illustration of Exodus 13:21, by Kevin Ohlin
Exodus 13
The Lord said to Moses: 2Consecrate to me all the firstborn; whatever is the first to open the womb among the Israelites, of human beings and animals, is mine.
from the commentators:
“Consecrate could either mean ‘sacrifice’ or merely ‘consider as belonging to God’. Instances of both meanings could be found in the Pentateuch.”
“Not that the rest were exempt, but the first-born were, like the Sabbath day and the first ears of corn, a pledge of the dedication of the whole nation.”
The Festival of Unleavened Bread
3Moses said to the people, “Remember this day on which you came out of Egypt, out of the house of slavery, because the Lord brought you out from there by strength of hand; no leavened bread shall be eaten. 4Today, in the month of Abib, you are going out. 5When the Lord brings you into the land of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, which he swore to your ancestors to give you, a land flowing with milk and honey, you shall keep this observance in this month. 6Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread, and on the seventh day there shall be a festival to the Lord. 7Unleavened bread shall be eaten for seven days; no leavened bread shall be seen in your possession, and no leaven shall be seen among you in all your territory.
The purity of the feast of Unleavened Bread followed upon the blood-deliverance of Passover. This illustrates the principle that we can only walk in purity before the Lord after the blood-deliverance at the cross.
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.
–David Guzik
8You shall tell your child on that day, ‘It is because of what the Lord did for me when I came out of Egypt.’ 9It shall serve for you as a sign on your hand and as a reminder on your forehead, so that the teaching of the Lord may be on your lips; for with a strong hand the Lord brought you out of Egypt. 10You shall keep this ordinance at its proper time from year to year.
The Consecration of the Firstborn
“The time came for Mary and Joseph to do what the Law of Moses says a mother is supposed to do after her baby is born. They took Jesus to the temple in Jerusalem and presented him to the Lord.” Luke 2:22 (Contemporary English Version)
11“When the Lord has brought you into the land of the Canaanites, as he swore to you and your ancestors, and has given it to you, 12you shall set apart to the Lord all that first opens the womb. All the firstborn of your livestock that are males shall be the Lord’s. 13But every firstborn donkey you shall redeem with a sheep; if you do not redeem it, you must break its neck. Every firstborn male among your children you shall redeem.
14When in the future your child asks you, ‘What does this mean?’ you shall answer, ‘By strength of hand the Lord brought us out of Egypt, from the house of slavery. 15When Pharaoh stubbornly refused to let us go, the Lord killed all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from human firstborn to the firstborn of animals. Therefore I sacrifice to the Lord every male that first opens the womb, but every firstborn of my sons I redeem.’ 16It shall serve as a sign on your hand and as an emblem on your forehead that by strength of hand the Lord brought us out of Egypt.”
This practice of dedicating the firstborn to God would be a reminder through ritual of God’s great work and strong power for Israel.
The Pillars of Cloud and Fire
17When Pharaoh let the people go, God did not lead them by way of the land of the Philistines, although that was nearer; for God thought, “If the people face war, they may change their minds and return to Egypt.”
The coastal route (the Via Maris, known as “the way of the sea”) was the shortest and most common way to go from Egypt to Canaan. Yet it was also the road where Egypt’s military outposts were. God knew the people of Israel were not ready to face this yet, so He led them a different way.
18So God led the people by the roundabout way of the wilderness toward the Red Sea.
Reflection:
“God led the people by the roundabout way . . .”
And having been warned by God in a dream not to return to Herod, the magi left for their own country by another way.
–Matthew 2:12
Do you cheerfully follow the Lord even when the way seems winding and uncertain? God is a faithful guide!
The Israelites went up out of the land of Egypt prepared for battle.
19And Moses took with him the bones of Joseph who had required a solemn oath of the Israelites, saying, “God will surely take notice of you, and then you must carry my bones with you from here.”
Hebrews 11:22 (NLT)
It was by faith that Joseph, when he was about to die, said confidently that the people of Israel would leave Egypt. He even commanded them to take his bones with them when they left.
20They set out from Succoth, and camped at Etham, on the edge of the wilderness. 21The Lord went in front of them in a pillar of cloud by day, to lead them along the way, and in a pillar of fire by night, to give them light, so that they might travel by day and by night. 22Neither the pillar of cloud by day nor the pillar of fire by night left its place in front of the people.
God showed His presence to Israel in a dramatic way, by giving them constant assurance, with a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night.
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.
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Music:
HERE is “We Are Marching in the Light of God” to give you a little get up and go!
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The New Revised Standard Version, copyright 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
DWELLING in the Word 
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