Exodus 12:1 And YeHoVaH spake unto Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt saying,
2 This month shall be unto you the beginning of months: it shall be the first month of the year to you.
3 Speak ye unto all the congregation of Israel, saying, In the tenth day of this month they shall take to them every man a lamb, according to the house of their fathers, a lamb for an house:
4 And if the household be too little for the lamb, let him and his neighbour next unto his house take it according to the number of the souls; every man according to his eating shall make your count for the lamb.
5 Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the first year: ye shall take it out from the sheep, or from the goats:
6 And ye shall keep it up until the fourteenth day of the same month: and the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it in the evening.
7 And they shall take of the blood, and strike it on the two side posts and on the upper door post of the houses, wherein they shall eat it.
8 And they shall eat the flesh in that night, roast with fire, and unleavened bread; and with bitter herbs they shall eat it.
9 Eat not of it raw, nor sodden at all with water, but roast with fire; his head with his legs, and with the purtenance thereof.
10 And ye shall let nothing of it remain until the morning; and that which remaineth of it until the morning ye shall burn with fire.
11 And thus shall ye eat it; with your loins girded, your shoes on your feet, and your staff in your hand; and ye shall eat it in haste: it is YeHoVaH ‘s passover.
12 For I will pass through the land of Egypt this night, and will smite all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment: I am YeHoVaH.
13 And the blood shall be to you for a token upon the houses where ye are: and when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and the plague shall not be upon you to destroy you, when I smite the land of Egypt.
14 And this day shall be unto you for a memorial; and ye shall keep it a feast to YeHoVaH throughout your generations; ye shall keep it a feast by an ordinance for ever.

This is repeated, in the same chapter. The Almighty uses this method to reinforce things that are of vital importance . . . to stress them.

Exodus 12:21 Then Moses called for all the elders of Israel, and said unto them, Draw out and take you a lamb according to your families, and kill the passover.
22 And ye shall take a bunch of hyssop, and dip it in the blood that is in the bason, and strike the lintel and the two side posts with the blood that is in the bason; and none of you shall go out at the door of his house until the morning.
23 For YeHoVaH will pass through to smite the Egyptians; and when he seeth the blood upon the lintel, and on the two side posts, YeHoVaH will pass over the door, and will not suffer the destroyer to come in unto your houses to smite you.
24 And ye shall observe this thing for an ordinance to thee and to thy sons for ever.

Do this forever. For all your generations. Forever.
Read it again. What is He saying we should do for all our generations, forever? Kill the passover. Roast it in fire; put the blood on the door posts; eat it with bitter herbs and unleavened bread; don’t come out of the house until morning. It’s pretty clear.

Passover 2017 –

This was the first year my daughter Amber and I were trying to do Passover. We didn’t know what we should do, except for what YeHoVaH wrote in his word. So we followed the instructions in Exodus 12 as much as we could. We didn’t have a lamb to slaughter, so I got a leg of lamb and saved the blood when thawing it, which I put on the door posts and above as scripture said. We then ate the lamb for dinner with bitter herbs and unleavened bread, and didn’t go out of the house for the rest of the night. We spent the time reading the Exodus story in scripture, and talking about it.

It was a couple of months later that I discovered the teachings of Michael Rood.

Passover 2018 –

I went to the Rood Awakening Passover event in Charlotte, North Carolina. My daughter Amber was supposed to go with me, but she ended up getting too sick to travel at the last minute. I met my future husband Dale there. We were married by the end of the year.

It occurred to me somewhere over the course of that weekend that I probably shouldn’t attend this event again. Depending on when they planned their event, it could prevent me from being at home at the right time to follow the Father’s instructions regarding putting the blood over the door and remaining inside under its protection all night. When I had first considered celebrating Passover back in 2017, I had wondered if the reason that YeHoVaH had instructed His people to do this forever, for all our generations, was that there would be a need in the end times, during the greater exodus foretold in scripture, for His people to be protected in the same way as they had needed that protection in the first exodus. But this time the thing we’re being protected from could be much more horrific.

