Exodus 13:8-9 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 this law of the LORD is to be on your lips. For the LORD brought you out of Egypt with his mighty hand.
When we read things, it is good to know the purpose of the thing we are reading. Is it written to entertain, inform, persuade, indoctrinate, woo, romance, gather data, or analyze. And sometimes the motive behind the writing isn’t known to the reader. Covert motives are sometimes present.
We are all familiar with the concept of “fake news” by this time. The premise of fake news is that the motives behind what is or isn’t reported is slanted in a particular direction. But that direction is hidden from viewers. What is presented is presented as fact without this underlying bias being disclosed.
Sometimes during the early dating process, the individuals involved need friends to inform them of the intentions of the other. They seem to be blind to the “like” of the other person. “We are just friends” reveals a blindness to the deeper intentions of the others. Friends often make those intentions more in the open.
Our text makes it crystal clear why the writer is including the details he is recording in his record. He is not a detached reporter. He is reporting with a purpose. He wants to bend the story to a specific end. He wants to persuade future generations to view the events from a certain perspective, his perspective.
The writer is not trying to give what we might today call an “accurate account” of what happened. This is not a transcription of video evidence from multiple perspectives. The writer didn’t gather the cell phones of all those, both Egyptian and Israelites, and review their TikTok videos to find out “what really happened” that day.
For the writer what is important is what is to be told to future generations about these events and what they mean to their community. The Exodus is the most foundational story for Israel. It was their birth narrative. It was the start of their community. And the LORD was the One who did its all.
So when they observe the Passover meal and Feast of Unleavened Bread in the future, these celebrations provide the opportunity to define who they are as a people, a people utterly dependent on the LORD for their survival. They are a people who question leadership, question the motives of the LORD, complain about food and water, worship gods of their own making. They are utter failures as faithful followers of the LORD.
This is their story. They fail, but the LORD is faithful to His promises. This celebration of deliverance in the Passover and following feast are to be an obtrusive reminder of these events and their significance to their present moment. The writer likens them to something stuck on their foreheads or on their hand. It is o be “in your face.”
These reminders are to get us to talk about specific kinds of things, and not talk about other kinds of things. We are to be talking and living His Law. This doesn’t mean that we can’t discuss other things, but that the reality of His rule on our lives must permeate every conversation. Nothing is outside of His view. All must be submitted to Him.
Is this true in our lives, or do we get involved in conversations that deny the sovereignty of God? Does He permeate our discussions, or is He sidelined to specific times and topics?
He is to be central in every area of our lives.
The Arnold Journey 