The Second Passover

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The second year out from Egypt, the circumcised nation of Israel observed the Passover in the Wilderness of Sinai, but certain men were ceremonially unclean from touching a dead body. These men could not take of the Passover, and they asked Moses, ‘“Why are we kept from bringing the Lord’s offering at its appointed time among the people of Israel”’ (Num 9:7). The answer wasn’t obvious so Moses inquired of the Lord as to what should be done. The Lord said,

Speak to the people of Israel, saying, If any one of you or your descendants is unclean through touching a dead body, or is on a long journey, he shall still keep the Passover to the Lord. In the second month on the fourteenth day at twilight they shall keep it…according to all the statutes for the Passover they shall keep it. But if anyone who is clean and is not on a journey fails to keep the Passover, that person shall be cut off from his people because he did not bring the Lord’s offering at its appointed time; that man shall bear his sin. (Num 9:10-13)

Keeping the Passover is, thus, seen to be an offering made to the Lord and a privilege through which an Israelite did not have to bear his sin. The annually sacrificed paschal lamb foreshadowed the one-time sacrifice at Calvary of the man Jesus of Nazareth, the only Son of Theos (cf. John 1:1-2, 14; 3:16). His is the blood of the covenant poured out for many for the forgiveness of sin (Matt 26:28). So of all of the annual ceremonies and Sabbaths that Israel was commanded to keep, the Passover alone was considered essential enough to have a second observance. But the Passover also has a second fulfillment, for ‘“the days are coming, declares the Lord, when they shall no longer say “As the Lord lives who brought up the people of Israel out of the land of Egypt,” but “As the Lord lives who brought up and led the offspring of the house of Israel out of the north country and out of all the countries where he had driven them.” Then they shall dwell in their own land”’ (Jer 23:7-8 — cf. Jer 16:14-15; Isa 11:16; 14:1-3; Ezek 20:33-38; 36:24-27). Lives will again be given—as they were given in Egypt—for the redemption of Israel (Isa 43:3-4). Thus, as the Lord liberated physically circumcised Israel from bondage to Pharaoh on the first Passover, the Lord will bring Israel back from the North Country and from the edges of the earth at the end of the age. This second recovery of Israel will eclipse the first by such an extent that the first isn’t remembered.

But who is endtime Israel, the question that has stymied the Christian Church for the past two centuries?

The Apostle Paul wrote, “For not all who are descended from Israel belong to Israel, and not all are children of Abraham because they are his offspring, but ‘Through Isaac shall your offspring be named.’ This means that it is not the children of the flesh who are the children of God, but the children of the promise are counted as offspring” (Rom 9:6-8) … if not all descendants of the patriarch Israel are Israel but only those descended by promise, then an Israelite’s genealogy is nearly meaningless. Elsewhere, Paul wrote, “For no one is a Jew who is merely one outwardly, nor is circumcision outward and physical. But a Jew is one inwardly, and circumcision is a matter of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter” (Rom 2:28-29). And spiritual circumcision was promised to Israel (Deu 30:6) by the second covenant mediated by Moses with the mixed circumcised and uncircumcised nation on the plains of Moab (Deu 29:1). But activation of this second covenant was contingent upon Israel pursuing this covenant by faith (cf. Deu 30:1-2; Rom 9:31-32). This second covenant pertained to when Israel was in a far country; thus, the conditions for activation of this Moab covenant presumed that Israel would not keep the covenant made at Sinai and would go into captivity in a far land because of the nation’s lawlessness.

With circumcision of the heart promised for returning by faith to observing the Law and demonstrating obedience through continued observance, Israel and every Israelite had a covenant (mediated by Moses) that led to righteousness (cf. Rom 10:6-8; Deu 30:11-14) and would have made the observing person part of Israel as the Apostle Paul proclaimed in his gospel. And everyone of Israel was expected to keep the Passover of the Lord; so every person with a spiritually circumcised heart would annually eat of the paschal lamb. Thus, with Paul also writing, “So, if a man who is uncircumcised keeps the precepts of the law, will not his uncircumcision be regarded as circumcision” (Rom 2:26), the inclusion of the uncircumcised as well as the circumcised into the holy nation of Israel rests with keeping the precepts of the law by faith, with this faith cleansing the heart and causing it to be circumcised by the soft Breath of God.

Endtime Israel is the Israel the Apostle Paul described, a holy nation (cf. Exod 19:5-6; 1 Pet 2:9) that by faith keeps the precepts of the Law when social pressure does not, or no longer requires that the commandments be observed, with observance of the Sabbath commandment being the most visible indicator of keeping the precepts of the Law. The person who chooses, by belief of every word God has uttered (Matt 4:4), to keep the Sabbath with heart and mind as well as hand and body inwardly and outwardly is of endtime Israel. This person might or might not be physically circumcised—the status or color or plumbing of the flesh is of no importance, for with God there is neither Jew nor Greek, male nor female, slave nor free once baptized into the Body of Christ (Gal 3:27-28). And if a person is Christ’s, then the person is Abraham’s offspring, an heir according to the promise (v. 29).

