Remember this day

1. Introduce the Scripture reading.

a. Our Scripture this morning is Exodus 13:3-10

2. Introduction:

We are coming into a story where Israel been in slavery in Egypt for the past four-hundred years and God is rescuing them. The Lord raises up a prophet, Moses, who was brought up in the very household of Pharaoh. We all remember the movie the 10 commandments with Charlton Heston that plays on TV each year around Passover. In that movie, if you remember, the 10 plagues God sends to Egypt: the plagues of the water turning into blood, Frogs, flies, fleas, locusts, boils, death to cattle, Hail, darkness over the land, and death of the first-born — we are not pass that section but right before the leaving Egypt.

Our passage this morning is a transitional stage of Israel in Egypt. They’re between the last plague and the crossing of the Red-sea. I’m calling this the ‘In-Between’ chapter, for Israel is still in Egypt but they’re heading to the Red Sea. Moses commands these words that we’re about to read to Israel to remember the awesome power of God that they just witnessed, and will witness. This reflects not the reality of the Jews exiting out of Egypt, but it is a typological reality to a greater spiritual significance for us.

LET US READ GOD’S INFALLIBLE, PRESERVED, AND INERRANT WORD.

3 And Moses said to the people: “Remember this day in which you went out of Egypt, out of the house of bondage; for by strength of hand the LORD brought you out of this place. No leavened bread shall be eaten. 4 On this day you are going out, in the month Abib. 5 And it shall be, when the LORD brings you into the land of the Canaanites and the Hittites and the Amorites and the Hivites and the Jebusites, which He swore to your fathers to give you, a land flowing with milk and honey, that 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 seven days. And no leavened bread shall be seen among you, nor shall leaven be seen among you in all your quarters. 8 And you shall tell your son in that day, saying, ‘This is done because of what the LORD did for me when I came up from Egypt.’ 9 It shall be as a sign to you on your hand and as a memorial between your eyes, that the LORD’s law may be in your mouth; for with a strong hand the LORD has brought you out of Egypt. 10 You shall therefore keep this ordinance in its season from year to year. (Ex 13:3–10).

Let us pray.

Our section today can be broken down into three sections.

I. Verse 3

II. Verse 4-7

III. Verse 8-10

What we see in our sections today are three things: Commemoration, obligation, and succession.

3. The Commemoration:

Verse 3: “And Moses said to the people: “Remember this day in which you went out of Egypt, out of the house of bondage; for by strength of hand the LORD brought you out of this place. No leavened bread shall be eaten.” God, through Moses, wanted the people to remember this significant moment in history: The day of their redemption. God literally saved the people of Israel out of the house of Egypt, from the house of bondage, and He does not want Israel to ever forget that day.

As mentioned, this chapter is the in between chapter; it’s between the last plague that killed the first-born of Egypt and the crossing of the Red Sea. Let’s stop and think about that scene that Moses is giving this command. There are several observations from verse 3.

First, Moses says to Israel, “Remember this day”; not yesterday or two days ago, but this day. They have not yet left Egypt; they’re still there! But now Imagine this, the Angel of death went through the land of Egypt and killed all their first-born. All those who did not have the blood on their door-post experience the tragedy of death. The whole nation was in turmoil and grief. Exodus 12:30 says, “there was a great cry in Egypt, for there was not a house where there was not one dead.”

Illustration:

We can imagine Death striking a city-block or a city. Fallujah in 2004 and 05, was almost completely destroyed because of the insurgency fighting coalition forces in Iraq, or the city of Damascus in the 2013 which was destroyed by ISIS. But it is hard for us to imagine though the severity of death engulfing an entire nation. Not just people at random, but the first born of all their families and livestock. I don’t know about you, but this is hard to imagine the anarchy in the land.

Moses commands Israel to remember this day, it is a moment of calmness in midst of chaos. Moses commands Israel at the very juncture, when national calamity hit Egypt, which they were in the midst of, to remember what is happening and how it happens. God wants His people to realize that this event is a life-changing event that, from their perspective, is full of disorder. But even in the midst of the disarray, the people of God have peace and protection from Jehovah.

What does God want His people to remember? Look again at verse 3: “in which you went out of Egypt, out of the house of bondage; for by strength of hand the LORD brought you out of this place.” Two things we must be observed here. One, out of the house of Egypt/bondage; and two, by strength of hand, the LORD brought you out.

