Here, in Numbers 9, Moses tells the people of Israel to celebrate the Passover. It was a year after the children had been led out of Egypt. I’m sure you remember the story of the Israelites painting blood on their doorposts so that the angel of the Lord would pass over their house when he killed the firstborn son from each family. At that time, the Lord had given them instructions to have a Passover meal before they left. They had to do it in exactly the way the Lord wanted. They had to kill a specific lamb, make bread that wouldn’t rise, and use the correct herbs.

Now Moses is telling the people that they need to celebrate it again in exactly the way the Lord told them. There were, however, some people who had touched a dead body (maybe a relative had died), and so they couldn’t celebrate the Passover, because God had also commanded them that unclean people — people who had touched a dead body — couldn’t celebrate the Passover. This was a problem. They wanted to obey God and celebrate the Passover, but they couldn’t because another command of God said that unclean people couldn’t celebrate it.

So what did they do? Well, they didn’t just say, “Who cares? We’re unclean, so let’s just forget about celebrating the Passover.” No, they really wanted to obey the Lord. They wanted to do his will, and so they asked God what to do. God didn’t answer them by saying, “Just celebrate Passover anyway. It doesn’t matter how you do it.” No, God wanted them to obey all his commands. And so God, in his love, gave them a special instruction to celebrate the Passover a month later.

Reflection with your child:

Do you really want to serve the Lord in the way that he requires? Is it important to you to obey the Lord? Then listen carefully when your parents teach you, and pay attention when you are being taught about the Bible. Serve God in the way he teaches you.

Source: Sermon by Rev. D. Agema