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The Flexibility of Divine Law The Second
Month Passover
Wherefore whosoever shall eat the bread or drink
the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner, shall be guilty of the body and the
blood of the Lord. But let a man prove himself, and so let him eat of the bread,
and drink of the cup. For he that eateth and drinketh, eateth and drinketh
judgment unto himself, if he discern not the body.—1 Corinthians 11:27-29,
ASV A verse-by-verse study in Numbers 9 Any law, to be fully workable, needs to have a certain amount of flexibility to ..cover all extenuating circumstances. The Mosaic Code, given at Sinai, was no exception. A good example of this was the provision of cities of refuge, where judgment could be rendered between first-degree murder and manslaughter. The Law of the Passover in Numbers chapter 9 is another example. Keeping the Passover—Numbers 9:1-5 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, Let the children of Israel also keep the passover at his appointed season. 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. And Moses spake unto the children of Israel, that they should keep the passover. 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. Just one year had passed since the exodus from Egypt. It had been a propitious year. The wandering Hebrews were as far from their destination as ever. It had been a year of miracles (the crossing of the Red Sea, water gushing forth from a rock). It had been a year of losing faith (clamoring for the leeks of Egypt, building a golden calf to worship). The year climaxed at Mt. Sinai with its quaking and spewing fire. There Moses emerged with two tables of stone on which were etched ten commandments from the covenant God of Israel. The people sorely needed to remember their miraculous deliverance from the taskmaster’s whip. Thus Jehovah commanded that they keep a memorial of the Passover that marked that occasion. In Exodus 12, explicit instructions were given for an annual commemoration of their deliverance. However, there is no record given of another observance after the first time, until they entered the promised land under Joshua (Joshua 5:10). This observance of the slain lamb prefigured the Lamb of God who would be offered on Calvary’s cross for the deliverance of mankind from the taskmasters of sin and death. And so the Israelites celebrated their first commemoration of the Passover in the wilderness of Sinai. The Question—Numbers 9:6,7 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: 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? This command to observe the Passover on the fourteenth of Nisan created a problem for some sincere Israelites. Evidently the command to keep the feast occurred between Nisan 7 and Nisan 14, for these individuals had come in contact with a dead body and were thus ceremonially unclean for seven days (Numbers 5:2; 6:9; Leviticus 7:20,21; 21:1). They faced a dilemma: which command took precedence, to remain isolated for seven days, or to eat the Passover meal. They brought the problem to Moses and Aaron. It is unclear whether the term “certain men” applied to all who may have handled a body in preparation for burial or refers to specific individuals. The fact that they approached Moses and Aaron implies the latter. Jewish tradition suggests that they were Mishael and Elizaphan, the cousins of Moses who were assigned the task of disposing of the bodies of Nadab and Abihu after they were slain by the Lord for offering strange fire in the tabernacle (Leviticus 10:1-5). The Passover of the Second Month—Numbers 9:8-12 And Moses said unto them, Stand still, and I will hear what the LORD will command concerning you. And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, 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. The fourteenth day of the second month at even they shall keep it, and eat it with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. 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. Moses did not immediately answer, but told the petitioners to wait until he received an answer from the Lord. We are not told how that answer was communicated to Moses. However, we do know Moses was told to go into the Most Holy where God said, “There I will meet with thee, and I will commune with thee from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubims which are upon the ark of the testimony, of all things which I will give thee in commandment unto the children of Israel” (Exodus 25:22). Moses did not presumptuously give his own best judgment on the matter or call for a meeting of the tribal elders to solicit their opinion; he went directly to God. So Christians today, in times of indecision, are well advised to go first and foremost to the Word of God for direction. Advice they may receive from one another is only valid to the degree it is supported by the Bible. God told Moses that those who had come into contact with a dead body or were on a journey to a distant place could still keep the Passover, but were to do it a month later. The law was flexible enough to allow for legitimate exceptions. However, it did not permit a release from the Passover law, only for a delay. It was still to be observed on the fourteenth day of the next month, at the same time of day, and with “all the ordinances of the Passover.” This Passover of the second month might represent mankind’s participation in its antitype in the Millennial age: “The lesson taught seems to be that all prevented (by ignorance) from accepting Messiah as their Redeemer when offered to them, will have an opportunity of doing so when, in the times of restitution of all things their nation (moon) shall again be full of blessings in the latter harvest” (Reprints, p. 2270, footnote). In the Millennial age although mankind will have been released from the Adamic death sentence because of the ransom paid by Jesus, they will still be in contact with the dead body of Adam due to the effects of sin on their characters. In this sense they are on a journey far from God from which they must return to obtain the benefits of the antitypical Passover.
