Read Exodus 13
Consecration of the Firstborn
1 The Lord said to Moses, 2 “Consecrate to me every firstborn male. The first offspring of every womb among the Israelites belongs to me, whether human or animal.”
3 Then Moses said to the people, “Commemorate this day, the day you came out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery, because the Lord brought you out of it with a mighty hand. Eat nothing containing yeast. 4 Today, in the month of Aviv, you are leaving. 5 When the Lord brings you into the land of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Hivites and Jebusites—the land he swore to your ancestors to give you, a land flowing with milk and honey—you are to observe this ceremony in this month: 6 For seven days eat bread made without yeast and on the seventh day hold a festival to the Lord. 7 Eat unleavened bread during those seven days; nothing with yeast in it is to be seen among you, nor shall any yeast be seen anywhere within your borders.8 On that day tell your son, ‘I do this because of what the Lord did for me when I came out of Egypt.’ 9 This observance will be for you like a sign on your hand and a reminder on your forehead that this law of the Lord is to be on your lips. For the Lord brought you out of Egypt with his mighty hand.10 You must keep this ordinance at the appointed time year after year.
11 “After the Lord brings you into the land of the Canaanites and gives it to you, as he promised on oath to you and your ancestors, 12 you are to give over to the Lord the first offspring of every womb. All the firstborn males of your livestock belong to the Lord. 13 Redeem with a lamb every firstborn donkey, but if you do not redeem it, break its neck. Redeem every firstborn among your sons.
14 “In days to come, when your son asks you, ‘What does this mean?’ say to him, ‘With a mighty hand the Lord brought us out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. 15 When Pharaoh stubbornly refused to let us go, the Lord killed the firstborn of both people and animals in Egypt. This is why I sacrifice to the Lord the first male offspring of every womb and redeem each of my firstborn sons.’ 16 And it will be like a sign on your hand and a symbol on your forehead that the Lord brought us out of Egypt with his mighty hand.”
Crossing the Sea
17 When Pharaoh let the people go, God did not lead them on the road through the Philistine country, though that was shorter. For God said, “If they face war, they might change their minds and return to Egypt.” 18 So God led the people around by the desert road toward the Red Sea. The Israelites went up out of Egypt ready for battle.
19 Moses took the bones of Joseph with him because Joseph had made the Israelites swear an oath. He had said, “God will surely come to your aid, and then you must carry my bones up with you from this place.”
20 After leaving Sukkoth they camped at Etham on the edge of the desert.21 By day the Lord went ahead of them in a pillar of cloud to guide them on their way and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, so that they could travel by day or night. 22 Neither the pillar of cloud by day nor the pillar of fire by night left its place in front of the people.
Go Deeper
Sometimes, God asks us to do things that we just don’t understand. Particularly in the Old Testament, we often find commands that are somewhat confusing. For instance, in this chapter, God asks the Israelites to not eat yeast for seven days. What does God have against yeast? Well, this command actually has hardly anything to do with yeast. In reality, this command has everything to do with our forgetfulness. God knows that we are prone to forget (remember Pharaoh in chapter 9?); therefore, He uses these commands to wake us up. Yeast was such a staple of their diets that to not use it would have been a disruption.
Here, God uses a change in their diet and the sacrifice of an animal to provide a consistent reminder of His faithfulness. He knew that if the Israelites went through their lives without an intentional prompting, they would forget what God had done and fail to tell future generations. These commands were really just reminders of the goodness of God.
In the same way, we are prone to forget the faithfulness of Jesus in our lives. We will forget His goodness if we don’t set up intentional reminders. His commands still achieve the same purpose as they did in Exodus 13. When we live differently from the world, people will ask us why we live that way. This will always provide us an opportunity to tell our kids, neighbors, and co-workers, “Let me tell you about what God has done for me…”
As we’ll see in the coming days, the story will only get more dramatic from here. As the Israelites journeyed on, Pharaoh’s back-and-forth mind enters the picture again but God’s faithfulness never left them.
Questions
- How do you think you would have felt upon hearing these commands from God?
- In verse 17, God said, “If they face war, they might change their minds and return to Egypt.” How resilient are you in the face of opposition? Do you trust God even when things get hard?
- What are some things you can set up in your life that could serve as reminders about God’s faithfulness to you?
Did You Know?
Exodus 13:9 is one of the primary sources for the Jewish practice of wearing tefillin, two leather boxes that contain words from the Torah. The boxes are worn on the forehead and upper arm. The word tefillin derives from the Hebrew word for prayer.
5 thoughts on “Exodus 13”
REMEMBER
Every thought, every action should be with a rememberance of what God has done through the blood of His Son. It should’nt be just at a festival time but in a constant continual time.
1 Peter 1:18-19
knowing that you were not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold from your futile way of life inherited from your forefathers, 19 but with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ.
Deuteronomy 6:7…
“You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.”
Ephesians 6:4 says, “Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.”
God thank You for me being in as much as I am able, to be constant in my praising You. You are worthy, I will bless the Lord at all times; Your praises shall continually be in my mouth. Rejoice in You, Oh, Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. Thank You for me doing my best not to be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let me tell You my requests God. And Your peace God, which surpasses all understanding, is guarding my heart and my mind in Christ Jesus. God help me to think on whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise. God help me to think about these things. God thank You for these minutes of this day that I dwell on You. Thank You for my talking aobut You when I open my mouth today in Jesus name amen.
WOOHOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
19 “God will surely come to your aid, and then you must carry my bones up with you from this place.”
Amazing that Joseph would make this prophecy and request. And in the midst of all that was going on, incredible that the Israelites remembered their oath!
May have been like, “Hey, as we’re packing up to leave Egypt after generations of captivity, let’s be sure not to forget Joseph’s bones. Does anyone remember where we put those?!”
God is the great deliverer and rescuer! Somehow the human brain is forgetful, so God instituted an ordinance/observance/ceremony to commemorate his mighty deliverance of his people from Egypt. “This observance will be for you like a sign on your hand and a reminder on your forehead that this law of the Lord is to be on your lips. For the Lord brought you out of Egypt with his mighty hand. You must keep this ordinance at the appointed time year after year” (v9-10). I’m pausing to stand in awe of my own redemption story, how “he called me out of darkness into his marvelous light.” I’m no longer a slave to sin but belong to God. I’m forever marked as a follower of Christ, not by my good works but by his perfect sacrifice.
God is a God of deliverance. He is faithful and keeps His word. We can have hope in tough times by remembering His past faithfulness as in this narrative. We are set apart to live our lives for Him. Living redeemed! Thank you, Jesus for Your sacrifice.
“When Pharaoh let the people go, God did not lead them on the road through the Philistine country, though that was shorter. For God said, “If they face war, they might change their minds and return to Egypt.” 18 So God led the people around by the desert road toward the Red Sea.”
These verses hit home for me! The universal truth here is that sometimes, the way god operates is through creating an easier route for you to stay faithful. It might be longer or there might be other challenges involved but Jesus is allowing you to adjust & he tries to give you the best chance at success.
As a young, single man. This verse sticks out relationally. It’s best to wait for the long haul for the right person to come along. Rather than settling & getting into troubles that I don’t need to be.
Dont lower the standards, increase your patience – pastor dale.