Passover 2019 –

Dale and I are newlyweds. We are living in Wilmington, North Carolina at the beginning of the year. The issue has only grown and expanded in my mind since that first Passover in 2017 when it seemed pretty obvious how to do what YeHoVaH said in His word that we should do. Kill the Passover. Since that time I had heard people say that you can no longer do what YeHoVaH said we should do forever, for all our generations. When I ask why, I get the standard answers that people give about why there are no longer any sacrifices. Jesus did away with that, it was nailed to the cross just like the ‘law’ and the entire old testament. Much of which I now know to be theological error.

Later I heard some other reasoning to add to that – basically that we couldn’t do it without a temple; and we couldn’t do it without a temple priest. The last piece of such reasoning I heard, and the piece that made the most sense to me (because it was the only reason that came from scripture) was that the scripture showed YeHoVaH saying that the sacrifices should only be killed in the place where He puts His name, and not in our own gates wherever we individually dwell.

In spring of 2019 my new husband Dale and I were planning on going to Interior Alaska. I had built a house there, and we needed to go and accomplish some work on finishing and repairing it. We knew we would be there for at least the summer, maybe longer. This was a year that we knew may or may not have an Adar Bet – a thirteenth month. We were scheduled to get into Fairbanks by the first of April, but didn’t know if Passover would end up being in March or April. I was hoping for April. If Passover was in April, there might be a chance of being able to follow the scripture and do as YeHoVaH commanded his people to do. That would not be possible in our little apartment in the city in Wilmington, North Carolina.

I was praying regularly for guidance on this issue. Why did I feel such urgency about understanding the Almighty’s will and intent on this if we were no longer supposed to do it?

If we are no longer supposed to do it, then why did He say to do it forever? Nowhere in scripture does He negate that command, or say He changed His mind.

While still in Wilmington, I would search Craig’s List for available lambs or goats in the Fairbanks area. I thought, if YeHoVaH really wants me/us to do this, he will make an appropriate lamb available. There was nothing. I was really hoping for an Icelandic lamb. I raised Icelandic sheep on my Alaska property for more than a decade, and that’s my breed of choice. And if you’re going to kill a lamb to eat, there’s no better breed for meat quality. But I was looking for anything that would qualify – even a goat, if need be. I’ve never eaten goat, and wasn’t crazy about the idea, but figured that if that was what was available to fulfill the command, so be it. But strangely enough, there seemed to be nothing available anywhere. I wondered if this was, in fact, the answer to my prayer. An answer of “No, I don’t still want you to kill the Passover.”

But I kept watching for our lamb.

Then one day something occurred to me. Didn’t I used to follow a Facebook page, Alaska Sheep Growers, or something like that? So I sought it out. I hadn’t had any sheep of my own for a couple of years, and had all but forgotten about this group. But I found they were still there, and I enjoyed scrolling through the posts, reminding myself how it was when I had sheep. But there weren’t any posts offering sheep for sale. Everybody was posting about their new lambs being born.

Then finally, after scrolling down far enough through the posts, there was one asking if anyone had any yearling ram lambs for sale for butchering, because the person posting had gotten some inquiries, and she didn’t have any available for the prospective buyer. One commenter on the post said she had several good first year males ready to choose from. And the sheep she had were Icelandics!!! I was overjoyed! Time was growing short, it was almost the tenth day of the month of the aviv, when we’re supposed to select our lamb. I only had a couple of days left to get this whole deal nailed down if it was going to happen.

I responded to the comment on that post, telling the commenter with available lambs that I had sent her a Facebook private message. But it seemed rather like an exercise in futility, since I was aware that if a Facebook member is not on your friends list, the message doesn’t go directly into their inbox, but goes to a separate folder that they might not even be aware of or see. So this particular shepherdess might not even be aware of my message in time to do any good for our Passover.

