Yesterday we asked a critical question: What does God do with people who missed it?
Let’s find out.
THEY MISSED IT
“And there were certain men who were unclean through touching a dead body, so that they could not keep the Passover on that day.” — Numbers 9:6 (ESV)
These men were unclean. They couldn’t participate in the Passover at the appointed time.
The reason didn’t matter. Unclean is unclean.
And here’s the truth we need to grasp: We are all born unclean. Sin is inherent. We didn’t choose to be born into a fallen world any more than these men chose to touch a dead body. But the result is the same—disqualified from God’s presence.
The circumstances vary. The reason you missed it might look different than the reason I missed it. Some were consumed by addiction. Some by religion without relationship. Some by rebellion. Some by circumstances that felt beyond their control.
But the diagnosis is identical: unclean. Separated. Unable to approach God on our own.
We all missed it. And the evidence of what we missed is written across our lives.
“For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” — Romans 3:23 (ESV)
WHAT THE LOCUST ATE
Look at the wreckage. Look at what uncleanness cost you.
“I will restore to you the years that the swarming locust has eaten, the hopper, the destroyer, and the cutter, my great army, which I sent among you.” — Joel 2:25 (ESV)
The locusts came in waves. Each one distinct. Each one devastating in its own way.
The swarming locust — the busyness of this life. The distractions that consume your attention. The cares of the world that choke out the Word before it can take root. You’re so busy surviving that you never stop to ask what you’re surviving for.
The hopper (the young/creeping locust) — what we do in our immaturity. The subtle things we allow to enter our lives when we don’t know any better. Small compromises. Little foxes that spoil the vine. They creep in unnoticed, and by the time we see them, they’ve already been feeding.
The destroyer (the ravager) — the iniquity we refuse to address. The sin we know about but won’t confront. The bondage we’ve made peace with. It doesn’t creep—it ravages. And it will keep ravaging until we deal with it.
The cutter (the palmerworm) — it feeds on the fruit trees. This is the disobedience that devastates the fruit of our lives. Not just the leaves, not just the branches—the fruit. The very thing your life was supposed to produce.
Wave after wave. Each one taking what the previous one left behind. By the time they were done, nothing remained.
And here’s what we must not miss: God calls them “my great army, which I sent among you.”
For those who do not know Jesus Christ, this is judgment—the condemnation you live in day by day. The locusts devour, and there is no restoration. No way out. No hope of getting back what was taken.
But for those in Christ, the Passover blood keeps us from eternal death—but not from the death of our maturity and effectiveness in this life. We live under His discipline, not His condemnation.
“For the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives.” — Hebrews 12:6 (ESV)
The locusts still come. But now they serve a different purpose. Not to destroy us eternally, but to wake us up. To show us what the flesh produces. To drive us back to Him. To keep us from becoming those who are always learning but never able to arrive at the knowledge of the truth.
“Always learning and never able to arrive at a knowledge of the truth.” — 2 Timothy 3:7 (ESV)
The discipline hurts. The locusts devour. But for the believer, there is restoration on the other side—if we return to Him.
You look back and wonder: Where did it all go? How did I end up here? What happened to the life I was supposed to live?
The locusts ate it.
And behind every locust is a thief. This is why the Passover matters. This is why the blood was required. Because there are two missions at war over your life.
THE TWO MISSIONS
“The thief comes only to steal, kill, and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.” — John 10:10 (ESV)
The thief has one job: steal, kill, destroy. He doesn’t take breaks. He doesn’t show mercy. He consumes everything he can reach. He sent the locusts. He devoured your years. And if given the chance, he will devour you.
But Jesus Christ came with a different mission: life. Abundant life. Life that overflows.
This is the battlefield. This is why the Passover exists. The blood of the lamb was never just about escaping Egypt—it was about escaping the thief’s mission and entering into Jesus Christ’s mission.
Here’s what you need to understand: The unsaved have no choice. Without repentance, without being born again, you are automatically under the thief’s mission. He doesn’t need your permission. He has default access. You were born into his territory, and apart from Christ, you have no power to resist him.
But believers? Believers can give him access back.
“For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.” — Romans 8:13 (ESV)
When a believer chooses to follow the flesh instead of the Spirit, they open the door God once closed.
“Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me.” — Revelation 3:20 (ESV)
There’s always someone knocking. Jesus Christ knocks. The thief knocks. We must open the door to one or the other. When we answer Jesus Christ’s knock, God shuts the door on the thief’s access. But when a believer turns back to the flesh, they’re opening that door again—inviting the locusts back into the field. Not because they’ve lost their salvation, but because they’ve stopped walking in the power that keeps the thief out.
The Passover is available for both.
For the unsaved: the blood provides the way out from under the thief’s automatic authority.
“Jesus answered him, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.'” — John 3:3 (ESV)
“Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” — Matthew 3:2 (ESV)
This is the choice for the unbeliever—those outside the faith. Repent. Believe. Be born again. Enter into life.
For the believer who wandered back into the flesh: the blood still covers. The Spirit is still available. Return. Mortify the deeds of the body. Stop giving the thief access to what Jesus Christ already purchased.
Those unclean men in Numbers 9 had a choice. They could accept their disqualification and remain under death. Or they could bring their problem to Moses and ask if there was another way into life.
They chose to ask. And that’s when everything changed.
GOD MAKES A WAY
“Speak to the people of Israel, saying, If any one of you or of 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.” — Numbers 9:10-11 (ESV)
God made a way.
Not a lesser way. Not a second-class Passover. The same Passover—just at a different time. For those who were unclean, God provided another chance to come under the blood and escape the death the thief brings—because he comes to steal, kill, and destroy. And for those who were already under the blood but have become unclean through the flesh, God provided a way back to fellowship and fruitfulness.
This is the gospel. You missed it. You were born missing it. Sin disqualified you before you ever had a choice. The thief has been devouring your years since before you knew he existed. But God made a way back to Himself.
“But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” — Romans 5:8 (ESV)
While we were still unclean. Still disqualified. Still being devoured. The blood was provided—not after we cleaned ourselves up, but while we were still in our mess.
God’s grace covers what we’ve missed—when we come to Him through the blood of Jesus Christ.
But this grace comes with a warning.
THE WARNING
“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.” — Numbers 9:13 (ESV)
Notice who this warning is for. Not the unclean—God made provision for them. Not those on a journey of discovery—God has patience for the sincere seeker.
This warning is for those who are clean and not on a journey. Those who have no excuse. Those who could participate but simply choose not to.
This is apathy—the most insidious of sins.
“I know your works: you are neither cold nor hot. Would that you were either cold or hot! So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth.” — Revelation 3:15-16 (ESV)
God has grace for the unclean who come to Him. God has patience for the seeker on the journey. He does not have tolerance for apathy. At least rebellion acknowledges there’s something worth fighting against. Apathy doesn’t even care enough to resist.
The men who came to Moses recognized their need. They knew they were disqualified. They came seeking a way out from under the thief’s mission and into life. And God provided one.
But for those who simply don’t care? For those who know the blood is available and shrug? For those who see the two missions and can’t be bothered to choose?
That’s a different situation entirely.
The door is open. The blood has been applied. The way back to God has been provided. The Spirit is available to put to death the deeds of the body so you can live.
But don’t mistake God’s patience for permission to stay apathetic.
Because the blood wasn’t just meant to save you from something. It was meant to bring you to Someone. This is the relationship He seeks to have with all who will call on Him in spirit and in truth.
But you can’t call on Him in truth if you’re not being honest about where you stand. This is why we started with honest accounting. Before Israel could move forward, God required them to take an honest survey of who they were and where they stood. The same is required of you.
Are you unclean? There’s a way back. Are you on the journey, still seeking? He has patience for you. Are you apathetic, clean but unmoved? That’s the danger zone.
Where do you stand?
TOMORROW: THE REAL PURPOSE OF THE BLOOD
The blood didn’t just deliver you FROM something. It delivered you TO Someone.
ABOUT THIS SERIES: “Assassins Among Us” explores the Book of Numbers to expose the forces that seek to destroy authentic faith. This teaching uses the Damascus Road framework to call believers from counterfeit Christianity to authentic faith in Jesus Christ.
Most ministries stay in the safe middle. We bring marginalized truth back to the center.
THE PROPHET’S MARGIN Truth From the Narrow Place
ONE TRUE LIGHT MINISTRIES Damascus Road Journey: STOP. LOOK. LISTEN. LIVE. www.onetrulight.org