Numbers 9:1-23 Celebrating the Passover

[Study Aired June 26, 2023]

Num 9:1  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, 
Num 9:2  Let the children of Israel also keep the passover at his appointed season. 
Num 9:3  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. 
Num 9:4  And Moses spake unto the children of Israel, that they should keep the passover.
Num 9:5  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.
Num 9:6  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:
Num 9:7  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? 
Num 9:8  And Moses said unto them, Stand still, and I will hear what the LORD will command concerning you. 
Num 9:9  And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, 
Num 9:10  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. 
Num 9:11  The fourteenth day of the second month at even they shall keep it, and eat it with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. 
Num 9:12  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. 
Num 9:13  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. 
Num 9:14  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. 
Num 9:15  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. 
Num 9:16  So it was alway: the cloud covered it by day, and the appearance of fire by night. 
Num 9:17  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. 
Num 9:18  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. 
Num 9:19  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. 
Num 9:20  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. 
Num 9:21  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. 
Num 9:22  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. 
Num 9:23  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. 

Introduction

This chapter talks about celebrating the Passover and also shows us how Israel’s movement in the wilderness is dictated by the cloud covering the tabernacle. The Passover feast was in recognition of the miraculous exodus of the Israelites from Egypt. The name ‘Passover’ comes from the story of the tenth plague (the death of the firstborn), meted out against Pharaoh and the Egyptians, which passed over the Israelites’ houses, sparing their children.

Exo 12:5  Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male a year old. You may take it from the sheep or from the goats, 
Exo 12:6  and you shall keep it until the fourteenth day of this month, when the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill their lambs at twilight. 
Exo 12:7  “Then they shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and the lintel of the houses in which they eat it. 
Exo 12:8  They shall eat the flesh that night, roasted on the fire; with unleavened bread and bitter herbs they shall eat it. 
Exo 12:9  Do not eat any of it raw or boiled in water, but roasted, its head with its legs and its inner parts. 
Exo 12:10  And you shall let none of it remain until the morning; anything that remains until the morning you shall burn. 
Exo 12:11  In this manner you shall eat it: with your belt fastened, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand. And you shall eat it in haste. It is the LORD’s Passover. 
Exo 12:12  For I will pass through the land of Egypt that night, and I will strike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and on all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments: I am the LORD. 
Exo 12:13  The blood shall be a sign for you, on the houses where you are. And when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and no plague will befall you to destroy you, when I strike the land of Egypt. 
Exo 12:14  “This day shall be for you a memorial day, and you shall keep it as a feast to the LORD; throughout your generations, as a statute forever, you shall keep it as a feast.

Being the firstborn in the Bible, positively signifies the might or strength and the source of power:

Gen 49:3  Reuben, thou art my firstborn, my might, and the beginning of my strength, the excellency of dignity, and the excellency of power:

Deu 21:17  But he shall acknowledge the son of the hated for the firstborn, by giving him a double portion of all that he hath: for he is the beginning of his strength; the right of the firstborn is his.

The plague of the death of the firstborn, therefore, signifies the destruction or the stripping of the power or the strength of the old man (Pharaoh) who dominates us. This is achieved by the coming of the Lord with His words (the spirit of His mouth) into our lives after we have come to clearly see the old man or the beast within us.

2Th 2:8  And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming:

The Passover, therefore, signifies the process of the destruction or the stripping of the power or the strength of our old man when Christ comes with His brightness in our lives.

Num 9:1  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, 
Num 9:2  Let the children of Israel also keep the passover at his appointed season. 
Num 9:3  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. 
Num 9:4  And Moses spake unto the children of Israel, that they should keep the passover.
Num 9:5  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.

The Lord speaking to Moses in the first month of the second year is to let us know that to keep the Passover, we must be perfectly joined to the body of Christ, having one mind, as we serve as the Lord’s witnesses on this earth. Keeping the Passover on the fourteenth day of the first month is also significant. The number fourteen means spiritual progression.  It is as we progress spiritually through the judgment of our old man that we can keep the Passover. 