I kept scrolling further down the page of the sheep group, looking at more and more posts, reminiscing about my own flock of sheep. And in the process, I happened upon another post, wherein the same shepherdess with the available ram lambs had commented, giving her phone number, so that someone else commenting on the thread could call her, and specifying that she doesn’t get online or check her messages here very often, so calling or texting is the best way to reach her.

This presented a bit of a moral dilemma. To me, it’s wrong to take what’s not freely given. And this phone number information was given to someone else, not me. But the next day was the tenth day of the month of the Aviv, the date scripture says we’re supposed to select our lamb. If I didn’t act now, I might be missing the opportunity provided to me. So I took the phone number, and sent a text to the shepherdess, inquiring about her available lambs. The response I got was that her phone was almost dead, she would get back with me after charging it. It was almost 8:00pm on the ninth day of Aviv. My time was nearly up. Was she offended because a stranger that she never heard of had somehow gotten ahold of her number and was contacting her? Or was that my own feelings of guilt at breaking my own self-imposed rules now haunting me?

The next morning I awakened knowing that it was now the tenth day, the day in which scripture says we’re supposed to go and get a lamb, pick it out, bring it home. And the only option that I had been able to find didn’t get back with me. It looked like the answer was no, we’re not supposed to do this. Like usual, my husband and I prayed (yet again) for YeHoVaH to guide us, to show us what we were supposed to do, that we might fulfill His will.

And then she texted me! I let her know that we were hoping to come and pick a lamb immediately on that day to bring home with us, or it wouldn’t be what we needed. She was surprised, but willing to accommodate us.

It was an all day affair, going to pick out and bring home the lamb. For one thing, her location was a 6 hour drive from our home. Before leaving on that journey, we had to prepare. Not just shower and have breakfast, but figure out how we were going to secure the lamb in the truck for the journey back, and where he would be kept on the property after we got him home. It didn’t take long to decide on a holding pen we had on the property from my previous days of sheep keeping, and prepare it and make it secure. And we decided to use the giant sized dog crate that my daughter had for her Great Pyrenees/St Bernard cross dog, to transport the lamb.

And so we headed out. We stopped at the feed store before leaving town and bought a bale of hay for our lamb.

But even finding her farm turned out to be another exercise in wondering if we would actually be able to accomplish our task. She had said she lived in Houston, Alaska, but didn’t want to give a specific address until we were down there in the vicinity. She said to give her a call when we reach Willow (a community we would reach prior to Houston), and she would direct us from there. This is not the way I normally like to do things. Normally, before heading out on such a drive, I would pull up the address of the destination on Google Earth to scope out precisely where I’m going and how I’m going to get there. But now, here we were, stopped at a gas station in Willow, trying to call her for the specific location as we had discussed, and getting no response from her. What were we going to do? How long could we just hang out here, not knowing where the farm was, not knowing if she would ever get back to us and let us know how to find her farm?

But eventually she did. As it turns out, it was even a bit farther than we thought. We had to go past Houston and through Wasilla to find the place where we would select our lamb. When we arrived, another step in our education began.

I had raised sheep previously, and even specifically Icelandics, as these were. So I knew what I was looking at, and what I was looking for. She let me know which of the yearling rams had flaws that she was aware of because she knew we needed one ‘without blemish’. This still left several to choose from. Which one to choose? How to choose, by what criteria? Not just pick the biggest one and go. It should be the best. The most perfect that we could find to offer to YeHoVaH. What would I be looking for in a ram that I would have used for a herd sire for my flock? Strong conformation. A good, straight topline. The color of the membranes at the mouth and nasal area (an indication of blood health). Wool condition. Clarity in the eyes, and alertness.

After much scrutinizing and deliberation, I settled on a nice solid moorit boy. His horns were a bit close to his head for my usual standards, but this wasn’t a flaw or imperfection, just a matter of my personal preference. And everything else about him was perfect.

He was 95 pounds, and at $5 per pound live weight, it was truly a sacrifice for us, in every sense of the word. We were stepping out in faith to make the purchase, since both Dale and I were unemployed at the time, having newly moved back to the area from North Carolina. I had 4 wonderful job potentials lined up before arriving, but to my shock and dismay, all 4 positions fell through. So laying out the cash for this lamb from our dwindling reserves was a real act of both faith and sacrifice.

