“And there were certain men who were unclean through touching a dead body, so that they could not keep the Passover on [the appointed] day, and they came before Moses and Aaron on that day. 7 And those men said to [Moses], ‘We are unclean through touching a dead body. Why are we kept from bringing the LORD’s offering at its appointed time among the people of Israel?'” (Numbers 9:6-7)
There’s an often overlooked story in the Bible about a second Passover. There is not much detail to the story other than saying that the second Passover is to be kept with all the ordinances of the first Passover. But what happens if you don’t keep the Passover? Is it a sin?
The institution of Passover is found in Exodus 12, and the reminder to keep the Passover is found six times in the Pentateuch. Those six reminders can be found in the latter half of Exodus 12, Exodus 34, Leviticus 23, Numbers 9, Numbers 28, and Deuteronomy 16. I’ll give a brief synopsis of each passage, but be sure to read the details for yourself.
In Exodus 12, YHWH tells Israel to keep the Passover to protect them from the tenth plague, then they left Egypt. YHWH reminds Moses in verse 43 that Passover is a statute for Israel to keep as He mentioned in verses 24 and 25, and then gives instructions for how foreigners and sojourners can keep the Passover with them.
YHWH renews the covenant with Israel in Exodus 34, after the golden calf incident. Passover is mentioned in verse 25 with only the reminder that the sacrifice should not remain until morning. However, verse 23 says, “Three times in the year shall all your males appear before the LORD God, the God of Israel.” More on that later.
Leviticus 23 is the famous listing of all of YHWH’s eight appointed times. The only thing said about Passover is that it should be kept in the first month on the fourteenth day. No other instructions are included in the chapter.
Numbers 9 is the story about the second Passover. Verse one says it is the second year after they came out of Egypt. In the Western reckoning of time, that means it is the first anniversary of the first Passover and the start of the second year. YHWH tells Moses to have the Israelites keep the Passover with all of the ordinances that were given in Egypt. On a side note, they lived in houses in Egypt and put the blood of the lamb on the doorposts. So how did they apply the blood while living in tents? Regardless, Moses reminded the people to keep the Passover, but some men were unclean and therefore, could not partake. YHWH’s instructions at this point were to keep the Passover one month later with all of the ordinances of the first Passover. There is no mention of keeping the week of Unleavened Bread with it, though. And as we see in Chapter 10, on the 20th day of the second month, they broke camp and left Sinai. The week of Unleavened Bread wouldn’t be over until the 22nd. From this, we can see that YHWH waited until these men could keep the Passover in the second month before leaving Sinai, but they left before a second week of Unleavened Bread. That would seem to indicate that the Passover was the only thing to be observed in the second month.
Numbers 28 is a reminder of the offerings that are to be brought before the Lord. Joshua is commissioned to succeed Moses in Chapter 27, and this is a reminder to them going forward. If you paid attention to the narrative from Exodus through Deuteronomy, you have noticed that there is not one recorded incident of keeping the Passover after the Israelites refused to go into the Promised Land based on the report of the ten spies. The next account of keeping the Passover is in Joshua after they cross the Jordan and before they march upon Jericho. But that’s a story for another time.
Deuteronomy 16 is another recap of how to keep the Passover, but some additional instructions are very important. Deuteronomy is the second giving of the Law. Moses is handing Joshua the leadership role. For forty years they have wandered in the wilderness. It’s been 39 years since they last kept the Passover. There is a new generation that is going into the Promised Land and there are some commandments that could only be kept in the land that YHWH was giving them. This generation needed to have God’s Law fresh in their minds when they went in to take the land. And it is here that YHWH stipulates that once they take the land, they can only keep the Passover in the place in which He chooses.
Deuteronomy 16:2 “And you shall offer the Passover sacrifice to the LORD your God, from the flock or the herd, at the place that the LORD will choose, to make His Name dwell there.”
And He makes it clear that the Passover cannot be offered in their towns or homes, but only in the place His Name dwells.
Deuteronomy 16:5-6 “You may not offer the Passover sacrifice within any of your towns that the LORD your God is giving you, 6 but at the place that the LORD your God will choose, to make his name dwell in it, there you shall offer the Passover sacrifice, in the evening at sunset, at the time you came out of Egypt.”
Now, this post is about the second Passover. As we saw before, the Passover alone can be observed in the second month without following it with the Feast of Unleavened Bread. And it now seems from Deuteronomy 16 that the second Passover also has to be offered in Jerusalem since there is no allowance for offering the sacrifice in their towns or homes. And that brings us back to the three pilgrimage feasts.
