Exodus 13

Verses 11-16, “And it shall be, when the Lord brings you into the land of the Canaanites, as He swore to you and your fathers, and gives it to you, that you shall set apart to the Lord all that open the womb, that is, every firstborn that comes from an animal which you have; the males shall  be the Lord ’s. But every firstborn of a donkey you shall redeem with a lamb; and if you will not redeem it, then you shall break its neck. And all the firstborn of man among your sons you shall redeem. So it shall be, when your son asks you in time to come, saying, ‘What is this?’ that you shall say to him, ‘By strength of hand the Lord brought us out of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. And it came to pass, when Pharaoh was stubborn about letting us go, that the Lord killed 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 males that open the womb, but all the firstborn of my sons I redeem.’ It shall be as a sign on your hand and as frontlets between your eyes, for by strength of hand the Lord brought us out of Egypt.”

All the first born of man and animal would be consecrated to the Lord. Some would be sacrificed, and others redeemed, but in both cases they would be dedicated unto the Lord in remembrance of how He spared the Jews when He struck all the first born in Egypt dead.  This reminder would be important once they entered the Promised Land.  The nature of man is that when he is being blessed, he tends to forget God and his need for Him.  The Promised Land would be flowing with milk and honey, blessing the inhabitants beyond any other land.  Proverbs 30:8-9, "...Give me neither poverty nor riches— Feed me with the food allotted to me; Lest I be full and deny You, And say, 'Who is the Lord?' Or lest I be poor and steal, And profane the name of my God."

Verses 17-19, "Then it came to pass, when Pharaoh had let the people go, that God did not lead them by way of the land of the Philistines, although that was near; for God said, 'Lest perhaps the people change their minds when they see war, and return to Egypt.' So God led the people around by way of the wilderness of the Red Sea. And the children of Israel went up in orderly ranks out of the land of Egypt. And Moses took the bones of Joseph with him, for he had placed the children of Israel under solemn oath, saying, 'God will surely visit you, and you shall carry up my bones from here with you.' ” Joseph's faith would trust God that his people would one day return to Canaan and bring his bones back to this land.  We can't see it, but I believe that Joseph was blessed for his act of faith.  God will work with us when our faith is weak, but what blessings are we missing out on? 

In God's mercy, He spares the Jews the temptation of returning to Egypt by leading them through the wilderness, rather than taking the shortest route to Canaan which would pass armies.  He also knows what we can handle and won't tempt us beyond what we can bear. 1 Corinthians 10:13, "No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it."  When Christians act as though their trials are especially hard, and everyone else can't possibly understand, they've bought into a lie from the enemy.  This lie gives them an excuse to continue sinning, putting the blame somewhere else, rather than owning the responsibility for their choice to sin.  This is unbelief!  You can choose to trust God when He says that your trials are common and He's in control of the situation so you will be able to bear it, or you can choose to sin and not to trust God.  But either way, you own it, and cannot expect others to believe the lie that you've bought.

Verses 20-22, "So they took their journey from Succoth and camped in Etham at the edge of the wilderness. And the Lord went before them by day in a pillar of cloud to lead the way, and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, so as to go by day and night. He did not take away the pillar of cloud by day or the pillar of fire by night from before the people."  God gave His people a constant visual reminder of His presence, appearing as a cloud by day, and fire by night.  Having this visual reminder did not stop them from having hard hearts of unbelief, and they would be punished for it.  Listen to what Jesus told Thomas when he doubted.  John 20:29, "Jesus said to him, 'Thomas, because you have seen Me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.' ”  Believing without seeing is walking by faith, and what Christians are expected to do.  Hebrews 11:6, "But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him."

Trials are designed to test our faith.  Thankfully God allows us to see just where it is at so we can know where we are lacking and allow Him to perfect us, IF we don't resist what God wants to do to us through the trial. It's much better to suffer now and have rest for eternity, than to have your rest now and suffer later. 1 Peter 1:6-9, "In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials, that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ, whom having not seen you love. Though now you do not see Him, yet believing, you rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, receiving the end of your faith—the salvation of your souls."  The reward later is worth anything we will go through here on earth.