2. Moses - chapter 13

1 Then the Lord spoke to Moses:

When and how? Presumably soon after they set out, as we shall see later. Where did God speak to Moses? Whilst they were on the march? Whilst they were resting? Or did Moses have his own times of prayer, when he would withdraw to a secluded spot? And to what sort of secluded spot whilst on the march?

2 Consecrate to me, from among the Israelites, every first-born that opens the womb, whether of human beings or of livestock; it belongs to me.

God has ‘strange’ concerns – the whole nation is on the move, and the situation is dramatic and tense. Everyone is sleep-deprived, tired and stressed. Ahead of them lies the unknown; behind them, Egypt. And the Most High begins to deal with the firstborn.

3 So Moses said to the people: ‘Remember this day, when you came out of Egypt, out of the house of bondage, for the Lord brought you out of it with a mighty hand.’ places. That’s why you won’t be eating from fermented.

h. The infinitive, rather than the imperative, expresses a strong command and usually provides an explanation of how it is to be carried out;
There came a time when no fermented food was eaten. The same applied during the subsequent annual festivals.

4 Today is the day you set out, in the month of Ábíbu.

It marks a new beginning – the start of a new era, a new life and a new calendar.

5 When the Lord brings you into the land of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Hivites and the Jebusites, the which He swore to your fathers that He would give you men will, He In the land flowing with milk and honey, you shall perform this service this month:

You’ll carry on with this habit in your new country too, once all this stress has passed and you’re doing well.

6 For seven days you shall eat unleavened bread; on the seventh day 1 "Sing, O barren one, who did not bear; break forth into singing and cry aloud, you who have not been in labor! For the children of the desolate one will be more than the children of her who is married," says the LORD. The Lord’s Feast. 7 Unleavened bread is to be eaten for seven days. There shall be no leaven found in your house from fermented, nor shall any leaven be found anywhere in your land.

Reiterating the principle of completely eliminating leaven not only from baking, but from one’s entire life.

8 And on that day you shall tell your son: That is because of that, what the Lord showed me when I came out of Egypt.

This is such a significant event that it must be preserved in the nation’s historical memory for all time.
We, too, should remember our conversion to Christ as a significant event, as the beginning of a new phase in our lives. We should remember it and reflect on it.
The first generation, who are now passing away, had it easy – they told their children about what they’d experienced first-hand. The celebration of the first anniversary of the exodus was ‘simple’: Do you remember what it was like last year? How we trudged through that night and how our children fell asleep from exhaustion?
It’s like when our parents used to tell us what it was like during the war or at the time of the liberation. Passing that on to the next generation, and then the next, and the next, isn’t quite so simple.
Our children’s ideas about the Second World War are now derived more from literature than from their grandparents. Not to mention their grandchildren – for them, it is already a period of history that is unimaginably distant, even though they may well have known their grandparents.
It is therefore necessary to ‘transform’ the recounting of personal experiences into a regular celebration of the festival at a very early stage. Various customs are intended to aid this process, helping people to recall the individual details of the events they have experienced. Eating unleavened bread is one of them.

9 And you shall speech, Keep it as a sign on your hand and as a reminder between your eyes, so that the Law of the Lord may be on your lips, for the Lord brought you out of Egypt with a mighty hand.

God recommends (or commands) the use of aids to help us remember things.
When you’re wearing something on your wrist, you look at it many times a day – whenever you’re using your hands or whenever you glance at your watch, for example. Similarly, an object positioned between your eyes is constantly caught in your peripheral vision.
The aim of these measures is to, so that the Law of the Lord may be in your mouth, In other words, people thought about and spoke of divine matters as much as possible.
We can adapt this commandment to our Christian context in the sense that Various aids can be useful: Bracelets or rings featuring Bible verses, mobile phone charms, fridge magnets, Bible calendars, etc.
The meaning is evidently metaphorical – the hand symbolises action, the head symbolises thought; thus, God’s commandments are meant to shape both a person’s actions and their thoughts. (cf. e.g. also P 3:3) May love and faithfulness never leave you; bind them round your neck; write them on the tablet of your heart.)
Jewish tradition, however, interprets this commandment literally – that is why they came into being tefillin – small leather cases containing parchments with biblical verses, which devout Jews fasten to their arms and foreheads whilst praying.
The fact that this is symbolic is also evident from the verse 16 It will be speech, the sign on your hand and the mark between your eyes, for it was with a mighty hand that the Lord brought us out of Egypt. Here, the text ‘speaks’ of presenting first-born children to God – this in itself was meant to serve as a reminder, rather than the fact that a person wrote on their hand that they had sacrificed a first-born lamb.

