The Fourth Book of Moses, called Numbers
Numbers 9
Chapter IX · Vol. I, pp. 430–431
1 The passover is commanded again. 9 A second passover allowed for them that were unclean or absent. 15 The cloud guideth the removings and encampings of the Israelites.
1 AND the LORD spake unto Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, in the a first month of the second year after they were come out of the land of Egypt, saying,
a Ex. 40.2. ch. 1.1.
2 Let the children of Israel also b keep the passover at his appointed season.
b Ex. 12.2,14,25,43-49; 13.10. Le. 23.5. ch. 28.16. De. 16.1,2.
3 In the fourteenth day of this month at even,1 ye shall keep it in his appointed season: according to all the rites of it, and according to all the ceremonies thereof, shall ye keep it.
1 Heb. between the two evenings.—[Between sunset and dark; such is the meaning attached to the cognate expression in Arabic, frequently used in the present day.—P.]
4 And Moses spake unto the children of Israel, that they should keep the passover.
5 And they c kept the passover on the fourteenth day of the first month d at even in the wilderness of Sinai; according to all that the LORD commanded Moses, so did the children of Israel.2
c Ex. 12.1-14,43-49. Jos. 5.10. 2 Ch. xxx. xxxv. Mat. 26.2. 1 Co. 5.7,8.
d Ex. 12.6. He. 9.26. Mat. 27 46,50.
2 After the first celebration in Egypt, the original ordinance had reference to the land of Canaan. See Ex. 12. 25. Here is a special direction for its observance in the wilderness, so that the chain of memorial might be complete.—Note, The people observe the ordinance when Moses speaks in the name of the Lord. See how much the observance of religious ordinances, such as the private reading and public hearing of the word, closet and family prayer, and attendance on the communion, depend on the faithful instruction and warning of ministers. Many neglect or withdraw from public religious ordinances when in trouble; this is contrary to God's direction. Israel must observe the passover, even in the wilderness; and trouble is the time when we need God most, and he promises most, Job 5.19. Ps. 91.15. Is. 41.10.—C.
6 And there were certain men who were e defiled by the dead body of a man, that they could not keep the passover on that day; and they came before Moses and before Aaron on that day.
A.M. 2514. B.C. 1490.
e Le. 21.11. ch. 5.3; 6.6; 19.11,18.
7 And those men said unto him, We are defiled by the dead body of a man: wherefore are we kept back, that we may not f offer an offering of the LORD in his appointed season among the children of Israel?
f Ex. 12.27. De. 16.2. 1 Co. 5.7,8.
8 And Moses said unto them, Stand still, and I will g hear what the LORD will command concerning you.
9 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
10 Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, If any man of you, or of your posterity, shall be h unclean by reason of a dead body, or be in a journey afar off, yet he shall keep the passover unto the LORD.
h ver. 6,7. Ep. 2.1,2,12,13; 3.6-9. Ro. 15.8-19; 16.25,26. 1 Co. 6.9-11.
11 The i fourteenth day of the second month at even they shall keep it, and eat it with unleavened bread and bitter herbs.
12 They shall leave3 none of it unto the morning, nor break any bone of it: according to all the ordinances of the passover they shall keep it.
3 It was a custom among the heathen, previously to their setting out upon a journey, to offer a sacrifice to their gods, and to eat the whole. If in any instance this happened to be impracticable, it was burned with fire. Being made to procure a prosperous journey, this sacrifice was called propter viam, and was most probably borrowed from the Jewish passover.—I.
13 But the man that is clean, and is not in a journey, and k forbeareth to keep the passover, even the same soul shall be cut off from his people: because he brought not the offering4 of the LORD in his appointed season, that man shall bear his sin.
k ch. 15.30,31; 19.13. Ex. 12.15. Ge. 17.14. Le. 17.4,10,14,16. He. 10.26-29; 6.6; 2.3.
4 The paschal lamb was really an offering or sacrifice. It was slain as a sacrifice, and its blood sprinkled. after which it was eaten by the family, in grateful remembrance of the deliverance from Egypt, and the preservation of the first-born. It was a eucharistical sacrifice.—I.
14 And if l a stranger shall sojourn among you, and will keep the passover unto the LORD; according to the ordinance of the passover, and according to the manner thereof, so shall he do: ye shall have one ordinance, both for the stranger,5 and for him that was born in the land.
l Ex. 12.49. Le. 24.22; 19.34. ch. 15.15,16,29; 19.10; 35.15. De. 29.11; 31.12. Ep. 2.12-22. Is. 56.6,7.
5 Proselyte.
15 And m on the day that the tabernacle was reared up the cloud covered the tabernacle, namely, the tent6 of the testimony: and at even there was upon the tabernacle as it were the appearance of fire until the morning.
m Ex. 40.34; 13.21; 14.20,24. ch. 14.14; 10.34. Eze. 10.3,4.
