It shall be a sign for you on your hand and a reminder on your forehead that the Law of the LORD is to be on your lips. For with a mighty hand the LORD brought you out of Egypt.
God claims the firstborn by right of protection, as He claimed them when He spared them in Egypt. We must present what is dearest to us to Him first, and receive it back only by His mercy; the firstborn are the joy of families, yet they belong to God before they belong to us. By this dedication we show that we love Him better than we love ourselves.
AI summary
Commenting on Exodus 13:1-10
And it shall be for a sign unto thee upon thine hand, and for a memorial between thine eyes,.... These are not the words of God or of Moses to the children of Israel, but of an lsraelitish parent to his son, telling him that this feast of unleavened bread would serve the same purpose to refresh his memory with what God did for his...
That day gave Israel a national existence and freedom worth remembering with devout gratitude forever. God wrung their liberty from Egypt's tyrant by fearful judgment; it was never merely granted, but taken by His strength of hand. The haste of their deliverance left no time for leavened bread.
AI summary
Commenting on Exodus 13:3-10