Reflections on Exodus 13

Exodus 13 (Contemporary English Version)

1. The LORD said to Moses,
   
2. "Dedicate to me the first-born son of every family and the first-born males of your flocks and herds. These belong to me."
   
3. Moses said to the people: Remember this day in the month of Abib. It is the day when the LORD's mighty power rescued you from Egypt, where you were slaves. Do not eat anything made with yeast.
   
4. (SEE 13:3)
   
5. The LORD promised your ancestors that he would bring you into the land of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Hivites, and Jebusites. It is a land rich with milk and honey. Each year during the month of Abib, celebrate these events in the following way:
   
6. For seven days you are to eat bread made without yeast, and on the seventh day you are to celebrate a festival in honor of the LORD.
   
7. During those seven days, you must not eat anything made with yeast or even have yeast anywhere near your homes.
   
8. Then on the seventh day you must explain to your children that you do this because the LORD brought you out of Egypt.
   
9. This celebration will be like wearing a sign on your hand or on your forehead, because then you will pass on to others the teaching of the LORD, whose mighty power brought you out of Egypt.
   
10. Celebrate this festival each year at the same time.
    
11. The LORD will give you the land of the Canaanites, just as he promised you and your ancestors.
    
12. From then on, you must give him every first-born son from your families and every first-born male from your animals, because these belong to him.
    
13. You can save the life of a first-born donkey by sacrificing a lamb, if you don't, you must break the donkey's neck. You must save every first-born son.
    
14. In the future your children will ask what this ceremony means. Explain it to them by saying, "The LORD used his mighty power to rescue us from slavery in Egypt.
    
15. The king stubbornly refused to set us free, so the LORD killed the first-born male of every animal and the first-born son of every Egyptian family. This is why we sacrifice to the LORD every first-born male of every animal and save every first-born son."
    
16. This ceremony will serve the same purpose as a sign on your hand or on your forehead to tell how the LORD's mighty power rescued us from Egypt.
    
17. After the king had finally let the people go, the LORD did not lead them through Philistine territory, though that was the shortest way. God had said, "If they are attacked, they may decide to return to Egypt."
    
18. So he led them around through the desert and toward the Red Sea. The Israelites left Egypt, prepared for battle.
    
19. Moses had them take along the bones of Joseph, whose dying words had been, "God will come to your rescue, and when he does, be sure to take along my bones."
    
20. The people of Israel left Succoth and camped at Etham at the border of Egypt near the desert.
    
21. During the day the LORD went ahead of his people in a thick cloud, and during the night he went ahead of them in a flaming fire. That way the LORD could lead them at all times, whether day or night.
    
22. (SEE 13:21)
    
    

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    Once freed from Egyptian bondage, the Israelites began their journey to the land God promised to their forefathers. But this journey was much more than traveling from one place to get to another. It was a time of preparation as well. Preparation, first of all, to be God's people. That was the purpose God had in mind in giving them their own land. So we read in these accounts of the instructions God gave the people for consecrating themselves to Him. Secondly, the people had to be prepared to take the land of promise. They couldn't just walk into it and make it theirs. Other people were living there who had to be evicted before it was theirs. But it was not military preparation that would be required for this task. Rather it was spiritual preparation. The Lord would do the evicting but the Israelites would have to obediently and courageously follow His instructions.
    
    All of this is a picture of our own journeys with God. He wants us to be His people. Everything He does in our lives is aimed at this purpose. This is not a selfish purpose for it is the means of us living fulfilled and meaningful lives. As His people, God intended for the whole world to be pointed to Him as it viewed His mightly works through the Israelites. This also applies to us. Through God's work in our lives as His people the rest of the world can be pointed to God. Therefore, when God moves us from one place to another, whether it be a change of geography or a change in our situation, it is accompanied with a time of preparation. This may happen through a circuitous route in getting to the new destination, as with the Israelites, or it may simply be a time of waiting when it seems nothing is happening in our lives. Either way, God uses these occasions to prepare us for the purpose to which He is taking us.
    
    The Israelite's journey out of Egypt did not take them on the most direct route to Canaan. This would take them through territory that would require them to go to war with other nations to gain passage through the territory. They were not ready for this. In the face of such a challenge, God said they would "change their minds and return to Egypt." (13:17) We must remember that they had been slaves for centuries. Mental they most likely saw themselves as victims of their circumstances rather than masters of them with God's help. Their first stop out of Egypt was Succoth where God gave them further instructions about ongoing observances they were to keep so they would remember and teach to their children what God did for them when He led them out of Egypt.
    
    Instructions recorded in chapter 13 concern the festival of Unleavened Bread which was to follow Passover each year. For this festival they were not to have leavened bread or yeast even in their midst. They were to explain to their children that "This is because of what the LORD did for me when I came out of Egypt." (13:8) In addition God instructed them to dedicate to the Lord the firstborn males of their families and of their livestock. When they dedicated their firstborn they were to explain to them: "By the strength of His hand the LORD brought us out of Egypt, out of the place of slavery. When Pharaoh stubbornly refused to let us go, the LORD killed every firstborn male in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of man to the firstborn of livestock. That is why I sacrifice to the LORD all the firstborn of the womb that are males, but I redeem all the firstborn of my sons." (13:14-15)