Yahweh spoke to Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, in the first month of the second year after they had come out of the land of Egypt, saying,
Parallel Translations
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Yahweh spoke to Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, in the first month of the second year after they had come out of the land of Egypt, saying,
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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,
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And the LORD spoke 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:
Cross-references (2)
Passages linked to Numbers 9:1 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Numbers 1:1 Yahweh spoke to Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, in the Tent of Meeting, on the first day of the second month, in the second year after they had come out of the land of Egypt, saying,
- Exodus 40:2 “On the first day of the first month you shall raise up the tabernacle of the Tent of Meeting.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (22 sources)
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Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain In the first month; and therefore before the numbering…
In the first month; and therefore before the numbering of the people, which was not till the second month, Num 1:1,2. But it is placed after it, because of a special case relating to the passover, which happened after it, and which is here related, upon occasion whereof he mentions the command of God for the keeping of the passover in the wilderness, which was done but once, and without this command they had not been obliged to keep it at all till they came to the land of Canaan. See Exo 12:25.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Matthew Henry 1710 · Public Domain Here we have,
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, Exo 12:25. And, no passover till they came to Canaan, Jos 5:10. 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, Num 9:4. Thus Paul delivered to the churches what he received of the Lord concerning the gospel passover, Co1 11:23. 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, Num 9:5. Though they had lately kept the feast of dedication (ch. 7), 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.
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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 (Num 9:6), and they lay under that defilement seven days (Num 19:11), and in that time might not eat of the holy things, Lev 7:20. 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, Num 9:7. 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 2:7. 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, Psa 42:1, Psa 42:2.
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, Num 9:8. 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, Num 9:10, Num 9:11. 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, Mat 5:23, Mat 5:24. 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 (Ch2 30:15), 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, Num 9:19, Num 9:20. (2.) Whenever the passover was kept in the second month, all the rites and ceremonies of it must be strictly observed, Num 9:12. 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, Num 9:13. 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, Num 9:14. 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 (Exo 12:48, Exo 12:49), 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, Act 10:34, Act 10:35.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain And the Lord spake unto Moses in the wilderness…
And the Lord spake unto Moses in the wilderness of Sinai,.... While the people of Israel were encamped there, before they took their journey from thence:
in the first month of the second year, after they were come out of the land of Egypt: the following order was given some time in the first month of the second year of Israel's departure out of Egypt; the precise day is not mentioned, it must be in the beginning of the month before the fourteenth day of it, in which the passover is ordered to be kept, according to the first institution of it; very probably immediately after the setting up of the tabernacle, and the consecration of Aaron and his sons; and it must be before the numbering of the people the fixing of their standards, the appointment of the Levites, and the dedication of them; since the order for the numbering of the people was on the first day of the second month, Num 1:1, but the account of them was postponed to this time, in order to give a relation of an affair which was not finished until the second month, and therefore the whole is laid together here:
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saying, as follows.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain Orders concerning eating the passover on the 14th day…
Orders concerning eating the passover on the 14th day of the first month, ver. 1-5. On the 14th day of the second month, by those who had been hindered, ver. 8-12. Concerning the negligent and the stranger, ver. 13, 14. Concerning the pillar of cloud and fire, ver. 15-23
In the first month - And therefore before the numbering of the people, which was not till the second month, chap. i, 1, 2. But it is placed after it, because of a special case relating to the passover, which happened after it, upon occasion whereof he mentions the command of God for keeping the passover in the wilderness, which was done but once, and without this command they had not been obliged to keep it at all, till they came to the land of Canaan.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain The Israelites are reminded of the law that required…
CHAPTER IX
The Israelites are reminded of the law that required them to
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keep the passover at its proper time, and with all its rites,
1-3.
They kept the passover on the fourteenth day of the first
month, 4, 5.
The case of the men who, being unclean through touching a dead
body, could not keep the passover, 6, 7.
Moses inquires at the Lord concerning them, 8;
and the Lord appoints the fourteenth day of the second month
for all those who through any accidental uncleanness, or by
being absent on a journey, could not keep it at the usual time,
9-12.
Those who neglect to keep this solemn feast to be cut off from
among his people, 13.
The stranger who wishes to keep the passover is at liberty to
do it, 14.
The cloud covers the tabernacle both by day and night, from the
time of its dedication, 15, 16.
This cloud regulates all the encampments and marchings of the
Israelites through the wilderness, 17-22.
Their journeyings and restings were all directed by the
commandment of the Lord, 23.
NOTES ON CHAP. IX
Verse 1. The Lord spake unto Moses] The fourteen first verses of this chapter certainly refer to transactions that took place at the time of those mentioned in the commencement of this book, before the numbering of the people, and several learned men are of opinion that these fourteen verses should be referred back to that place. We have already met with instances where transpositions have very probably taken place, and it is not difficult to account for them. As in very early times writing was generally on leaves of the Egyptian flag papyrus, or on thin laminae of different substances, facts and transactions thus entered were very liable to be deranged; so that when afterwards a series was made up into a book, many transactions might be inserted in wrong places, and thus the exact chronology of the facts be greatly disturbed. MSS. written on leaves of trees, having a hole in each, through which a cord is passed to keep them all in their places, are frequently to be met with in the cabinets of the curious, and many such are now before me, especially in Singalese, Pali, and Burman. Should the cord break, or be accidentally unloosed, it would be exceedingly difficult to string them all in their proper places; accidents of this kind I have often met with to my very great perplexity, and in some cases found it almost impossible to restore each individual leaf to its own place; for it should be observed that these separate pieces of oriental writing are not always paged like the leaves of our printed books; nor are there frequently any catch-words or signatures at the bottom to connect the series. This one consideration will account for several transpositions, especially in the Pentateuch, where they occur more frequently than in any other part of the sacred writings. Houbigant, who grants the existence of such transpositions, thinks that this is no sufficient reason why the present order of narration should be changed: "It is enough," says he, non ignorare libros eos Mosis esse acta rerum suo tempore gestarum, non historiam filo perpetuo elaboratam," "to know that these books contain an account of things transacted in the days of Moses, though not in their regular or chronological order.'
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain Num 9:1. The Lord spake — Or had spoken;…
Num 9:1. The Lord spake — Or had spoken; for he now relates what happened before the numbering of the people, the consecration of the Levites, and other matters recorded in the former chapters. In the first month — This proves that it was before the numbering of the people, which was not till the second month, Num 1:1-2.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain Passover at Sinai. This, as being kept in the…
Passover at Sinai. This, as being kept in the first month, was prior in time to the numbering of Num 1:1 ff, and to the other events narrated in this book. It is, however, recorded here as introductory to the ordinance of Num 9:6-14 in this chapter respecting the supplementary Passover; the observance of which was one of the last occurrences during the halt at Sinai.
Num 9:5
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In some details, the present Passover differed both from that kept at the Exodus itself and from all subsequent Passovers. For example, the direction of Exo 12:22 could not be carried out in the letter while the people were dwelling in tents; and may be regarded as superseded by Lev 17:3-6 (compare Deu 16:5 ff).
In other points, such as how many lambs would be wanted, how the blood of the Paschal victims could be sprinkled upon the altar in the time specified, etc., the administrators of the Law of Moses would here, as elsewhere, have, from the nature of the case, power to order what might be requisite to carry the law into effect.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain The Lord. The 15 first verses might be placed…
The Lord. The 15 first verses might be placed at the head of this book. God gave orders to celebrate the first passover in the desert, about the 14th of the first month, in the second year of liberty, soon after the consecration of the tabernacle. (Calmet) --- This is the only passover which the Jews are recorded to have celebrated during the 40 years’ sojournment; as they were not allowed to celebrate it, without having circumcised all the males of their family, (Exodus xii. 43,) which they could not do in the wilderness (His cuni, &c.) being uncertain how soon they would have to remove by the direction of God. (Haydock) --- First month. Hence, Moses does not always observe the order of time, as he spoke (chap. i.) of what happened in the second month. (Du Hamel)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures 1864 · Public Domain The Little Passover for Rehabilitating those that had been…
EIGHTH SECTION
The Little Passover for Rehabilitating those that had been Unclean for the Camp. The Stranger as a Convert
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Num_9:1-14
1And 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 2children of Israel also keep the passover at his appointed season. In the fourteenth 3day of this month,1 at even, ye shall keep it in his appointed season: according to all the 2rites of it, and according to all the 3ceremonies thereof, shall ye keep it. 4And Moses spake unto the children of Israel, that they should keep the passoNum Num_9:5 And they kept the passover on the fourteenth day of the first month1 at even in the wilderness of Sinai: according to all that the Lord commanded Moses, so did the children of Israel.
6And 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. 7And those men said unto him, We are defiled by the dead body of a man: wherefore 4are we kept back, that we may not offer an 5offering of the Lord in his appointed season among the children of Israel? 8And Moses said unto them, Stand still, and I will hear what the Lord will command concerning you.
9And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, 10Speak 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, 6yet he shall keep the passover unto the Lord. 11The fourteenth day of the second month1 at even they shall keep it, and eat it with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. 12They shall leave none of it unto the morning, nor break any bone of it: according to all the 7ordinances of the passover they shall keep it. 13But 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 doffering of the Lord in his appointed season, that man shall bear his sin. 14And if a stranger shall sojourn among you, and will keep the passover unto the Lord; according to the fordinance of the passover, and according to the bmanner thereof, so shall he do: ye shall have one ordinance, both for the stranger, and for him that was born in the land.
TEXTUAL AND GRAMMATICAL
[Num_9:6. וַיְהִי אנשׁים. “Many codices have וַיִּהְיוּא; yet comp. Gen_1:14.” Maurer.
Num_9:10. רְחֹקָהֹ is one of the words marked as suspicious by puncta extraordinaria. Keil says: “probably first of all simply on the ground that the more exact definition is not found in Num_9:13. The Rabbins suppose the marks to indicate that רחקה is not to be taken here in its literal sense, but denotes merely distance from Jerusalem, or from the threshold of the outer court of the temple.” Lange’s remark is: “the expression רחקה only occasions critical considerations; it is immaterial whether the man is on a distant way, or at a distance on his way.”—וְעָשָׂה is to be rendered as in Num_9:14. The latter case implies the liberty of omitting the celebration of the Passover as something not obligatory on a stranger; comp. Exo_12:48. Similarly it was not obligatory on an Israelite to observe the Passover, if he was Levitically disqualified at the period of its observance.
Num_9:14 b. “יִהְיֶה stands for תִּהְיֶה, as in Exo_12:49; comp. Ewald, § 295, d.” Keil. But as הָיָה לָכֶם is the same as ye have, the object possessed may be regarded as in the accusative; there shall be to you, that is, ye shall have one statute. The disagreement in number and gender between the seeming subject and the verb הָיָה in similar expressions to the present is in favor of this construction. See Naegelsbach, §100, 4, rem. 1.—Tr.]
EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL
1. The present section gives us very plain evidence that all the representations of the book of Numbers up to this point are devoted to the equipment of the army of God for its military expedition. For instance, in respect to time, this regulation concerning the celebration of the Passover by such as were become unclean reaches very far back beyond the fourteenth day of the first month. But it is placed in this connection because here it treats of the completeness of the celebration of the Passover by the entire army of God, and because those who were unclean and those on journeys would be absent at the legal period. This gap must also at length be filled up. The chief stress is thus on the Little Passover. As Knobel neglects the fundamental idea of the whole section, it is, of course, no wonder that he writes: “It is not explained why the author gives this regulation only here, and not before chapters 1–4.” Midnight darkness! [On the Little Passover see Smith’s Bib. Dict. article Passover.—Tr.]
2. Num_9:1-5. The celebration of the Passover. The text here makes a striking return to the institution of the Passover (Exodus 12). Yet it can hardly be for the purpose of obviating a misunderstanding that the Israelites might have had concerning Exo_12:24-25, viz., that they were not to resume the celebration of the Passover until they entered Palestine. But it was for the purpose of establishing the regulation for the complete celebration of the Passover. Keil correctly supposes that the blood of the Passover, now that the altar was set up, was sprinkled on the altar, as was the blood of all slaughtered animals (Lev_17:3-6). Difficulty is made by some (Kurtz) in reference to sprinkling so much blood of so many lambs as something beyond the ability of the priests [who were so few, viz., Aaron, Eleazar and Ithamar, as Nadab and Abihu were now dead] to do. On this subject Keil treats [showing that the difficulty is exaggerated, (1) in reference to the number of lambs killed, (2) in reference to the necessity of slaughtering them in the court of the Tabernacle.—Tr.]
3. Num_9:6-14. The Little Passover. The men that approach Moses and Aaron with their inquiry appear to have been disquieted by the fear of a collision of duties. They see themselves legally prevented from taking part on the 14th of Nisan in the celebration of the oblation for Jehovah, which certainly consisted in the atoning blood. This was in consequence of the law Lev_7:21 regarding any one denied by contact with a dead body (נֶפֶשׁ אָדָם). Yet the law required the celebration to be on that day. [The inquiry seemed prompted by the desire of sharing a privilege rather than by the fear of coming short in duty; see Text. and Gram. on Num_9:10. Certain men. “Probably (comp. Blunt’s Script. Coincidences, pp. 62–65) Mishael and Elizaphan, who buried their cousins, Nadab and Abihu, within a week of this Passover (Lev_10:4-5). None would be more likely to make this inquiry of Moses than his kinsmen, who had denied themselves by his express direction. ‘The Bib. Com.’ ”—Tr.]. That Moses even here does not immediately give his decision, but desires first to inquire of the Lord, accords with the great fidelity and prudence of the prophet. Moreover the decision appears in every respect an illumination. With the unclean are associated also those that are delayed by a journey.
But the period for the Little Passover is exactly determined; it must be one month later. But because with this permission there might easily be joined arbitrary license, the exact observance of the rite, in the first place, is insisted on, and, secondly, the abuse of this regulation for a more convenient celebration in the second month, the feigned hindrance as a neglect of the Passover, is made punishable even with death. For the celebration of the Passover is, next to circumcision, the sign of Israelitish fidelity. This ordinance is also extended to the stranger, so far as he desires to be an Israelite (Exo_12:48).
HOMILETICAL HINTS
Num_9:1-14. The Little, Passover a proof of the imperfection of the law of the letter, which occasions an apparent conflict of duties (keeping the Passover at the time legally appointed, and avoiding the Passover on account of uncleanness), but also a proof of the spiritual germ in the legislation.—Better not celebrate the Passover, than celebrate it in a state of uncleanness. Application to the communion. The false application, that thinks it is necessary to feel free from sin, is reproved by the formulas of preparation. The Little Passover a type of private communion and of the communing of the sick.
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NINTH SECTION
The Cloud as the Symbolic Leader of the Army of God
Num_9:15-23
15And on the day 8that 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. 16So it was alway: the cloud covered it by day, and the appearance of fire by night. 17And when the cloud was taken up from the 9tabernacle, then after that the children of Israel journeyed: and in the place where the cloud abode, there the children of Israel 10pitched their tents. 18At the commandment of the Lord the children of Israel journeyed, and at the commandment of the Lord they cpitched: as long as the cloud abode upon the tabernacle they crested in their tents. 19And when the cloud 11tarried long upon the tabernacle many days, then the children of Israel kept the charge of the Lord, and 20journeyed not. And so it was, when the cloud was a few days upon the tabernacle; according to the commandment of the Lord they cabode in their tents, and according 21to the commandment of the Lord they journeyed. And 12 so it was, when the cloud 13abode 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 22was taken up, they journeyed. Or whether it were two days, or a month, or 14a 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. 23At the commandment of the Lord they erested 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.
TEXTUAL AND GRAMMATICAL
[Num_9:15. יִהְיֶה, here and in following verse the future or imperfect denoting repeated action; see Green, § 263, 4.—מִשְׁכָּן לְאֹהֶל הָעֵדָת, “the dwelling of the tent of witness” (לְ used for the genitive to avoid a double construct state: Ewald, § 292, a) Keil.
Num_9:17. לְפִי הֵעָלוֹת הֶעָנָן; the infinitive constr. used genitively after a substantive in the construct state; but represents a direct sentence, = “as often as the cloud arose.”
Num_9:20. יָמִים מִסְפָּר; an instance of the absolute state of the substantive where we would expect the construct state, e. g., יְמֵי מִסְפָּר. The substantive is co-ordinated with its attribute, and the latter gives the impression of being used as a substitute for an adjective that is wanting, or as an intensified adjective notion. Comp. Ewald, § 287, h.—Tr.].
EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL
We have finally a statement of the guidance of the divine army in a symbolical form, yet in very definite traits. Two considerations make it plain that the cloud over the Tabernacle did not lead the expedition in a literal sense. When they began their march the banner of Judah took position in the van, and joined to Judah were Issachar and Zebulun. Not till after these did the Levites come with the Tabernacle. And this was agreeably to military usage; the Tabernacle with its sacred treasures ought not to be exposed to hostile attack. Thus it could not be the guiding head of the army in a literal sense. Moreover it is said in Num_9:18 : “at the commandment (mouth) of the Lord the children of Israel camped.” Therefore the opinion of Knobel and Zunz accords poorly with Biblical theology, when they explain that the Israelites read the meaning of God in the motion of the cloud. The departure takes place here, as did the departure out of Egypt, according to the word of the Lord to Moses (Num_10:13). What the Lord said to Moses is immediately illustrated, for the religious view of the people, by the cloud and pillar of fire which is now joined to the Tabernacle. Keil seems to conceive of the matter as a wholly material, standing miraculous sign; that the cloud appears lifted up, to indicate an advance, and then stands again over the Tent when the procession should rest. So, too, he assumes that the glory of the Lord, in an outward fashion, continually filled the Holiest of all, appealing to Exo_40:34-38. But the glory of the Lord as the manifested divine splendor of the God who reveals Himself, presupposes eyes of faith that are looking on, and they showed themselves, e.g., when the high-priest went into the Holiest of all. According to a fundamental law of the patriarchal and prophetic sphere, the word of God precedes, then follows the visible sign; within the sphere of the legal discipline of the people, this order is reversed, e. g., the celebration of the Passover. Thus God’s word in the mouth of the prophet led Israel, and the cloud led them as a sign of this. But the divine illumination of Moses did not once disdain to co-operate with the knowledge of the desert of his brother-in-law Hobab: “Leave me not,” he said to him, “forasmuch as thou knowest how we are to encamp in the wilderness” (Num_10:31). In like manner, too, he had earlier taken human counsel with his father-in-law Jethro (Exodus 18). Keil justly remarks: the explanation cannot be justified: “the cloud covered the dwelling of the Tent of Testimony,” i.e., at the compartment in which the Testimony was, the Holiest of all (Rosenmuller, Knobel [Bush, The Bible Comm.—Tr.]). [The controlling statement in reference to this matter is Exo_40:34, which expressly affirms that the cloud covered the whole Tent of Meeting. Accordingly (Num_9:15) the addition of the phrase Tent of Testimony must not be taken as nearer specification of the locality; for which moreover the לְ does not suit, (see Text. and Gram.). It is intended to describe the whole Tabernacle with reference to a particular fact that was important with respect to what is stated about the cloud. The testimony was the tables of the decalogue that were in the ark of the covenant (Exo_25:16). These formed the basis of Jehovah’s covenant with Israel and the pledge of His presence in the Tabernacle. The Tabernacle (or dwelling) of the tent of the testimony therefore names the whole Tabernacle with reference to that which explains why the cloud should rest on it. See Keil in loc.—Tr.].
HOMILETICAL HINTS
Num_9:15-23. The pillar of cloud and of fire on the Tabernacle. Over the Christian house of God. The guidance of Israel by the pillar of cloud and of fire. The guidance of the Christian Church by faith’s gleam of light and of life. The fidelity of the Church towards the guidance of God. God’s guiding sign in every Christian’s path in life.
The great word: according to the mouth of the Lord they encamped; and according to the mouth of the Lord they marched forth. God’s protection is conditioned by His word. The purer, richer, riper the word of the Lord in the mouths of men, the more certain and the greater the protection of the Lord.
Footnotes:
[1]Heb. between the evenings.
[2]statutes.
[3](rights.)
[4]should we be excluded.
[5]oblation.
[6][and will keep.—Tr.]
[7]statute.
[8]that he set up the tabernacle.
[9]Tent.
[10]camped.
[11]Heb. prolonged.
[12]did it happen that the cloud, etc.
[13]Heb. was.
[14]longer time.
Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures (Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical), ed. John Peter Lange, English translation edited by Philip Schaff (1864–1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 1. And the Lord spake — The Hebrew preterite…
1. And the Lord spake — The Hebrew preterite may be translated as a pluperfect, thus, had spoken. This would give this section of the law an earlier origin than the present rendering, namely, immediately after the erection of the tabernacle. Exo_40:2; Exo_40:17.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 1. in the first month] The month preceding the…
1. in the first month] The month preceding the census (Num_1:1).
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (1) In the first month of the second year.—The…
IX.
(1) In the first month of the second year.—The celebration of the Passover, as recorded in this chapter, preceded in order of time the numbering of the people recorded in Numbers 1, and the other events which were connected with it. No provision had hitherto been made for the celebration of the Passover in the wilderness. A special injunction was, therefore, required for this purpose. Had it not been for the rebellion of the people, the next Passover after the original Egyptian Passover would have been celebrated in the land of Canaan, and it was for that one only that provision had been made (Exo_12:25).