Beloved. God wants Israel to see where they’ve been. They were slaves under Egypt. Beloved, if do you see the parallelism here? Do you see the Gospel here? This is similar to us as Christians. We were once slaves to sin. This is what Jesus says in John 8, “Most assuredly, I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave of sin.” That’s who were before Christ; slaves of sin. Just as Pharaoh reigned over Israel in their bondage, Satan reigned over us in our bondage to sin. Romans 5:14 says, “Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those who had not sinned according to the likeness of the transgression of Adam, who is a type of Him who was to come.”

Notice that it is God is the one who set Israel free. “for by strength of hand the LORD brought you out of this place.” Beloved, this is Sola Gratia, or “By GRACE ALONE.” Israel did not free themselves from Egypt. They were powerless against them. Likewise, we could not free ourselves from the power of sin, it was God that freed us from sin through the blood of Christ! As the People of God, we cannot forget the grace we received from God. This is our identity: “And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins.” Because god calls us to make our salvation a day of commemoration, He tells us that we have an obligation.

4. Obligation:

At the end of verse 3 through verse 7 says, “No leavened bread shall be eaten. 4 On this day you are going out, in the month Abib. 5 And it shall be, when the LORD brings you into the land of the Canaanites and the Hittites and the Amorites and the Hivites and the Jebusites, which He swore to your fathers to give you, a land flowing with milk and honey, that 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 seven days. And no leavened bread shall be seen among you, nor shall leaven be seen among you in all your quarters.”

The obligation that the Lord, through Moses, is giving to Israel is how they will commemorate the day of Redemption. God is instituting how Israel is to remember. They are not to eat any leaven bread during 7 days. This is to remember the quickness of their Exodus out of Egypt. Looking at this, there is an important doctrine here.

God commands His people how to celebrate Him. In the Reformed tradition, we call this the regulative principle of worship: “the acceptable way of worshipping God is instituted by Himself, and limited to His revealed will (WCF 21.1).” we cannot worship God the way we want or feel, and if we do, we end up treating what is holy as common.

God directs Israel how to remember this day every year. In fact, it becomes the first day of the year. From Exodus 12:2, we see that God says, “This month shall be the first month of the year to you.” Notice what is happening here. This powerful redemptive act changes how Israel lives their life in their calendar. Beloved, we too have same thing with the church. Christ resurrection was on the first day of the week, bringing us out of our spiritual Egypt and causing the Sabbath day, the last day of the week, to the Lord’s day on the first day of the week. Israel entered their year celebrating the victorious redemptive act of God, and we too, as Christians, enter into our week celebrating the lamb conquering the grave.

Look at verse 5 again. “when the LORD brings you into the land of the Canaanites and the Hittites and the Amorites and the Hivites and the Jebusites, which He swore to your fathers to give you, a land flowing with milk and honey, that you shall keep this service in this month. God wants Israel to practice this celebration, even after they’ve entered into the promise land. Why? Because it centers their identity on God’s grace in their life. It is a reminder that where they are at is only because of what God has done.

Illustration:

Marine Corps Birthday. Marines celebrate the birth of the Corps each year on November 10th. It doesn’t matter if they’re at war or back home. Marines will celebrate this holiday by performing a cake cutting ceremony. It’s their identity.

Likewise, God commands us to gather each week to commemorate the resurrection of the Lord. Hebrews 10:25 says, “not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.”

Verses 6 & 7 says: “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 seven days. And no leavened bread shall be seen among you, nor shall leaven be seen among you in all your quarters.”

As mentioned, the quickness of the Exodus prevented Israel to prepare their bread; they could not add yeast to cause it to rise up. Leaven, in the New Testament, however, is associated with sin. Paul uses this illustration in 1 Corinthians 5. He says,

“6 Your glorying is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump? 7 Therefore purge out the old leaven, that you may be a new lump, since you truly are unleavened. For indeed Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for us. 8 Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.”

The point that Paul is making here is that we are a new person in Christ. We are not that old lump with leavened in it. We are a new creation, and a new people; purge therefore the leaven out from us. Paul understood what Moses meant by purging out the leaven from our homes to purge malice and wickedness in our lives.