Once the source of our strength or power of the old man is being dealt with by the Lord through judgments of the death of the firstborn, we are able to offer a sacrifice of unleavened bread throughout the rest of our lives, which is signified by the seven days of the feast of eating unleavened bread. The unleavened bread here signifies sincerity and truth. This means that through judgment, our understanding of the word of the Lord is deepened and is accompanied by a life of sincerity and truth. In other words, our lives then reflect the righteousness of Christ.

Isa 26:8  Yea, in the way of thy judgments, O LORD, have we waited for thee; the desire of our soul is to thy name, and to the remembrance of thee.
Isa 26:9  With my soul have I desired thee in the night; yea, with my spirit within me will I seek thee early: for when thy judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness.

1Co 5:7  Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us: 
1Co 5:8  Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. 

The seven days of unleavened bread refer to the complete period of our lives during which we offer our bodies as a living sacrifice to the Lord by living a life of Christ’s righteousness.

Rom 12:1  I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. 
Rom 12:2  And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God. 

Num 9:6  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:
Num 9:7  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? 

As we indicated in previous studies, being defiled by the dead means taking in or accepting the teachings of those who are spiritually dead. We become spiritually unclean when we take in or accept the teachings of those who are spiritually dead. That is what characterized our walk with Christ when we were in Babylon. We accepted the teachings of our leaders who were spiritually dead, and so we became defiled. 

2Pe 2:17  These are wells without water, clouds that are carried with a tempest; to whom the mist of darkness is reserved for ever. 
2Pe 2:18  For when they speak great swelling words of vanity, they allure through the lusts of the flesh, through much wantonness, those that were clean escaped from them who live in error. 
2Pe 2:19  While they promise them liberty, they themselves are the servants of corruption: for of whom a man is overcome, of the same is he brought in bondage. 
2Pe 2:20  For if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein, and overcome, the latter end is worse with them than the beginning. 
2Pe 2:21  For it had been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than, after they have known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered unto them. 
2Pe 2:22  But it is happened unto them according to the true proverb, The dog is turned to his own vomit again; and the sow that was washed to her wallowing in the mire.

Verse 7 shows us that when we become defiled in our minds by accepting false doctrines, propagated by those who are spiritually dead, we disqualify ourselves from keeping the Passover. This means that we cannot offer our bodies as living sacrifices to the Lord as required by the Lord in keeping the Passover at the appointed time of the Lord. The appointed time here is our time here on earth.  

Rom 12:1  I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. 
Rom 12:2  And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God. 

Num 9:8  And Moses said unto them, Stand still, and I will hear what the LORD will command concerning you. 
Num 9:9  And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, 
Num 9:10  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. 
Num 9:11  The fourteenth day of the second month at even they shall keep it, and eat it with unleavened bread and bitter herbs.
Num 9:12  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. 

It is very insightful to note that whenever Moses was approached about an issue, he sought the Lord’s guidance as to what should be done. He did not depend upon his own insight but relied wholly on the Lord for direction. This should be our attitude as we seek to know the Lord. 

Pro 3:5  Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. 
Pro 3:6  In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths. 
Pro 3:7  Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the LORD, and depart from evil. 

The good news is that those who get defiled by false doctrines from those who are/were spiritually dead will have the chance to also celebrate Passover. However, this will happen in the fourteenth month of the second month. As we have indicated earlier, the number fourteen means spiritual progression. The number two, or the second, means a witness. This signifies that our brothers and sisters in Babylon, who are defiled by false doctrines, together with those come out of Babylon but are defiled by their idols of the heart due to false doctrines, will have the opportunity for Christ to come into their lives to destroy the strength and power of their old man (firstborn) during the lake of fire age in the presence of the elect as witnesses (the second month).

Eze 16:55  When thy sisters, Sodom and her daughters, shall return to their former estate, and Samaria and her daughters shall return to their former estate, then thou and thy daughters shall return to your former estate.

