November 12th 2017 – Exodus 13:8-16

You shall tell your son on that day, 'It is because of what the LORD did for me when I came out of Egypt.' 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. You shall therefore keep this statute at its appointed time from year to year. "When the LORD brings you into the land of the Canaanites, as he swore to you and your fathers, and shall give it to you, 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. 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. 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. 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.' 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."

Exodus 13:8-16

The firstborn of every beast was to be a sacrifice to God, the firstborn of man was to be redeemed; by which arrangement we are meant to understand that redemption and sacrifice belong together. The firstborn who remained alive were to be living sacrifices, but were nevertheless still truly the Lord's. All this was to be kept assiduously before the minds of the people. On the one hand, children were to be instructed as to the meaning and significance of the Passover, on the other they were to wear signs and tokens on their hands, and frontlets between their eyes to remind them of their indebtedness to the Lord for His great deliverance and of their belonging utterly to Him. These 'tokens' are certainly the 'phylacteries' mentioned by Jesus in Matthew 23:5, and our Lord's scathing strictures upon the Pharisees for their use of them may serve as a reminder to us that any outward token and evidence of one's dedication to the Lord may become a snare, and an occasion of spiritual pride and even hypocrisy. We do not wear phylacteries today, but sometimes badges, labels or distinctive articles of clothing, and we must realise that these too can just as easily become an empty show bearing little relation to the state of our hearts. We must see to it that our lives as well as our lapels are showing forth that we are not our own, but bought with a price. It may be relevant to recall a notable passage in 1 Peter (3:3, 4) in which that Apostle reminds us that it is not outward adornment but inward that is all-important, in the hidden man of the heart, and that the adornment of a meek and quiet spirit, being in the sight of God of great price, will also tell most effectively that we belong to Him.