Exodus · chapter 13 of 40
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Exodus 13 records God's instructions for remembering the departure from Egypt: consecrate every firstborn to him, keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread and teach the story to the children. It then tells how God did not lead the people by the road of the Philistines but through the wilderness, how Moses took Joseph's bones, and how the Lord led Israel by day in a pillar of cloud and by night in a pillar of fire.
After the Passover and the departure from Egypt, Exodus 13 begins to shape the memory of the free people. Before telling of the journey, God commands how to remember what happened: with a feast, a consecration and teaching for the children. The chapter ends with the start of the road and the visible sign of God's presence that goes with Israel.
The Lord told Moses to consecrate to him every firstborn of the Israelites, of people and animals, because they belonged to him. Moses told the people to remember the day they came out of Egypt with a mighty hand, and not to eat leavened bread. When the Lord brought them to the promised land, they were to keep this rite every year in this month: for seven days they would eat unleavened bread, and on the seventh there would be a feast to the Lord. They were to explain to their children that they did this because of what the Lord did for them in bringing them out of Egypt.
When the Lord brought them to the land of the Canaanites, they were to set apart to him every first offspring. The firstborn males of clean animals would be the Lord's. The firstborn of a donkey would be redeemed with a lamb, and if not redeemed its neck would be broken. Every firstborn son would be redeemed. When a son asked why, the father would explain that the Lord brought them out of Egypt with a mighty hand, and that when Pharaoh hardened his heart and would not let them go, the Lord killed every firstborn in Egypt.
When Pharaoh let the people go, God did not lead them by the road through the land of the Philistines, though it was shorter, for he thought that if they faced war they might change their minds and return to Egypt. He led them around by the wilderness toward the Red Sea, and the Israelites went up equipped for battle. Moses took with him the bones of Joseph, who had made the sons of Israel swear that they would carry them out of Egypt. They moved on from Succoth and camped at Etham, on the edge of the wilderness.
The Lord went before them by day in a pillar of cloud to lead them, and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, so that they could travel by day and by night. The pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night never left its place before the people.
References follow ESV book names and verse numbers. Read each verse in your Bible before the explanation.
Moses tells the people to remember the day they came out of Egypt, out of the house of slavery, because the Lord brought them out with a mighty hand. The memory of deliverance is the foundation of Israel's identity.
When the feast is kept, the father will tell his son that he does it because of what the Lord did for him in bringing him out of Egypt. Faith is passed on by telling what God did, so that each generation sees itself inside the story.
God did not lead Israel by the road of the Philistines, though it was shorter, because he feared that facing war the people would change their minds and return to Egypt. God guides according to what his people can bear, not only by the fastest route.
The Lord went before the people by day in a pillar of cloud and by night in a pillar of fire. The visible sign shows that God does not merely command them to leave, but accompanies and guides them on the way.
6 questions with answers and references, ready for Sunday school, small group or a Bible quiz night.
Answer: Every firstborn, of people and of animals. — Exodus 13:2
Answer: Seven days, with a feast to the Lord on the seventh. — Exodus 13:6
Answer: That he did it because of what the Lord did for him in bringing him out of Egypt. — Exodus 13:8
Answer: Because he feared that when they faced war they would change their minds and return to Egypt. — Exodus 13:17
Answer: The bones of Joseph, because Joseph had made the sons of Israel swear to carry them out. — Exodus 13:19
Answer: By day in a pillar of cloud and by night in a pillar of fire. — Exodus 13:21
Exodus 13 teaches that remembering is an act of faith. God not only frees his people but asks them to tell the story, with rites, feasts and words, to the next generation. At home and at church we can ask how we keep alive the memory of what God has done, and whether the younger ones hear that story from us.
It also shows a God who guides with care. He does not always choose the shortest road, but the one his people can travel. When our route seems long or strange, this chapter invites us to trust that God goes before us, by day and by night.
Exodus 13 ends with the pillar of cloud and fire that never leaves the people. In Exodus 14 that same pillar will lead Israel to the sea, where there will seem to be no way out and God will make a path through the waters.
Before he died, Joseph asked that God would care for his people and that his bones be carried out of Egypt, as told at the end of Genesis. Carrying them was an act of faith in the promise that God would bring Israel to the promised land.
It is a figure of speech meaning to keep God's law and work always in mind. Later, some took the expression literally and practiced it with small boxes of texts. The central point is that the memory of what God did should be in the heart and in daily life.
The firstborn belonged to God in memory of being saved at the Passover. Rather than being given into service, they were bought back, animals with a lamb and sons with a redemption offering. It was a way of remembering that God had saved them.