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
C. H. Mackintosh 1880 · Public Domain Numbers 9
Numbers 9
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." Verses 1-5.
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There are three distinct positions in which we find this great redemption-feast celebrated, namely, in Egypt (Ex. 12); in the wilderness (Num. 9); in the land of Canaan. (Joshua 5) Redemption lies at the foundation of everything connected with the history of God’s people. Are they to be delivered from the bondage, the death, and the darkness of Egypt? It is by redemption. Are they to be borne along through all the difficulties and dangers of the desert? It is on the ground of redemption. Are they to walk across the ruins of the frowning walls of Jericho, and plant their feet upon the necks of the kings of Canaan? It is in virtue of redemption.
Thus the blood of the paschal lamb met the Israel of God and the deep degradation of the land of Egypt, and delivered them out of it. It met them in the dreary desert, and carried them through it. It met them on their entrance into the land of Canaan, and established them in it.
In a word, then, the blood of the lamb met the people in Egypt; it accompanied them through the desert; and planted them in Canaan. It was the blessed basis of all the divine actings in them, with them, and for them. Was it a question of the judgement of God against Egypt? The blood of the lamb screened them from it. Was it a question of the numberless and nameless wants of the wilderness? The blood of the lamb secured a full provision for them. Was it a question of the dreaded power of the seven nations of Canaan? The blood of the lamb was the sure and certain pledge of complete and glorious victory. The moment we behold Jehovah coming forth to act on behalf of His people, on the ground of the blood of the lamb, all is infallibly secured, from first to last. The whole of that mysterious and marvellous journey, from the brick kilns of Egypt to the vine clad hills and honeyed plains of Palestine, served but to illustrate and set forth the varied virtues of the blood of the lamb.
However, the chapter which now lies open before us presents the Passover entirely from a wilderness standpoint; and this will account to the reader for the introduction of the following circumstance: "There were certain men which 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."
Here was a practical difficulty - something abnormal, as we say - something not anticipated, and therefore the question was submitted to Moses and Aaron. ’’They came before Moses" - the exponent of the claims of God; "and before Aaron" - the exponent of the provisions of the grace of God. There seems something distinct and emphatic in the way in which both these functionaries are referred to. The two elements of which they are the expression would be deemed essential in the solving of such a difficulty as that which here presented itself.
"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?" There was the plain confession as to the defilement; and the question raised was this: were they to be deprived of the holy privilege of coming before the Lord in His appointed way? Was there no resource, no provision for such a case?
A deeply interesting question surely, but one for which no answer had as get been provided. We have no such case anticipated in the original institution, in Exodus 12; although we have there a very full statement of all the rites and all the ceremonies of the feast. It was reserved for the wilderness to evolve this new point. It was in the actual walk of the people - in the real practical details of desert life, that the difficulty presented itself for which a solution had to be provided. Hence it is that the record of this entire affair is appropriately given in Numbers, the book of the wilderness.
"And Moses said unto them, Stand still, and I will hear what the Lord will command concerning you." Lovely attitude! Moses had no answer to give; but he knew who had, and he waited on him. This was the very best and wisest thing for Moses to do. He did not pretend to be able to give an answer. He was not ashamed to say, "I do not know." With all his wisdom and knowledge, he did not hesitate to show his ignorance. This is true knowledge - true wisdom. It might be humiliating to one in Moses’ position to appear before the congregation or any members of it, in the light of one ignorant on any question. He who had led the people out of Egypt, he who had conducted them through the Red Sea, he who had conversed with Jehovah, and received his commission from the great "I am;" could it be possible that he was unable to meet a difficulty arising out of such a simple case as that which was now before him? Was it indeed true that such an one as Moses was ignorant as to the right course, in reference to men defiled by a dead body?
How few there are who, though not occupying such a lofty position as Moses, would not have attempted a reply of some sort to such a query. But Moses was the meekest man in all the earth. He knew better than to presume to speak when he had nothing to say. Would that we more faithfully followed his example in this matter! It would save us from many a sad exhibition, from many a blunder, from many a false attempt. Moreover it would tend to make us very much more real, more simple, more unaffected. We are oft-times so silly as to be ashamed to expose our ignorance. We foolishly imagine that our reputation for wisdom and intelligence is touched when we give utterance to that fine sentence, so expressive of true moral greatness, "I don’t know." It is a total mistake. We always attach much more weight and importance to the words of a man who never pretends to Knowledge which he does not possess. But a man who is always ready to speak, in flippant self-confidence, we are never ready to hear. Oh! to walk, at all times, in the spirit of these lovely words, "Stand still, and I will hear what the Lord will command."
"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."
There are two grand foundation truths set forth in the Passover, namely, redemption, and the unity of God’s people. These truths are unchangeable. Nothing can ever do away with them. Failure there may be, and unfaithfulness, in various forms; but those glorious truths of the eternal redemption and perfect unity of God’s people remain in all their force and value. Hence that impressive ordinance which so vividly shadowed forth those truths was of perpetual obligation. Circumstances were not to interfere with it. Death or distance was not to interrupt it. "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 shall he keep the Passover unto the Lord." So imperative indeed was it upon every member of the congregation to celebrate this feast, that a special provision is made in Numbers 9 for those who were not up to the mark of keeping it according to the due order. Such persons were to observe it "On the fourteenth day of the second month." This was the provision of grace for all cases of unavoidable defilement or distance.
If the reader will turn to 2 Chronicles. 30 he will see that Hezekiah, and the congregation in his day, availed themselves of this gracious provision. "And there assembled at Jerusalem much people to keep the feast of unleavened bread in the second month, a very great congregation..... Then they killed the Passover on the fourteenth day of the second month." Ver. 13, 15
The grace of God can meet us in our greatest possible weakness, if only that weakness be felt and confessed.* But let not this most precious and comfortable truth lead us to trifle with sin or defilement. Though grace permitted the second month, instead of the first, it did not, on that account, allow any laxity as to the rites and ceremonies of the feast. "The unleavened bread and bitter herbs" were always to have their place; none of the sacrifice was to remain till the morning, nor was a single bone of it to be broken. God cannot allow any lowering of the standard of truth or holiness. Man, through weakness, failure, or the power of circumstances, might be behind the time; but he must not be below the mark. Grace permitted the former; holiness forbids the latter; and if any one had presumed upon the grace to dispense with the holiness, he would have been cut off from the congregation.
{*The reader will note with interest and profit, the contrast between the acting of Hezekiah, in 2 Chronicles 30, and the acting of Jeroboam, in 1 Kings 12: 32. The former availed himself of the provisions of divine grace; the latter followed his own device. The second month was permitted of God; the eighth month was invented by man. Divine provisions meeting man’s need, and human inventions opposing God’s word, are totally different things.}
Has this no voice for us! Assuredly it has. we must ever remember, as we pass along through the pages of this marvellous Book of Numbers, that the things which happened unto Israel are our types, and that it is, at once, our duty and our privilege to hang over these types and seek to understand the holy lessons which they are designed of God to teach.
What then are we to learn from the regulations with respect to the Passover, in the second month! Why was Israel so specially enjoined not to omit a single rite or ceremony on that particular occasion? Why is it that, in this ninth chapter of Numbers, the directions for the second month are much more minute than those for the first? It is not surely that the ordinance was more important in the one case than in the other, for its importance, in God’s judgement, was ever the same. Neither is it that there was a shade of difference in the order, in either case, for that, too, was ever the same. Still the fact must strike the reader who ponders the chapter before us, that where reference is made to the celebration of the Passover in the first month, we simply read the words, "according to all the rites of it, and according to all the ceremonies thereof, shall ye keep it." But, on the other hand, when reference is made to the second month, we have a most minute statement of what those rites and ceremonies were: "They shall 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." Compare verse 3 with 11, 12.
What, we ask, does this plain fact teach us? We believe it teaches us, most distinctly, that we are never to lower the standard, in the things of God, because of failure and weakness on the part of God’s people; but rather, on that very account, to take special pains to hold the standard up, in all its divine integrity. No doubt, there should be the deep sense of failure - the deeper the better; but God’s truth is not to be surrendered. We can always reckon, with confidence, upon the resources of divine grace, while seeking to maintain, with unwavering decision, the standard of divine truth.
Let us seek to keep this ever in the remembrance of the thoughts of our hearts. We are in danger, on the one hand, of forgetting the fact that failure has come in - yes, gross failure, unfaithfulness, and sin. And, on the other hand, we are in danger of forgetting, in view of that failure, the unfailing faithfulness of God, in spite of everything. the professing Church has failed, and become a perfect ruin; and not only so, but we ourselves have individually failed and helped on the ruin. We should feel all this - feel it deeply - feel it constantly. We should ever bear upon our spirits before our God the deep and heart-subduing consciousness of how sadly and how shamefully we have behaved ourselves in the house of God. It would be adding immensely to our failure were we ever to forget that we have failed. The most profound humility and the deepest brokenness of spirit become us in the remembrance of all this; and these inward feelings and exercises will surely express themselves in a lowly walk and carriage in the midst of the scene in which we move.
"Nevertheless the foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal, The Lord knoweth them that are his. And, Let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity." (2 Tim. 2: 19) Here is the resource of the faithful, in view of the ruins of Christendom. God never fails, never changes, and we have simply to depart from iniquity, and cling to Him. we are to do what is right, and follow it diligently, and leave results to Him.
We would earnestly beg of the reader to give the foregoing line of thought his entire attention. We want him to pause, for a few moments, and prayerfully consider the whole subject. We are convinced that a due consideration of it, in its two sides, would greatly help us to pick our steps amid the surrounding ruins. The remembrance of the Church’s condition, and of our own personal unfaithfulness, would keep us humble; while, at the same time, the apprehension of God’s unchanging standard, and of His unswerving faithfulness, would detach us from the evil around, and keep us steady in the path of separation. Both together would effectually preserve us from empty pretension, on the one hand, and from laxity and indifference, on the other. We have ever to keep before our souls the humbling fact that we have failed, and yet to hold fast that grand truth that God is faithful.
These are, pre-eminently, lessons for the wilderness - lessons for this very day - lessons for us. They are suggested, very forcibly, by the inspired record of the Passover in the second month - a record peculiar to the Book of Numbers - the great wilderness book. It is in the wilderness that human failure comes so fully out; and in the wilderness the infinite resources of divine grace are displayed. But once more, let us reiterate the statement and may it be engraved, in characters deep and broad, on our hearts - the richest provisions of divine grace and mercy afford no warrant whatever for lowering the standard of divine truth. If any had pleaded defilement or distance as an excuse for not keeping the Passover, or for keeping it otherwise than as God had enjoined, he would, most assuredly, have been cut off from the congregation. And so with us, if we consent to surrender any truth of God, because failure has come in - if we, in sheer unbelief of heart, give up God’s standard, and abandon God’s ground - if we draw a plea from the condition of things around us to shake off the authority of God’s truth over the conscience, or its formative influence upon our conduct and character - it is very evident that our communion is suspended.*
{*Let it be noted here once for all, that the cutting off of any one from the congregation of Israel, answers to the suspension of a believer’s communion because of unjudged sin.}
We would gladly pursue this great practical line of truth somewhat further, but we must forbear, and close this part of our subject by quoting for our reader the remainder of this wilderness record concerning the Passover.
