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April 24, 2013

The Second Chance

Numbers 9
King James Version (KJV)

And the Lord spake unto Moses… saying, Let the children of Israel also keep the passover at his appointed season. In the fourteenth day of this month, at even, ye shall keep it in his appointed season… And Moses spake unto the children of Israel, that they should keep the passover…

And there were certain men, who were defiled by the dead body of a man, that they could not keep the passover on that day: and they came before Moses and before Aaron on that day: And those men said unto him, We are defiled by the dead body of a man: wherefore are we kept back, that we may not offer an offering of the Lord in his appointed season among the children of Israel? And Moses said unto them, Stand still, and I will hear what the Lord will command concerning you.

And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, If any man of you or of your posterity shall be unclean by reason of a dead body, or be in a journey afar off, yet he shall keep the passover unto the Lord. The fourteenth day of the second month at even they shall keep it, and eat it with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. They shall leave none of it unto the morning, nor break any bone of it: according to all the ordinances of the passover they shall keep it.

Today is 14 Iyyar, the fourteenth day of the second month on the Jewish calendar. It’s a day that’s important in scripture, but until this morning, I had NO idea. I was reading along my morning digs, and came upon a link to something that said ‘The Second Pesach’. Intrigued, I clicked in to the link, and… well, I need scripture to back things up. If it ain’t in scripture, I am hesitant to buy it. But this was RIGHT there, in the book of… Numbers? That’s crazy. But okay. So I looked it up… and sure enough. Today’s important – 14 Iyyar is the ‘Second Passover’… the time to celebrate it, if you weren’t able to, the first time. It’s the second chance day.

There seem to be a LOT of those in scripture. Take Elul, for example. It’s 30 days of repentance, to prepare for Rosh Ha’Shana. But then Rosh Ha’Shana has ten days of awe, that are a ‘second chance’ to get right before Yom Kippur. And here we have a ‘second chance’ at Pesach… exactly thirty days after the first Pesach. Apparently there were people who were ceremonially unclean and could not keep the Sabbath. I worry about that a lot, myself. By default – I’m a woman, and once a month we’re unclean for a week. Brian says that it’s nothing I can do anything about, so it doesn’t count, but these guys couldn’t really help that their loved ones died, either… and that their circumstances kept them from participating in the shed blood of the Lamb. And they did NOT want to be left out. I don’t blame them!

But Yehovah isn’t unfair. He always provides ample time, and even second chances. There’s NEVER any reason a person misses the boat, except for his own choice. Yehovah makes sure of that. And I’m amazed again and again at His provisions to try to give everyone the opportunity to participate – IF they CHOOSE to do so. My God is a fair and just God. He keeps the game going til the very last second, and even throws in overtime to be sure everyone who will can come to Him.

I like days like today. Because they remind me that the One I serve? He’s better than ANY other option. He’s an awesome sovereign, who gives all opportunity to all people.