Morning Light – Exodus 13

[Exodus 13] . In our chapter, the people come forth out of Egypt to camp on the banks of the Red Sea, preparing to cross over with great signs and wonders performed against the Egyptians.

[Exo 13:1-22 KJV] 1 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, 2 Sanctify unto me all the firstborn, whatsoever openeth the womb among the children of Israel, [both] of man and of beast: it [is] mine. 3 And Moses said unto the people, Remember this day, in which ye came out from Egypt, out of the house of bondage; for by strength of hand the LORD brought you out from this [place]: there shall no leavened bread be eaten. 4 This day came ye out in the month Abib. 5 And it shall be when the LORD shall bring thee into the land of the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites, which he sware unto thy fathers to give thee, a land flowing with milk and honey, that thou shalt keep this service in this month. 6 Seven days thou shalt eat unleavened bread, and in the seventh day [shall be] a feast to the LORD. 7 Unleavened bread shall be eaten seven days; and there shall no leavened bread be seen with thee, neither shall there be leaven seen with thee in all thy quarters. 8 And thou shalt shew thy son in that day, saying, [This is done] because of that [which] the LORD did unto me when I came forth out of Egypt. 9 And it shall be for a sign unto thee upon thine hand, and for a memorial between thine eyes, that the LORD’S law may be in thy mouth: for with a strong hand hath the LORD brought thee out of Egypt. 10 Thou shalt therefore keep this ordinance in his season from year to year. 11 And it shall be when the LORD shall bring thee into the land of the Canaanites, as he sware unto thee and to thy fathers, and shall give it thee, 12 That thou shalt set apart unto the LORD all that openeth the matrix, and every firstling that cometh of a beast which thou hast; the males [shall be] the LORD’S. 13 And every firstling of an ass thou shalt redeem with a lamb; and if thou wilt not redeem it, then thou shalt break his neck: and all the firstborn of man among thy children shalt thou redeem. 14 And it shall be when thy son asketh thee in time to come, saying, What [is] this? that thou shalt say unto him, By strength of hand the LORD brought us out from Egypt, from the house of bondage: 15 And it came to pass, when Pharaoh would hardly let us go, that the LORD slew all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both the firstborn of man, and the firstborn of beast: therefore I sacrifice to the LORD all that openeth the matrix, being males; but all the firstborn of my children I redeem. 16 And it shall be for a token upon thine hand, and for frontlets between thine eyes: for by strength of hand the LORD brought us forth out of Egypt. 17 And it came to pass, when Pharaoh had let the people go, that God led them not [through] the way of the land of the Philistines, although that [was] near; for God said, Lest peradventure the people repent when they see war, and they return to Egypt: 18 But God led the people about, [through] the way of the wilderness of the Red sea: and the children of Israel went up harnessed out of the land of Egypt. 19 And Moses took the bones of Joseph with him: for he had straitly sworn the children of Israel, saying, God will surely visit you; and ye shall carry up my bones away hence with you. 20 And they took their journey from Succoth, and encamped in Etham, in the edge of the wilderness. 21 And the LORD went before them by day in a pillar of a cloud, to lead them the way; and by night in a pillar of fire, to give them light; to go by day and night: 22 He took not away the pillar of the cloud by day, nor the pillar of fire by night, [from] before the people.

This chapter begins with stipulations from God regarding the firstborn of all the people and even the livestock of the Israelites. In laying claim to the firstborn, God is setting the Israelites up for the concept of redemption (by allowing them later to substitute the demand of God for the firstborn for the tribe of Levi). Under the law, the people will be given to understand that God sets the Levites aside instead of or in place of taking the firstborn of every family for the service of the tabernacle. This foreshadows God accepting Jesus as the firstborn from the dead in substitution for the satisfaction of our sins upon Jesus as taking our place in redemption.

In v. 3-10, the ordinance and feast of Unleavened Bread is handed down as a remembrance that the people were delivered with such haste from Egypt that there was no time to leaven their bread for the oven. As a type and shadow of salvation, it speaks to us that we are not saved to shelter in place in a sinful world, but we are saved into a life of sojourn, that imposes requirements upon us to do things differently for as Paul declares in 1 Cor. 6:20 we are not our own, but we are bought with a price, thus our glory is not for ourselves, but we are to glorify God in our bodies.

In v. 17, we see Pharaoh makes a note of the passing of Israelites as to the direction they take. The route was not the most direct route for God did not intend to take them through Philistia lest the people balk at being so quickly come to warfare with the tribes there. Thus God leads them through the way of the wilderness by the Red Sea, and in so doing, the people were careful to take the bones of Joseph (v. 19) with them.

Why did Joseph give commandment regarding his bones? Bear in mind that Joseph’s body would have been prepared after Egypt’s custom, in a sarcophagus as a mummy. Joseph was buried in the environs of Jerusalem (according to some traditions), and as Matt. 27:52-53 testifies that the righteous dead were raised to life on the occasion of the crucifixion of Jesus.

Thus we conclude the chapter leaving the people camped by the coast of the Red Sea with the pillar of cloud over them by day and the pillar of fire above them by night while Pharaoh looks on with a change of heart once again setting him up for the destruction of his army.