Although spiritually circumcised disciples of Christ Jesus have been liberated from the law of sin and death that continues to dwell in their flesh (Rom 8:2 — cf. 7:21-25), it is the new creature dwelling within their minds and circumcised hearts that has been liberated. The flesh remains as it was before the disciple was born of Spirit. What changes is that the liberated inner self-aware presence that constitutes the born-from-above son of God now dwells in the same tent of flesh as the crucified old creature—the new man is imprisoned in a body of flesh that serves sin, just as a physically circumcised Israelite dwelling in a house in Egypt served Pharaoh and the Egyptian nation. And as physically circumcised Israel cried out to YHWH for liberation from Pharaoh, spiritually circumcised disciples cry out to the Father and Christ Jesus for liberation from sin, from doing those things that are contrary to the pure thoughts of their minds and the desires of their hearts … the law of God doesn’t exist to prove that disciples cannot keep it as some Protestant Reformers have taught, but to reveal the extent to which born anew sons of God remain imprisoned by lawlessness. The spiritual maturation of sons of God comes through mentally fighting against indwelling sin, from fighting against hormonally produced desires of the flesh. As such, disciples need liberated from sin in the same way that the physically circumcised nation needed liberated from Pharaoh; for disciples who desire to keep the precepts of the law continually find themselves falling short of perfection. And the disciple who will not fight against indwelling sin will not be glorified.

The Second Passover doesn’t commemorate the future endtime recovery of a physically circumcised nation from the North Country, whether this northern landscape is Russia or Germany; nor is it merely a make-up ceremony for those Israelites unable to take the Passover in the first month. Rather, it commemorates the still future liberation of spiritually circumcised Israel from bondage to indwelling sin [Egypt] and death [Assyria] that have for millennia sent the fleshy members of Israelites to the grave. This liberation comes through empowerment by the Holy Spirit on a specific day, with liberation from death also coming on a specific day. This is what was revealed by the prophets to a people who drew near to the Lord with their lips while their hearts were far from God; whose fear of God “is a commandment taught by men” (Isa 29:13). These are the visions that became to Israel like the words of a book that is sealed (v. 11).

There were two reasons given for taking the Second Passover: the first, a person is separated from the congregation on the 14^th of the first month because of being unclean, or “common.” The uncircumcised nations (i.e., Gentiles) were unclean or common, but through Christ Jesus have been brought near to God (Eph 2:11-22). They are the wild olive branches that have been grafted to the root of righteousness—but as with any graft, the scion determines the fruit. These wild olive branches have born wild fruit. They brought their lawlessness into the Body of Christ and took the Body captive, thereby making the Body the tool of lawlessness. They bear fruit, but fruit with little meat around an overly large stone. Nevertheless, they are attached to the root of righteousness until the fullness of the nations has come to God (Rom 11:25).

The second reason for taking the Second Passover is if the person were on a long journey, as in a journey to a far country (Matt 25:14). The glorified Jesus is today in a far country, but He will return to again eat the Passover in His Father’s kingdom (Matt 26:29). Thus, some disciples, possessing a little understanding, have reasoned that Jesus will return on the second Passover, or a week before. But concerning His return, Jesus said, ‘“As were the days of Noah, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark, and they were unaware until the flood came and swept them all away, so will be the coming of the Son of Man”’ (Matt 24:37-39). The flood swept away those eating and drinking on the 17^th day of the second month, the same day that manna was first given. Noah entered the Ark on the 10^th day, the day of selection. Few were paying any attention to what Noah was doing when he entered the Ark—and so will it be with the coming of the Son of Man. But every person experiencing seven endtime years of tribulation will certainly be paying attention to the things of God. No person will be caught unaware of Jesus’ return. Therefore, only at the beginning of these seven endtime years can a person be taken unaware. It is at the beginning of these years of tribulation when the Son of Man is revealed (Luke 17:26-30), making the revealing of the Son of Man the coming of the Son of Man. Christ Jesus is the uncovered Head; disciples today form the cloaked Body. It will be disciples that are first revealed in the coming of the Son of Man. And with not all of Israel being Israel, not all disciples are of Christ.

