N
U M B E R S
CHAP. IX.
This
chapter is, I. Concerning the great ordinance of the passover; 1. Orders given
for the observance of it, at the return of the year, ver. 1-5. 2. Provisos
added in regard to such as should be ceremonially unclean, or otherwise
disabled, at the time when the passover was to be kept, ver. 6-14. II.
Concerning the great favour of the pillar of cloud, which was a guide to
Israel through the wilderness, ver. 15, &c.
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The
Law of the Passover.
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B.
C. 1490.
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1 And the LORD
spake unto Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, in the first month of the second
year after they were come out of the land of Egypt, saying, 2 Let
the children of Israel also keep the passover at his appointed season.
3 In the fourteenth day of this month, at even, 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. 4 And Moses spake unto the
children of Israel, that they should keep the passover. 5 And they
kept the passover on the fourteenth day of the first month at even in the
wilderness of Sinai: according to all that the LORD
commanded Moses, so did the children of Israel. 6 And there were
certain men, who were 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: 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 offer an
offering of the LORD
in his appointed season among the children of Israel? 8 And Moses
said unto them, Stand still, and I will 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 unclean by reason of a
dead body, or be in a journey afar off, yet he shall keep the passover
unto the LORD.
11 The fourteenth day of the second month at even they shall keep it, and
eat it with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. 12 They
shall leave none of it unto the morning, nor break any bone of it: according
to all the ordinances of the passover they shall keep it. 13 But
the man that is clean, and is not in a journey, and forbeareth to keep
the passover, even the same soul shall be cut off from among his people:
because he brought not the offering of the LORD
in his appointed season, that man shall bear his sin. 14 And if 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,
and for him that was born in the land.
Here we have,
I. An order given for the solemnization of the passover, the day twelvemonth
after they came out of Egypt, on the fourteenth day of the first month of the
second year, some days before they were numbered, for that was done in the
beginning of the second month. Observe, 1. God gave particular orders for the
keeping of this passover, otherwise (it should seem) they would not have kept
it, for, in the first institution of this ordinance, it was appointed to be
kept when they should come into the land of promise, Exod. xii. 25.
And, no passover till they came to Canaan, Josh. v. 10. This was an early
indication of the abolishing of the ceremonial institutions at last, that, so
soon after they were first appointed, some of them were suffered to lie asleep
for so many years. The ordinance of the Lord's supper (which came in the room
of the passover) was not thus intermitted or set aside in the first days of
the Christian church, though those were days of greater difficulty and
distress than Israel knew in the wilderness; nay, in the times of persecution,
the Lord's supper was celebrated more frequently than afterwards. The
Israelites in the wilderness could not forget their deliverance out of Egypt,
their present state was a constant memorandum of it to them. All the danger
was when they came to Canaan; there therefore they had need to be reminded of
the rock out of which they were hewn. However, because the first
passover was celebrated in a hurry, and was rather the substance itself than
the sign, it was the will of God that at the return of the year, when they
were more composed, and better acquainted with the divine law, they should
observe it again, that their children might more distinctly understand the
solemnity and the better remember it hereafter. Calvin supposes that they were
obliged to keep it now, and notes it as an instance of their carelessness that
they had need to be reminded of an institution which they so lately received.
2. Moses faithfully transmitted to the people the orders given him, v.
4. Thus Paul delivered to the churches what he received of the Lord
concerning the gospel passover, 1 Cor. xi. 23. Note, Magistrates must be
monitors, and ministers must stir up men's minds by way of remembrance
to that which is good. 3. The people observed the orders given them, v.
5. Though they had lately kept the feast of dedication (ch. vii.), yet
they did not desire to excuse themselves with that from keeping this feast.
Note, Extraordinary performances must not supersede or jostle out or stated
services. They kept the passover even in the wilderness: though our condition
be solitary and unsettled, yet we must keep up our attendance on God by holy
ordinances as we have opportunity, for in them we may find the best
conversation and the best repose. Thus is God' Israel provided for in a
desert.
II. Instructions given concerning those that were ceremonially unclean when
they were to eat the passover. The law of the passover required every
Israelite to eat of it. Some subsequent laws had forbidden those that had
contracted any ceremonial pollution to eat of the holy things; those whose
minds and consciences are defiled by sin are utterly unfit for communion with
God, and cannot partake, with any true comfort, of the gospel passover, till
they are cleansed by true repentance and faith: and a sad dilemma they are in;
if they come not to holy ordinances, they are guilty of a contempt of them; if
they do come in their pollution, they are guilty of a profanation of them.
They must therefore wash, and then compass God's altar. Now,
1. Here is the case that happened in Israel when this passover was to be kept:
Certain men were defiled by the dead body of a man (v. 6), and
they lay under that defilement seven days (ch. xix. 11), and in that
time might not eat of the holy things, Lev. vii. 20. This was not their
iniquity, but their infelicity: some persons must touch dead bodies, to bury
them out of sight, and therefore they could, with the better grace, bring
their complaint to Moses.
