Today is Pesach Sheini, the Second Passover, below is the passage in Numbers 9 that addresses this event.
1A year after Israel’s departure from Egypt, the Lord spoke to Moses in the wilderness of Sinai. In the first month of that year he said, 2“Tell the Israelites to celebrate the Passover at the prescribed time, 3at twilight on the fourteenth day of the first month. Be sure to follow all my decrees and regulations concerning this celebration.”
4So Moses told the people to celebrate the Passover 5in the wilderness of Sinai as twilight fell on the fourteenth day of the month. And they celebrated the festival there, just as the Lord had commanded Moses. 6But some of the men had been ceremonially defiled by touching a dead body, so they could not celebrate the Passover that day. They came to Moses and Aaron that day 7and said, “We have become ceremonially unclean by touching a dead body. But why should we be prevented from presenting the Lord’s offering at the proper time with the rest of the Israelites?”
8Moses answered, “Wait here until I have received instructions for you from the Lord.”
9This was the Lord’s reply to Moses. 10“Give the following instructions to the people of Israel: If any of the people now or in future generations are ceremonially unclean at Passover time because of touching a dead body, or if they are on a journey and cannot be present at the ceremony, they may still celebrate the Lord’s Passover. 11They must offer the Passover sacrifice one month later, at twilight on the fourteenth day of the second month. They must eat the Passover lamb at that time with bitter salad greens and bread made without yeast. 12They must not leave any of the lamb until the next morning, and they must not break any of its bones. They must follow all the normal regulations concerning the Passover.
13“But those who neglect to celebrate the Passover at the regular time, even though they are ceremonially clean and not away on a trip, will be cut off from the community of Israel. If they fail to present the Lord’s offering at the proper time, they will suffer the consequences of their guilt. 14And if foreigners living among you want to celebrate the Passover to the Lord, they must follow these same decrees and regulations. The same laws apply both to native-born Israelites and to the foreigners living among you.”
Everything that happens in the Old Testament is a dress rehearsal for what is yet to come. Look at the parables that Jesus told about people not being ready for a specific event. We have the 10 virgins, the servants that were given the talents, The guests called for the wedding who refused to come to the wedding, and the evil farmers who refused to pay the land owner his share just to name a few.
There is a day coming the world has been preparing for it is the second coming. The text above lays out that an event happened and people where not ready or prepared for it. God in His Mercy made a way for them to have a second chance to attend His Holy Event. This is the only Festival that God gives a 2nd chance. However if they are not prepared they will be cut off from the community. Humanity has been rehearsing for 3,335 wether they have realized it or not. God has a calendar which represents His 1st and 2nd coming. We are on God’s monopoly board going round and round each year rehearsing until we perfect our lives to be ready when He comes again.
Everything in the word of God is for today, even the Old Testament. I find more and more everyday how important what was written before Christ is revenant to our everyday lives. The secrets and mysteries of God are revealed when we go back to the beginning and read the events the Israelites.
