considered the beginning of his father's strength and
excellence. Thou art my firstborn, Jacob
said to Reuben, my might, and the beginning of my strength,
and the excellency of dignity, and the excellency of power.
The firstborn. There is the excellence of the
Father. How many times fathers attempt
to live through their sons, to relive their lives through I
never had one of my own. Now I've got a grandson. I plead
guilty. I plead guilty. I like to see
him excel in everything. And you know, it's better than
if I had. It's better than if I had. I'd
heapsite rather see him comfortable than me be comfortable. I'd heapsite
rather see him happy than me be happy. The other day we were
over there. I have a little quirk, I don't
mind drinking after my family, I don't mind drinking after both
folks, both things, but milk, I just assume your lips not touch
it, especially a baby's lips. And I was sitting at the bar
and Will reached over and got my glass of milk. And his mother said, Poppy doesn't
like anybody to drink his milk. And Will looked up at me and
kind of smiled, and I said, it's all right, son. That's all. This is Will. This is not my
daughter. This is my son. There's a difference.
There's a difference. Listen to me. Jesus Christ, the
God-man mediator, is the excellency of God in all His strength and
in all His glory. He's the firstborn. The firstborn. was consecrated entirely to the
service of God. The firstborn is mine, and there
is one man, only one man, Jesus Christ, whom the Lord God says,
this is my son, even my firstborn, who is consecrated entirely to
the will and glory of God Almighty. The firstborn received a double
portion of his father's estate. double portion. And the Lord
Jesus Christ is that one to whom the Father has given all things,
whom he has appointed heir of all things. Fourth, the firstborn could never be deprived of his
birthright. God established a law As you
know, men might have several wives, especially if brothers,
one after the other, had died. And if a man had a wife and he
had a firstborn son, and then he took another wife and had
another son, and he favors the second wife and favors the second
son, though that second son is the firstborn of this woman's
womb, the law of God required in Deuteronomy 21, he shall honor
the son that is hated as his firstborn. He cannot take his
inheritance from him. Can't be done. Now listen to
me. The Lord Jesus Christ has an
inheritance by virtue of his accomplished redemption as Jehovah's
righteous servant that shall never be taken from him. Never. Ask of me, God said, and I'll
give you the heathen for your inheritance. Psalm 2 verse 8.
Would you like to hear how it's going to turn out? The seventh
angel sounded, and there went great voices in heaven, saying,
The kingdom of this world, the kingdoms of this world, all the
kingdoms of this world, are become the kingdoms of our Lord and
of his Christ, and he shall reign forever." One more thing. The firstborn succeeded his father as the head
of the family. Now, because of His eternality,
our God shall never be succeeded. Yet, He has appointed Christ,
His Son, even His firstborn, to be the head of all things,
the head of all nations, a special treasure above all the people
that are upon the face of all the earth. He appointed Christ
to be the head over His family, the Church. the head over every
man, the head over all principality and power, the head over all
creation, even the head over all things forever, to the praise
of His glory. And that's the law of the firstborn. And so when you read, Christ
is the end of the law, for righteousness to everyone who believe it. Among
all the other things regarding the law, it certainly means this. When you see Jesus Christ crucified,
risen, exalted, accepted, sitting on his throne, ruling, priest,
and king forever, when you see him, The crucified Christ, accepted
of God as His firstborn. He's accepted in the stead of
all His people. And we, being granted to Him,
are called the firstborn ones. Accepted of God, righteous as
He is righteous. holy as He is holy, heirs of
God and joint heirs with Christ, receiving a double portion of
the Lord's hand, an inheritance that shall never, by God's own
law, be taken from us. Oh, may God now graft you into
Christ. May He conquer you by His grace,
cause you to surrender to His Son, Confess yourself for what
you are before him. Make you a prince with God. And
declare in the hearing of your soul, thou art my son, even my
firstborn. My delights are with you. Amen.