During this period in the lake-of-fire age, they shall eat the flesh of the lamb with unleavened bread together with bitter herbs for seven days in keeping with the celebration of Passover.

Exo 12:8  And they shall eat the flesh in that night, roast with fire, and unleavened bread; and with bitter herbs they shall eat it. 

The flesh of the lamb must be roasted with fire and eaten in the night. This is to let us know that we cannot separate the judgment of the Lord (roasting with fire) from His words. As we are being given insight into the mysteries of the kingdom of God, we are being judged to conform to His image.

Mat 13:21  Yet hath he not root in himself, but dureth for a while: for when tribulation or persecution ariseth because of the word, by and by he is offended. 

The lamb must be eaten with unleavened bread and with bitter herbs. The unleavened bread here signifies sincerity and truth. This means that our understanding of the word of the Lord must be accompanied by a life of sincerity and truth. In other words, our life must reflect the righteousness of Christ.

1Co 5:8  Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. 

It is so exciting when the Lord reveals some aspects of the truth of the word of the Lord to us. In other words, it is sweet in our mouth. However, when it enters our belly, it is bitter. The bitter herb that must accompany the eating of the unleavened bread refers to the bitter experience we must go through to actualize the word we have received. 

Rev 10:10  And I took the little book out of the angel’s hand, and ate it up; and it was in my mouth sweet as honey: and as soon as I had eaten it, my belly was bitter.

Eze 3:1  Moreover he said unto me, Son of man, eat that thou findest; eat this roll, and go speak unto the house of Israel. 
Eze 3:2  So I opened my mouth, and he caused me to eat that roll. 
Eze 3:3  And he said unto me, Son of man, cause thy belly to eat, and fill thy bowels with this roll that I give thee. Then did I eat it; and it was in my mouth as honey for sweetness. 
Eze 3:4  And he said unto me, Son of man, go, get thee unto the house of Israel, and speak with my words unto them. 

This bitter experience also includes the words of those we are sent to minister, as shown in Ezekiel’s case.

Eze 2:6  And thou, son of man, be not afraid of them, neither be afraid of their words, though briers and thorns be with thee, and thou dost dwell among scorpions: be not afraid of their words, nor be dismayed at their looks, though they be a rebellious house. 
Eze 2:7  And thou shalt speak my words unto them, whether they will hear, or whether they will forbear: for they are most rebellious.

In verse 12, letting nothing remain of the lamb in the morning means we must not neglect any part of the word of the Lord. We must endeavor to understand the whole counsel of God through His words. 

Act 20:27  For I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God. 

Our lives here on earth are considered as a long night. It is during our time here on earth that we have to eat the lamb; that is, to know Christ and His words. The morning in verse 12 signifies Christ coming with His elect (the cloud) during the first resurrection.  

Rom 13:12 The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness and let us put on the armour of light.

Not breaking a bone as we eat the lamb in verse 12 is another way of saying that we should not go beyond what is written in the word of the Lord, which is His flesh. 

1Co 4:6  I have applied all these things to myself and Apollos for your benefit, brothers, that you may learn by us not to go beyond what is written, that none of you may be puffed up in favor of one against another.

Num 9:13  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. 

A man who is clean is someone who is not in touch with a dead body. In other words, such a person has begun to understand the mysteries of the kingdom of God. Not being on a journey means one has come out of the world (Egypt) and Babylon and has come into the assembly of the firstborn or the elect. Such a person must keep the Passover. That means Christ has come with His brightness into his life to destroy the power of the flesh or the old man. If we allow our flesh to dominate us, then it means that we are not observing Passover, even though we have been enlightened and tasted the heavenly gift. In this case, we shall not be counted as part of the Lord’s elect and therefore will not be part of the first resurrection. We shall be cast into outer darkness.     

