Exodus 13:3-10

³ Then Moses told the people, “Remember this day in which you exited Egypt, out from the house where you were a slave, because by strength of hand the LORD rescued you from this slavery. No leavened bread is to 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 solemnly promised to your fathers to give you, a land flowing with milk and honey, you are to keep this ritual in this month. ⁶ Seven days you will eat unleavened bread, and on the seventh day there will be a feast to the LORD. ⁷ Unleavened bread will be eaten for seven days; no leavened bread is to be seen among you, and no leaven is to be seen with you in all your territory. ⁸ You will 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 will be to you as a sign on your hand and as a memorial between your eyes, that the what the LORD instructs may be in your mouth. Because the LORD has brought you out of Egypt with a strong hand. ¹⁰ You will therefore keep this permanent rule at its appointed time from year to year.

what the LORD did for me

Essential to passing on the faith in the community of faith was the personal testimony of rescue. A father was to pass on the faith to his son by telling him – not just what the LORD did for Israel, but what the LORD did for him personally. The LORD’s Torah – instruction – was not primarily to establish a community religion. It was to pass on a personal faith within that community. Notice the elements of that personal testimony:

1. The LORD did for me what I could not do for myself. I was in bondage, and I could not work or buy my way out. The LORD redeemed me.

2. The LORD set me free. I had been a slave, but by the strength of his hand he cut me loose.

3. The LORD consecrated me to himself. I celebrate each year by eating this bread without yeast. It reminds me that I am different because the LORD chose to rescue me – to take me out of Egypt.

4. The LORD taught me how to share my faith with you. He instructed me to pass on my faith in him because he wants to rescue them too.

LORD, thank you for testimony of faith that we have because of your rescue. Remind us when we have opportunities to share that faith with others.