05/23/2019 — The grace of God comes into view with the Jewish feast of Pesach Sheni, essentially a second Passover. It provided a second chance for Jews who had missed the annual celebration of Passover because they were traveling or were ceremonially unclean.

Passover was strictly regulated, but Pesach Sheni was not. It was a second chance, available to all! And God gives you a second chance today. No matter where you've been, no matter what you've done, the grace of God is available for you today. Rejoice in our gracious God!

EDUCATION

Numbers 9:4-14

"Moses spoke to the children of Israel, that they should keep the Passover. They kept the Passover on the fourteenth day of the first month at evening in the Wilderness of Sinai. According to all that the LORD commanded Moses, so the children of Israel did.

"There were men who were unclean by the dead body of a man, so they could not keep the Passover on that day, and they came before Moses and before Aaron on that day. And those men said to him, 'We are defiled by the dead body of a man. Why are we kept back, that we may not offer an offering of the LORD at its appointed time among the children of Israel?'

"And Moses said to them, 'Stand still, and I will hear what the LORD will command concerning you.

"The LORD spoke to Moses, saying: Speak to the children of Israel, saying: If any man of you or of your posterity is unclean because of a dead body, or is far off on a journey, he will still keep the Passover to the LORD. The fourteenth day of the second month at evening they will keep it, and eat it with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. They will leave none of it until the morning, nor break any of its bones. According to all the ordinances of the Passover they will keep it. But the man who is ceremonially clean, and is not on a journey, and fails to keep the Passover, even the same person will be cut off from his people. Because he did not bring the offering of the LORD at its appointed time, that man will bear his sin.

"If a stranger will sojourn among you and will keep the Passover to the LORD, according to the ordinance of the Passover, and according to the manner of it, so he will do. You will have one ordinance both for the resident alien and for the natural born citizen of the land" (MEV).

APPLICATION

• One of the landmark festivals on the Jewish calendar is Passover, celebrated at the same time Christians celebrate Easter. But there is an aspect of the Passover festival that has the power to change you forever but is rarely taught in our churches.
• In the second year after Israel came out of Egypt, after the time of the Passover celebration, a question arose about those who had been ceremonially unclean at Passover. They essentially complained that they should not be left out.
• Moses inquired of God and received instructions for offering these people a second Passover. But this observance, known as Pesach Sheni, did not have the same restrictions regarding leaven, which was forbidden at Passover.
• Leaven represents the human ego, self-will and self-assertion. Pesach Sheni, therefore, is about grace. When we can't meet God's standards - and that's all the time - God makes a way for us to be part of His family anyway.
• The mystery of grace is that even if there is leaven in your life, God will save you anyway. How grateful we ought to be!

IMPARTATION

Heavenly Father,

Thank You for giving me a second chance! I fail You and the people I love often, but Your grace covers me! Thank You for your showing of grace so many times throughout Your Word, but especially today through the story of Pesach Shemi.

Send me to do bold things for You and Your Kingdom. I will go confidently, knowing that You love me when I get it right and even more when I get it wrong. Work through me to share Your love and Your power with others in the days and weeks to come.

In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ – Jehovah Joshua Messiah – I pray. Amen!