10 And you shall observe this provision at the appointed time ⁽year after year.⁾

The annual festival of Passover is established once and for all.
Perhaps the fact that, upon his departure, Moses’s first priority was to deal with such ‘minor’ matters (festivals and firstborn sons) had a reassuring effect on the people: if the Lord considers it important to emphasise to us that we are to celebrate a certain festival every year, It means we have a future: we’ll get through this and things will get better again.
Moses had to pass this information on to the commanders and tribal representatives, who in turn passed it on to their subordinates, until it reached even the lowliest person.

11 When the Lord brings you into the land of the Canaanites, as he swore to you and your fathers, and up to he’ll give it to her,

Yes, a statement like this is certainly reassuring: there are no doubts expressed here along the lines of: ‘If, by any chance, the Lord manages to get you out of here, it will be such and such.’ It states with absolute certainty, ‘UP TO“. It is not a question of whether it will happen, but when it will happen.”
How can it be that success is so certain? Because the Lord has sworn it.

12 Then you shall present to the Lord everything that opens the womb. Every first-born it your livestock, which 1 "Sing, O barren one, who did not bear; break forth into singing and cry aloud, you who have not been in labor! For the children of the desolate one will be more than the children of her who is married," says the LORD. of the male sex shall belong to the Lord.

For some reason, first-born children belong to God. They are not ours. We are merely returning them to their rightful owner.
We discussed why this is the case in Leviticus, so I shall summarise briefly here: the firstborn is the beginning, the introduction. The firstborn is the first of many. By returning him to the Giver, we are signifying that:
- We understand that He is the Giver, and we are grateful.
- We hope this will continue – in other words, that more will come.
- We express our faith in God’s continued provision.
And in the context of the Exodus The firstborn is the one who narrowly escaped death thanks to the blood of the Passover lamb. It is therefore abundantly clear that we cannot make any lasting claims on him.

13 You shall redeem every first-born donkey with a lamb; but if you cannot redeem it, you shall break its neck. You shall redeem every first-born among your sons.

The firstborn clean animal was sacrificed (offered to God). An unclean animal, such as a donkey, could not be sacrificed; therefore, a lamb was sacrificed in its place.
If someone did not have a lamb, or decided it was not worth it (e.g. they did not need a donkey, or a sheep was currently more valuable to them than a donkey), the donkey had to be slaughtered – so that people would not use God’s property for their own purposes.

14 When your son asks you later, ‘What is this?’ means, you shall say to him: ‘It was with a mighty hand that the Lord brought us out of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.’ 15 And because Pharaoh’s heart was hardened and he didn’t want to to let us go, the Lord struck down all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn at people, right down to the first-born it cattle. Therefore I shall offer to the Lord all the males that open the womb, and every firstborn from I pay my sons.

h. The infinitive, rather than the imperative, expresses a strong command and usually provides an explanation of how it is to be carried out;
It goes without saying that children will ask why someone would do such a thing – for example, ‘Daddy, why are you killing that little donkey?’
Because I appreciate the fact that God has spared our firstborn, I show this by symbolically returning my firstborn to Him.

16 It will be speech, the sign on your hand and the mark between your eyes, for it was with a mighty hand that the Lord brought us out of Egypt.

It is, therefore, a matter of symbolism – by sacrificing every firstborn, I give them back to God and remind myself, time and again, of that Easter night in Egypt.

17 When Pharaoh let the people go, God did not lead them by that route He the land of Pelishte, even though it was shorter. For God said: ‘So that the people might not regret it when they see’ impending battle, and did not return to Egypt.

Additional information – God led the people by a roundabout route in an attempt to avoid persecution by the Egyptians and military conflict.
Or rather, his aim was not to avoid battle (God had no trouble dealing with the Egyptian army as He saw fit), but to protect the Israelites from fear. He feared that if they saw the enemy army approaching, they would lose heart and decide to turn back instead.
This is a matter of consideration for the frailty of the human psyche. As we have already said, the Israelites had left their familiar surroundings and set out into the unknown; they were tired, hungry and stressed. God did not want to subject them to further stress.
This is an important general rule – turning to God is a demanding and stressful experience, and God ensures that new converts are not subjected to pressures beyond their strength.
Jesus behaved in a similar way towards his disciples, and Every Christian can attest to God’s equally considerate behaviour. God gently guides the pregnant ewes, as it is written in Isaiah.

18 So God led the people round by a detour through the wilderness by the Reed Sea. And so the Israelites set out in orderly ranks from the land of Egypt.

