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Numbers 9:9-12  Then the LORD said to Moses, “Tell the Israelites: ‘When any of you or your descendants are unclean because of a dead body or are away on a journey, they are still to celebrate the LORD’s Passover, but they are to do it on the fourteenth day of the second month at twilight.  They are to eat the lamb, together with unleavened bread and bitter herbs.  They must not leave any of it till morning or break any of its bones.  When they celebrate the Passover, they must follow all the regulations.”

As we read through this part of the Book of Numbers we can’t help but notice the irony of what is going on in the outworking of God’s sovereignty in his eternal Plan of Salvation.

All the regulations for the annual observation of the Passover were quite specific, with some variations for extenuating circumstances, and even these variation must be strictly in accordance with “everything just as the LORD commanded Moses” (verse 5).

The first irony is the emphasis on the right timing of everything.  From our New Testament perspective, we see Jesus as the Passover’s ultimate fulfilment: His sacrificial death, as “the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29, cf 1 Corinthians 5:7), reveals the true meaning and significance of the original historical Passover event when God released his Covenant People from cruel bondage in Egypt.  The real irony is seen when, as reported in Mark 14:2, “two days before the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread … the chief priests and the scribes were seeking how to arrest him by stealth and kill him, for they said, ‘Not during the feast, lest there be an uproar from the people.’”  and in spite of the wicked human stratagem by those opposed to God, ‘Satan entered Judas’ heart’ and everthing occurred exactly according to the timing of God’s Master Plan.

A second irony (among many) is seen in the LORD’s instruction to Moses that not a single bone of the Passover lamb was to be broken and, uncharacteristically, this is just what happened in the case of the crucifixion of the true Passover Lamb (John 19:36 – cf Psalm 34:20).

I must say I get great encouragement reflecting on all this as our Federal Election looms large – I have strong feelings about what I would like the outcome to be, knowing that some of my close Christian friends are hoping and praying for a quite different result from what I am praying for (!) and will vote accordingly, but I know that my Heavenly Father is sovereign over all, and ‘whatever HE ordains is right, and it will be for ‘his glory and my good’, even if it is not what I would like to happen.  It might turn out to be perplexing for me, but it will be what is best.  It is comforting and reassuring to know that “there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God” (Romans 13:1).  Man proposes, but God disposes!  I will pray and vote according to my conscience, but I will not fret about the election result on Saturday – or at least this wil be my honest aim!

– Bruce Christian