Exodus 13:1-16
Everyone has certain special days in their life: a birthday, a baptism, a graduation, a wedding, or perhaps some other day that has been marked on your calendar as a special day for you. Did you know that the practice of honoring special events on certain days comes from the Bible? Yes, it does. One such day to remember is recorded for us in Exodus 13:1-16.
1. And the LORD spoke unto Moses, saying,
2. Sanctify unto me all the firstborn, whatever opens the womb among the children of Israel, both of man and of beast: it is mine.
3. And Moses said unto the people, remember this day, in which ye came out from Egypt, out of the house of bondage; for by strength of hand the LORD brought you out from this place: there shall no leavened bread be eaten.
4. This day came ye out in the month Abib.
5. And it shall be when the LORD shall bring thee into the land of the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites, which he swore unto thy fathers to give thee, a land flowing with milk and honey, that thou shalt keep this service in this month.
6. Seven days thou shalt eat unleavened bread, and in the seventh day shall be a feast to the LORD.
7. Unleavened bread shall be eaten seven days; and there shall no leavened bread be seen with thee, neither shall there be leaven seen with thee in all thy quarters.
8. And thou shalt shew thy son in that day, saying, this is done because of that which the LORD did unto me when I came forth out of Egypt.
9. And it shall be for a sign unto thee upon thine hand, and for a memorial between thine eyes, that the LORD’S law may be in thy mouth: for with a strong hand hath the LORD brought thee out of Egypt.
10. Thou shalt therefore keep this ordinance in his season from year to year.
11. And it shall be when the LORD shall bring thee into the land of the Canaanites, as he swore unto thee and to thy fathers, and shall give it thee,
12. That thou shalt set apart unto the LORD all that opens the matrix, and every firstling that cometh of a beast which thou hast; the males shall be the LORD’S.
13. And every firstling of an ass thou shalt redeem with a lamb; and if thou wilt not redeem it, then thou shalt break his neck: and all the first born of man among thy children shalt thou redeem.
14. And it shall be when thy son asketh thee in time to come, saying, what is this? that thou shalt say unto him, By strength of hand the LORD brought us out from Egypt, from the house of bondage:
15. And it came to pass, when Pharaoh would hardly let us go, that the LORD slew all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both the firstborn of man, and the firstborn of beast: therefore, I sacrifice to the LORD all that open the matrix, being males; but all the firstborn of my children I redeem.
16. And it shall be for a token upon thine hand, and for frontlets between thine eyes: for by strength of hand the LORD brought us forth out of Egypt.
In this Bible text, we have a word from the Lord regarding a very special day for the people of Israel, in the past and the present. In that special day, the Lord emphasized several REMEMBRANCES so they would never forget what He had done.
These remembrances can be helpful to us also, to remember our day, just as the children of Israel were instructed to REMEMBER YOUR DAY. So, let’s look at them.
Moses gave them this remembrance:
Remember the Day of Deliverance
He spoke of how they were brought out of the house of bondage. You can read about that bondage in the earlier chapters of this book of Exodus. They were very much oppressed and suppressed, held down. They were not even citizens of the country. They were slaves. They had no legal rights, no freedom. They were in bondage, and Moses said, “Remember the day of deliverance when the LORD brought you out of the house of bondage.” Moses reminded them that it was not their strength that brought them out of the house of bondage. No! It was the hand of the Lord, “For by strength of hand the LORD brought you out of this place.”
Yes, by all considerations, Israel needed to ascribe their deliverance to the Lord–the strength of the LORD God. He brought them out of bondage into freedom. He spoke about the new land to which they were going; land possessed by different nations: the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites.
A new land and a new relationship were to be theirs, for the LORD said it was to be a land flowing with milk and honey. Even so, they were to keep this remembrance in this month, seven days of eating unleavened bread instead of normal bread. It was to be a joyous, seven-day feast because it reminded them of that day of deliverance and symbolized a complete newness.
There can be a deliverance for everybody because the LORD’s hand is still strong enough to deliver. The prophet Isaiah speaking for God, once said, “The hand of the LORD is not shortened that it cannot save, nor the LORD’s ear heavy that it cannot hear.” The reason people are not saved and the reason the LORD doesn’t seem to hear them is their sin.