In a way, it’s a shame – the people took a ‘needless’ detour. They could have reached the Promised Land ‘in no time’, but thanks to God’s consideration for their weakness, it took them longer than it had to.
On the one hand, we can see that our frailty and God’s consideration of it cause complications and unnecessary ‘delays’ in our lives.
On the other hand – there’s no need to rush. Rather than panicking and reverting to our old way of life, it is better not to rush things, but to wait until we are ready. Things that might have bothered us at the start of our journey towards God will become easier to bear later on.
I know this well from my own Christian life – I gradually worked my way up to things that initially terrified me. A humorous example might be praying or singing out loud – I was incapable of doing either at the start of my Christian journey.

19 Moses took Joseph’s bones with him, because Josef He solemnly adjured the sons of Israel, saying: ‘God will surely visit you; when He does, carry my bones out of here with you.’

Joseph’s tomb must therefore have been a well-known place amongst the Israelites, and Joseph’s wish a well-known fact.
This shows that the people were aware that their stay in Egypt was not permanent.
(Or God might have reminded Moses of this, which is less likely).
So, shortly before setting off, Moses must have gone to Joseph’s grave, exhumed his bones (which were four hundred years old), placed them in some sort of bag or container, and taken them with him.
This raises a number of questions:
- Why did Joseph care about this? Does it matter where we are buried? Or did Joseph express this wish simply to encourage his people not to forget that they would not remain in Egypt forever?
  - I would almost go so far as to say that our final resting place does not really matter, that we cannot influence our eternal destiny in any way through the place of our burial (or, for that matter, the appearance of our gravestone). If I did not belong to Christ whilst I was alive (or at least before I died), neither a Bible verse nor a cross on my gravestone will help me. Not even a burial in a Christian cemetery will help.
- Can my gravestone have an impact on those who come after me, serve as a means of evangelism? Can I try to influence them in some way? Can I ‘leave a message’ for people on my gravestone? It’s hard to say; perhaps sometimes, but I’ve never heard of a case where anyone was converted in this way.
- And finally: Is the grave of an exceptional person (an exceptional believer) a place of ‘special interest’? Does God’s power manifest itself there in some special way, or does something of God’s Spirit, which was upon that person, remain there?
  - I would be inclined to think that something like that could happen. In any case, Jews do visit the graves of their prominent figures. When I stand before the gravestones or memorials of, for example, Christian martyrs, I usually pray that some of their faith and strength might rest upon me.¹

20 And they set out from Sukkot and camped at Etam, on the edge of the wilderness.

It is said to be difficult to pinpoint the exact locations of these places; the distance could have been between 20 and 40 kilometres, i.e. one or two days’ march.

21 The Lord went before them by day in a pillar of cloud to guide them on their way, and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light; thus could to go day and night. 22 He did not remove the pillar of cloud by day, nor the pillar of fire by night, from the people

This is absolutely crucial information – two million people followed the pillars, which must have been reassuring. Moses did not need to go to great lengths to organise the flow of information ‘downwards’, because everyone could see for themselves where they were supposed to go.
When did the pillars appear? If the pillar of fire ‘lit up’ immediately after midnight on the night of Passover, it must have made a profound impression on everyone (including the Egyptians).
In order for the columns to be visible even from a distance of many kilometres (the marching nation must have stretched for tens of kilometres), they had to be enormous, hundreds of metres high, perhaps even a kilometre.
Every evening, the pillar of cloud would turn into a pillar of fire, and vice versa. It must have been quite a ‘spectacle’.
Was it possible to get close to the pillars? How far away were the pillars from the people? Did anyone try, or did no one dare to approach them? Was the pillar of fire hot? Did it burn the ground beneath it? Did it leave a scorched strip in its wake? Or was it a cold fire, like the one at the burning bush? (That’s more likely).
For all the Israelites, the constant presence of the pillars must have been reassuring – not only did they know where to go, but they could also clearly see that the supernatural God was with them. They looked out of their tents and were reassured – God is still with us.
As we shall see – the columns led the nation ‘sparingly’: the daily marches were reasonable and manageable even for children, the elderly and livestock. The columns also allowed time for rest – they did not drive people to the point of exhaustion. The processions had to have a ‘well-planned’ route (to ensure it was passable) as well as suitable places to camp (access to water, fodder, etc.).

I shall leave aside the Roman Catholic approach to graves and the veneration of relics – I consider it misguided. ↩︎

Vít Šmajstrla

Vit.Smajstrla@bormed.cz