A similar question may arise concerning the celebration of the Memorial of Jesus’ death. In the text at the head of this article, Christians are admonished to examine themselves to discern whether they are partaking unworthily, “not discerning the Lord’s body” (1 Corinthians 11:29). There is a distinct difference between the two situations. In the Numbers account, the inquirers were unworthy by reason of ceremonial uncleanness. In the New Testament, the individual who should not partake is not because of his unworthiness, but because he partook “unworthily.” Unworthily is an adverb, modifying the verbs “eateth” and “drinketh”; it is not an adjective modifying the pronoun “whosoever.” It is not the worthiness of the person, but the seriousness of the act of participation by those who do not appreciate the significance of being a part of the Lord’s body. Nevertheless, those who miss partaking of this solemn feast through unintentional ignorance of the proper date might do well to use the precedent in Numbers 9 and partake a month later (see Reprints, p. 1961). The Clean Man and the Stranger—Numbers 9:13,14 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. 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. Flexible as the law was to allow for legitimate exceptions, it was equally inflexible toward those who would use the exceptions as loopholes. God allows for unintentional weaknesses, but those who treat their liberty as license to do their own wills put themselves at risk of chastisement. The apostle Paul wrote: “We then, as workers together with him, beseech you also that ye receive not the grace of God in vain” (2 Corinthians 6:1). We have a merciful God. He knows our downsittings and uprisings and understands our thoughts afar off (Psalm 139:2). Therefore he grants certain allowances for human weaknesses. But, though we cannot always control our every action, we are responsible to control our intentions: “For if there be first a willing mind, it is accepted according to that a man hath, and not according to that he hath not” (2 Corinthians 8:12).
The translation of verse 14 is problematic. The new Net Bible reads: “And if a resident foreigner lives among you and wants to keep the Passover to the Lord, he must do so according to the statute of the Passover, and according to its custom. You must have the same statute for the resident foreigner and for the one who was born in the land.” Two translator’s notes support it. The first deals with the term “resident foreigner” (translated “stranger” in the King James), and reads: “The words translated “resident foreigner” and “live” are from the same Hebrew root, gur, traditionally translated ‘to sojourn.’ The ‘sojourner’ who ‘sojourns’ is a foreigner, a resident alien, who lives in the land as a temporary resident with rights of land ownership.” The second note deals with the verb translated “will keep” in the King James, and reads: “The verb is the simple perfect tense with a vav consecutive. It is therefore the equivalent to the imperfect that comes before it. The desiderative imperfect fits this usage well, since the alien is not required to keep the feast, but may indeed desire to do so.”{FOOTNOTE: Source: http://net.bible.org/bible.php?book=Num&chapter=9#n26} Thus the thought of the verse appears to concern someone who is neither an Israelite nor a proselyte to Judaism, but a Gentile who is in their midst. Such were not under obligation to keep the feast but, if they desired to do so, were not disbarred. However, they must keep it under the same strict regulations as their Hebrew counterparts.
At the time of the giving of this law it probably referred to a member of the
“mixed multitude” that left Egypt with the Jews (Exodus 12:38). In later times,
it may have included the Gentile neighbors of the Hebrews in the Promised Land. The Pillar of Fire—Numbers 9:15,16 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. So it was alway: the cloud covered it by day, and the appearance of fire by night. As we have traced Jehovah’s guidance in spiritual and moral matters, so now we see the same leading of Jehovah in giving them geographic directions for their journey to the Promised Land. No sooner had the tabernacle been constructed, some two weeks before the events in the first half of this chapter, than a pillar of cloud by day and fire by night appeared over it.{FOOTNOTE: For a thorough treatment of this cloud, see “Israel’s Guiding Light” in The Herald, May/June 2006.} Presumably, this was the same cloud that protected them from Pharaoh’s army and led them through the Red Sea. This strange cloud, unmovable by desert winds, served three purposes. 1. It provided shade and even protection from storms (Isaiah 4:5,6). 2. It gave them light and even warmth in the cool desert nights.
3. It was a guide to show them the way to their ultimate goal. Guided by Jehovah—Numbers 9:17-23 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. In Numbers 10:29-32, Moses asked Hobab to guide them through the treacherous and unfamiliar wilderness before them, promising him a share in the inheritance of the Promised Land in return. Hobab agreed. Then the narrative proceeds to say that they ventured forth on their journey: “And the cloud of the LORD was upon them by day, when they went out of the camp” (Numbers 10:34). As well as Hobab may have known the wilderness, Israel had a God who knew it even better. On at least ten occasions (listed in Numbers 21), the cloud miraculously lifted and led the fledgling nation through the forbidding ravines of the Sinai Peninsula from grazing land to grazing land, stopping for a few days or for several years. Finally the day came when that cloud brought the nation to the land God promised to their forefather Abraham. The faithless older Israelites, who embraced the evil report of the ten spies with its claim that they were too weak to take the land, were all dead. Only Joshua, Caleb, the children of those who had left Egypt some forty years before, and older Levites who were not represented in the spying expedition, saw the fulfillment of all the promises God had made. So, too, will God lead his people today to their promised haven if they follow his providential guiding: “Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ” (Philippians 1:6). |