Heb 6:4  For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost, 
Heb 6:5  And have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come, 
Heb 6:6  If they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame. 
Heb 6:7  For the earth which drinketh in the rain that cometh oft upon it, and bringeth forth herbs meet for them by whom it is dressed, receiveth blessing from God: 
Heb 6:8  But that which beareth thorns and briers is rejected, and is nigh unto cursing; whose end is to be burned. 
Heb 6:9  But, beloved, we are persuaded better things of you, and things that accompany salvation, though we thus speak. 

Mat 8:12  But the children of the kingdom shall be cast out into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Num 9:14  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. 

We, the Gentiles, were not part of the commonwealth of Israel, but by the grace of God, we, the strangers, are part of the commonwealth of Israel and therefore can partake of the Passover. Verse 14 also means that the Lord will find a way to bring in all strangers of Christ (those banished) to partake of Him as the Passover.

Eph 2:12  That at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world: 
Eph 2:13  But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ. 
Eph 2:14  For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us; 
Eph 2:15  Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace; 
Eph 2:16  And that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby: 

2Sa 14:14  For we must needs die, and are as water spilt on the ground, which cannot be gathered up again; neither doth God respect any person: yet doth he devise means, that his banished be not expelled from him.

Num 9:15  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. 
Num 9:16  So it was alway: the cloud covered it by day, and the appearance of fire by night. 

As we are aware, our bodies represent the temple of the Lord or the tabernacle. When Christ, who is the cloud, comes to us, He comes with His judgment to remove all that offends within us so that He can stay in us. The appearance of fire in the evening is therefore our judgment while we live here on earth. Since we represent Christ here on earth, we are also the cloud covering the tabernacle.

Mal 3:1  Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me: and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in: behold, he shall come, saith the LORD of hosts. 
Mal 3:2  But who may abide the day of his coming? and who shall stand when he appeareth? for he is like a refiner’s fire, and like fullers’ soap: 
Mal 3:3  And he shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver: and he shall purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer unto the LORD an offering in righteousness. 
Mal 3:4  Then shall the offering of Judah and Jerusalem be pleasant unto the LORD, as in the days of old, and as in former years.

2Th 2:7  For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way. 
2Th 2:8  And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming: 

Heb 12:1  Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, 

Num 9:17  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. 
Num 9:18  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. 

These verses are to show us that we are not on our own. In this life, everything that we do, both good and evil, is ordered by the Lord. In other words, our deeds are all written in the Lord’s book even before we were born. 

Psa 139:16  Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them.

Jer 10:23  O LORD, I know that the way of man is not in himself: it is not in man that walketh to direct his steps.

Act 17:26  And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place, 
Act 17:27  that they should seek God, and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him. Yet he is actually not far from each one of us, 
Act 17:28  for “‘In him we live and move and have our being’; as even some of your own poets have said, “‘For we are indeed his offspring.’

Num 9:19  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. 
Num 9:20  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. 
Num 9:21  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. 
Num 9:22  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. 
Num 9:23  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. 

These verses reflect how the Lord deals with us at various phases of our lives. There are periods of our lives where the Lord tests our patience as it looks like we are going round in circles, and nothing seems to work even though we cry to the Lord. For example, the Israelites stayed on Mount Sinai for so long until the Lord commanded them to leave. In our lives, we may be battling with some issues which take a long time before we are given a break. There are other times that before we speak, He hears us and comes to our aid. 

Heb 10:36  For ye have need of patience, that, after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise.

Jas 1:3  Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience.
Jas 1:4  But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.

Deu 1:6  The LORD our God spake unto us in Horeb, saying, Ye have dwelt long enough in this mount: 
Deu 1:7  Turn you, and take your journey, and go to the mount of the Amorites, and unto all the places nigh thereunto, in the plain, in the hills, and in the vale, and in the south, and by the sea side, to the land of the Canaanites, and unto Lebanon, unto the great river, the river Euphrates. 

Isa 65:24  And it shall come to pass, that before they call, I will answer; and while they are yet speaking, I will hear.

May the Lord help us to be patient in our walk with Him in order to win the prize of His higher calling. Amen!!