“In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, in the second month, on the seventeenth day of the month, on that day all the foundations of the deep burst forth, and the windows of the heavens were opened” (Gen 7:11). Humanity—all air breathing creatures—were baptized by water unto death, except for the eight and the seven pairs of clean animals and the single pair of unclean animals. John came baptizing with water unto repentance (the death of the former creature), but he said that one was coming who would baptize with the Holy Spirit [Pneuma ’Agion or Breath Holy; i.e., the Breath of God] and with fire (Matt 3:11). Jesus is the one who was coming, the one who baptizes with Spirit unto life, and with fire unto glory. All of the world will be baptized with fire in the coming of a new heaven and a new earth in the same manner as the world was baptized with water in the days of Noah. The baptism of the world in Spirit, foreshadowed by that first Pentecost following Calvary (Acts 2), occurs when the Holy Spirit is poured out on all flesh (Joel 2:28); occurs when the kingdom of the world becomes the kingdom of the Most High and of His Christ (Rev 11:15; Dan 7:9-14); occurs half way through seven, endtime years of tribulation; occurs when Death, the fourth horseman and the fourth beast, is dwelt a mortal wound and has his body given over to be burned. Humanity is liberated from death 1260 days before Christ Jesus returns. With a few exceptions (Rev 13:10 & 14:13), all who are to die from then on will take upon themselves the mark of death, the mark of the beast, the tattoo of the cross. For all who endure to the end shall be saved (Matt 10:22 & 24:13).

But in all things, the visible reveals the invisible (Rom 1:20), and the physical precedes the spiritual (1 Cor 15:46). On that day of Pentecost following Calvary, the Holy Spirit physically manifests itself as visible tongues of fire. The empowerment [filling] by the Spirit of those gathered together on that day of Pentecost was the physical shadow of, first, the Church being empowered by the Spirit and as such liberated from bondage to sin at the beginning of the seven endtime years of tribulation. Then second, the immersion on that day of Pentecost of those gathered together in Spirit was the shadow of the world being baptized in Spirit and given spiritual life. Birth-from-above comes through receipt of the Breath of God in a manner physically foreshadowed by Elohim breathing the breath of life into the first Adam’s nostrils (Gen 2:7), and by the Breath of God visibly descending as a dove to alight and remain on Jesus (Matt 3:16), the last Adam (1 Cor 15:45). All of humanity will be born-from-above when the Holy Spirit is poured out upon all flesh. All will be made spiritually alive for the last 1260 days before Christ Jesus’ return. Thus, all who endure to the end (in faith and spurning the mark of the beast) shall be saved, the good news that must be proclaimed to the world as a witness to all nations before the end comes (Matt 24:14).

According to the statute for the Passover, on the 10^th day of the first month a lamb is selected according to the size of the household (Exod 12:3). This lamb is penned while it waits being sacrificed on the 14^th day at even. Jesus, the Lamb of God, a Lamb appropriate to the size of the household of God, entered Jerusalem on the 10^th day of the first month (John 12:1, 12). He was then “penned” in the city until the 14^th day when He was sacrificed at the hour when Passover lambs were customarily sacrificed. He is the reality of the Passover sacrifice. As such, taking the sacraments of bread and wine, representing His body and blood, equates to eating the paschal lamb and smearing the doorposts and lintels of one’s house with the blood of the slain lamb. In typology, the physically circumcised Israelite dwelling in a house in Egypt, or in a tent in the wilderness equates to the spiritually circumcised disciple dwelling in a tabernacle of flesh. The born anew inner self [the self-aware presence of the disciple] forms the spiritual reality foreshadowed by the physically circumcised Israelite male. Thus, every baptized disciple is a son of God dwelling in a tent of flesh that can be any color or plumbed either internally or externally. The lips and mouth of the baptized disciple now equate to the doorposts and lintel of the house in which a circumcised Israelite male dwelt.

Instructions for taking the Second Passover will have the paschal lamb selected and penned on the 10^th day of the second month—on the tenth day of the second month, the Lord said to Noah, ‘“Go into the ark, you and all of your household, for I have seen that you are righteous before me in this generation”’ (Gen 7:1). Noah was formally selected to be a type of Christ Jesus, who doesn’t return as the glorified Messiah on the second Passover. Rather, the Son of Man is revealed on or immediately following the Second Passover, with the Messiah returning to eat the Passover anew with glorified disciples after seven years of tribulation that spiritually serves as the Flood served physically: the Tribulation will begin as the flood came in the days of Noah. The Tribulation will begin on or about the 17^th day of the second month, with the two witnesses formally “chosen” (as the Passover lamb was chosen—the resurrection of the two witnesses testify to the defeat of Death) on the 10^th day of the second month.

However, Jesus said, ‘“But concerning that day [of His return] and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only”’ (Matt 24:36). The Father, though, reveals to those whom He has drawn from the world (John 6:44) the things that He wants known. When Peter answered Jesus’ question about whom did they say Jesus was, Jesus said to Peter, ‘“Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven’” (Matt 16:17). Likewise, the Father, at the end of the age, has revealed the day when the seven endtime years begin.

