Remembering the Strong Hand

Remembering the Strong Hand
Words of Faith 10-27-2022
Dr. Jeffrey D. Hoy © 2022
Jeff.Hoy@faithfellowshipweb.com
Faith Fellowship Church - Melbourne, FL
www.faithfellowshipweb.com
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Exodus 13
The Lord said to Moses, [2] "Consecrate to me every firstborn male. The first offspring of every womb among the Israelites belongs to me, whether man or animal."
[3] Then Moses said to the people, "Commemorate this day, the day you came out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery, because the Lord brought you out of it with a mighty hand. Eat nothing containing yeast. [4] Today, in the month of Abib, you are leaving. [5] When the Lord brings you into the land of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Hivites and Jebusites--the land he swore to your forefathers to give you, a land flowing with milk and honey--you are to observe this ceremony in this month: [6] For seven days eat bread made without yeast and on the seventh day hold a festival to the Lord. [7] Eat unleavened bread during those seven days; nothing with yeast in it is to be seen among you, nor shall any yeast be seen anywhere within your borders. [8] On that day tell your son, 'I do this because of what the Lord did for me when I came out of Egypt.' [9] This observance will be for you like a sign on your hand and a reminder on your forehead that the law of the Lord is to be on your lips. For the Lord brought you out of Egypt with his mighty hand. [10] You must keep this ordinance at the appointed time year after year.

The redemption of God's people has always been closely tied to the high value of the firstborn. God declared, "Consecrate to me all the firstborn. Whatever is first to open the woman among the people of Israel, both of man and of beast, is mine."
The Hebrew word translated consecrate is kaw-dash. It means to sanctify, clean, or hallow. It means to set apart from common use in the most basic form.
The consecration of every firstborn was both literal and symbolic. The firstborn animals were to be sacrificed to the Lord. The firstborn child was to be dedicated to the Lord and then "redeemed" or purchased back from the Lord through a special gift.
We see the consecration of the firstborn as a vivid tie to the final plague that broke the grip of Pharaoh's bondage and the immense need to never forget the mercy shown at the Passover. We also will see that image again in Abraham's sacrifice of Isaac, which foreshadows the sacrifice of the only begotten Son of God for the atonement of humanity's sin.
These acts of ritual dedication would always be a remembrance of the strong hand of the Lord that redeemed the people of God from slavery in Egypt. It is also a reminder of the mighty hand of God that freed us from the power of sin and death on Calvary. The Lord of the universe consecrated His firstborn for the uncommon task of atonement.
The Feast of unleavened bread also served as a reminder of the great escape. Eating unleavened bread for seven days reminds the people of God of the "bread of haste" during the Exodus.
Leaven (yeast) was to be entirely removed from the home. Yeast is a powerful symbol in Scripture because a small amount will move through an entire batch of bread to change it. Scripture uses this symbol to represent both the goodness of the Kingdom (Matthew 13:33) and sin in the heart (Matthew 16:6-12, Luke 12:1, 1 Corinthians 5:1-8). Yeast or leaven is not evil or good in itself but is a symbol.
The ritual of removing all the yeast from a home is analogous to any period of inwardly searching and cleaning our hearts of sin. We might go through such a time of inward cleansing during a season such as Lent, before Holy Week, or season of Advent before celebrating the coming of Christ. We could also do an inner moral inventory daily or during a personal retreat with the Lord.
All of the feasts were times of teaching within the family. The family had the opportunity to retell the story of redemption and explain the symbolic cleansing of the home as an image of cleansing our hearts and offering our lives before God. "I do this because of what the Lord did for me when I came out of Egypt."
What are the remembrances you are creating within your family and setting for the next generation within your church family? Are you teaching the remembrance of the strong hand of God that saves us? Are teaching the value of consecration-- setting apart from common use the things that belong to God? Are you remembering the great sacrifice of God given in His Son, our Lord, Jesus?

Father God, show me the ways of remembrance within my home and family. Show me the ways you want me to teach within the Body of Christ. Reveal to me the way of cleansing and consecration. In Jesus' Name.

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© Jeffrey D. Hoy 2022
Dr. Jeffrey D. Hoy - Faith Fellowship Church (EFCA)
2820 Business Center Blvd.
Melbourne, Florida 32940 (321)-259-7200
Jeff.Hoy@faithfellowshipweb.com
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The Words of Faith devotion is published five days a week by E-mail, excluding Federal holidays. Please feel free to forward this devotion to a friend who might be blessed by this devotion. Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture is quoted from the New International Version (R) of The Holy Bible. Copyright (c) 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved. Words of Faith (c) 1997, 2022 Jeffrey D. Hoy. All rights reserved. Permission is granted to forward this copyrighted material or use portions of it with appropriate notation of the source for non-profit purposes.