The Strong Hand of the Lord

Introduction

When I first started traveling to Ukraine in 2006, the country had only been free from the communist rule of Russia for 25 years. I immediately sensed a difference in the people's attitude when I arrived. There was a lingering feeling of oppression, not of the body, but of the mind. Communism controlled their thoughts and emotions as they were forced to do as they were told. Upon gaining freedom, they found themselves lost for a while, needing time to establish new ways and living patterns, which could take generations to change.

Just imagine the children of Israel enduring 430 years of slavery. That's generations of conditioning, mind control, physical abuse, and suppression. When a deliverer sent by God finally liberated them, it's no surprise that they struggled to adapt to their newfound freedom. Longing for their old life in Egypt during tough times, they had to learn to trust the Lord and embrace the liberty of their deliverance.

Let's consider our community today. How long have families been living with generational curses and sinful ways that are not aligned with God's teachings? They have been shaped by generations of rebellious thought to the point where they can no longer discern right from wrong. It's no wonder that first-generation Christians struggle to walk in the ways of God.

Isaiah 55:8 ESV

8 For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord.

Retraining someone is much harder than training someone because the habit and patterns are already formed. You have to debunk the old thoughts and replace them with truth. It might sound easy but renewing the mind can sometimes take generations. God is patient, longsuffering, loving, and kind. He know how much to push the neural plasticity to renew the mind. He will allow tough situations that cause you to trust Him and think and act differently.

James 1:2–3 ESV

2 Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, 3 for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness.

As we join God in relational evangelism and we the message of salvation and hope to a world caught in the tyranny and slavery of sin, we must show the same patients, longsuffering, love and kindness that God show understanding that the sanctification of the soul takes time.

Exposition

In Exodus 13 we find three aspects of new follower of God:

Consecration

Sanctification

Direction

Consecration

The Principle of the First Born

Exodus 13:1–2 ESV

1 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 Lord requires the firstborn to be consecrated to Him.

God had just redeemed all the firstborn of the house of Israel with the blood of the lamb. These were bought with the price and belonged to the Lord.

Set it aside because it belongs to God.

Exodus 13:12 ESV

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.

Exodus 13:13 ESV

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.

The principle: What you are not willing to redeem to the Lord, you are willing to lose.

Would you rather give your 10% to God and be blessed, or don’t give and lose it all?

The Lord redeems the unclean with the clean.

This is about Jesus. If you have an unclean animal, it must be redeemed with the sacrifice of the clean.

Donkey = Unclean

Lamb = Clean

We were born unclean and must be redeemed by the clean.

Jesus was born clean and had to be sacrificed for the unclean.

The principle: You give God the first by faith, knowing God will redeem the rest.

The Example of Jericho

Joshua 6:18–19 ESV

18 But you, keep yourselves from the things devoted to destruction, lest when you have devoted them you take any of the devoted things and make the camp of Israel a thing for destruction and bring trouble upon it. 19 But all silver and gold, and every vessel of bronze and iron, are holy to the Lord; they shall go into the treasury of the Lord.”

The Principle of the Firstfruits

Proverbs 3:9–10 ESV

9 Honor the Lord with your wealth and with the firstfruits of all your produce; 10 then your barns will be filled with plenty, and your vats will be bursting with wine.

The Difference between bringing and giving to the Lord.

Exodus 23:19 ESV

19 “The best of the firstfruits of your ground you shall bring into the house of the Lord your God. “You shall not boil a young goat in its mother’s milk.

“bring”: He never uses the word give because you can’t give what isn’t yours.

Malachi 3:8–10 ESV

8 Will man rob God? Yet you are robbing me. But you say, ‘How have we robbed you?’ In your tithes and contributions. 9 You are cursed with a curse, for you are robbing me, the whole nation of you. 10 Bring the full tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. And thereby put me to the test, says the Lord of hosts, if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you a blessing until there is no more need.

“Giving” is acts of generosity above and beyond the firstfruits offering.

2 Corinthians 9:6–7 ESV

6 The point is this: whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. 7 Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.

The Principle: Bring to God what is his and give to others from a heart of generosity.

Exodus 13:14–16 ESV

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.”

Sanctification:

The Feast of Unleavened Bread

A Feast of Remembrance

Exodus 13:3–7 ESV

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.

This is the origin of the tradition of Spring Cleaning.

The remembrance of salvation

Exodus 13:8–10 ESV

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.

The Leaven of the New Testament

My favorite commentary on the book of Exodus is by W. Pink, published in 1962. In it, he lays out the four types of leaven in the New Testament (Pink, Arthur Walkington. Gleanings in Exodus. Chicago: Moody Press, 1962).

The leaven of Evil: Separation from all sin

1 Corinthians 5:6–8 ESV

6 Your boasting is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump? 7 Cleanse out the old leaven that you may be a new lump, as you really are unleavened. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed. 8 Let us therefore celebrate the festival, not with the old leaven, the leaven of malice and evil, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.

The Leaven of the Pharisees: Legalism and traditions of men

Matthew 16:6 ESV

6 Jesus said to them, “Watch and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees.”

The Leaven of the Sadducees: False Doctrine (Denying the Spirit within and the Resurrection from the Dead)

Acts 23:8 ESV

8 For the Sadducees say that there is no resurrection, nor angel, nor spirit, but the Pharisees acknowledge them all.

1 Corinthians 15:12–14 ESV

12 Now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? 13 But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. 14 And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain.

1 Corinthians 15:20–22 ESV

20 But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. 21 For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. 22 For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive.

The Leaven of Herod: The Herodians were a political party. Don’t mix the gospel with politics.

Mark 8:15 ESV

15 And he cautioned them, saying, “Watch out; beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod.”

Direction

The Leading of the Lord

Exodus 13:17–18 ESV

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.

God does not leave you at salvation but leads you in the way you should go.

God knows what you can handle.

He knows when you are ready for battle.

Proverbs 3:5–6 NKJV

5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding; 6 In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths.

God leaves no one behind.

Exodus 13:19–20 ESV

19 Moses 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.” 20 And they moved on from Succoth and encamped at Etham, on the edge of the wilderness.

The Presence of the Lord

Exodus 13:21–22 ESV

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.

The Lord goes before you.

When you need direction, follow the Lord.

The Lord will never leave you or forsake you.

Deuteronomy 31:8 ESV

8 It is the Lord who goes before you. He will be with you; he will not leave you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed.”

Next Steps

Now that you are redeemed by the blood of the Lamb, are you ready to leave this world behind and follow the Lord?

1. Consecrate yourself to the Lord and honor Him with your first fruits. This is easy for a person who understands their redemption through the blood of the Lamb.

2. Set yourself apart from the leaven of the world to worship God and him alone.

3. Trust that God goes before you and let him direct your steps.

Call to Action

What are you holding onto from this world that you need to leave in Egypt and draw close to God?

RGroup Questions