NOVEMBER 17, 2024
Reading: Exodus 13:1-16
Focus: Exodus 13:2 – “Consecrate to me every firstborn male. The first offspring of every womb among the Israelites belongs to me, whether human or animal.”
Father God, Thank You for Your Word. Open our eyes to see what You want us to learn. Help us to understand Your ways. In Jesus Name. Amen.
Chapter 13 begins with “Consecrate to Me all the firstborn, whatever opens the womb among the children of Israel, both of man and beast; it is Mine.” (Exodus 13:2). The word consecrate means make or declare sacred; dedicate irrevocably to a religious or divine purpose. Literally, set it apart for God. The firstborn are the joy and pride of any family. They are the hope of the next generation. God, the creator and proprietor of all creatures laid claim to the firstborn of the Israelites. The firstborn was considered to be the best. And the best belonged to God. This was to be the memorial of the protection of the firstborn on the night of Passover. The remembrance that God had redeemed Israel, His firstborn people, from Egypt.
The Israelites are leaving Egypt, though they haven’t completely left. They are at the intersection of two travel routes on the Sinai Peninsula (which is still part of Egypt). The Way of the Philistines and The Way of the Wilderness. The Bible, at this point does not give any indication of pursuit by the Egyptians yet. They are cooking unleavened bread to eat. I also imagine that here they are repacking everything that was hastily gathered as they left Goshen. Loading carts and making sure their goods were packed practically in those carts. The rush out of Goshen would have been hectic and packing had probably not been a priority. I also imagine that Moses was organizing the people into groups with leaders and placing drag riders at the back of the multitude to make sure that no stragglers are left behind.
Now, remember these people were used to hard work. They were brickmakers, masons, carpenters, bakers, metalsmiths, cooks, scribes, weavers, shepherds, farmers and the list goes on. Their ancestry and their slavery taught them many skills. Skills they would need when they reached the Promised Land. They were used to walking and they would be doing a lot of that. They were rejoicing that they were leaving Egypt and at the same time, they were warily anticipating what lay ahead.
Here in Succoth, Moses was instructed on the precise observance of the Feast of Unleavened Bread. No one was to eat anything with yeast in it. This most definitely included beer, since beer is fermented with yeast. It was to be cleaned out of their tents and their possessions. For seven days after the celebration of Passover, no yeast was to be eaten. This was to be explained to the children that this is done in remembrance of what the Lord had done when bring the Israelites out of Egypt. This purity of unleavened bread followed the blood-deliverance of the Passover. It illustrates that we can only walk in purity before God after the blood-deliverance of the cross.
The Feast of Unleavened Bread was not as somber as Passover. It was a joyous celebration. It begins and ends with a feast. This reminds us that a life of walking before God in purity is a life of joy. In the New Testament, yeast is compared with sin. Just as the religious Jew zealously cleaned out the yeast from their homes, we are to remove and shun sin just as zealously. A tiny amount of yeast swells and grows. It makes bread to rise and expand. Sin does the same. It starts off small and doesn’t take up too much of our life at first but gradually it grows and swells until it permeates our whole lives. Jesus’ death and resurrection gave us freedom from sin. We can route out the things in our lives that lead us toward sin. And with Christ’s help, we can turn our back on sin and face toward heaven.
The Bible tells us that this should ”. . . 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.” (Exodus 13:9a). This last phrase tells us that the sign on the hand and on the forehead were not literal, visible signs but pure metaphor. I take it to mean that we should be as familiar with the word of God as we are with the back of our own hand or our own face. In Jesus’ time, ‘religious’ Jews wore phylacteries on the forehead and hand. Citing this scripture and those in Deuteronomy as the reason for them. These phylacteries contained written scripture and were strapped to the head and hand. The boxes were large and ostentatious. Wearing an outward sign of their religion rather than actually living it. Jesus condemned the Pharisees for this flashy show of religion instead of humbly living their faith.
God had told Moses that all the firstborn males, man and beast belong to Him. These instructions were to be followed after the Israelites arrived in the Promised Land. The people were to consecrate the first male born to any female to God. The term means that the issue of the first pregnancy of the female belonged to God, if it was a male. If the firstborn was a clean animal (clean and unclean animals are described in Leviticus), it would be sacrificed to God. If it was an unclean animal, it was redeemed by the sacrifice of a perfect lamb or killed if the owner refused to redeem it. The firstborn sons must also be consecrated to God. It must be said that this was not the same as some gods in Canaan required. This consecration was not sacrifice of the firstborn sons. The firstborn sons of the Israelites were to be redeemed. Jesus was brought to the Temple in Jerusalem soon after His birth, according to the Law, to be redeemed. This is still practiced in Jewish congregations all over the world.
The firstborn human males were to be redeemed with five shekels (designated in Numbers). We will go into this more once we get into the Law in Leviticus and Numbers. Again, God tells the people to tell the children why this is being done. Explain exactly what God did to bring Egypt to its knees and delivered them from their slavery.
Redemption. Today, we do not sacrifice a lamb for the redemption of our sons. Some churches christen children. Others have dedication ceremonies for their children. Our church dedicates our children. We bring our baby to the pastor and promise, before God and the congregation, to raise the child in the ways of God, teaching them the precepts of God. The congregation also promises to help with this teaching of God’s word. It’s a solemn commitment by parent and church.
Redemption. Our redemption was paid on a cross, on a dusty hot day, in a small corner of the world. Our redemption was the Lamb of God. He was sacrificed for our sins, died and was buried. On the third day, He rose again. He has taken the keys of death and hell from Satan. We are no longer bound by the Law but have been freed from the slavery to it. We are redeemed and consecrated to God as His children.
Passover, Easter, is the memorial of that redemption. We should keep it daily. Remember constantly where we came from, to whom we belong and where we are headed.
Do you remember?
Father God, Thank You for the redemption You provided for us through Jesus Christ. Help us to always remember the deliverance that You provided. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
Food for Though
- Why do you think it was important that the Israelites celebrate the Feast of Unleavened Bread every year?
- Why do you think it was important that the bread be unleavened?
- Why do think God required that the firstborn be consecrated to Him?
- Why was it necessary to tell the children specifically why the consecration of the firstborn and the unleavened bread was to be kept?
- Do you tell your children what God has done in your life? Why or why not?
