Who Do You Keep Out of Celebrations That God Wants Them In? And What About Church while on Vacation?

Numbers Chapter 9: Passover and Divine Guidance

Numbers 9:1-14 Sanctification through Celebrating Passover

I am writing part of this study today from the parking lot of my church, where I decided to visit alone, pray and read.  It’s a beautiful day.  Unfortunately, many all over the world feel they still need to be isolating in their homes and will do so until the government gives them the green light to live otherwise. Meanwhile, the damage to their livelihoods may be beyond repair. Meanwhile there is good news. For three days in a row, all three global stats seem to be going in the right direction: percentage of deaths/finalized cases and deaths/all cases is down; percentage of recoveries/all cases is up. Good News.  So, we are thankful, and continue to study the Word of God like never before. Hang in there with us as we look for more gems in Numbers today.

The Passage

Verses 1-14 of this chapter describe how God wanted Moses to let the people celebrate the Passover even while in the wilderness. And the timing was to be the appointed time as per Exodus 12. In verse 6 we are told that some men who had touched a dead person were unclean and could not observe Passover.

They approached Moses (and Aaron) and questioned the rule. Moses thought that was a fair question and told them he would enquire of God as to how to respond. And God told Moses that they, though they were unclean because of a dead person, could indeed observe the Passover to the Lord.

And then passage in verse 13 tells us that God was more concerned about the clean person who is on a journey and neglects to observe the Passover. God says that person will be cut off from his people and bear his sin. Verse 14 tells us that ‘alien sojourners’ may also observe the Passover among the people                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          

Thoughts on the Passage

The Passover meal and offerings to the Lord were a must. There was no excuse for missing it, even if travelling or on vacation. There is a direct link between the Passover as described here and the Communion services that we hold in our churches. God called for the practice to be annual at an appointed time. Jesus came along and said, “For as often as you do this, (take the communion meal – the bread and wine or juice), you do so in remembrance of me.” [I Corinthians 11] So, based on that, many Christians started to celebrate it monthly and some even weekly (some Brethren assemblies).

I remember growing up my parents used to note how often various groups celebrated communion. I remember some folks found fault with those that observed it on a different schedule. I turned to the New Testament Greek to check out the word “often” to see what Jesus may have had in mind with respect to frequency.  I found out that the word used – οσακις – in Greek, according to both the scholars Strong and Vine simply means “as often as”. Well, where I come from, there’s a big difference in meaning between “as often as” and “do more often”. Jesus was simply saying, when you do celebrate the Passover meal (which was indeed once a year) when He walked on this earth, “do it in remembrance of [Him]. I do not believe He was saying do it “very often”. Personally, I find that doing something very often leads to an impact that is diminishing in value. It becomes rote. And we have to really ask ourselves how well the majority of parishioners prepare for the Lord’s Supper. May I suggest not very well. Nevertheless, that is not the hill I am going to die on. 

Now, it is interesting to me that God says that those who are clean inside (have a sincere desire to take participate in the Passover) may do so even if they are unclean outside. Yes, admittedly, it was on the 14^th day of the second month as compared to the 14^th day of the first month when it was observed by all the others. They had to get past the period of uncleanliness. God made a provision that allowed them to participate. They didn’t have to wait until the next year. But they still had to be clean (from the uncleanliness of touching the dead body).

What does that tell us about who we allow at our Communion Table? I am aware of some closed denominations that only allow people who are members of their church or members of their faction to take communion. Yet God says even the externally physically unclean and those that are just passing by on their travels, can participate. We have to make sure they had met the criteria that God is interested in. What does your church do?

And again, it is wonderful to see Moses, when presented with a question, seeks the input and guidance and direction of God, before he answers. What a model he sets for all that would be leaders in the church.

We all agree that based on both New Testament and Old Testament passages, the Passover (or Communion) is a big deal in the economy of God. And we just read how God is irked for lack of a better word at those who neglect to observe it when they are away on a journey (verse 13). Now what would you say if I were to say to you that according to the apostle Paul in the New Testament, we are to not neglect to meet together regularly. Translate that as “go to church regularly”. We also know that both the O.T. and the N.T. speaks a lot about worship and worshipping together. Now, if we take those ideas and couple them with how God feels about those who neglect to observe the Passover while “away” from home, is it reasonable that we can form some idea about how God feels about us worshipping Him “together” while we are away from home?

I believe that’s reasonable. I believe that short of being laid up in traction on a hospital bed (okay, you get the idea) God wants us to make every effort to be at a church with other believers while travelling, especially while travelling on holidays. I have heard so many Christians say, “I’m on vacation and therefore, I don’t do church.”  My suggestion is that they try saying that directly to God and see what kind of inside response they will get.

Our two lessons today are pretty straight forward. First, we need to be certain that we don’t keep someone from participating in practices that God wants them to participate in (and vice-versa – we don’t allow people to participate when God says they can’t). The example that comes to mind is an experience I once lived through as a young leader of our youth group at a church I was attending. One of the girls had being disabled by polio (yes, it was that long ago) and she wanted to get baptized and join the church. However, because she could not be immersed, our church leaders at the time simply said she was not eligible to be a church member. Clearly, they did not take the time to enquire of God as to what He wanted done.

The second lesson is more for us. This is a good opportunity to consider or reconsider how we treat our trips away from home, especially our vacations. Let me ask straight out – do you make an effort to attend church or hold a worship service of sorts with others while you are away?

It would be great if you would share your thoughts or questions on this blog in the comments section below or on social media.