6 The most holy place where the law was.
16 Son it was alway:7 the cloud covered it by day, and the appearance of fire by night.
n ver. 18-22. Ex. 13.21; 40.38. Ne. 9.19. Ps. 105.39; 78.14. Is. 4.5,6. 1 Co. 10.1. 2 Co. 5.19. Re. 21.3.
7 The perpetuity of the cloud in such a climate, during so many years, and in sight of such a 'gainsaying people,' Ro. 10.21, not one of whom ever attempted to question the fact, presents now an unanswerable attestation to the truth of the Mosaic history, as it presented then an unquestionable symbol and evidence of the divine presence.—C.
17 And o when the cloud was taken up from the tabernacle, then after that the children of Israel journeyed: and in the place where the cloud abode, there the children of Israel pitched their tents.8
o cl. 10.33,34,36. Ps. 32.8; 73.24; 78.14; 80.1,2; 105.39. Is. 49.10. Jn. 10.3-5,9. 1 Co. 10.1.
8 When the cloud was taken up they decamped; followed so long as it went before them, ver. 12, and Ex. 13.21, and pitched their tents when the cloud become stationary over a particular place. To this the star at Bethlehem seems to have corresponded, when it 'went before' the wise men till it came and stood over the place 'where the young child was,' Mat. 2.9.—C.
18 At the commandment of the LORD the children of Israel journeyed, and at the commandment of the LORD they pitched: as long as the cloud abode upon the tabernacle they rested in their tents.
19 And when the cloud tarried long9 upon the tabernacle many days, then the children of Israel kept the charge of the LORD, and journeyed not.
A.M. 2514. B.C. 1490.
9 Heb. prolonged.
20 And so it was, when the cloud was a few days upon the tabernacle; according to the commandment of the LORD they abode in their tents, and according to the commandment of the LORD they journeyed.
21 And so it was, when the cloud abode1 from even unto the morning, and that the cloud was taken up in the morning, then they journeyed: whether it was by day or by night that the cloud was taken up, they journeyed.
1 Heb. was.
22 Or whether it were two days, or a month, or a year, that the cloud tarried upon the tabernacle, remaining thereon, the children of Israel abodep in their tents, and journeyed not: but when it was taken up, they journeyed.2
p Ex. 40.36,37.
2 So long as the pillar of cloud by day, or fire by night, remained stationary over the sanctuary—whether a single night, or two days, or a month, or a lengthened period ('a year' is in Hebrew 'days,' and means an indefinite period)—the people remained in their tents: but the moment it rose from the tabernacle, whether by day or night, the people rose and followed; and they continued marching until the cloud again rested.—P.
23 Atq the commandment of the LORD they rested in their tents, and at the commandment of the LORD they journeyed: they kept the charge of the LORD, at the commandment of the LORD by the hand of Moses.
q ch. 1.54; 8.20 Ex. 39.42; 40.16; 23.21, 22. Mat. 28.20. Pr. 3.5, 6. Ps. 32.8; 48.14; 73.24; 107.7; 143.10. Is. 55.4; 63.12-14. Mat. 16.24. 1 Co. 11.1.
Notes
Reflections.—We need repeated excitements to the most pleasant and solemn services of God; though it is an infinite favour, that, in these deserts of trouble, we may keep the Lord's solemn feasts. Those who know their value will delight in the observance, and rejoice to see others hungering and thirsting after God's ordinances, even when hindrances are laid in their way. Ministers ought ever to be careful in debarring scandalous sinners from the seals of the covenant; yet, on the contrary, ever cautious and attentive to God's word in determining particular cases. But here let me reflect on the mercy, that though we Gentiles were of old afar off, and in our uncleanness, God hath brought us nigh by the blood of his Son, and hath provided a second, a gospel passover for us! If then we be unavoidably disappointed of public ordinances, let us take the first opportunity of approaching his house or table. Providential hindrances may disappoint us of the means, but cannot, if our hearts be right, deprive us of the grace thereof; God will amply supply our wants some other way: while such as reject God's ordinances will be rejected by him. Habitual neglect of the Lord's supper is a fearful sign of a naughty heart.—Let Jesus, and JEHOVAH in him, be our pillar of cloud, to direct our motions and rests; and let us be always obedient to his tokens: no safety can be had in going before him; and no comfort can be had in loitering behind him. Let me be ready, with comfort, to see this cloud remove into the eternal state, where I expect a more abiding habitation; that when death comes, I may have nothing to do but to remove: and, even by the way, let God fix my residence and lot as he pleases; and there let me contentedly pitch my tent.