"But the man that is clean, and is not in a journey, and forbeareth to keep the Passover, even the same soul shall be cat 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." Verses 13, 14.
The wilful neglect of the Passover would argue, on the part of the Israelite, a total want of appreciation of the benefits and blessings coming out of his redemption and deliverance from the land of Egypt. The more deeply any one entered into the divine reality of that which had been accomplished on that memorable night, in the which the congregation of Israel found refuge and repose beneath the shelter of the blood, the more earnestly would he long for the return of "the fourteenth day of the first month," that he might have an opportunity of commemorating that glorious occasion; and if there was anything preventing his enjoying the ordinance in "the first month" the more gladly and thankfully would he avail himself of "the second." But the man who could be satisfied to go on from year to year, without keeping the Passover, only proved that his heart was far away from the God of Israel. It were worse than vain for any one to speak of loving the God of his fathers, and of enjoying the blessings of redemption, while the very ordinance which God had appointed to set forth that redemption lay neglected from year to year.
And may we not, to a certain extent, apply all this to ourselves, in reference to the matter of the Lord’s supper? Doubtless we may, and that with very much profit. There is this connection between the Passover and the Lord’s supper, that the former was the type, the latter the memorial, of the death of Christ.
Thus we read in 1 Corinthians 5. "Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us." This sentence establishes the connection. The Passover was the memorial of Israel’s redemption from the bondage of Egypt; and the Lord’s supper is the memorial of the Church’s redemption from the heavier and darker bondage of sin and Satan. Hence, as every true and faithful Israelite would surely be found keeping the Passover, in the appointed season, according to all the rites and ceremonies thereof, so will every true and faithful Christian be found celebrating the Lord’s supper, in its appointed season, and according to all the principles laid down in the New Testament respecting it. If an Israelite had neglected the Passover, even on one single occasion, he would have been cut off from the congregation. Such neglect was not to be tolerated in the assembly of old. It was instantly visited with the divine displeasure.
And, may we not ask in the face of this solemn fact, Is it nothing now - is it a matter of no moment for Christians to neglect, from week to week, and month to month, the supper of their Lord? Are we to suppose that the One who, in Numbers 9, declared that the neglecter of the Passover should be cut off, takes no account of the neglecter of the Lord’s table? We cannot believe it for a moment. For, albeit it is not a question of being cut off from the Church of God, the body of Christ, are we, on that account, to be negligent? Far be the thought. Yea, rather should it have the blessed effect of stirring us up to greater diligence in the celebration of that most precious feast wherein "we do show the Lord’s death till he come."
To a pious Israelite there was nothing like the Passover, because it was the memorial of his redemption. And, to a pious Christian, there is nothing like the Lord’s supper, because it is the memorial of his redemption and of the death of his Lord. Of all the exercises in which the Christian can engage, there is nothing more precious, nothing more expressive, nothing that brings Christ more touchingly or solemnly before his heart, than the Lord’s supper. He may sing about the Lord’s death, he may pray about it, he may read about it, he may hear about it; but it is only in the supper that he "shows" it forth. "And he took bread, and gave thanks, and brake it, and gave unto them, saying, This is my body, which is given for you: this do in remembrance of me. Likewise also the cup after supper, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood, which is shed for you." Luke 22: 19, 20
Here we have the feast instituted; and, when we turn to the Acts of the Apostles, we read that, "upon the first day of the week, the disciples came together to break bread." Acts 20: 7.
Here we have the feast celebrated; and, lastly, when we turn to the Epistles, we read, "The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ? For we, being many, are one loaf, and one body; for we are all partakers of that one loaf." (1 Cor. 10: 16, 17) And again, "For I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you, That the Lord Jesus, the same night in which he was betrayed, took bread; and when he had given thanks, he brake it, and said, Take, eat; this is my body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me. After the same manner also he took the cup, when he had supped, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood: this do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of me. For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do show the Lord’s death till he come." 1 Corinthians 11: 23-26.
Here we have the feast expounded. And may we not say that, in the institution, the celebration, and the exposition, we have a threefold cord, not easily broken, to bind our souls to this most precious feast?
How is it, then, that in the face of all this holy authority, any of God’s people should be found neglecting the Lord’s table? Or, looking at it in another aspect, how is it that any of Christ’s members can be satisfied to go on for weeks, and months, and some all their days, without ever remembering their Lord in the way of His own direct and positive appointment? We are aware that some professing Christians regard this subject in the light of a return to Jewish ordinances, and as a coming down from the high ground of the Church. They look upon the Lord’s supper and baptism as inward spiritual mysteries; and they consider that we are departing from true spirituality in insisting upon the literal observance of these ordinances.
To all this we very simply reply that God is wiser than we are. If the Lord Christ instituted the supper; if God the Holy Ghost led the early Church to celebrate it; and if He has also expounded it unto us, who are we that we should set up Our ideas in opposition to God? No doubt, the Lord’s supper should be an inward spiritual mystery to all who partake of it; but it is also an outward, literal, tangible thing. There is literal bread, and literal wine - literal eating, and literal drinking. If any deny this, they may, with equal force, deny that there are literal people gathered together. We have no right to explain away scripture after such a fashion. It is our happy and holy duty to submit to scripture, to bow down, absolutely and implicitly, to its divine authority.
Nor is it merely a question of subjection to the authority of scripture. It is that, most assuredly, as we have abundantly proved by quotation after quotation from the divine word; and that alone is simply sufficient for every pious mind. But there is more than this. There is such a thing as the response of love in the heart of the Christian, answering to the love of the heart of Christ. Is not this something? Ought we not to seek, in some small degree, to meet the love of such a heart? If our blessed and adorable Lord has, in very deed, appointed the bread and the wine, in the supper, as memorials of His broken body and shed blood; if He has ordained that we should eat of that bread and drink of that cup, in remembrance of Him, ought we not, in the power of responsive affection, to meet the desire of His loving heart? Surely no earnest Christian will question this. It ought ever to be the very joy of our hearts to gather round the table of our loving Lord, and remember Him in the way of His appointment - to show forth His death till He come. It is only marvellous to think that He should seek a place in the remembrance of such hearts as ours; but so it is; and it would be sad indeed if we, on any ground, and for any reason whatsoever, should neglect that very feast with which He has linked His precious name.
This, of course, would not be the place to enter upon anything like an elaborate exposition of the ordinance of the Lord’s supper. We have sought to do this elsewhere. What we specially desire here is, to urge upon the Christian reader the immense importance and deep interest of the ordinance as viewed on the double ground of subjection to the authority of scripture, and responsive love to Christ Himself. And, furthermore, we are anxious to impress all who may read these lines with a sense of the seriousness of neglecting to eat the Lord’s supper, according to the scriptures. We may depend upon it, it is dangerous ground for any to attempt to set aside this positive institution of our Lord and Master. It argues a wrong condition of soul altogether. It proves that the conscience is not subject to the authority of the word, and that the heart is not in true sympathy with the affections of Christ. Let us therefore see to it that we are honestly endeavouring to discharge our holy responsibilities to the table of the Lord - that we forbear not to keep the feast - that we celebrate it according to the order laid down by God the Holy Ghost.
Thus much as to the Passover in the wilderness, and the impressive lessons which it conveys to our souls.
We shall now dwell for a few moments on the closing paragraph of our chapter, which is as truly characteristic as any portion of the book. In it we are called to contemplate a numerous host of men, women, and children, travelling through a trackless wilderness, "where there was no way" - passing over a dreary waste, a vast sandy desert, without compass or human guide.
What a thought! What a spectacle! There were those millions of people moving along without any knowledge of the route by which they were to travel, as wholly dependent upon God for guidance as for food and all beside; a thoroughly helpless pilgrim host. They could form no plans for the morrow. when encamped, they knew not when they were to march; and when on the march, they knew not when or where they were to halt.
Theirs was a life of daily and hourly dependence. They had to look up for guidance. Their movements were controlled by the wheels of Jehovah’s chariot.
This truly was a wondrous spectacle. Let as read the record of it, and drink into our souls its heavenly teaching.
"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. 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." Verses 15-23
A more lovely picture of absolute dependence upon, and subjection to, divine guidance it were impossible to conceive than that presented in the foregoing paragraph. There was not a footprint or a landmark throughout that "great and terrible wilderness." It was therefore useless to look for any guidance from those who had gone before. They were wholly cast upon God for every step of the way. They were in a position of constant waiting upon Him. This, to an unsubdued mind - an unbroken will - would be intolerable; but to a soul knowing, loving, confiding, and delighting in God, nothing could be more deeply blessed.
Here lies the real gist of the whole matter. Is God known, loved, and trusted? If He be, the heart will delight in the most absolute dependence upon Him. If not, such dependence would be perfectly insufferable. The unrenewed man loves to think Himself independent - loves to fancy himself free - loves to believe that he may do what he likes, go where he likes, say what he likes. Alas! it is the merest delusion. Man is not free. He is the slave of Satan. It is now well nigh six thousand years since he sold himself into the hands of that great spiritual slave holder who has held him ever since, and who holds him still. Yes, Satan holds the natural man - the unconverted, unrepentant man in terrible bondage. He has him bound hand and foot with chains and fetters which are not seen in their true character because of the gilding wherewith he has so artfully covered them. Satan rules man by means of his lusts, his passions, and his pleasures. He forms lusts in the heart, and then gratifies them with the things that are in the world, and man vainly imagines himself free because he can gratify his desires. But it is a melancholy delusion; and, sooner or later, it will be found to be such. There is no freedom save that with which Christ makes His people free. He it is who says, "Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." And again, "If the Son shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed." John 8.
Here is true liberty. It is the liberty which the new nature finds in walking in the Spirit, and doing those things that are pleasing in the sight of God. "The service of the Lord is perfect freedom." But this service, in all its departments, involves the most simple dependence upon the living God. Thus it was with the only true and perfect Servant that ever trod this earth. He was ever dependent. Every movement, every act, every word - all He did, and all He left undone - was the fruit of the most absolute dependence upon, and subjection to, God. He moved when God would have Him move, and stood still when God would have Him stand. He spoke when God would have Him speak, and was silent when God would have Him silent.
