Originally posted: 03/03/2019
“…for by a powerful hand the Lord brought you out from this place,” (13:3).
The very clouds of Heaven part and a Hand is extended; a Powerful Hand reaches down to touch and move the frightened, enslaved people. This Hand holds authority over all creation and by the mere touch of His Powerful Hand nothing shall ever be the same.
Consider His Powerful Hand
- His Powerful Hand brought His people out of slavery.
- Moses said to the people, “Remember this day in which you went out from Egypt, from the house of slavery; for by a powerful hand the Lord brought you out from this place,” (13:3).
- His Powerful Hand would be memorialized each year through special feasts.
- “You shall tell your son on that day, saying, ‘It is because of what the Lord did for me when I came out of Egypt.’ 9 And it shall serve as a sign to you on your hand, and as a reminder on your forehead, that the law of the Lord may be in your mouth; for with a powerful hand the Lord brought you out of Egypt. 10 Therefore, you shall keep this ordinance at its appointed time from year to year,” (13:8-10).
- His Powerful Hand would embolden the next generation.
- “And it shall be when your son asks you in time to come, saying, ‘What is this?’ then you shall say to him, ‘With a powerful hand the Lord brought us out of Egypt, from the house of slavery,’” (13:14).
- His Powerful Hand would impact every deed and thought.
- “So it shall serve as a sign on your hand and as phylacteries on your forehead, for with a powerful hand the Lord brought us out of Egypt,” (13:16).
- His Powerful Hand would train His people for the battles ahead.
- Now when Pharaoh had let the people go, God did not lead them by the way of the land of the Philistines, even though it was near; for God said, “The people might change their minds when they see war, and return to Egypt.” 18 Hence God led the people around by the way of the wilderness to the Red Sea; and the sons of Israel went up in martial array from the land of Egypt, (13:17-18).
- His Powerful Hand would miraculously and steadily guide His people.
- The Lord was going before them in a pillar of cloud by day to lead them on the way, and in a pillar of fire by night to give them light, that they might travel by day and by night. 22 He did not take away the pillar of cloud by day, nor the pillar of fire by night, from before the people, (13:21-22).
How do we respond to His Powerful Hand?
- The Israelites were powerless to rescue themselves out of their slavery. All that was required was to believe His Word, and by faith, place themselves under the blood.
- “The blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you live; and when I see the blood I will pass over you, and no plague will befall you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt,” (Exodus 12:13).
- Have we have received His gift of grace through faith and been brought out of the slavery of sin by His Powerful Hand of grace through the shed blood of Jesus Christ, our Passover Lamb?
- For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; 9 not as a result of works, so that no one may boast, (Ephesians 2:8-9).
- Feasts were occasions for the community to corporately set their hearts upon the LORD and remember His Powerful Hand. Let us be intentional in our church and family gatherings to make Christ the exclusive center of our attention and to encourage one another in the faith.
- Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you, with all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God, (Colossians 3:16).
- Let us be diligent in our everyday lives to teach others the faith we have in Him and His Powerful Hand; especially our children and any the Lord has put in our charge.
- “These words, which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart. 7 You shall teach them diligently to your sons and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise up,” (Deuteronomy 6:6-7).
- Let us continually allow His Powerful Hand to conform us in all we say and do.
- Whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God the Father, (Colossians 3:17).
- He is faithful to discipline and prepare us for the spiritual battles ahead precisely as needed. Let us joyfully accept the trials from His Powerful Hand as opportunities for our faith to be strengthened as He grows us into maturity.
- Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, 3 knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. 4 And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing, (James 1:2-4).
- When we belong to Him through faith in Christ, we can trust His Powerful Hand to miraculously and steadily guide us. When we seek Him through His Word and prayer, we can rely on His Holy Spirit to teach us and lead us in His Truth.
- Lead me in Your truth and teach me,
For You are the God of my salvation;
For You I wait all the day, (Psalm 25:5) . - I will instruct you and teach you in the way which you should go;
I will counsel you with My eye upon you, (Psalm 32:8).
- Lead me in Your truth and teach me,
“These things I have spoken to you while abiding with you. 26 But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you,” (John 14:25-26).