Exodus-13

Exodus 13:1-2(ESV)
¹The 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.”

Exodus 13 – Exodus Memorials:  Consecration/Redemption of Firstborn, Eating Unleavened Bread…  It contains new rules about consecrating and redeeming the firstborn of humans and animals.  It also contained somewhat expanded explanation for the annual spring Feast of Unleavened Bread.  A focus on Israel religious learning focused on the transmittal of information from father to firstborn. 

The command here is technically Gender neutral.  Firstborn (bekor) H1060 and which opens (peter) H6363 and the pronoun ‘that’ (hu) are all masculine, but their gender may be simply unavoidable ‘grammatical’ gender rather than a wording intended to exclude female firstborn. 

H1060-  בְּכוֹרb^ekôwr, bek-ore´; from 1069; firstborn; hence chief:—eldest (son), first-born (-ling)

H6363.  פֶּטֶרpeṭer, peh´-ter; or  פִּטְרָהpiṭrâh, pit-raw´; from 6362; a fissure, i.e. (concr.) firstling (as opening the matrix):—firstling, openeth, such as open.

GOD claims ownership of every firstborn of humans and animals, which their families were required to present to him as his property. 

In recognizing this right to ownership of the first and best was a reminder that God was in control and superior to them.   It is thespiritual attitude of submission that was so important for salvation, personal discipline, and blessing.

Exodus 13:3-10(ESV)  –  The Importance of Keeping the Feast of Unleavened Bread Annually in the Promised Land.
³Then 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. 
⁴Today, in the month of Abib, you are going out. 
⁵And 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. 
⁶Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread, and on the seventh day there shall be a feast to the Lord. 
⁷Unleavened 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. 
⁸You shall tell your son on that day, ‘It is because of what the Lord did for me when I came out of Egypt.’ 
⁹And 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. 
¹⁰You shall therefore keep this statute at its appointed time from year to year.

V. 3 – Remember this day…

V.4-5 – Each Spring the people are to remember how their God delivered them out of Egypt by many great displays of His power and control.

V.6-7 – condensed wording as a reminder

V.8-10 – Because all generation are part of the continuum that experienced the exodus.  It is the community of faith at every age that is to identify fuly the meaning of the original exodus. 

WHAT is the point?  That they keep a life-saving covenant – it is a covenant renewal in remembrance of the covenant law by which they keep themselves in the covenant relationship with God.  As we today have the “Lords Memorial” to remind us of our redeemer. 

Exodus 13:11-13(ESV)  –  Basic Rules for Consecration/Redemption of Firstborn
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, 
¹²you 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. 
¹³Every 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. 

It was the firstborn males of edible animals such as: cattle, goat, kids, lambs, oxen.  The firstborn of animals used for work but not for eating such as a donkey were redeemed by payment of a substitute.   In the case of a donkey, a non-first-born lamb was an appropriate substitute to be sacrificed at the temple.

Exodus 13:14-16(ESV)
¹⁴And 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. 
¹⁵For 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.’ 
¹⁶It 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.”

The children would have the desire to learn the reasons for the practices they grow up observing.  They would be taught that their identity is that of God’s chosen people that were rescued from slavery in Egypt and rescued from the death of the firstborn by faith in Yahweh.

Exodus 13:17-19 –  The Wilderness Journey to Sinai
¹⁷When 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.” 
¹⁸But 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. 
¹⁹Moses took the bones of Joseph with him, for Joseph^£ 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.” 

?  Why the irregular exodus route to the Red sea?

The Philistines were on the Asian coast of the Mediterranean and virtually on Egypt’s northeast border.

The Israelites were not yet ready for battle – yet God could have wiped them out and let his people past.  However, this group of people had not yet done anything against His people and thus deserving punishment. 

The Amorites/Canaanites were the people that the Israelites were to displace or punish for their sins?  Gen. 15:16Genesis 15:16(ESV)   ¹⁶And they shall come back here in the fourth generation, for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete.”

 V. 17 – For God said, “Lest the people change their minds when they see war and return to Egypt.”    –  God’s awareness of the people’s limited perspective and naïve expectations caused Him to lead his people a different direction.  They would want to return to Egypt – Yet, they did exactly have those desires as time went forward. 

V.19 – transportation of the Bones of Joseph

It shows that the Israelites believed in life after death and took great care with their remains or ‘bones’.  It reminds people of God’s word that his people were to be brought to the land of Canaan for their home. 

Exodus 13:20-22

²⁰And they moved on from Succoth and encamped at Etham, on the edge of the wilderness. 
²¹And 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. 
²²The pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night did not depart from before the people.

Moses introduced here the special visible symbol of God’s presence to guide and protect the Israelites in the wilderness, the pillar of cloud/fire.

By reason of being guided by the pillar, the Israelites knew all day every day that God was present with them.Here was a supernatural, huge, and visible reminder that Yahweh was at the head of his people as they marched or encamped, whether by day or by night. Therefore, even the seemingly erratic route described by 13:20 in combination with 14:1–3 could be trusted because Yahweh was directing them on it. Yahweh chose the odd route—not they. Again, the pillar was not merely a sign from Yahweh—it was Yahweh (“The Lord went ahead of them in a pillar of cloud to guide them on their way and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light,” 13:21). He manifested himself in the form of a pillar of cloud/fire for their benefit.  QUOTE NAC  (New American Commentary)