There is another aspect to leaven here. God commands Israel to eat unleavened bread. This points us to Christ. Christ said He is the bread of Life (John 6:35). He is the bread that came down, and that anyone who eats his body (bread), and drink his flesh will have eternal life. What that means is that we are to feed off of Christ spiritually, for our spiritual nourishment every day. Also, when we partake of the Lord’s supper, we are feeding off of Christ spiritually, because Christ is present spiritual in the elements.

5. Succession:

Verse 8-10. 8 And you shall tell your son in that day, saying, ‘This is done because of what the LORD did for me when I came up from Egypt.’ 9 It shall be as a sign to you on your hand and as a memorial between your eyes, that the LORD’s law may be in your mouth; for with a strong hand the LORD has brought you out of Egypt. 10 You shall therefore keep this ordinance in its season from year to year.”

Moses commands one of the most vital doctrines for Israel, covenantal succession. Israel has an obligation not only how they worship but to teach it to their children. Remembering what God does in redemptive history and telling our children is theme that runs through the Bible. God’s redemptive acts in history and in our lives, places a responsibility on us to teach our children God’s grace.

Look at verse 8 again, and look at the pronouns. Moses says, “and You shall teach your son… what the LORD did for ME.” Granted, this is the generation that was brought out of Egypt, but it still applies for us today. We are to teach our children what the LORD did for us. Thomas Watson once said, “If our Children are seasoned with gracious principles, they will stand up in our place when we have gone, and will glorify God in their generation.”

We are to teach them what God did for us. If you claim Christ, then you have much to talk about.

Illustration.

Back in 2004, during the Iraqi war, a Marine named Jason Dunham did the unthinkable; the unimaginable. Cpl. Dunham was the squad-leader who led from the front. His leadership skills were tested by one pivotal moment. During an intense fire-fight, Cpl. Dunham came upon an enemy combatant, who pulled the pin to a hand-grenade and tossed it at Cpl. Dunham and his Marines. Without hesitation Cpl. Dunham jumped on the hand-grenade, yelled at his men not to come close, and absorbed the blast. Sacrificing himself for his friends.

Imagine what the Marines of his squad will talk about to their children about this man? Those Marines many years from now will tell their children and grand-children of the heroic actions of Cpl. Jason Dunham.

Beloved, we have a greater story than that. We do not only have a leader who died for us, Christ Jesus, the second person of the Trinity, who became man, born under the law and lived perfectly under the law, gave Himself for us, but died for us. You see, the major difference between Dunham and Christ is this: Dunham sacrifice his life for his Marines; Christ sacrificed His life for the ungodly, the enemies of God. Romans 5:10 outlines the significance to Christ death, “For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.”

If God’s wrath is a hand-grenade, Christ jumped on it, just like Cpl. Dunham, but for His enemies to save them. That is unthinkable for us, but Christ actions reconciled us to God and brought us out of the house of bondage, from the house of death.

How can we not speak and teach our children what Christ did for us? See verse 9: It shall be as a sign to you on your hand and as a memorial between your eyes, that the LORD’s law may be in your mouth; for with a strong hand the LORD has brought you out of Egypt.” Everything we do — which is the sign on our hands — and everything we see, which is the memorial between our eyes, is the Lord’s law. Grace brings gratitude, and our gratitude brings our obedience to God and His law.

One thing about this passage, to me, is that it appears to safeguard from the situation in chapter 1. In verse 8 of Chapter one it says this: “Now there arose a new king over Egypt, who did not know Joseph.” Think about it, God sent Joseph into Egypt to save Israel, and in essence, the people of Egypt from a huge famine. Years later, a new king comes along and does not know who Joseph is, and in consequence, does not know God. Moses is commanding Israel to remember this day and to teach it to their children.

6. Applications:

This section of Scripture can come down to three main points that we can self-reflect and apply in our life.

I. What do you believe?

a. If you are in Christ, then you believe that you were once a rebel against God. You were a slave to sin, and under the dominion of death. But God, ransomed you. Saved you, redeemed you, and resurrected you from that estate through His Son Christ Jesus.

II. Know what You believe.

a. One thing I realize in Christian circles is that we are sounds bites. We repeat what others say about God or about Christianity. I will say most of it is true. However, the question is this: do you know what you believe? 1 Peter 3:15 says, “But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope in you, with meekness and fear.”

III. How what we believe changes the way we live

a. Has Christ changed your life? Do you living daily to glorify and enjoy God? Are you teaching others, especially your family, the goodness and love of Christ?

Let us pray.