Yes, there can be a day of deliverance for everybody because God, in the strength of His hand, will deliver you as He delivered those people in ancient days.
Moses gave them a second remembrance:
Remember the Law of the LORD
I am so thankful that God has given us His Book, the Bible. How awful it would be if we did not have some word, some revelation from the LORD. But when you have a word from the LORD, you carry a certain responsibility. That responsibility is to remember the word of the LORD and tell it to your children and grandchildren.
I find in Moses’ counsel to the children of Israel a very important emphasis: family religion. You can never expect your son to be any more religious than you are. The LORD laid a responsibility on the father here in this message: remember the law of the LORD because when your son asks you, you are to tell him what happened. You are to relate what God did. You are to say, “The LORD did this unto me when I came forth out of Egypt.”
But there is more than just telling. There is also doing, setting an example. So, the LORD said, “This shall be a sign unto you upon your hand.” If you are so controlled by the Word of God as having it on your hand, then that will sanctify your daily toil. It will change the way you look at your work; it will set it apart, it will sanctify your labor, and give it greater purpose.
He also says you are to have this as a memorial between your eyes to screen your vision. The eye is a marvelous member of your body. And when you have the law of the LORD between your eyes, it will screen your vision. Look at the world and life through God’s Law. And the law of the LORD shall be in your mouth. If you have the law of the LORD in your mouth, it will affect your speech. It will make it better.
So, remember the law of the LORD, tell your son about it, and show him by having the law of the LORD prominent in your own life. Then He said, “This ordinance shall be to you from year to year. “An ordinance carries with it the idea of an inscription, something like an engraving in stone. This ordinance is to be inscribed in your heart: “Remember the law of the LORD.”
Moses expressed a third remembrance:
Remember the Saving of the Firstborn
In God’s program for Israel, the firstborn was sacred. He put it this way, “Sanctify unto me all the firstborn.” That means to set them apart. When you sanctify some object, you take it out of its ordinary setting, and you put it aside for holy use. You set it apart.
Notice in verse 12 that they were instructed by Moses, “You shalt set apart unto the LORD all that opens the womb.” The firstborn is not like the secondborn or the thirdborn. According to the word of the LORD, to remember the salvation of the firstborn means to acknowledge that the firstborn is sacred to God.
It is a sacred responsibility to communicate this to your son, to your family, because the prophet Moses said, “And it shall be when your son asks you in time to come, saying, what is this? that then you will tell him that the LORD killed all the firstborn in the land of Egypt when we were about to come out. Therefore, the firstborn of beasts we must sacrifice and the firstborn of our children we shall redeem.”
To redeem them means that something else must die in their place. In fact, Moses instructed them to redeem an ass with a lamb. In other words, sacrifice a lamb that the ass might live. The saving of the firstborn: remember it, Moses instructed the people of Israel. There is saving for the firstborn. God has set him apart as special, separated for holy use.
The remembrances then may also come to you: the day of your deliverance, the law of the LORD, the saving of the firstborn. You can make all this real and meaningful in your life and family. God wants you to enter into this by faith in Him.
Thank you, J. Mark, for this teaching from Exodus, and we thank you for joining us. As Christians, it is a privilege to serve and trust our God. Our God, Who is above every nation. As His people, it is good for us to remember the important principle in Daniel 4:17. It says, “that the living may know That the Most High rules in the kingdoms of men, and gives it to whomever He will, and sets over it the lowest of men.” This verse teaches our sovereign God is over the kingdoms on earth. What happens here among our leaders is known and directed by Him.
Our leaders may be powerful and important or minor and less known, but it is our God who has placed them there, and our God is using them to accomplish His will. I admit we don’t always know how this can be, and when I don’t, I usually tell God I don’t know why this is happening or why You are allowing this, but I trust You and pray that Your people stay faithful. Be encouraged from this story from Exodus, that our God was in control, and the same God who was in control back then is still in control now.
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This brings us to the end of today’s program; thanks again for being there. Please join us next week for another lesson from Exodus. Go with God this week and know that He is big enough for your circumstance. Trust Him because “the Most High rules in the kingdoms of men.”
*This episode is an exposition of Exodus 13:1-16 by J. Otis Yoder, re-recorded by J. Mark Horst, with an opening and closing by Arlin Horst.