Such was Jesus when He lived in this world; and we, as partakers of His nature - His life, and having His Spirit dwelling in us are called to walk in His steps, and live a life of simple dependence upon God, from day to day. Of this life of dependence, in one special phase of it, we have a graphic and beautiful type at the close of our chapter. The Israel of God - the camp in the desert - that pilgrim host followed the movement of the cloud. They had to look up for guidance. This is man’s proper work. He was made to turn his countenance upward, in contrast with the brute, who is formed to look downward.* Israel could form no plans. They could never say, "To-morrow we shall go to such a place." They were entirely dependent upon the movement of the cloud. Thus it was with Israel, and thus it should be with us. We are passing through a trackless desert - a moral wilderness. There is absolutely no way. We should not know how to walk, or where to go, were it not for that one most precious, most deep, most comprehensive sentence which fell from the lips of our blessed Lord, "I am the way." Here is divine infallible guidance. We are to follow Him. "I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life." (John 8) This is living guidance. It is not acting according to the letter of certain rules and regulations; it is following a living Christ; walking as He walked; doing as He did; imitating His example in all things. This is Christian movement - Christian action. It is keeping the eye fixed upon Jesus, and having the features, traits, and lineaments of His character imprinted on our new nature, and reflected back or reproduced in our daily life and ways.
{*The Greek word for man (anthropos) signifies to turn the face upwards.}
Now this will, assuredly, involve the surrender of our own will, our own plans, our own management altogether. We must follow the cloud; we must wait ever wait only upon God. We cannot say," We shall go here or there, do this or that, to-morrow, or next week.’’ All our movements must be placed under the regulating power of that one commanding sentence - often alas! lightly penned and uttered by us - "If the Lord will."
Oh! that we better understood all this! Would that we knew more perfectly the meaning of divine guidance! How often do we vainly imagine, and confidently assert, that the cloud is moving in that very direction which suits the bent of our inclination. We want to do a certain thing, or make a certain movement, and we seek to persuade ourselves that our will is the will of God. Thus, instead of being divinely guided, we are self-deceived. Our will is unbroken, and hence we cannot be guided aright, for the real secret of being rightly guided - guided of God - is to have our own will thoroughly subdued. "The meek will he guide in judgement; and the meek will He teach His way." And again," I will guide thee with mine eye." But let us ponder the admonition, "Be ye not as the horse, or as the mule, which have no understanding; whose mouth must be held in with bit and bridle, lest they come near unto thee." (Psalm 32) If the countenance be turned upwards to catch the movement of the divine "eye," we shall not need the "bit and bridle." But here is precisely the point in which we so sadly fail. We do not live sufficiently near to God to discern the movement of His eye. The will is at work. We want to have our own way, and hence we are left to reap the bitter fruits thereof. Thus it was with Jonah. he was told to go to Nineveh but he wanted to go to Tarshish; and circumstances seemed to favour; providence seemed to point in the direction of his will. But alas! he had to find his place in the belly of the whale, yea, in "the belly of hell" itself, where "the weeds were wrapped about his head." It was there he learnt the bitterness of following his own will. He had to be taught in the depths of the ocean the true meaning of the "bit and bridle," because he would not follow the gentler guidance of the eye.
But our God is so gracious, so tender, so patient! He will teach and He will guide His poor feeble erring children. He spares no pains with us. He occupies Himself continually about us, in order that we may be kept from our own ways, which are full of thorns and briars, and walk in His ways, which are pleasantness and peace.
There is nothing in all this world more deeply blessed than to lead a life of habitual dependence upon God; to hang upon Him, moment by moment, to wait on Him and cling to Him for everything. To have all our springs in Him. It is the true secret of peace, and of holy independence of the creature. The soul that can really say, "All my springs are in thee" is lifted above all creature confidences, human hopes, and earthly expectations. It is not that God does not use the creature, in a thousand ways, to minister to us. We do not at all mean this. He does use the creature; but if we lean upon the creature instead of leaning upon Him, we shall very speedily get leanness and barrenness into our souls. There is a vast difference between God’s using the creature to bless us, and our leaning on the creature to the exclusion of Him. In the one case, we are blessed and He is glorified; in the other, we are disappointed and He is dishonoured.
It is well that the soul should deeply and seriously consider this distinction. We believe it is constantly overlooked. We imagine, oft-times, that we are leaning upon, and looking to, God, when, in reality, if we would only look honestly at the roots of things, and judge ourselves in the immediate presence of God, we should find an appalling amount of the leaven of creature confidence. How often do we speak of living by faith, and of trusting only in God, when, at the same time, if we would only look down into the depths of our hearts, we should find there a large measure of dependence upon circumstances, reference to second causes, and the like.
Christian reader, let us look well to this. Let as see to it that our eye is fixed upon the living God alone, and not upon man whose breath is in his nostrils. let as wait on Him - wait patiently - wait constantly. If we are at a loss for anything, let our direct and simple reference be to Him. Are we at a loss to know our way, to know whither we should turn, what step we should take? let us remember that He has said, "I am the way;" let us follow Him. He will make all clear, bright, and certain. There can be no darkness, no perplexity, no uncertainty, if we are following Him; for He has said, and we are bound to believe, "He that followeth me shall not walk in darkness." Hence, therefore, if we are in darkness, it is certain that we are not following Him. No darkness can ever settle down upon that blessed path along which God leads those who, with a single eye, seek to follow Jesus.
But some one, whose eye scans these lines, may say, or at least may feel disposed to say, "Well, after all, I am in perplexity as to my path. I really do not know which way to turn or what step to take." If this be the language of the reader, we would simply ask him this one question, "art thou following Jesus? If so, thou canst not be in perplexity. Art thou following the cloud? If so, thy way is as plain as God can make it." Here lies the root of the whole matter. Perplexity or uncertainty is very often the fruit of the working of the will. we are bent upon doing something which God does not want us to do at all - upon going somewhere that God does not want us to go. We pray about it, and get no answer. We pray again and again, and get no answer. How is this? Why the simple fact is that God wants us to be quiet - to stand still - to remain just where we are. Wherefore, instead of racking our brain and harassing our souls about what we ought to do, let us do nothing, but simply wait on God.
This is the secret of peace and calm elevation. If an Israelite, in the desert, had taken it into his head to make some movement, independent of Jehovah; if he took it upon Him to move when the cloud was at rest, or to halt while the cloud was moving, we can easily see what the result would have been. And so it will ever be with us. If we move when we ought to rest, or rest when we ought to move, we shall not have the divine presence with us. "At the commandment of the Lord they rested in the tents, and at the commandment of the Lord they journeyed." they were kept in constant waiting upon God, the most blessed position that any one can occupy; But it must be occupied ere its blessedness can be tasted. It is a reality to be known, not a mere theory to be talked of. May it be ours to prove it all our journey through!
C. H. Mackintosh, Notes on the Pentateuch — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain THE PASSOVER AT SINAI (verses Num_7:1) There was, however,…
THE PASSOVER AT SINAI (verses Num_7:1) There was, however, an obvious reason for mentioning together the two passovers, the second of which immediately preceded the departure from Sinai.
Vers. 1-14. The paschal feast.
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In the keeping of the passover we have, under the law, what the celebrating of the sacrament of the Lord"s Supper is under the gospel; for it was the nature and use of that to show the Lord"s death until he came the first time, as of this to show the Lord"s death until he come the second time. Consider, therefore
I THAT IT WAS THE WILL OF GOD, SPECIALLY DECLARED, THAT ALL ISRAEL SHOULD BE PARTAKERS THEREOF ERE THEY LEFT THE HOLY MOUNT OF CONSECRATION AND PLUNGED INTO THE DESERT OF WANDERINGS. Even so it is the will of God that all his people, when they have been taught of him, should be partakers of "that one bread," and thereby be brought into closer union with one another and with him for the journey of life. (Joh_6:56 Act_2:42 1Co_10:17)
II THAT THE ISRAELITES KEPT THAT PASSOVER UNDER DIFFICULTIES, LITTLE DREAMING THAT IT WAS TO BE THEIR LAST; for only Caleb and Joshua survived to take part in the next. How often have faithful people made special effort to join in keeping the Christian passover, and it has proved to be their last! (Luk_22:15 1Co_5:7)
III THAT THE PASSOVER WAS KEPT "ACCORDING TO ALL THE RITES OF IT," AND YET THERE WERE SOME RITES AND CEREMONIES WHICH MUST OF NECESSITY HAVE BEEN ALTERED; but this did not mar the Divinely-ordered uniformity. Even so there be things in the Christian passover which have been altered, yet if the alteration have not been willfully nor needlessly made, it leaves the religious identity of the rite untouched.
IV THAT THE PASSOVER WAS EATEN IN THE WILDERNESS, AS IN EGYPT BEFORE, AND IN CANAAN AFTERWARDS, (Jos_5:10) ON THE EVE OF GREAT JOURNEYS AND BATTLES. Even so is the Christian made partaker of heavenly food that he may be stronger and braver for the journey and the conflict of life. (cf. 1Ki_19:7)
V THAT ONE DEFILED BY THE DEAD COULD NOT JOIN IN THE PASSOVER. So he that bath suffered in soul by contact with the spiritually dead cannot be partaker of the Lord"s Table until he be recovered from that contagion. (cf. 1Co_10:21 1Co_11:27-30)
VI THAT THE UNCLEAN, AND THEY THAT WERE AFAR OFF, WERE NEVERTHELESS ADMITTED TO THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE PASSOVER AS SOON AS THEY WERE CLEANSED AND RETURNED. Even so none need be banished from the communion of the body of Christ because he is unclean, for time is given him to be cleansed; nor because he is afar off, for time is given him to return; (Mar_1:41 Luk_15:20 Jam_4:8) only the cleansing and the returning must be in due time, and not too late. (Mat_25:10 b; Luk_13:25 2Co_6:2)
VII THAT TWO REASONS ONLY, AND THEY OF UNAVOIDABLE NECESSITY, WOULD ABSOLVE ANY ONE FROM THE DUTY OF KEEPING THE PASSOVER WITH ALL THE PEOPLE. Even so no light excuses, but only
(1) compulsory absence or
(2) unworthiness to approach, will avail any one who willfully neglects the invitation of Christ to his feast. (Luk_14:24 Luk_22:19 1Co_11:25)
VIII THAT IT WAS AGAIN AND AGAIN DECLARED THAT THERE SHOULD BE "ONE ORDINANCE" ONLY FOR ALL FROM ALL QUARTERS AS CONCERNED THE PASSOVER; for it was the ordinance of unity. Even so the sacrament of the Lord"s Supper is above all things the sacrament of unity, (1Co_10:17) and therefore the manner of it is especially declared. (1Co_11:23, and the three Gospels)
HOMILIES BY E.S. PROUT Vers. 1-14. The letter and the spirit of the law of the passover.
We learn from this narrative certain lessons which may illustrate the relation of the letter to the spirit of Divine precepts on other subjects beside the passover.
