Stopped in my Tracks!

I set a goal of how far I was going to read in Exodus today. But I didn’t get too far before I was stopped in my tracks! I missed it in Exodus 13:9, but in a previous read, I had circled the words in Exodus 13:16. The words were ‘hands’ and ‘forehead’. Because they were circled, I read what I had written before and decided to ponder them a bit before moving on. I wondered if they might be related to the hands and forehead in the book of Revelation…

“This observance [Passover] will be for you like a sign on your hand and a reminder on your forehead that the law of the Lord is to be on your lips. For the Lord brought you out of Egypt with His mighty hand.” Exodus 13:9 “And it will be like a sign on your hand and a symbol on your forehead that the Lord brought us out of Egypt with his mighty hand.” Exodus 13:16

I wonder what a ‘sign on your hand’ and a ‘symbol on your forehead’ meant in the culture of the day. There are two things that are common to all people – we think and we do – not necessarily in that order. Some think and then do, some think as they do, and some do and then think. But those two activities pretty much make up who we are. We think with our heads and do with our hands. Somehow, I believe that is tied up in these verses.

The Israelites were freed from their slavery – led out of Egypt by the mighty hand of God. Now they were commanded to keep His laws and to remember what He had done for them. They were to pass this on to their children by example. As they celebrated Passover, they were to tell their children about what God had done for them. “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.” Deuteronomy 6:4-9

God does not want to be put on the shelf and pulled down once a week or twice a year. He wants to be part of every aspect of my life – every thought I have and everything I do – my forehead and my hands. I remember who God is and what He has done for me when He is part of my thoughts throughout the day and when He is influencing everything I do with my hands. I am to be consumed by Him! The more time I spend with Him, the more He influences me and becomes part of who I am.

To those who do not belong to God, Jesus said, “You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desire. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.” John 8:44 With that description of the devil in my mind, I looked at Revelation 13 where John describes for us the beast. “He had two horns like a lamb, but he spoke like a dragon… he performed great and miraculous signs… he deceived the inhabitants of the earth… He also forced everyone, small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on his right hand or on his forehead, so that no one could buy or sell unless he had the mark, which is the name of the beast or the number of his name.” Revelation 13:11-17 “If anyone worships the beast and his image and receives his mark on the forehead or on the hand, he, too, will drink of the wine of God’s fury, which has been poured full strength into the cup of his wrath.” Revelation 14:9-10

Satan tries to appear like a lamb. Jesus is called the “Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.” John 1:29 The father of lies is trying to be a counterfeit Jesus. He wants his mark to be on us – on our hands and our foreheads. He wants us to be consumed with him rather than being consumed with Jesus, the true Lamb of God.

I choose every day. I choose in everything I do and every thought I have. Will I have the mark of Jesus Christ the true Lamb on my forehead and on my hands, or will I have the mark of the counterfeit, the beast on my forehead and on my hands? What will I teach my children and my friends and anyone with whom I have contact? The mark of the beast isn’t just something for the end times. How I live my life reflects every day the One to whom I belong.