2. The application made to Moses by the person concerned, v. 7. Note,
It is people's wisdom, in difficult cases concerning sin and duty, to consult
with their ministers whom God has set over them, and to ask the law at
their mouth, Mal. ii. 7. These means we must use in pursuance of our
prayers to God to lead us in a plain path. Observe with what trouble and
concern these men complained that they were kept back from offering to the
Lord. They did not complain of the law as unjust, but lamented their
unhappiness that they fell under the restraint of it at this time, and desired
some expedient might be found out for their relief. Note, It is a blessed
thing to see people hungering and thirsting after God's ordinances, and to
hear them complaining of that which prevents their enjoyment of them. It
should be a trouble to us when by any occasion we are kept back from bringing
our offering in the solemnities of a sabbath or a sacrament, as it was to
David when he was banished from the altar, Ps. xlii. 1, 2.
3. The deliberation of Moses in resolving this case. Here seemed to be law
against law; and, though it is a rule that the latter law must explain the
former, yet he pitied these Israelites that were thus deprived of the
privilege of the passover, and therefore took time to consult the oracles, and
to know what was the mind of God in this case: I will hear what the Lord
will command concerning you, v. 8. Ministers must take example
hence in resolving cases of conscience. (1.) They must not determine rashly,
but take time to consider, that every circumstance may be duly weighted, the
case viewed in a true light, and spiritual things compared with spiritual.
(2.) They must ask counsel at God's mouth, and not determine according to the
bias of their own fancy or affection, but impartially, according to the mind
of God, to the best of their knowledge. We have no such oracle to consult as
Moses had, but we must have recourse to the law and the testimony, and
speak according to that rule; and if, in difficult cases, we take time to
spread the matter in particular before God by humble believing prayer, we have
reason to hope that the Spirit who is promised to lead us into all truth
will enable us to direct others in the good and right way.
4. The directions which God gave in this case, and in other similar cases,
explanatory of the law of the passover. The disagreeable accident produced
good laws. (1.) Those that happened to be ceremonially unclean at the time
when the passover should be eaten were allowed to eat it that day month, when
they were clean; so were those that happened to be in a journey afar off,
v. 10, 11. See here, [1.] That when we are to attend upon God in solemn
ordinances it is very necessary both that we be clean and that we be composed.
[2.] That that may excuse the deferring of a duty for a time which yet will
not justify us in the total neglect and omission of it. He that is at variance
with his brother may leave his gift before the altar, while he goes to
be reconciled to his brother; but when he has done his part towards it,
whether it be effected or no, he must come again and offer his gift,
Matt. v. 23, 24. This secondary passover was to be kept on the same day of the
month with the first, because the ordinance was a memorial of their
deliverance on that day of the month. Once we find the whole congregation
keeping the passover on this fourteenth day of the second month, in Hezekiah's
time (2 Chron. xxx. 15), which perhaps may help to account for the admission
of some that were not clean to the eating of it. Had the general passover been
kept in the first month, the unclean might have been put off till the second;
but, that being kept in the second month, they had no warrant to eat it in the
third month, and therefore, rather than not eat of it at all, they were
admitted, though not cleansed according to the purification of the
sanctuary, v. 19, 20. (2.) Whenever the passover was kept in the
second month, all the rites and ceremonies of it must be strictly observed, v.
12. They must not think that, because the time was dispensed with, any part of
the solemnity of it might be abated; when we cannot do as we would we must do
the utmost we can in the service of God. (3.) This allowance in a case of
necessity would be no means countenance or indulge any in their neglect to
keep the passover at the time appointed, when they were not under the
necessity, v. 13. When a person is under no incapacity to eat the
passover in the appointed time, if he neglects it then, upon the presumption
of the liberty granted by this law, he puts an affront upon God, impiously
abuses his kindness, and he shall certainly bear his sin, and be cut
off from his people. Note, As those who against their minds are forced to
absent themselves from God's ordinances may comfortably expect the favours of
God's grace under their affliction, so those who of choice absent themselves
may justly expect the tokens of God's wrath for their sin. Be not deceived,
God is not mocked. (4.) Here is a clause added in favour of strangers, v.
14. Though it was requisite that the stranger who would join with them in
eating the passover should be circumcised as a proselyte to their religion
(Exod. xii. 48, 49), yet this kind admission of those that were not native
Israelites to eat the passover was an intimation of the favour designed for
the poor Gentiles by Christ. As then there was one law, so in the days of the
Messiah there should be one gospel, for the stranger and for him that was born
in the land; for in every nation he that fears God and works righteousness
is accepted of him, and this was a truth before Peter perceived it, Acts
x. 34, 35.
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The
Pillar of Cloud and Fire.
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B.
C. 1490.
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15 And on the day that
the tabernacle was reared up the cloud covered the tabernacle, namely,
the tent of the testimony: and at even there was upon the tabernacle as it
were the appearance of fire, until the morning. 16 So it was
alway: the cloud covered it by day, and the appearance of fire by
night. 17 And 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. 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 long upon the
tabernacle many days, then the children of Israel kept the charge of the LORD,
and journeyed not. 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 abode 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. 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 abode in their tents, and journeyed
not: but when it was taken up, they journeyed. 23 At the
commandment of the LORD
they rested in the 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.