Loading him into the crate in the truck went easier than I expected without a ramp to use. We cut open our bale of hay and put some hay into the crate to entice him to enter, and 4 of us lifted him, holding onto his legs and setting him up into the truck. Soon we were headed for home, where we put him into his pen and gave him some more hay. He calmed down and settled in.

Then we had four days with him.

As I said before, I had experience with keeping sheep. But this was different. This lamb was selected for a special, higher purpose. And even though I would have loved to use him as a herd sire, I didn’t get to do that. Instead we were going to give him to the creator. I worried if local dogs that might be unrestrained would come in while we were sleeping and attack him. I worried if he would try to get out, and injure himself on the fence or gate hardware. I worried if he would eat, or go into a depression, because sheep are not solitary animals, they don’t do well without others of their kind. We knew from our own sheep keeping experience that these creatures have individual personalities, feelings, and even family relationships and ties. My sheep had ended up more as spoiled pets than a herd of livestock. I had protected and nurtured my own sheep previously, but I didn’t have to ensure that they would remain perfect and be ‘perfect’ on a particular day. And all of us, having high standards of how animals should be treated and cared for, wanted to ensure that his last few days of life were good, peaceful, and not stressful. Even though he had just been torn away from his flock and everything he had known in life . . . and was now isolated. My daughter spent some time in the pen with him more than once, petting him and speaking soothingly. I gave him treats. My husband beefed up his shelter to make sure he would be comfortable if there was any wind or rain.

I won’t go into the specifics of the slaughtering of the lamb. But it’s important to know that the methods prescribed by the creator in scripture are designed to be the most humane and least stressful way to harvest an animal. If you buy kosher meat, you can be assured that the animal’s death was not like the horror stories you read about modern factory farm slaughterhouse methods. And we were true to that scriptural intent, and it all went smoothly.

But the process was a lot of work. And the entirety of the experience was an education – one that took two years. Maybe more, because I’m quite certain I have more yet to learn.

I believe YeHoVaH answered my prayers for guidance on this issue in a clear and distinct way, when precisely my first choice type of animal was the only option available, and only on the exact day that scripture instructed us to choose the lamb and bring it home. Even though I had been seeking it – seeking any option at all – for months prior. I also know that I couldn’t have managed this task alone, but He brought me the right husband at the right time for things to fall into place.

So what does scripture say about Killing the Passover? Let’s do some scriptural analysis.

YeHoVaH gave very specific instructions, and said we should do this forever, for all our generations.

We did it in Egypt. We did it for 40 years in the wilderness before coming into the promised land. There was no temple or priesthood in either of those places.

Once in the promised land, YeHoVaH did say that we should do it in the place where He chose to place His name. Why? To deter the people from sacrificing in wrong ways and places, that would end up being mixed in with customs honoring other gods? This may have only applied while we were in the land.

Deuturonomy chapter 12 – Moses is instructing the people on what to do and how to live when they come into the land. Chapter 12 is a combination of telling them to destroy the idols, altars and places of worship of the pagan people they will be displacing; and telling them to set apart the place where YeHoVaH shall put His name for them to worship as He instructed. He is making a separation for the people. Places of the false gods over there, to be destroyed. Place of the true God here, to be honored. Don’t sacrifice or offer your tithes or make vows in any of those places where the pagans did their worship of false gods. Don’t just do it wherever you happen to live. Come to the place He tells you to for those things. Did He ever say that this would still apply once the people were driven out of the land? No.

I think this was an obvious, common sense instruction for that particular time and place.