I THE LETTER OF THE LAW WAS STRINGENT. The observance of the feast was binding, even under inconvenient circumstances (verse 5), at fixed times (verse 3), and with prescribed rites (verse 3). No trifling allowed (verse 13). Neglect of any one law may be fatal. (Jam_2:10) Yet this stringent law could be modified. It was flexible, because God was a paternal King, and not a despotic martinet. But God alone could modify the law (verse 8), or condone for its literal non-observance. (e.g., 2Ch_30:15-20) Provision was made for disabilities arising from
(1) uncleanness, contracted unavoidably, or in the path of duty; (cf. Psa_103:14) or
(2) absence from home, for such journeys were not prohibited because the passover was near. To meet such cases
II THE SPIRIT OF THE LAW WAS BENEFICENT. Neglect was not sanctioned; it never is. Great care needed lest, while claiming liberty to set aside the letter of the law in favour of the spirit, we neglect the spirit also (apply, e.g., to the sanctification of the Lord"s day). But God provided a substitute for the literal observance (verses 9-12).
Learn
1. The laws of Christ are not "grievous," but may not be trifled with. A difficulty in the way of observing some law may arise from circumstances, or character. Illustrate, the Lord"s Supper. In the early history of some of the Polynesian missions, where no bread or "fruit of the vine" was to be had, the service was not neglected on account of these circumstances, but bread fruit and water, or other beverage, was used. If the hindrance to our observance should arise from any "uncleanness," we need not wait for a lengthened process of purification, but may apply to our cleansing High Priest at once. (Joh_13:1-10)
2. Precepts that are called "positive" must not be neglected because moral precepts are observed. Illustrate from Mat_5:23, Mat_5:24. (cf. Mat_23:23 Deu_4:2 Psa_119:128) Christ having redeemed us unto God by his blood, his law extends to every department of our life. P.
HOMILIES BY D. YOUNG Vers. 1-5. A needed reminder.
When Jehovah ordered Moses to prepare the Israelites against the visit in which he smote the firstborn, he also said the day was to be kept as a feast through all their generations by an ordinance for ever. And now it was nearly twelve months since the great deliverance by which in haste and pressure Israel departed out of Egypt. The instructions (Exodus 12) are plain enough; but God deemed it needful, as the anniversary time drew near, to give his people a special reminder. Why was it needed?
1. Because much had happened in the interval. At the time, many of the Israelites would say, "Surely we shall never forget this wonderful and terrible night!" But since then there had been the crossing of the Red Sea, and all the impressive dealings of God with his people at Sinai. One event retreats as another comes on. Men march forward into the future, and great events are soon lost to view, even as great mountains are upon a journey.
2. Because the trials of the wilderness made many long for the comforts of Egypt. They soon forgot the hardships of bondage. Less than two months was enough to make them wish they had died in Egypt, by the flesh-pots, where they had bread to the full (Exodus 16). What then of forgetting might not happen in twelve months? Thus, by all the details of the memorial celebration, God would have them bring back to mind distinctly the extraordinary mercy of that night in which they left Egypt.
3. Because an emphatic reminder helped to distinguish the passover from other great events. The smiting of the firstborn was the decisive blow to Pharaoh. It liberated the Israelites from their thraldom. All previous chastisements led up to it, and the wonders of the Red Sea were the inevitable sequence. Above all, there was the great typical import of the passover. Christ our passover is slain for us. (1Co_5:7) What the passover was to the Israelites, the atoning death of Jesus is to us, an event which there is a solemn obligation on us to recollect and commemorate in a peculiar way.
4. Because there was need of preparation and care in the celebration. It was on the fourteenth day of the month at even that it was to be kept. It was in the first month of the second year that the Lord spoke to Moses. Hence we may suppose that he saw no signs of preparation, nothing to indicate that the people were being stirred by the thought of the glorious deliverance. This admonition of the Lord to Moses may be applied to such as, admitting the permanent obligation of the Lord"s Supper, yet are negligent and irregular in practicing the obligation. If the passover and the sprinkled blood of the lamb demanded a yearly memorial from Israel, even more does the sprinkled blood of Christ demand a regular commemoration. He seems to have provided for our naturally forgetful ways in saying, "Do this in remembrance of me. Y.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain Keep the Passover.
Num_9:1-5
Keep the Passover.
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Ordinance of the Passover
The design of God in instituting this remarkable ordinance, the Passover, was to explain to us, as well as to prefigure to the Jews, the method of salvation through the blood of Christ. He is the one great Sacrifice for sin; and here the application to Him in His mediatorial work is most comprehensive. Behold the analogy. It holds--
I. With regard to the victim which was chosen. Was it a lamb? Christ is often so called on account of His innocence, meekness, and resignation (Isa_53:7; Joh_1:29; 1Pe_1:19; Rev_5:6). Was it chosen from the flock? Christ was taken from among His brethren (Act_3:22). Was it a male of the first year? Christ suffered in the prime of His days. Was it without blemish? Christ was altogether perfect (Heb_7:26; 1Pe_1:19).
II. With regard to the oblation which was made. As the lamb was slain, so was Jesus (Rev_5:9). As the lamb was slain before the whole assembly (Exo_12:6), so Jesus was publicly put to death. As the lamb was slain between the two evenings, so Jesus was offered between three oclock and six (Mat_27:45). As the lamb was set apart four days before it was slain (Exo_12:3; Exo_12:6), so Christ entered the city four days before His crucifixion (Mat_21:1, &c.).
III. With regard to the blood which was sprinkled. The blood was sprinkled with a bunch of hyssop (Exo_12:22), dipped into the bason; so the blood of Christ is the blood of the everlasting covenant, the deposit of privileges, which all become ours by the exercise of faith. The blood was sprinkled upon the door-posts of their dwellings. So the blood of Christ is to be applied to the hearts and consciences of believers (Heb_9:13-14; Heb_10:22). The blood was sprinkled upon the lintel and the side-posts; but not behind nor below the door. So the blood of Christ is not to be trodden under foot (Heb_10:29). The blood secured every family where it was sprinkled, it being within the limits of the Divine protection, so that the destroying angel was forbidden to hurt them. So the blood of Jesus is the only refuge for the guilty.
IV. With regard to the flesh which was eaten. The flesh of the lamb was eaten roasted with fire, strikingly exhibiting the severity of our Saviours sufferings (Isa_50:6; Isa_52:14-15; Psa_22:14-15). It was eaten whole, and not a bone broken, which was amazing]y fulfilled in reference to Christ (Joh_19:31-36). It was eaten in haste, with the staff in their hands, to intimate that Christ is to be received immediately without delay. It was eaten with bitter herbs, importing our looking to Christ with sorrow of heart, in remembrance of sin, as expressed in Zec_12:10. It was eaten with the loins girded, implying that we must be prepared for His coming (Eph_6:14). It was eaten with the feet shod, to remind us of the freedom and happiness which Christ imparts to the believing Israelites (compare Isa_20:2-4 with Rom_5:11). It was eaten with unleavened bread, because we are to receive and profess Christ with unfeigned sincerity (1Co_5:7-8; Joh_1:47). Upon the whole, we learn from the subject the happy state of believers, who, though once afar off, are now made nigh by the blood of Christ; and likewise the unhappy state of unbelievers, who, rejecting the atonement, must inevitably perish. (William Sleigh.)
The Passover and the Lords Supper
There is this connection between the passover and the Lords Supper, that the former was the type, the latter the memorial, of the death of Christ. Thus we read in 1Co_5:1-13., Christ our passover is sacrificed for us. This sentence establishes the connection. The passover was the memorial of Israels redemption from the bondage of Egypt; and the Lords Supper is the memorial of the Churchs redemption from the heavier bondage of sin and Satan. Hence, as every faithful Israelite would surely be found keeping the passover, in the appointed season, according to all the rites and ceremonies thereof, so will every true and faithful Christian be found celebrating the Lords Supper in its appointed season, and according to all the principles laid down in the New Testament respecting it. If an Israelite had neglected the passover, even on one single occasion, he would have been cut off from the congregation. And may we not ask in the face of this solemn fact, Is it a matter of no moment for Christians to neglect, from week to week, and month to month, the supper of their Lord? Are we to suppose that the One who, in Num_9:1-23., declared that the neglecter of the passover should be cut off, takes no account of the neglecter of the Lords table? We cannot believe it for a moment. To a pious Israelite there was nothing like the passover, because it was the memorial of his redemption. And to a pious Christian there is nothing like the Lords Supper, because it is the memorial of his redemption and of the death of his Lord. How is it, then, that any of Gods people should be found neglecting the Lords table? If the Lord Christ instituted the supper; if God the Holy Ghost led the early Church to celebrate it, and if He has also expounded it unto us, who are we that we should set up our ideas in opposition to God? No doubt, the Lords Supper should be an inward spiritual mystery to all who partake of it; but it is also an outward, literal, tangible thing. There is literal bread, and literal wine--literal eating, and literal drinking. If any deny this, they may, with equal force, deny that there are literal people gathered together. We have no right to explain away scripture after such a fashion. Nor is it merely a question of subjection to the authority of scripture. There is such a thing as the response of love in the heart of the Christian, answering to the love of the heart of Christ. If our blessed and adorable Lord has in very deed appointed the bread and the wine in the supper as memorials of His broken body and shed blood; if He has ordained that we should eat of that bread and drink of that cup in remembrance of Him, ought we not, in the power of responsive affection, to meet the desire of His loving heart? (C. H. Mackintosh.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary 1892 · Public Domain Critical and explanatory notes
Critical and explanatory notes
Num_9:1-5. This Passover, having been kept in the first month of the second year, preceded the numbering and the other events recorded in this book. For this reason some writers have said that Num_9:1-14 should be transposed to an earlier portion of the narrative. But the observance of the supplementary Passover (Num_9:6-14) was one of the last events before the departure from Sinai; and the ordinance of it is very properly placed here; and the account of the observance of the ordinary Passover which gave rise to it is not unnaturally placed before it.
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From Exo_12:24-25, the Israelites might have concluded that they were not to keep the Passover until they came to Canaan; but, inasmuch as the Anniversary of the Feast occurred while they were still in the desert of Sinai, a special command is given to them to keep it. And had it not been for the subsequent unbelief and rebellion of the people, before the anniversary returned again they would have been possessors of the land promised unto them.
Num_9:3. According to all the rights of it, and according to all the ceremonies thereof. See Exo_12:3-28; Exo_12:43-51, Exo_13:3-11.
Num_9:6. There were certain men, etc. “Probably Mishael and Elizaphan, who buried their cousins, Nadab and Abihu, within a week of this Passover (Lev_10:4-5). None would be more likely to make this inquiry of Moses than his kinsmen, who had defiled themselves by his express direction.”—Speaker’s Commentary.
