"The Lord speaks to Moses concerning the Passover Festival. The Israelites are supposed to perform the Passover festival on a yearly basis, and God gives the reasoning behind it. God leads the Israelites into the wilderness, away from Egypt and circumventing the Philistines. They travel towards the Red Sea. The Israelites leave Egypt in battle formation. Moses takes the bones of Joseph just as Joseph had commanded just before he died. From Succoth they traveled to Etham, a town on the edge of the wilderness. The Lord leads the Israelites with a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night. These two pillars never left its place in front of the people."
Exodus 13 Amplified Bible (AMP)
The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Sanctify to Me [that is, set apart for My purpose] every firstborn, the first offspring of every womb among the children of Israel, both of man and of animal; it is Mine.”
3 Moses said to the people, “Remember [solemnly observe and commemorate] this day on which you came out of Egypt, out of the house of bondage and slavery; for by a strong and powerful hand the Lord brought you out of this place. And nothing leavened shall be eaten. 4 On this day in the month Abib, you are about to go onward. 5 And it shall be when the Lord brings you into the land of the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Amorite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite, which He swore to your fathers to give you, a land [of abundance] [a]flowing with milk and honey, that you shall keep and observe this rite (service) in this month. 6 For seven days you shall eat unleavened bread, and on the seventh day there shall be a feast to the Lord. 7 Unleavened bread shall be eaten throughout the seven days; no leavened bread shall be seen with you, nor shall there be leaven within the borders of your territory. 8 You shall explain this to your son on that day, saying, ‘It is because of what the Lord did for me when I came out of Egypt.’ 9 It shall serve as a sign to you on your hand (arm), and as a reminder on your forehead, so that the instruction (law) of the Lord may be in your mouth; for with a strong and powerful hand the Lord brought you out of Egypt. 10 Therefore, you shall keep this ordinance at this time from year to year.
11 “Now it shall be when the Lord brings you into the land of the Canaanite, as He swore to you and your fathers, and gives it to you, 12 you shall set apart and dedicate to the Lord all that first opens the womb. All the firstborn males of your livestock shall be the Lord’s. 13 Every firstborn of a [b]donkey you shall redeem by [substituting] a lamb [as a sacrifice for it], but if you do not [wish to] redeem it, then you shall break its neck; and every firstborn among your sons you shall redeem [that is, “buy back” from God with a suitable sacrifice]. 14 And it shall be when your son asks you in time to come, saying, ‘What does this mean?’ you shall say to him, ‘With a strong and powerful hand the Lord brought us out of Egypt, from the house of bondage and slavery. 15 For it happened, when Pharaoh stubbornly refused to let us go, that the Lord struck every firstborn in the land of Egypt, both the firstborn of man and the firstborn of animal. Therefore, I sacrifice to the Lord all the males, the first [to be born] of every womb, but every firstborn of my sons I redeem.’ 16 So it shall serve as a sign and a reminder on your [left] hand (arm) and as [c]frontlets between your eyes, for by a strong and powerful hand the Lord brought us out of Egypt.”
- GOD'S ORDINANCES. The Israelites were now a free people, and they were embarking a new journey, that was well-guided by God. God freed and rescued His people/children FOR A PURPOSE, it was so they could worship, follow, and obey God. They were NOT freed so they can do whatever the heck they wanted. They should follow God's will and ordinances, so that they can live well and pleasing before God. From a kingdom of slavery and oppression, they are being transferred into the kingdom of God, full of freedom, righteousness and truth. It's like being born again, knowing and believing God, repenting from our sins, and embracing the light of God's kingdom, being renewed each day with the help of the Holy Spirit and by imitating our Lord and Savior Jesus (Christlikeness).
"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new." 2 Corinthians 5:17
"Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved." Acts 4:12
- EVERY FIRSTBORN BELONGS TO GOD. The Lord told His people to sanctify and set apart for His purpose every firstborn, both man and animal. Aside from God rescuing the Israelites from the hands of Egypt with the 10th and final plague, does it also represent the fact that Jesus is God's firstborn-- the firstborn of all creation? I think that is the great significance of this.
Footnotes: Exodus 13:5 This phrase referred to the abundant fertility of the land of Canaan. Milk (typically that of goats and sheep) was associated with abundance; “honey” referred mainly to syrups made from dates or grapes and was the epitome of sweetness. Bees’ honey was very rare and was considered the choicest of foods.
Exodus 13:13 For most Israelites, the donkey would eventually be important for their livelihoods as a work-animal, so God foresaw the need and allowed this exception. Those who had no need for an additional donkey were not required to redeem it, but were to kill it in recognition of God’s right to the firstborn. On the other hand, redemption was of course the only option for a firstborn son. God thereby honors His own right to the firstborn, but at the same time forbids human sacrifice.
Exodus 13:16 Heb totaphoth, later renamed tefillin (“attachment”) but often called phylacteries (Gr “safeguards”) these came to be small cube-shaped leather pouches which contained tiny parchments of Ex 13:1-16 and Deut 6:4-9; 11:13-21. They were strapped to the forehead and the left forearm of Jewish men (or the right forearm, if a man was left-handed) in obedience to the commands in this verse and Deut 6:8. Phylacteries and the parchments contained in them were very artistically made, and are still worn today by observant Jews during morning services.
