Exodus 13:9 This observance will be for you like a sign on your hand and a reminder on your forehead that this law of the LORD is to be on your lips. For the LORD brought you out of Egypt with his mighty hand.
Some people create tradition out of the smallest of detail and strangest of occurrences. I remember hearing the story of a family that would cut the end off a perfectly good ham and throw it away before baking. The great grand child asked the grand child who asked the child who then asked the mother. This great grand mother said she cut the end off the roast because she didn’t have a pan large enough to roast it whole. And so a tradition was born!
The ancient people of Israel had some traditions, some good and some not so good. We see one in our text for today. As Israel is leaving Egypt after 430 years living in this foreign land, there are some traditions that the LORD wants them to observe, traditions that point back to the facts of the Exodus. And so it began.
The first observance that He institutes centers around the presence of yeast. They were to remove the yeast from their homes and cooking. This observance was a way to annually remember and celebrate what the LORD did on their behalf in the Exodus miracle. Their hasty departure from Egypt meant they didn’t carry yeasted bread with them on their escape. This is what they are supposed to celebrate, the thing they are to do.
Part of the observance included not having any yeast around their house during this timeframe. We read later that they had to clean their houses carefully to remove the yeast. And of course they added some elements to this over the centuries.
But this observance, our text tells us, is to be LIKE a sign on your hand and a reminder on your forehead. When they participated in this observance it was to be “right up in their face” as we would phrase it. The event couldn’t be ignored. They had to remember the Exodus miracle. Every year. No getting around it.
And this “like a sign” is also present when discussing the redeeming of the firstborn males. Again, this is an in your face, can’t be ignored tradition. When a male was born, no matter the time or place, it had to be redeemed. A life had to be given in place of the one being spared. That is fairly “in your face”, isn’t it. Blood, smell, gathering, remembering. All this and more would happen.
I am wondering what “in your face” traditions you have in your life that clearly show the miracle of God’s work in your life. Do you have any? What might they look like? What events should be remembered in this way?
Maybe it is time to start a few traditions to help point future generations to the God who entered human history and invaded our lives, and now lives through us.
The Arnold Journey 