A REASONABLE FATHER

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In Christ, Mark

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

The Lord spoke to Moses in the Desert of Sinai in the first month of the second year after they came out of Egypt. He said, "Have the Israelites celebrate the Passover at the appointed time. Celebrate it at the appointed time, at twilight on the fourteenth day of this month, in accordance with all its rules and regulations."

So Moses told the Israelites to celebrate the Passover, and they did so in the Desert of Sinai at twilight on the fourteenth day of the first month. The Israelites did everything just as the Lord commanded Moses. But some of them could not celebrate the Passover on that day because they were ceremonially unclean on account of a dead body. So they came to Moses and Aaron that same day and said to Moses, "We have become unclean because of a dead body, but why should we be kept from presenting the Lord's offering with the other Israelites at the appointed time?" Moses answered them, "Wait until I find out what the Lord commands concerning you."

Then the Lord said to Moses, "Tell the Israelites: 'When any of you or your descendants are unclean because of a dead body or are away on a journey, they may still celebrate the Lord's Passover. They are to celebrate it on the fourteenth day of the second month at twilight. They are to eat the lamb, together with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. They must not leave any of it till morning or break any of its bones. When they celebrate the Passover, they must follow all the regulations. But if a man who is ceremonially clean and not on a journey fails to celebrate the Passover, that person must be cut off from his people because he did not present the Lord's offering at the appointed time. That man will bear the consequences of his sin.’

‘An alien living among you who wants to celebrate the Lord's Passover must do so in accordance with its rules and regulations. You must have the same regulations for the alien and the native-born.'"

Numbers 9:1-14

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

Up to this point in the Old Testament scriptures, we have seen God mandating many rules and regulations for the way He expected the Israelites to live and worship. In regard to these directives, we have also seen how He has been inflexible and uncompromising when it came to His people adhering to them. He expected the utmost obedience from His people then just as He does today.

With this, we find an interesting, rare exception to the Lord’s strict compliance rule as we look at the opening fourteen verses of Numbers, chapter 9, verses that we see deal with the holy observance of the Passover. Through His response to an issue regarding uncleanliness and participation in the sacred day, we find that while God does expect obedience to His commands, He is also a God of grace and reason, a God who shows us that the essence of worship is more important than a legalistic adherence to law.

The chapter begins as if there were no problems existing. The Lord tells Moses to celebrate the Passover at the appointed time which was designated as "twilight on the fourteenth day of this month". We read where He expected the Passover to be conducted "in accordance with all its rules and regulations" and the scriptures tell us that the Israelites did as He demanded, celebrating Passover "in the Desert of Sinai at twilight on the fourteenth day of the first month" and doing "everything just as the Lord commanded Moses."

But then read about a concern that bubbled to the surface right on the Passover day. We read where "some of them (the Israelites) could not celebrate the Passover on that day because they were ceremonially unclean on account of a dead body." These effected people came to Moses and Aaron saying, "We have become unclean because of a dead body, but why should we be kept from presenting the Lord's offering with the other Israelites at the appointed time?" Their request clearly shows a deep desire to be able to participate in the Passover sacrament and it’s within this passion that they ask their question to Moses. In essence, they didn’t see where being “unclean” because of a “dead body” should be a disqualifying factor.

And so knowing this was a call that the Lord needed to make, we find Moses going to Him with the question at hand and we might expect that God might say something like this:

"My commands are My commands. They are unclean and cannot partake in the Passover. I am the Lord!"

But that’s not happened as God shows that us once again that mercy and grace are key components of His character. We know He is a God who peers into the hearts of His people, able to see their inner motives and desires. He could see their strong spiritual fervor and devotion for Him and I believe this is what led Him to respond to the request as He did, saying this to Moses:

"Tell the Israelites: 'When any of you or your descendants are unclean because of a dead body or are away on a journey, they may still celebrate the Lord's Passover. They are to celebrate it on the fourteenth day of the second month at twilight. They are to eat the lamb, together with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. They must not leave any of it till morning or break any of its bones. When they celebrate the Passover, they must follow all the regulations.’"

Through these words, we find God not only making accommodations for those who may have inadvertently become unclean on the Passover but also those who had been away on travel. In either instance, the Passover could be celebrated one month after the normally prescribed Passover day (in other words, a second Passover celebration could be held) but note that God makes it clear that all regulations of the prescribed Passover day must also be followed on the second one.

In the end translation, God made sure that those who wanted to participate in the special observance marking His deliverance of the Israelites from Egypt could do so. Even "an alien living among” the Israelites could take part but only if they had been first circumcised prior to the Passover feast (Exodus 12:48). With this, we see that there was room at the Passover table for non-Israelites (aliens) who had come to believe and trust in the God of Israel.

Through our verses for today, we see how the God we serve is a reasonable Father, One who sees and knows the faithful desire for Him within a believer’s heart and will honor those desires by providing the opportunity to celebrate Him in worship. Conversely, as we see in verse thirteen of this passage, the Lord will bring judgment on anyone who is able to take part in His prescribed worship observances but chooses not to, an act He saw as a sin.

“But if a man who is ceremonially clean and not on a journey fails to celebrate the Passover, that person must be cut off from his people because he did not present the Lord's offering at the appointed time. That man will bear the consequences of his sin."

Yes, we know God is a God of grace but He still is a God who expects every believer’s reverence and respect. He will not stand for willful insolence and shows that judgment is prescribed for anyone who chooses to exercise it. Indeed, He expects those who place their belief in Him to worship and there can be no greater expression of honor for Him as when His people come before Him in a spirit of praise and thanksgiving, acknowledging His absolute sovereignty and authority.

For us today, this is done through a church where a body of believers gather in corporate worship of the only One who is worthy of it. It can and should be carried out daily as part of the spiritual discipline of any Christian.

For everything we have is a gift, right? And this includes the time that we’re taking up right now, I writing this message while communing with the Holy Spirit and you later reading it once it is posted.

Further, life itself is such a rich gift. Wouldn’t you agree?

It’s true and we need to see that every breath of air we take in and breathe out is a breath of the Lord’s grace and mercy. Take away breath and a person will die, and without God’s grace and mercy, as set forth through His Son Jesus, we would cease to live in glory, both now or in the hereafter.

Friends, our reasonable Father loved us so much that He didn’t want for us to perish and so He saved us, offering up Jesus to atone for and take away our sins (John 1:29, 3:16). He has blessed us at the highest level possible with salvation, although none of us have done any work in life that has earned it. Rather, all we needed to do is believe in His Son as Savior. That’s it.

With this, our only proper response is to offer Him all our praise, honor, and glory within every breath He provides, showing our heartfelt gratitude unto the One who has given us all we could ever hope for and all we could ever need through Christ, His Son and our Savior.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.