Num_9:15. The tent of the testimony, or, witness, denotes the whole of the tabernacle, comprising the holy of holies and the holy place, and not merely the holy of holies. The phrase seems to indicate the same portion of the structure as ohel moëd, “tent of meeting.”
Num_9:20. And so it was, when, etc. Rather, “And there was also when,” etc.
Num_9:21. And so it was, when, etc. Rather, “And there was also when the cloud abode from even unto morning, and the cloud was taken up in the morning, and they journeyed.”
Num_9:22. A year. Heb., “days,” i.e., a space of time not precisely determined.
As long as the cloud rested upon the tabernacle, whether it was for one day, a few days, or many days, they continued their encampment; and when it arose from the tabernacle they broke up their encampment and resumed their march. The movements of the cloud were to them the commands of the Lord God. For the numerous Homiletic suggestions connected with the institution and observation of the Passover we must refer the reader to The Homiletical Commentary on Exodus 12, 13 where the directions for keeping the ordinance are given in detail. To attempt anything like an exhaustive treatment of the ordinance would be out of place here.
THE FEAST OF THE PASSOVER, A MEMORIAL AND A TYPE
(Num_9:1-5.)
The Passover, the celebration of which is here commanded by God, was—
I. A Memorial of a great Deliverance.
1. Deliverance from the most terrible evils.
(1) From a miserable slavery. The Israelites in Egypt were held in most degrading and cruel bondage.
(2) From a terrible visitation of Divine judgment. When the firstborn of the Egyptians, both of man and of beast, were all destroyed, the firstborn of the Israelites were exempted from the destruction. Primarily and essentially the Passover was a memorial of this great historical fact. Exo_12:26-27. (a)
2. Deliverance from the most terrible evils associated with the sacrifice of life. A lamb of the first year, without blemish, and a male, was to be slain for every family (unless the family were too small to consume the lamb, in which case they were to unite with their nearest neighbour in the matter), and the blood sprinkled upon the posts of the door, and the flesh entirely eaten after having been roasted with fire. Such were the explicit commands of God by His servants Moses and Aaron. Exo_12:3-10.
3. Deliverance from the most terrible evils through the sovereign grace of God. Their exemption from the stroke of the destroying angel, and their emancipation from their bitter slavery in Egypt, were due to the sovereign favour of the Lord God. The gracious purpose and the grand performance were alike owing to Him. “Thou hast with Thine arm redeemed Thy people, the sons of Jacob and Joseph.”
4. Deliverance from terrible evils by means of faith and obedience. The sprinkling of the blood upon the doorposts was an act of faith and obedience, which God required as a condition of their exemption from the stroke of the destroying angel, and which, when performed, He graciously accepted. However ill-adapted the means might have seemed to the end, they employed them as they were directed, and so secured their safety (Heb_11:28).
So great and marvellous a deliverance demanded a fitting memorial.
II. A type of a greater deliverance.
This portion of the history of Israel typifies—
1. The morally enslaved and perilous state of man. Sinful men are in a far more terrible state of bondage than that of Israel in Egypt. Their slavery was physical; that of the sinner is spiritual. His soul is the slave of animal appetites, and turbulent passions, and evil habits. Their slavery was a calamity; that of the sinner is a crime. The Lord God pitied them because of their bondage; He condemns man because of his. To be the slaves of sin is to be guilty of grievous moral wrong in the sight of God. Their slavery, at the farthest, would end at death; but death has no power to terminate the slavery of the sinner. The death of the body cannot free the soul from the bondage of evil passions or tyrannical habits. The peril also of the sinner is greater than was that of the ancient Israelites. They were delivered from the stroke of the destroying angel. But the destruction of physical life is a small evil as compared with the destruction of all that constitutes the life of the soul. In many cases the death of the body is the great gain of the man. But what tongue or pen can describe the awfulness and the painfulness of the destruction by sin of the moral purity, the power, the reverence, the aspiration, the hope, the peace of the soul? Such is the destruction of which the sinner is in danger.
2. The Divine method of deliverance. The Lamb of the Passover exhibits the closest type of the atoning Sacrifice who died for us and has made our peace with God. Our Lord is spoken of in the Bible as a lamb. “Behold the Lamb of God,” &c. The Passover lamb was to be “without blemish.” St. Peter speaks of Jesus Christ as “a Lamb without blemish and without spot.” He was “holy, harmless, undefined, separate from sinners.” The Passover lamb was to be slain, and its blood upon the door-posts was the sign by which the houses of the Israelites were distinguished, and so exempted from the power of the destroyer. Jesus Christ was crucified for us. By His death we have life. “We have redemption through His blood.” “Ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, but with the precious blood of Christ.” “The blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth us from all sin.” “Christ our passover is sacrificed for us.” God delivers us from sin through the self-sacrifice of Christ for us. “Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved.” (b)
3. The Divine Author of deliverance. The Lord God spared the first-born of Israel when the first-born of Egypt were destroyed. He also delivered them from their cruel bondage in Egypt. He only can emancipate the soul from the thraldom of sin, and deliver it from that death which is the wages of sin. He originated the method of deliverance; and His is the power by which the deliverance is accomplished. Neither of these things could man have done. Education, science, philosophy, means and efforts of social reform and amelioration, may do much for man; but they cannot free him from the dominion of sin, or deliver him from spiritual death—they cannot save him. God alone can do this; and He is “mighty to save,” “He is able to save them to the uttermost,” etc.
4. The human appropriation of deliverance. The Israelites were to “strike the lintel and the two side-posts with the blood” of the slain lamb as a condition of their deliverance. If they would be saved from the visit of the destroyer, they must believe the word of the Lord by Moses and obey it. If the death of Jesus Christ is to be of any real benefit to us personally, we must personally believe in Him as our Saviour. “Whosoever believeth in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.” (c)
Conclusion:
Sentence of death has gone forth against all sinners. “The wages of sin is death.” “The soul that sinneth it shall die.” God in Christ is the only One who can deliver from this death. Faith in Him is the only condition by which we can avail ourselves of His deliverance. Believe in Him, at once and fully, and life eternal is yours.
ILLUSTRATIONS
(a) Such a night as never darkened from heaven before or since in Egypt, now descends upon her in the mysterious providence of God. It is “a night much to be remembered.” The children of Israel are all up and ready for departure, their loins girt, and their lamps burning, the Paschal lamb, the unleavened bread, and the bitter herbs with which it was to be eaten, in their hands and mouths; the blood from the basins sprinkled on the lintel and the two door-posts, and all awaiting the moment when the shriek of the victims of the angel of death shall act as the blast of God’s trumpet to tell them to depart! Such a feast! without one song of gladness or word of converse; ate in absolute silence and in a standing posture, and with every ear erect to listen to the sounds of wrath and woe which are expected. Do they hear the wings of the destroying angel without their dwellings, first sweeping near, then pausing (what a moment of suspense, for may not some have forgotten to stamp the stain upon the door, or stamped it too feebly?), and then hurrying onward? And do not, by-and-bye, faintly-heard and distant shrieks arise, swelling soon into one desperate and universal “cry,” proclaiming that there is “not an house where there is not one dead”? It is at midnight that this fell-stroke lights on guilty Egypt, and the darkness contributes to the confusion, the horror, and the despair. “All the firstborn are smitten, from the firstborn of Pharaoh that sate on the throne to the firstborn of the captive that was in the dungeon.” In one house, a child has been newly born to those who had been long married without the usual fruits of wedlock, and the parents are, perhaps, with a fond and foolish joy, exulting over the recent birth, when a sharp short cry from the cradle tells them their child is dead. In another, all the family have been cut off previously, except their firstborn, a boy who has become more the delight of their parents that he is their little all, as if he had absorbed the interest and life of the rest, but he, too, on his small couch is smitten, and their hope and joy die with him. In a third house, the firstborn is a fair female, and to morrow is her wedding day, but death anticipates the bridegroom, and claps his cold ring upon her shrinking finger. In a fourth, a heroic youth who had projected a journey to the lands of Ethiopia and the sources of the Nile, and is dreaming that he has set out on his way, awakes for a moment to feel the death-pang summoning him to a farther and more adventurous exploration. In another house, one lies down who is on the morrow to be initiated into the higher mysteries of priestdom, but death says to him, “Understand this my mystery first, deeper infinitely than they.” In another, the firstborn son is to rise next day to bury his father, but long ere morning he is laid cold by his side How impartial this terrible angel! Here one firstborn has been condemned to die a public and a shameful death on the approaching day; but at midnight there is a corpse in the prison cell, and the law is disappointed of its prey. And there another, it is Pharaoh’s own eldest son, whose birthday, he is come of age, is to be celebrated tomorrow, expires at the very moment of midnight, and his father rises and begins that wild wail which is echoed by every homestead in the land of Ham—G. Gilfillan, M.A.
(b) Here is the firstborn, the unblemished beauty, the chaste Lamb of God; never came to mortal eyes any such perfect one before. And the expense He makes, under His great love-struggle and heavy burden of feeling, His Gethsemane, where the burden presses Him down into agony; His Calvary, where, in His unprotesting and lamb-like submission, He allows Himself to be immolated by the world’s wrath; what will any one, seeing all this, so naturally or inevitably call it, as His sacrifice for the sins of the world? His blood, too, the blood of the incarnate Son of God, blood of the upper world half as truly as of this—when it touches and stains the defiled earth of the planet, what so sacred blood on the horns of the altar and the lid of the mercy-seat did any devoutest worshipper at the altar ever see sprinkled for his cleansing? There his sin he hoped could be dissolved away, and it comforted his conscience that, by the offering of something sacred as blood, he could fitly own his defilement, and by such tender argument win the needed cleansing. But the blood of Christ, He that was born of the Holy Ghost, He that was Immanuel—when this sprinkles Calvary, it is to him as if some touch of cleansing were in it for the matter itself of the world! In short, there is so much in this analogy, and it is so affecting, so profoundly real, that no worshipper most devout before the altar having once seen Christ, who He is, what He has done by His cross, and the glorious offering He has made of Himself in His ministry of good, faithful unto death—who will not turn away instinctively to Him, saying, “No more altars, goats, or lambs; these were shadows I see; now has come the substance. This is my sacrifice, and here is my peace—the blood that was shed for the remission of sins—this I take and want no other.”—H. Bushnell, D.D.
(c) Let me suppose that you profoundly long to know what you must do, on what you must lay hold, in order that you may appropriate to yourself the benefits of Christ’s death, that you may be saved by His sacrifice, that you may be reconciled to God by His atonement. You come to me and ask, “What must I do? do first? How am I to set about this great quest and task?”
