Exodus 13: Re-Focus on God’s Faithfulness

Key Verse
16 On the first day you shall hold a holy assembly, and on the seventh day a holy assembly. No work shall be done on those days. But what everyone needs to eat, that alone may be prepared by you. 
 
Mediation
Re-focusing our hearts on God’s faithfulness fertilizes the growth of gratitude. Remembering God’s redeeming work helps believers trust His promises and recognize His presence through difficult providence.
 
The context of today’s reading is the Lord’s redemption of Israel from slavery through the blood of the Passover lamb. Those redeemed are now commanded to “remember” (v. 3) through two visible reminders of His redeeming grace: the consecration of the firstborn and the Feast of Unleavened Bread. Through both symbols, God’s people are to remember the “strong hand” by which the Lord delivered them (vv. 9, 14, 16). Hearts grounded in sovereign grace grow in grateful remembrance of God’s faithfulness.
 
Gratitude also gives God’s people eyes to see His presence and promises. The Lord went before Israel in a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night (vv. 21-22), visibly assuring them they were not abandoned in the wilderness. At the same time, God was leading them toward the land He had promised their fathers (v. 5). God intentionally led His people away from the shorter road through Philistine territory, instead toward the Red Sea. The difficult path was evidence of God’s purposeful providence as the pillar of fire and cloud marked His presence.
 
Jesus is the true Passover Lamb whose sacrifice redeems believers from slavery to sin and guarantees every promise of God. Christians remember Him through the Lord’s Supper (1 Corinthians 11:23-26), holding to His promise that He will never leave nor forsake us. Grateful remembrance of Christ’s mighty redemption gives believers strength to trust His promises and confidence to follow Him through every providence.
 
Today’s Reading
​ The Lord said to Moses, 2 “Consecrate to me all the firstborn. Whatever is the first to open the womb among the people of Israel, both of man and of beast, is mine.”

The Feast of Unleavened Bread
3 Then Moses said to the people, “Remember this day in which you came out from Egypt, out of the house of slavery, for by a strong hand the Lord brought you out from this place. No leavened bread shall be eaten.4 Today, in the month of Abib, you are going out. 5 And when the Lord brings you into the land of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, which he swore to your fathers to give you, a land flowing with milk and honey, you shall keep this service in this month. 6 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 for seven days; no leavened bread shall be seen with you, and no leaven shall be seen with you in all your territory. 8 You shall tell your son on that day, ‘It is because of what the Lord did for me when I came out of Egypt.’ 9 And it shall be to you as a sign on your hand and as a memorial between your eyes, that the law of the Lord may be in your mouth. For with a strong hand the Lord has brought you out of Egypt. 10 You shall therefore keep this statute at its appointed time from year to year.

11 “When the Lord brings you into the land of the Canaanites, as he swore to you and your fathers, and shall give it to you, 12 you shall set apart to the Lord all that first opens the womb. All the firstborn of your animals that are males shall be the Lord's. 13 Every firstborn of a donkey you shall redeem with a lamb, or if you will not redeem it you shall break its neck. Every firstborn of man among your sons you shall redeem. 14 And when in time to come your son asks you, ‘What does this mean?’ you shall say to him, ‘By a strong hand the Lord brought us out of Egypt, from the house of slavery. 15 For when Pharaoh stubbornly refused to let us go, the Lord killed all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both the firstborn of man and the firstborn of animals. Therefore I sacrifice to the Lord all the males that first open the womb, but all the firstborn of my sons I redeem.’ 16 It shall be as a mark on your hand or frontlets between your eyes, for by a strong hand the Lord brought us out of Egypt.”

Pillars of Cloud by Fire
17 When Pharaoh let the people go, God did not lead them by way of the land of the Philistines, although that was near. For God said, “Lest the people change their minds when they see war and return to Egypt.” 18 But God led the people around by the way of the wilderness toward the Red Sea. And the people of Israel went up out of the land of Egypt equipped for battle. 19 Moses took the bones of Joseph with him, for Joseph[a] had made the sons of Israel solemnly swear, saying, “God will surely visit you, and you shall carry up my bones with you from here.” 20 And they moved on from Succoth and encamped at Etham, on the edge of the wilderness. 21 And the Lord went before them by day in a pillar of cloud to lead them along the way, and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, that they might travel by day and by night. 22 The pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night did not depart from before the people.
 
Richly Dwelling
-What stands out to you from today’s reading, especially the emphasis on remembering?
 
-Are you more characterized by grumbling over God’s providence or by gratitude for God’s presence and promises within His providence? 
 
-How does remembering God’s redemptive work through Jesus help you refocus your heart and fertilize gratitude? Where, specifically, do you need to re-focus on God’s promised presence in Jesus and His promises guaranteed through Him? 
 
Key Verse
16 On the first day you shall hold a holy assembly, and on the seventh day a holy assembly. No work shall be done on those days. But what everyone needs to eat, that alone may be prepared by you.