We have here the history of the cloud; not a natural history: who knows the
balancings of the clouds? but a divine history of a cloud that was
appointed to be the visible sign and symbol of God's presence with Israel.
I. When the tabernacle was finished this cloud, which before had hung on high
over their camp, settled upon the tabernacle, and covered it, to show that God
manifests his presence with his people in and by his ordinances; there he
makes himself known, and to them we must look if we would see the beauty of
the Lord, Ps. xxvii. 4; Ezek. xxxvii. 26, 27. Thus God glorified his own
appointments, and signified his acceptance of his people's love and obedience.
II. That which appeared as a cloud by day appeared as a fire all night. Had it
been a cloud only, it would not have been visible by night; and, had it been a
fire only, it would have been scarcely discernible by day; but God would give
them sensible demonstrations of the constancy of his presence with them, and
his care of them, and that he kept them night and day, Isa. xxvii. 3;
Ps. cxxi. 6. And thus we are taught to set God always before us, and to
see him near us both night and day. Something of the nature of that divine
revelation which the Old-Testament church was governed by might also be
signified by these visible signs of God's presence, the cloud denoting the
darkness and the fire the terror of that dispensation, in comparison with the
more clear and comfortable discoveries God has made of his glory in the face
of Jesus Christ.
III. This pillar of cloud and fire directed and determined all the motions,
marches, and encampments, of Israel in the wilderness. 1. As long as the cloud
rested upon the tabernacle, so long they continued in the same place, and
never stirred; though no doubt they were very desirous to be pressing forward
in their journey towards Canaan, where they longed to be and hoped to be
quickly, yet as long as the cloud rested, if it was a month or a year, so long
they rested, v. 22. Note, He that believeth doth not make haste. There
is no time lost while we are waiting God's time. It is as acceptable a piece
of submission to the will of God to sit still contentedly when our lot
requires it as to work for him when we are called to it. 2. When the cloud was
taken up, they removed, how comfortably soever they were encamped, v.
17. Whether it moved by day or night, they delayed not to attend its motions (v.
21), and probably there were some appointed to stand sentinel day and night
within sight of it, to give timely notice to the camp of its beginning to
stir, and this called keeping the charge of the Lord. The people, being
thus kept at a constant uncertainty, and having no time fixed for stopping or
removing, were obliged to hold themselves in constant readiness to march upon
very short warning. And for the same reason we are kept at uncertainty
concerning the time of our putting off the earthly house of this tabernacle,
that we may be always ready to remove at the commandment of the Lord.
3. As long and as far as the cloud moved, so long and so far they marched, and
just where it abode they pitched their tents about it, and God's tent under
it, v. 17. Note, It is uncomfortable staying when God has departed, but
very safe and pleasant going when we see God go before us and resting where he
appoints us to rest. This is repeated again and again in these verses, because
it was a constant miracle, and often repeated, and what never failed in all
their travels, and because it is a matter which we should take particular
notice of as very significant and instructive. It is mentioned long after by
David (Ps. cv. 39), and by the people of God after their captivity, Neh. ix.
19. And the guidance of this cloud is spoken of as signifying the guidance of
the blessed Spirit. Isa. lxiii. 14, The Spirit of the Lord caused him to
rest, and so didst thou lead thy people. This teaches us, (1.) The
particular care God takes of his people. Nothing could be more expressive and
significant of God's tenderness of Israel than the guidance of this cloud was;
it led them by the right way (Ps. cvii. 7), went on their pace: God did
by it, as it were, cover them with his feathers. We are not now to expect such
sensible tokens of the divine presence and guidance as this was, but the
promise is sure to all God's spiritual Israel that he will guide them by
his counsel (Ps. lxxiii. 24), even unto death (Ps. xlviii. 14),
that all the children of God shall be led by the Spirit of God (Rom.
viii. 14), that he will direct the paths of those who in all their
ways acknowledge him, Prov. iii. 6. There is a particular providence
conversant about all their affairs, to direct and overrule them for the best. The
steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord, Ps. xxxvii. 23. (2.) The
particular regard we ought to have to God in all our ways. In our affections
and actions we must follow the direction of his word and Spirit; all the
motions of our souls must be guided by the divine will; at the commandment of
the Lord our hearts should always move and rest; in all our affairs we must
follow Providence, reconciling ourselves to all its disposals, and bringing
our mind to our condition, whatever it is. The people of Israel, having the
cloud for their guide, were eased of the trouble of holding councils of war,
to consider when and whither they should march, which might have occasioned
strifes and debates among them: nor needed they to send spies before to inform
them of the posture of the country, or pioneers to clear the way, or officers
to mark out their camp; the pillar of cloud did all this for them: and those
that by faith commit their works to the Lord, though they are bound to the
prudent use of means, yet may in like manner be easy in the expectation of the
event. "Father, thy will be done; dispose of me and mine as thou
pleasest; here I am, desirous to be found waiting on my God continually,
to journey and rest at the commandment of the Lord. What thou wilt, and
where thou wilt, only let me be thine, and always in the way of my duty."
Contents
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