Exodus 13:3  And Moses said unto the people, Remember this day, in which ye came out from Egypt, out of the house of bondage; for by strength of hand the LORD brought you out from this place: there shall no leavened bread be eaten.
4  This day came ye out in the month Abib.
5  And it shall be when the LORD shall bring thee into the land of the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites, which he sware unto thy fathers to give thee, a land flowing with milk and honey, that thou shalt keep this service in this month.
6  Seven days thou shalt eat unleavened bread, and in the seventh day shall be a feast to the LORD.
7  Unleavened bread shall be eaten seven days; and there shall no leavened bread be seen with thee, neither shall there be leaven seen with thee in all thy quarters.
8  And thou shalt shew thy son in that day, saying, This is done because of that which the LORD did unto me when I came forth out of Egypt.
9  And it shall be for a sign unto thee upon thine hand, and for a memorial between thine eyes, that the LORD’S law may be in thy mouth: for with a strong hand hath the LORD brought thee out of Egypt.
10  Thou shalt therefore keep this ordinance in his season from year to year.
11  And it shall be when the LORD shall bring thee into the land of the Canaanites, as he sware unto thee and to thy fathers, and shall give it thee,
12  That thou shalt set apart unto the LORD all that openeth the matrix, and every firstling that cometh of a beast which thou hast; the males shall be the LORD’S.
13  And every firstling of an ass thou shalt redeem with a lamb; and if thou wilt not redeem it, then thou shalt break his neck: and all the firstborn of man among thy children shalt thou redeem.
14  And it shall be when thy son asketh thee in time to come, saying, What is this? that thou shalt say unto him, By strength of hand the LORD brought us out from Egypt, from the house of bondage:
15  And it came to pass, when Pharaoh would hardly let us go, that the LORD slew all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both the firstborn of man, and the firstborn of beast: therefore I sacrifice to the LORD all that openeth the matrix, being males; but all the firstborn of my children I redeem.
16  And it shall be for a token upon thine hand, and for frontlets between thine eyes: for by strength of hand the LORD brought us forth out of Egypt.

I Corinthians 3:11  For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.

A right foundation is essential to anything. If the foundation is not strong and solid, the entire structure will shift with different conditions. A life that is built on anything other than the true God cannot stand. Most religions have been founded by man. Somebody came up with a theory that they built upon a distortion of some Bible truth. They found people who liked that distortion and they went with it. If they gained enough of a following they assumed they must be building on truth because otherwise it would not grow in numbers. False religion does not grow spiritually. It becomes more and more corrupt all the time. That is what we see in New Evangelicalism. When it was first started in 1948, there was still some Gospel in it. However today, there is no Gospel of Christ in that system. It is all for show. The worship teams behave like they need to go to the bathroom and they try to swallow their mics. There is also the avoidance of preaching and the choice of story time which is no longer thus saith the Lord, but rather this is the latest idea coming across the waves. People will cut you off if you don’t say what they want to hear. There is less and less tolerance for Truth today.
God knows we need a solid foundation. He commanded the nation of Israel to remember this day. This day was the day that God miraculously and powerfully delivered them out from under the clutches of Pharaoh. The deliverance was not fully completed yet, but it was a sure thing. Pharaoh would never again hold sway over the children of Israel.
Israel needed to remember they were delivered under the strength of the hand of the LORD. Part of that remembrance was to keep the feast of unleavened bread. There was to be no leaven eaten for seven days. This was to be marked on their calendar as the month Abib. Their calendar was to be changed for good. When they would come into the land of Canaan, which the LORD promised to Abraham, they were to drive out the current inhabitants of that land, and they were to remember this feast in this month.
This feast was to be a seven day feast. No leaven was to be in their houses and they were not to consume any leaven. On the seventh day they were to hold a feast to mark the end of that remembrance. This was to be a constant reminder of the importance of living a life free from sin. Sin is bondage. In the Old Testament the blood of the lamb and the bullock was to be offered as a sin offering. It was for an atonement to the nation of Israel. Jesus Christ would come and His shed blood would provide forgiveness of sins to those who would repent toward God and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ.
It was important for the fathers to pass on the truth of this feast to their sons. As we have noticed, there was no partying during this feast. It was a very sober event. It was a reminder of the power of the LORD to kill the firstborn among the Egyptians, and to spare the firstborn among the Hebrews. The difference was in the heart attitude. By faith, the Hebrews were to put the blood on the door posts and lintels of their houses. They needed to believe in what God said and they needed to demonstrate that faith by doing what the LORD said. The LORD further commanded that the firstborn of the Hebrews was to be sanctified unto the LORD.
In verse 9 we read that this remembrance was to be a sign as a memorial on their hands and between the eyes of the people as well as coming from their mouths. This remembrance needed to be front and centre for the people. These outward symbols were a picture of the fact that this remembrance was to be burned into their hearts. They needed the outward actions to keep that remembrance alive.
In verse 10 we see that this was to be an ordinance for the nation of Israel from year to year. This was to be something that should never become just a ritual. It was to be a time of reflecting on the powerful hand of the LORD in delivering the nation from Egyptian bondage.
In verses 11&12 the LORD again reminded the people that they needed to set the firstborn aside; all the males were to be the LORD’s. This was an important part of this ordinance. The people needed that constant reminder of His blessing in their lives.
In verse 13 we read that if the people did not want to set aside the firstling among their livestock, then they were to break the neck of that animal. The firstborn among the people were to be set aside for the LORD but they were not to be killed. This was not optional, it was the law.
This remembrance was to be held in such a way that it would raise questions in the sons. As they would observe this remembrance, it was to peak the interest and curiosity of the sons. Children generally want to know why certain things are done. This was an important even that was intended to breed that curiosity in the sons. The fathers needed to be ready to teach the sons the significance of this event.
This particular feast was a reminder to the nation of how the LORD overpowered the Pharaoh. Pharaoh had no intention of letting the people go but the LORD was very persuasive. He has His ways of impressing even the lost of the need to submit to His will. Even when the lost do not want to submit, He will cause them to yield. God does all things for His glory. The tragedy is when the lost cannot receive the blessing of submitting, because they do not submit from the heart. Pharaoh grudgingly allowed the Hebrews to leave, but later chased after them and he drowned in the Red Sea along with his armies.
The nation of Israel needed to remember this event and learn of the importance of yielding to the will of God. God requires actions that are from the heart, not just from the head. This is important for us today as well. True salvation involves the work of God in the heart of the sinner. The repentant sinner benefits in that his heart is changed and he is given eternal life. This life will be evidenced in the heart and life of the saved person.
Pastor Bartel