FRAMEWORKS:
Numbers 9: Passover & Presence
Part
1.3: A Holy Camp
Ch.5:
Working for a Pure Camp
Ch.
6: Nazarites
Ch.7:
Offerings at the Dedication of the Tabernacle
Ch.
8: Setting
Apart the Levites
Ch.
9: Passover
& Presence
FRAMEWORKS:
Numbers 9: Passover & Presence
v.1-3
God Instructs Moses
v.4,5
Moses Instructs the People
v.6-8
Some query their unavailability
v.9-12
The Lord instructs when they can do it
v.13,14
Instructions for Everyone Else
v.15-23
The Cloud Above the Tabernacle
v.1-3
God Instructs Moses
v.1
The
Lord
spoke to Moses / in the Desert of Sinai / in the first month of
the second year after they came out of Egypt. He said,
v.2
“Have
the Israelites celebrate the Passover at the appointed time.
v.3
Celebrate
it at the appointed time, at twilight on the fourteenth day of
this month, in accordance with all its rules and regulations.”
[Notes:
A year has passed since the first actual Passover. Now
it is time for the first remembrance celebration.]
v.4,5
Moses Instructs the People
v.4
So
Moses told the Israelites to celebrate the Passover,
v.5
and
they did so in the Desert of Sinai at twilight
on the fourteenth day of the first month.
The Israelites did everything just as the Lord
commanded
Moses.
[Notes:
Thus, at Moses instruction the people celebrate it at
the foot of Mount Sinai.]
v.6-8
Some query their unavailability
v.6
But
some of them could not celebrate the Passover on that day because
they were ceremonially unclean on account of a dead body. So they
came to Moses and Aaron that same day
v.7
and
said to Moses, “We have become unclean because of a dead body,
but why should we be kept from presenting the Lord
's offering
with the other Israelites at the appointed time?”
v.8
Moses
answered them, “Wait until I find out what the Lord
commands concerning
you.”
[Notes:
The awareness of being a holy people is revealed as
some approach Moses and Aaron and say because of death in the
family they are not in a fit state to celebrate this holy Festival.
What should they do?]
v.9-12
The Lord instructs when they can do it
v.9
Then
the Lord
said to Moses,
v.10
“Tell
the Israelites: ‘When any of you or your descendants are unclean
because of a dead body or are away on a journey, they
are still to celebrate the Lord
's
Passover,
v.11
but
they are to do it on the fourteenth day of the
second month at twilight. They are to eat the
lamb, together with unleavened bread and bitter herbs.
v.12
They
must not leave any of it till morning or break any of its bones.
When they celebrate the Passover, they must follow all the regulations.
[Notes:
When Moses questions the Lord, He acknowledges this
is a legitimate reason for not celebrating it on the appropriate
day but says they can celebrate it on the same day in the second
month instead, thus giving them time to prepare.]
v.13,14
Instructions for Everyone Else
v.13
But
if anyone who is ceremonially clean and not on a journey fails
to celebrate the Passover, they must be cut off from their people
for not presenting the Lord
's offering
at the appointed time. They will bear the consequences of their
sin.
v.14
“‘A
foreigner residing among you is also to celebrate the Lord
's Passover
in accordance with its rules and regulations. You must have the
same regulations for both the foreigner and the native-born.'”
[Notes:
All other people are required to celebrate the Passover
on the set day which will become one of their most important feasts.]
v.15-23
The Cloud Above the Tabernacle
v.15
On
the day the tabernacle, the tent of the covenant law, was set
up, the cloud covered it. From evening till morning the cloud
above the tabernacle looked like fire.
v.16
That
is how it continued to be; the cloud covered it, and at night
it looked like fire.
v.17
Whenever
the cloud lifted from above the tent, the Israelites set out;
wherever the cloud settled, the Israelites encamped.
v.18
At
the Lord 's
command the Israelites set out, and at his command they encamped.
As long as the cloud stayed over the tabernacle, they remained
in camp.
v.19 When
the cloud remained over the tabernacle a long time, the Israelites
obeyed the Lord
's order and
did not set out.
v.20
Sometimes
the cloud was over the tabernacle only a few days; at the Lord's
command they would encamp, and then at his command they would
set out.
v.21
Sometimes
the cloud stayed only from evening till morning, and when it lifted
in the morning, they set out. Whether by day or by night, whenever
the cloud lifted, they set out.
v.22
Whether
the cloud stayed over the tabernacle for two days or a month or
a year, the Israelites would remain in camp and not set out; but
when it lifted, they would set out.
v.23
At
the Lord 's
command they encamped, and at the Lord
's command
they set out. They obeyed the Lord
's order, in
accordance with his command through Moses.
[Notes:
This paragraph is quite remarkable in that it shows
us what dictated the movement of the nation – the Lord. When the
cloud of His presence [first observed in Ex 13:21,22] moved from
above the Tabernacle [v.15,16], it was time for Israel to move
on [v.17,18]. The time of remaining stationary varied from overnight
[v.21], just a few days [v.20], or even a much longer time [v.19,22],
but records appear not to have been kept as to exactly what those
times were.]