When it comes to following Yehovah’s eternal and unchanging instructions for Passover in Exodus 12 the excuse I hear most often, for not obeying Him, comes from Deuteronomy 16. So I must ask them, “Where is Yehovah’s name placed right now?”

“Observe the Aviv month, and keep the Passover to Yehovah, your Elohim, for in the month of Aviv Yehovah, your Elohim brought you out of Egypt by night. Therefore you shall slaughter the Passover to Yehovah your Elohim, from the flocks and the herd, in the place where Yehovah chooses to put His name. (Deu 16:1-2)

“You may not slaughter the Passover within any of your gates which Yehovah, your Elohim gives you; but at the place where Yehovah, your Elohim chooses to make His name abide, there you shall slaughter the Passover at twilight, at the going down of the sun, at the time you came out of Egypt. And you shall roast and eat it in the place which Yehovah, your Elohim chooses, and in the morning you shall turn and go to your tents. (Deu 16:5-7)

Yet four times in Exodus 12 the Creator says that His men, both the Ger and the Ezrach, are to keep the Passover throughout our generations as an everlasting ordinance.

‘So this day shall be to you a memorial; and you shall keep it as a feast to Yehovah throughout your generations. You shall keep it as a feast by an everlasting ordinance. (Exo 12:14)

So you shall observe the Feast of Unleavened Bread, for on this same day I will have brought your armies out of the land of Egypt. Therefore you shall observe this day throughout your generations as an everlasting ordinance. (Exo 12:17)

And you shall observe this thing as an ordinance for you and your sons forever. (Exo 12:24)

It is a night of solemn observance to Yehovah for bringing them out of the land of Egypt. This is that night of Yehovah, a solemn observance for all the sons of Israel throughout their generations. (Exo 12:42)

The first place I see Passover being kept is by Abraham in Canaan. Of course it was not called Passover at that time, instead it was called The Time of Life and we can read about it in Genesis 17 and 18.

This is My covenant which you shall keep, between Me and you and your descendants after you: Every male child among you shall be circumcised; and you shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskins, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between Me and you.  (Gen 17:10-11)

Is anything too hard for Yehovah? At the appointed time I will return to you, according to the time of life, and Sarah shall have a son.” (Gen 18:14)

Then we kept it in Egypt.

And when a stranger [Ger] dwells with you [the Ezrach] and wants to keep the Passover to Yehovah, let all his males be circumcised, and then let him come near and keep it; and he shall become a native of the land [an Ezrach]. For no uncircumcised person shall eat it. One law shall be for the native-born [the Ezrach] and for the stranger [the Ger] who dwells among you.” (Exo 12:48-49)

And then in the wilderness; in fact, Passover is the only feast in which the man who refuses to keep it gets kicked out from among his people and then bears his own sin.

On the fourteenth day of the second month, at twilight, they may keep it. They shall eat it with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. They shall leave none of it until morning, nor break one of its bones. According to all the ordinances of the Passover they shall keep it. But the man who is clean and is not on a journey, and ceases to keep the Passover, that same person shall be cut off from among his people, because he did not bring the offering of Yehovah at its appointed time; that man shall bear his sin. (Num 9:11-13)

Bearing my sin is not an option for me so I will keep the Passover as instructed by my Master, Yehovah and remain as one born in the land (an Ezrach) every year.

So where is Yehovah’s name placed now?

There was a time that Yehovah’s presence was seen in His tabernacle in the wilderness, then in the tabernacle at Shiloh and then at the temple in Jerusalem. In each place we could see Yehovah’s presence there. Yet Yeshua said the time was coming that we would not worship at Jerusalem nor on this mountain.

“Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when you will neither on this mountain, nor in Jerusalem, worship the Father. You worship what you do not know; we know what we worship, for salvation is of the Jews. But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. Elohim is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.” (Joh 4:21-24)

So Where Is Yehovah’s Name Placed Now?

Always keep in mind that Deuteronomy is written for Israel once we are in the land. We currently have no land, no tabernacle, no temple and no priesthood; yet Yehovah says:

Although I have cast them far off among the Gentiles, and although I have scattered them among the countries, yet I shall be a little sanctuary for them in the countries where they have gone.”  (Eze 11:16)

The following is written by Zerubbabel ben Emunah about Deuteronomy 16 and where Yehovah’s name is now.

In the Land

Devarim [Deuteronomy] 16:2
“And you shall sacrifice the Passover to YHWH your Elohim, of the flock and the herd, in the place which YHWH shall choose, to cause His name to dwell there.”

This one passage causes more people not to keep Passover according to Scripture than any other passage. But let us carefully, prayerfully, and fearfully, examine this passage to see what it is actually saying.

While there was a period of Israeli history in which YHWH dwelt in Jerusalem, it has not been so for a very long time. Please note this following passage.

Sh’muel Aleph [1st Samuel] 4:21-22
21 And she named the child Ichabod, saying, “The glory is departed from Israel; because the ark of Elohim was taken, and because of her father-in-law and her husband.” 22 And she said, “The glory is departed from Israel; for the ark of Elohim is taken.”

What is happening in this passage, is that Phinehas’s wife gives birth to a son right after the Philistines capture the Ark of the Covenant. The son was named Ichabod, because when the Ark was taken, YHWH’s glory also departed.

We also find this same concept in a vision of Yechezkel.

Yechezkel [Ezekiel] 10:18
And the glory of YHWH departed from the threshold of the temple, and stood over the cherubim.

YHWH’s glory then departed with the leaving of the cherubim. As one reads this entire chapter, one finds that the glory of YHWH departed because of the very gross sin of both Israel and Judah.

Now please note this passage.

Matithyah [Matthew] 23:37-39 37
“Jerusalem, Jerusalem, that kills the prophets, and stones them that are sent to her! How often would I have gathered your children together, even as a hen gathers her chickens under her wings, and you would not! 38 Behold, your house is left to you desolate. 39 For I say to you, You shall not see me again, until you shall say, ‘Blessed is he that comes in the name of YHWH.’”

While YHWH had caused His Name to dwell in Jerusalem at one time, because of sin on the part of the leaders and people of Israel and Judah, YHWH left.

Therefore, it seems that Devarim chapter 16, is actually a prophetic utterance in future tense, to us today. Because it is clear from the text of Devarim 16 that these things are to take place while we are dwelling securely in the land, and since we are not dwelling securely in the land at this time, it does not seem wise to apply these verses to us today.

Furthermore, we need to remember that when YHWH instituted the Passover, the nation was in the land of Egypt. They also kept the Passover outside the land for the first forty years.

Therefore, since we are not in the land, and since we are, in fact, living in Egypt, it seems incumbent upon us today to keep the Passover according to the way in which YHWH commanded us to keep it while we were in Egypt.

Once the 144,000 servants who come in His name are set apart with a pillar of fire and smoke over each of their heads (a pillar which indicates Yehovah’s presence with each of them) the only place where Passover may be kept is in each of the places where Yehovah dwells. But until then we do the best we can to follow His set-apart instructions to become as one born in the land.

Although I have cast them far off among the Gentiles, and although I have scattered them among the countries, yet I shall be a little sanctuary for them in the countries where they have gone.”  (Eze 11:16)

My Master, Yehovah,  thank You for Your daily presence with me and those who are called by Your precious name.