Exodus 34:10  And he said, Behold, I make a covenant: before all thy people I will do marvels, such as have not been done in all the earth, nor in any nation: and all the people among which thou art shall see the work of the LORD: for it is a terrible thing that I will do with thee.
11  Observe thou that which I command thee this day: behold, I drive out before thee the Amorite, and the Canaanite, and the Hittite, and the Perizzite, and the Hivite, and the Jebusite.
12  Take heed to thyself, lest thou make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land whither thou goest, lest it be for a snare in the midst of thee:
13  But ye shall destroy their altars, break their images, and cut down their groves:
14  For thou shalt worship no other god: for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God:
15  Lest thou make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land, and they go a whoring after their gods, and do sacrifice unto their gods, and one call thee, and thou eat of his sacrifice;
16  And thou take of their daughters unto thy sons, and their daughters go a whoring after their gods, and make thy sons go a whoring after their gods.
17  Thou shalt make thee no molten gods.
18  The feast of unleavened bread shalt thou keep. Seven days thou shalt eat unleavened bread, as I commanded thee, in the time of the month Abib: for in the month Abib thou camest out from Egypt.
19  All that openeth the matrix is mine; and every firstling among thy cattle, whether ox or sheep, that is male.
20  But the firstling of an ass thou shalt redeem with a lamb: and if thou redeem him not, then shalt thou break his neck. All the firstborn of thy sons thou shalt redeem. And none shall appear before me empty.

God never makes any mistakes. He also knows the beginning from the end. He does not force anyone to go to Hell. He has revealed Himself to man from the beginning and He has made it possible for man to know Him.
In our text we read that even though Israel chose to rebel against Him, He did not throw the nation of Israel away. He promised to make a covenant with them and He would keep His Word. The nations of the world would take notice of Israel. The purpose of Israel was to point people to God. Many people today and throughout the centuries have misunderstood God’s workings and they have been jealous of Israel, and hated her. When we look at the history of the nation of Israel, there really is no reason to be jealous of that nation. They have suffered more than any other nation in the world. They are currently still living in bondage. That bondage is the bondage of sin.
The world cannot get their minds and eyes off of the Middle East. The focal point of the Middle East is Israel. The Muslims want that piece of land for themselves. They will never have it, but they will die trying to get it. The West wants a piece of that land possibly as a way to buy favour with the Lord. That will never work. The West has deliberately chosen not to understand the Middle East and Israel in particular. God is still watching over Israel and He will protect them and they will eventually repent and know His forgiveness and His peace.
In verse 11 God again reminded Moses that he needed to obey God. God promised to drive out the current inhabitants of the land of Canaan in His time. Moses needed to take heed to himself. He was a representative of the nation of Israel. They were not to make any agreements with the inhabitants of the land of Canaan. If they would make agreements with them, that would be a snare unto them.
The book of Judges shows us how that worked out. Several times, Israel went through oppression because they did not listen to God. He delivered them out of their oppression there every time. As we read in II Kings and II Chronicles, the time came when He would no longer deliver the children of Israel from bondage. He sent them into exile to teach them a lesson. After seventy years He brought them out of exile, but they never gained control of their land again. That will take place at a future time.
Moses was told again that they were not to take on the practices of the pagans that currently occupied the land of Canaan. They were not to worship false gods. They were to be wholly committed to worship the true LORD. They were not to allow their sons or daughters to intermarry with the heathen.
Aaron had already led the people into worshipping an idol in the form of the golden calf. God again reminded Moses that this was not acceptable and would not be tolerated by Him.
In verse 18 Moses was reminded that the nation needed to keep the feast of unleavened bread according to God’s command. That feast was associated with the Passover. That feast was to be kept in the month Abib. That was the month in which God had delivered Israel out of the hands of the Egyptians. They needed to be reminded of that deliverance every year.
In verse 19 God further reminded them of the fact that He owned them. He required the firstborn males of all the animals as a sacrifice unto Him.
If a man did not want to give his firstborn animal to God for a sacrifice, then he needed to redeem that animal with the required price. If the person did not want to pay the redemption price, then he was to break the neck of that animal. He would lose out. He was wise to pay the required price or give the animal willingly to the LORD.
The firstborn sons were to be redeemed but not slain. God would provide for the nation so that they could meet His righteous standard. None was permitted to come before Him empty handed. He set the price of redemption for the firstborn son and He required that payment. This was not to pay for the salvation of anyone. It was a picture of the redemption that the Lord Jesus Christ would one day provide for the redemption, not just of the firstborn, but of anyone who would repent toward God and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation. The cost of salvation would be borne by the Lord Jesus Christ, not by man. He is not just the firstborn but He is the only begotten Son of God. That is borne out in the New Testament in many places.
It is important to know the true God and be forgiven through the shed blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. God does not want anyone to perish. He wants all to come to repentance and be saved. He is very gracious toward man. It is important to listen to Him now.
Pastor Bartel