Imagine for a moment that you have children, and you’ve told them to always brush their teeth before bed. They do it for years, and have good strong teeth. Then you go to live for an extended amount of time on a rural farm, and the farmhouse has a bathroom plumbed with fresh, potable water. There’s another bathroom in the barn that has a toilet and a sink for washing hands, but it uses the irrigation water system, which is not necessarily safe for drinking. And maybe there’s a garage or workshop that’s similarly set up with a half bath using the irrigation water. Wouldn’t you instruct your children to use only this one specific bathroom in the house, with the clean source of water, for brushing their teeth? Maybe you live in that place for 7 years, and then you move elsewhere. Would you want your children to assume that they should never brush their teeth again, because they no longer have access to that one specific bathroom in that farmhouse? After all, you’ve told them not to use other bathrooms for brushing their teeth, only this one.

I don’t see anywhere that scripture says that limitation will be applicable after we are driven out of the land.

Indeed, scripture actually says that there will be more than one place where YeHoVaH shall place his name. Some of them are specifically mentioned.

Exodus 20:24 says, “An altar of earth thou shalt make unto me, and shalt sacrifice thereon thy burnt offerings, and thy peace offerings, thy sheep, and thine oxen: in all places where I record my Name I will come unto thee, and I will bless thee.”

He placed His name in Shiloh.
He removed His name from Shiloh.
He placed His name in Jerusalem.
He removed His name from Jerusalem.

The first place where He placed His name was Shiloh. Then He removed His name from Shiloh, because of the sin of the people. He then placed His name in Jerusalem. But He also then took it from there, just as He did from Shiloh, and for the same reason.

1 Kings 9:7 Then will I cut off Israel out of the land which I have given them; and this house, which I have hallowed for my Name, will I cast out of my sight; and Israel shall be a proverb and a byword among all people:

2 Kings 23:27 And The LORD YeHoVaH said, I will remove Judah also out of my sight, as I have removed Israel, and will cast off this city Jerusalem which I have chosen, and the house of which I said, My Name shall be there.

Jeremiah 7:10 – 14 And come and stand before me in this house, which is called by my Name, and say, We are delivered to do all these abominations? Is this house, which is called by my Name, become a den of robbers in your eyes? Behold, even I have seen it, saith YeHoVaH. But go ye now unto my place which was in Shiloh, where I set my Name at the first, and see what I did to it for the wickedness of my people Israel. Therefore will I do unto this house, which is called by my Name, wherein ye trust, and unto the place which I gave to you and to your fathers, as I have done to Shiloh.

Where is His name now?

If Jerusalem is no longer the place of His name, just as Shiloh is no longer the place of His name, then where is His name now? The first chapter of Malachi gives us the answer:
Among the gentiles; among His people.

Malachi 1:11 For from the rising of the sun even unto the going down of the same my Name shall be great among the Gentiles; and in every place incense shall be offered unto my Name, and a pure offering: for my Name shall be great among the heathen, saith YeHoVaH of hosts.

We, His people, are the place where He has placed His name. We who have the Holy Spirit, all over the world, have His name placed on our lives, on our hearts – even on our foreheads, as foretold in the book of the Revelation. We are the very place where He has placed His name.

And yet scripture says that Jerusalem is the place where He will place His name forever:

1 Kings 9:3 And YeHoVaH said unto him, I have heard thy prayer and thy supplication, that thou hast made before me: I have hallowed this house, which thou hast built, to put my Name there for ever; and mine eyes and mine heart shall be there perpetually.

I believe this will be at the end of the age:

Jeremiah 3:17 At that time they shall call Jerusalem the throne of YeHoVaH; and all the nations shall be gathered unto it, to the Name of YeHoVaH, to Jerusalem: neither shall they walk any more after the imagination of their evil heart.

He said do this forever, for all your generations. Read Exodus chapter 12 again. He didn’t say do this only when you are in the land. He didn’t say do this only when you have a priest and a priesthood. He didn’t say do this only as long as you have a temple standing in Jerusalem. He didn’t say do this only until the Messiah comes.

Nowhere does scripture say that the Passover must be killed by a temple priest. In fact, scripture instructs each head of household to slaughter the lamb for their own family. Exodus 12:6 says that “the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it”; and Exodus 12:21 instructs “all the elders of Israel” to “Draw out and take you a lamb according to your families, and kill the Passover.