- LAND OF CANAANITES. In this Chapter, God was reminding and re-affirming the covenant He made with Abraham! He will surely bring and give His people the land of Canaan (land of Canaanite, the Hittite, the Amorite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite). At this (early) point of the story, one would wonder HOW. How can God drive out all the inhabitants of Canaan, and give it to Israel? That seems impossible, but God is powerful, He can perform wonders and miracles beyond man's imagination.
Footnotes: Exodus 13:18 Lit Sea of Reeds. See note 10:19.
- WILDERNESS. God's plans are always higher and better, He sees the bigger picture and He knows what is best for us. To journey in the wilderness was God's plan of protecting the Israelites from the ongoing war at the Philistines area. God made sure the Israelites won't fall back, get afraid and go back to Egypt. The shortcut or easiest and fastest way may not always be the way, and it will lead to destruction; but God's way is the best, eventhough it might mean we have to go a longer and farther way. The pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire at night was SOOOOO AWESOME wow. What a display of God's glorious power, and love as well. For the Israelites to continue traveling and journeying in the hot weather at the desert by day, and cold weather at night, the Lord provided a way. Who would not be amazed! I will surely have goosebumps if I was one of the people seeing that.
- GOD'S FAITHFULNESS TO JOSEPH. Joseph was a great instrument used by God to bring and save His people from the severe famine way back 430 or 500 years or so. He was a type of Christ, his life a picture of Jesus. He made his descendants promise to bring his bones/remains back in the promise land of Canaan, and the Lord made sure it gets fulfilled. Even dead already, Joseph remained an Israelite and a people of God, and his remains should be honored by bringing him to Canaan.
* Study Guide Commentary from David Guzik:
i. “Consecrate could either mean ‘sacrifice’ or merely ‘consider as belonging to God’. Instances of both meanings could be found in the Pentateuch.” (Cole)
b. It is Mine: This was for three reasons. First, because Israel was God’s firstborn (Exodus 4:22), and this practice honored that fact. Second, because the firstborn was thought to be the best, and the best was always given to God. Finally, as a reminder to all generations of when God redeemed Israel, His firstborn from Egypt.
i. “Israel had been saved through the destruction of Egypt’s first-born, and now they were required to dedicate their own first-born as a constant memorial of their deliverance.” (Thomas)
b. And on the seventh day there shall be a feast to the Lord: At the same time, the days of Unleavened Bread were not joyless. The time began and ended with a feast – a party. A walk of purity in the Lord is a life filled with joy.
a. It shall be as a sign to you on your hand and as a memorial between your eyes: God wanted the deliverance from Egypt to be constantly at hand and before their eyes. The Jews used this passage (along with Deuteronomy 6:4-9 and 11:13-21) to institute the practice the wearing of phylacteries – small boxes holding parchment with scriptures on them, held to the forehead or hand with leather straps.
i. Later, Jesus condemned the abuse of the wearing of phylacteries among the Pharisees. They made their phylactery boxes large and ostentatious as a display of supposedly greater spirituality (Matthew 23:5).
ii. In the end times there will be a Satanic imitation of this practice when the number of the Antichrist will be applied to either the hand or forehead of all who will take it (Revelation 13:16).
b. That the Lord’s law may be in your mouth: This shows that God did not command for literal boxes to be tied to the hands and forehead, because to take it in this way means that there should also be a phylactery box to put in the mouth.
i. “The very fact that language like this can be used of the feast of unleavened bread shows it to be pure metaphor.”
i. It would have been easy for the Israelites to think that the Via Maris was the way to go; it had good, easy roads, the shortest distance, it was a trade route so food and water could be bought. But the dangers of the way were too great, though they could not see them. God anticipated dangers they could not see.
ii. In the same way, God will never allow us to face more than we are able to bear; He knows what we can handle (1 Corinthians 10:13). “He carefully chose their way out of Egypt; not the nearer, but the safer. He tempts not above what we are able: but so orders the matter, that evils are not ready for us until we for them.” (Trapp)
b. God will surely visit you, and you shall carry up my bones from here with you: Genesis 50:25-26 says specifically that Joseph was never buried. His coffin laid above ground for the four hundred or so years until it was taken back to Canaan. It was a silent witness all those years that Israel was going back to the Promised Land, just as God had promise. Now the promise was being fulfilled.
i. The pillar of cloud by day and of fire by night was also there as a sun and a shield: He spread a cloud for a covering, and fire to give light in the night (Psalm 105:39); or as it says in Psalm 84:11: For the Lord God is a sun and shield; the Lord will give grace and glory; no good thing will He withhold from those who walk uprightly.
c. He did not take away the pillar of cloud by day or the pillar of fire by night from before the people: Israel could draw great assurance from this visible evidence of God’s presence. Nevertheless, there were still many occasions after this when they seemed to doubt, to rebel, and to act as if God was distant.
Reference and credits to https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/guzik_david/StudyGuide2017-Exd/Exd-13.cfm ©2013 David Guzik
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