The Tribulation lasts 2520 days: seven prophetic years, which are thirty-five days shorter than seven solar years. This difference in number of calendar days is absorbed by the difference between the Second Passover and the 10^th day of the first month seven years later, when Israel enters God’s rest [glorification and entering heaven] upon the return of Christ Jesus. These 2520 prophetic days are divided into two 1260-day periods, the first beginning with the second Passover liberation of the Church from bondage to sin; the second beginning when the kingdom of the world becomes the kingdom of the Most High and of His Christ (Rev 11:15). Again, the liberation of the Church occurs through empowerment by the Holy Spirit of already born-from-above disciples. The new creature born into the tabernacle of flesh of the old man will be able to rule over the flesh. Whatever this new creature wills (whatever the mind thinks and the heart desires) the flesh will do, for no longer will a disciple say as the Apostle Paul did, “For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate” (Rom 7:15). Liberation from sin will separate the law of sin from the law of death. The body will still be subject to death, but will not be in bondage to sin (v. 25). Therefore, the great rebellion that will occur when the man of perdition is revealed (2 Thess 2:3) comes about when liberated disciples in the first half of the Tribulation choose to sin, or to practice lawlessness at a time when no covering for their lawlessness exists but their obedience. These disciples will, as circumcised Israel did in the Wilderness of Paran, the land of the descendants of Ishmael, turn their unbelief into open rebellion by trying to enter God’s rest on the following day (cf. Num 14:11, 35, 40-41; Ps 95:10-11; Heb 3:19 & 4:6). They will, as children of lawlessness (as Ishmael was the son of Hagar), reject the Sabbath and attempt to enter God’s rest on the following day, Sunday. Breaking the Sabbath commandment is active lawlessness. And because these liberated sons of God who grew up in bondage to sin do not love righteousness enough to walk uprightly before God, He will send a great delusion over them so that they cannot repent (2 Thess 2:11-12). They will live physically for a while, but will be spiritually dead, condemned by their lawlessness to the lake of fire. They will spiritually be as the nation that left Egypt was physically, condemned to die in the wilderness, prohibited from ever entering God’s rest.

During the first 1260 days of the seven, endtime years, the last Eve, impregnated by the last Adam, will give birth to a spiritual Cain, and to a spiritual Abel [to a hated son, Esau, and to a loved son, Jacob]. This Cain, like his physical predecessor, will slay his righteous brother. Repeatedly, Jesus said the one who tries to save his or her physical life will lose his or her spiritual life, whereas the one who is willing to lose physical life will save his or her spiritual life. Those disciples who are of righteous Abel will keep the commandments of God, and will physically die for doing so. But they will live again, having everlasting life in the kingdom of God.

The lives of men ransomed for the liberation of spiritual Israel (Isa 43:4) on the Second Passover foreshadows the sixth trumpet plague—and as happens when the four angels are released (Rev 9:15), a third of humanity will die on the Second Passover. This amounts to a very grim liberation from sin, especially considering that the majority of Christendom, 220 days later, will rebel against God. The great falling away isn’t of a few disciples here and there, but is the majority of the greater Church returning to its present lawless practices.

When the Son of Man is revealed (Luke 17:26-30)—again, the greater Church forms the Body of the Son of Man—the cloak of Christ’s righteousness is laid aside. Grace ends, for Grace will no longer be needed when disciples are liberated from sin through empowerment by the Holy Spirit. The disciple who then practices lawlessness commits blasphemy against the Holy Spirit. This blasphemy will not be forgiven. Rather, God will send a great delusion so this disciple cannot repent, but will sincerely believe that he or she is “right” with God. This disciple will accept the tattoo of the Cross [chi xi stigma], the mark of death, the mark of the beast. This disciple will slay his or her righteous brother and believe that he or she does God a favor. And no amount of warning this disciple ahead of time will cause this disciple not to attempt to enter God’s rest on the following day. This disciple has already determined good and evil for him or herself. This disciple today contributes to the fullness of iniquity, which, when reached, will cause the Son of Man to be revealed.

The Second Passover comes at the midnight hour of the long spiritual night that began at Calvary. Dawn doesn’t come until the Holy Spirit is poured out upon all flesh. The first 1260 days of the seven endtime years are the hours between midnight and daybreak, with the night seeming darkest just before dawn (between day 1290 and 1260 before Christ Jesus returns as the all powerful Messiah). But a remnant of disciples who keep the commandments and have the spirit of prophecy (Rev 12:17 with Rev 19:10) will cross a figurative Jordan River as did Joshua and Caleb to lead the spiritual nation to victory through enduring to the end.

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