Our rescue from sin's house of slavery

...prefigured in the Exodus.

Verse for the week: “Give ear, O my people, to my teaching;
    incline your ears to the words of my mouth!” Psalm 78.1

Prayer for the week:  Give our ears to your teaching, O Lord; incline them to the words of your mouth. Convince us to tell your glorious deeds and the wonders you have done to our children that they and their children may set their hope in you alone; through your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

Bible reading for the day: Exodus 13.1-16  (The epic of God’s relationship with his chosen people and his will to bless all families through them continues. God remembers his covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; he hears the groaning of his people and rescues them from the house of slavery.)

The Lord said to Moses, ² “Consecrate to me all the firstborn. Whatever is the first to open the womb among the people of Israel, both of man and of beast, is mine.”

³ Then Moses said to the people, “Remember this day in which you came out from Egypt, out of the house of slavery, for by a strong hand the Lord brought you out from this place. No leavened bread shall be eaten. ⁴ Today, in the month of Abib, you are going out. ⁵ And when the Lord brings you into the land of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, which he swore to your fathers to give you, a land flowing with milk and honey, 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 for seven days; no leavened bread shall be seen with you, and no leaven shall be seen with you in all your territory. ⁸ You shall tell your son on that day, ‘It is because of what the Lord did for me when I came out of Egypt.’ ⁹ 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. ¹⁰ You shall therefore keep this statute at its appointed time from year to year.

¹¹ “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, ¹² 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. ¹³ 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. ¹⁴ 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. ¹⁵ 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.’ ¹⁶ 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.”

Prayer (based on the T.R.I.P. method): Gracious and almighty Father, thank you for bringing us out of sin’s house of slavery through Christ crucified for us. We bring no leaven of ourselves to this rescue; it is because of what you alone did for us in Christ that the burden of our sin and the law’s accusation is lifted. In the new land of your kingdom, we, our wombs, the firstborn of them and all that we have are yours; through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.

Hymn: follow this link to a beloved, classic hymn that gives further voice to today’s conversation with the Lord: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cO725In6VT8&ab_channel=HymnalProject

The First Commandment, with a Promise:

I am the Lord your God.

You shall have no other gods before me. Exodus 20.2-3

What does this mean for us?

We are to fear, love, and trust God above anything else. (from The Small Catechism, by Martin Luther)

Benediction: I am the Lord your God and you shall be my people. Amen.

 

*This is now our congregation’s 99^th year in the Word. In 2025, we are reading from Genesis to Revelation, with a few interludes along the way.