Exodus 34:22-25 “You shall observe the Feast of Weeks, the first fruits of wheat harvest, and the Feast of Ingathering at the year’s end. 23 Three times in the year shall all your males appear before the LORD God, the God of Israel. 24 For I will cast out nations before you and enlarge your borders; no one shall covet your land when you go up to appear before the LORD your God three times in the year. 25 You shall not offer the blood of my sacrifice with anything leavened, or let the sacrifice of the Feast of the Passover remain until the morning.”
The three feasts mentioned here are the Feast of Weeks, the Feast of Ingathering, and Passover. The Feast of Weeks is identified in verse 22 as the firstfruits of wheat harvest and is referring to Shav’out (Pentecost) when the wheat sheaf is to be waved before YHWH fifty days after the day of First Fruits when the barley sheaf is to be waved. The Feast of Ingathering is speaking of the Feast of Booths, or Tabernacles, in the fall. In the Spring, Unleavened Bread is called the Feast. However, the Passover lamb is sacrificed on the 14th while the meal is consumed on the 15th, the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread. Passover becomes a feast by default because the two are tied together, but you can only offer the Passover sacrifice in Jerusalem anyway. It wouldn’t make sense to say Unleavened Bread is the feast required to appear before the Lord but not Passover, especially since Passover is required to be offered in Jerusalem. The two are inexplicably linked. The reason I bring this up is because of the second Passover.
As we noted in Numbers 10, the camp left Mt. Sinai after the second Passover but before a second week of Unleavened Bread could be observed. So the two are not linked in this case. Does that mean the Passover is required in the Spring but not Unleavened Bread? It wouldn’t make sense to leave if you were already there. But what about the men from Numbers 9 who were unclean and couldn’t keep the Passover? Could they join in the observation of Unleavened Bread after the sun came up on the 15th after the Passover meal was over for everyone else? That’s the time of year for the first barley harvest that was waved on First Fruits during Unleavened Bread. It doesn’t make sense to skip that offering just because you couldn’t keep the Passover. And they were going to keep the second Passover without the week of Unleavened Bread and First Fruits. I bring all of this up for another reason.
What happens if someone is unclean when it’s time for Shav’uot? Or Tabernacles? There is no mention of either of those being repeated in the following, respective months. Do they just skip them that year? God said they are required. Is there a punishment for not coming three times a year? YHWH did say in Exodus 34:24, “For I will cast out nations before you and enlarge your borders; no one shall covet your land when you go up to appear before the LORD your God three times in the year.” The implication is that God will not cast out the nations and will not enlarge their borders if they don’t appear before Him at these three appointed times. But that’s not really the issue here.
Did you notice in the text that only the males are required to go to Jerusalem three times a year? That does not mean that women are not to come for the three feasts. But they are not required. Why? The men that came to Moses couldn’t keep Passover because they were unclean. But they were unclean because of touching a dead body to bury it. Women have many more opportunities to become unclean. Women are unclean from giving childbirth or from their monthly cycle. Being unclean is not a sin. It just means that you cannot go to the Temple or present yourself before God. If women were required to go up to Jerusalem for the three feasts, they might have to miss one or two every year at no fault of their own. Men, however, are mostly unclean from the things that they have done. Being leperous would be an exception, or burying someone which is a matter with some expediency. Otherwise, men become unclean from touching something unclean or having sex. Both are things that can be controlled by the man’s actions. But the second Passover isn’t really about being unclean. It’s about the heart.
The whole point of this post is about where your heart is for God. The Greatest Commandment is to love God with all of your heart, soul, and mind. Moses had told the people in Exodus 34 that they were to appear before God three times a year, Passover is one of those times. The men in Numbers 9 knew this when they came to Moses to tell them they were unclean. They didn’t tell Moses they were unclean so they could be exempt from keeping the Passover. They said, “Why are we kept from bringing the LORD’s offering at its appointed time among the people of Israel?” They wanted to keep the Passover. They desired to be among His chosen people. They didn’t want to be exempt. They didn’t want to be left out. They wanted to keep the Passover of their God.
How many times have we decided we’re too busy or tired to pray? Do we make excuses for why we can’t make it to Fellowship with the Body this week? Do we make excuses for why we don’t keep the Passover? Or do you desire to do everything that God wants you to do because He said so? In speaking of the Passover, Paul told the Corinthians to keep the feast, but not with the leaven of malice and evil but with sincerity and truth. Shouldn’t we do the same without looking for excuses to be exempt?