With much sympathy, as of one who has himself had to solve your problem as best he could, I reply, Fix your thoughts first and chiefly on the fact on which both St. Paul and St. John lay such extraordinary emphasis, viz., that the death, the cross, the blood, the sacrifice of Christ—take which term you will—is a manifestation of the eternal and inexhaustible love of God for sinful men, for all sinful men; a manifestation of the resolve and intention of that Love to take away the sin of the whole world, and to redeem you personally from all your iniquities. You see at once how great, how voluntary, how un-merited, how intense and Divine that Love is. It shrinks from nothing—from no effort, from no sacrifice, from no pang whether of body or of spirit, from no contact with evil, from no experience whether of the ingratitude and insolent wickedness of man or of the pain of self-limitation to any form of life or of death. So much you cannot fail to see with the story of the Gospel in your hand. And your first duty is to believe in that almost incredible Love, a Love that would be absolutely incredible but for its manifestation and proof in the history of Jesus Christ the Lord. You are to trust in that Love, to be sure that a love which extends to all the world must extend to you. You are to commit yourself to it—your soul as well as your body; commit yourself to it in life, in death, after death; and to sincerely believe that all must go well with you because that Love is over you and upon you. This is what you are to do and believe. It is this on which specifically you are to lay hold. It is thus that you are to appropriate the benefits of Christ’s death.
And, then, if you take this first step, what will be your second? What will be the inevitable result and consequence of having taken the first? Obviously, if you do sincerely and heardly believe in such a Love as that, your own love will spring up and run out to meet it. You will love Him who first loved you. And your love will be, or will come to be as God’s love takes effect upon you, of the same quality with His—an unselfish love, a love capable of living and dying for others, a love pure and righteous, strong and enduring; a love that will gradually transform you into His likeness, and make you of one will with Him.… You are to lay hold of the Cross of Christ as at once a manifestation of God’s righteous anger against the sins with which you, too, are angry, and from which you seek to be delivered, and a revelation of the Love which is bent on conquering sin and redeeming you from all evil. You are to so appreciate and trust that Love as that it shall quicken a corresponding affection, and make it the ruling affection, in your own soul.—Samuel Cox.
ORDINANCE OF THE PASSOVER
(Num_9:1-5)
The design of God in instituting this remarkable ordinance, the Passover, was to explain to us, as well as to prefigure to the Jews, the method of salvation through the blood of Christ. He is the One great Sacrifice for sin; and here, the application to Him in His mediatorial work is most comprehensive. Behold the analogy. It holds—
I. With regard to the victim which was chosen.
Was it a lamb? Christ is often so called on account of His innocence, meekness, and resignation (Isa_53:7; Joh_1:29; 1Pe_1:19; Rev_5:6.) Was it chosen from the flock? Christ was taken from among His brethren (Act_3:22). Was it a male of the first year? Christ suffered in the prime of His days. Was it without blemish? Christ was altogether perfect (Heb_7:26; 1Pe_1:19).
II. With regard to the oblation which was made.
As the lamb was slain, so was Jesus (Rev_5:9). As the lamb was slain before the whole assembly (Exo_12:6), so Jesus was publicly put to death. As the lamb was slain between the two evenings, so Jesus was offered between three o’clock and six (Mat_27:45). As the lamb was set apart four days before it was slain (Exo_12:3; Exo_12:6), so Christ entered the city four days before His crucifixion (Mat_21:1 sqq).
III. With regard to the blood which was sprinkled.
The blood was sprinkled with a bunch of hyssop (Exo_12:22, dipt into the bason; so the blood of Christ is the blood of the everlasting covenant, the deposit of privileges, which all become ours by the exercise of faith. The blood was sprinkled upon the door-posts of their dwellings. So the blood of Christ is to be applied to the hearts and consciences of believers (Heb_9:13-14; Heb_10:22). The blood was sprinkled upon the lintel and the side posts; but not behind nor below the door. So the blood of Christ is not to be trodden under foot (Heb_10:29). The blood secured every family where it was sprinkled, it being within the limits of the Divine protection, so that the destroying angel was forbidden to hurt them. So the blood of Jesus is the only refuge for the guilty.
IV. With regard to the flesh which was eaten.
The flesh of the lamb was eaten roasted with fire, strikingly exhibiting the severity of our Saviour’s sufferings. (Isa_50:6; Isa_52:14-15; Psa_22:14-15.)
It was eaten whole, and not a bone broken, which was amazingly fulfilled in reference to Christ. (Joh_19:31-36.) It was eaten in haste, with the staff in their hands, to intimate that Christ is to be received immediately without delay. It was eaten with bitter herbs, importing our looking to Christ with sorrow of heart, in remembrance of sin, as expressed in Zec_12:10. It was eaten with the loins girded, implying that we must be prepared for His coming. (Eph_6:14.) It was eaten with the feet shod, to remind us of the freedom and happiness which Christ imparts to the believing Israelites. (compare Isa_20:2-4 with Rom_5:11.) It was eaten with unleavened bread, because we are to receive and profess Christ with unfeigned sincerity. (1Co_5:7-8; Joh_1:47.)
Upon the whole, we learn from the subject the happy state of believers, who, though once afar off, are now made nigh by the blood of Christ; and likewise the unhappy state of unbelievers, who, rejecting the atonement, must inevitably perish.—William Sleigh.
UNWILLING EXCLUSION FROM RELIGIOUS ORDINANCES
(Num_9:6-12; Num_9:14)
In these verses we have the following homiletic points, which we may profitably consider:—
I. The Divine recognition of the need of personal fitness for an acceptable observance of religious ordinances.
A person who was ceremonially unclean was prohibited from taking part in the Passover; for only those who were clean could participate in any sacrificial meal, or offer any sacrifice. (Lev_7:20-21.) So “there were certain men, who were defiled by the dead body of a man who could not keep the Passover on that day.” A certain moral fitness is essential to an acceptable approach unto God. Our Lord taught that a man cannot present an acceptable offering to God who is not in right relations with his fellow-men. (Mat_5:23-24.) And St. Paul exhorted the Corinthian Christians to examine themselves before partaking of the Supper of the Lord. (1Co_11:28.) Two things at least appear to us as indispensable to an acceptable approach to God in public religious ordinances:
1. Faith in the mediation of the Lord Jesus Christ. (Joh_14:6.; Rom_5:1-2; Eph_2:18; Heb_4:15-16; Heb_10:19-22.)
2. Devout preparation of the heart. There are many persons who derive no benefit from the public means of grace because they enter upon them with minds engrossed by worldly engagements or anxieties, or with thoughless, frivolous minds, &c. Such mental states preclude communion with God. (a)
II. The unwilling exclusion of men from religious ordinances.
Here are certain men who were excluded from keeping the Passover through no fault of their own. Their defilement was not moral, but ceremonial; and this was contracted not of their own free choice, but of inevitable necessity; not by association with the morally depraved, but by the needful work of the burial of the dead; yet they were prohibited from observing the Passover. There are many to-day who are unwillingly deprived from taking part in public religious ordinances,—some by reason of severe bodily afflictions; others by the pressure of the infirmities of age; others by their ministry to the afflicted; and others by legitimate domestic duties, e.g., the care of infants and little children, &c. Every Lord’s day there are very many persons who would esteem it a privilege and joy to unite in the engagements of public worship, but they cannot do so. Let us learn to prize the opportunities of doing so while we have them.
III. A commendable enquiry concerning the reason of such exclusion from religious ordinances.
The men who were so excluded “came before Moses and before Aaron on that day;” &c. Their enquiry was commendable—
1. As regards its spirit. It implied
(1) Faith in the reasonableness of the Divine requirements. “Wherefore are we kept back”? &c. It is as though they had said, “There must be a reason for this prohibition; may we know that reason? can you explain it to us? or can you meet in some way what seems to us the hardship of our case?” All the Divine arrangements are in the highest degree reasonable; they are expressions of infinite wisdom.
(2) Affection for Divine ordinances. The deprivation was painful to them. It is a grief to the godly soul to be deprived of the public means of grace. “Lord I have loved the habitation of Thy house, and the place where Thine honour dwelleth.” “How amiable are Thy tabernacles, O Lord of hosts! My soul longeth,” &c. There is good ground for this affection. In Divine ordinances God manifests Himself graciously to His people (Exo_20:24; Mat_18:19-20), and makes unto them rich communications of grace and truth.
2. As regards its direction. “They came before Moses and before Aaron,” and enquired of them. The leader and lawgiver, and the high priest, both of whom were appointed by God, were the proper persons to consult on the difficulty which had arisen. Let those who are religiously perplexed seek help from those who by reason of their character and attainments are qualified to render the same.
The solicitude of these men for participation in this religious ordinance is a rebuke to many who, in our own day, disregard the public worship of God and the ministry and the sacraments of the Gospel.
IV. The exemplary conduct of religious teachers in answering the enquiries of their charge.
“And Moses said unto them, Stand still,” &c. In the conduct of Moses we see,—
1. Exemplary humility. He tacitly admits his inability to answer their enquiry of himself. It is only ignorance and conceit that assumes the airs of infallibility. The minister of spiritual intelligence and power is ever humble. (b)
2. Exemplary enquiry. “I will hear what the Lord will command concerning you,” said Moses. That he might answer these enquiries, he himself enquires of the Lord. So should the Christian minister in instructing others. We have,
(1) The teaching of the sacred Scriptures: we should search them. We have
(2) The promised guidance of the Holy Spirit: we should seek it by prayer. (c)
3. Exemplary efficiency. Guided by God, Moses was enabled to deal with the difficulty satisfactorily,—practically to do away with it. Christian ministers should be able efficiently to counsel the people of their charge. Those who humbly acknowledge their ignorance, search the Scriptures, and seek help of God, will be able to do so. Let all religious instructors copy the example of Moses in this matter.
V. A Divine arrangement for the compensation of those who are unwillingly excluded from religious ordinances.
“And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel,” &c. (Num_9:9; Num_9:12; Num_9:14.) Provision is here made for three distinct classes—for the defiled, for the traveller far from home, and for the stranger. For the two former a supplementary Passover is instituted; and for the latter who desired to unite in the observance of the ordinance, liberty to do so is granted. In the directions given to Moses by the Lord, two things are clear and conspicuous—
1. No one was to be unwillingly deprived of religious ordinances without compensation.
2. All must faithfully fulfil the Divine directions in the keeping of such ordinances as they had access to (Num_9:11-12; Num_9:14). The three leading points of the original institution are here repeated—that they were to eat the lamb with unleavened bread and bitter herbs, they were to leave none of it till the next day, and they were not to break a bone of it. The foreigner, also, who kept the feast was to do so with minute accuracy as to the directions concerning it. Compare Num_9:14 with Exo_12:48-49. And still when any one is involuntarily detained from religious ordinances, God will supply unto him precious and abundant compensations. To the patient sufferer on his bed, to the attentive nurse as she ministers to the afflicted, and to the loving mother at home with her babe, if only the spirit of true worship be theirs, God will graciously reveal Himself, and enrich them with the treasures of His grace. He will be with them; and the chamber of sickness, or the nursery of infancy, shall become a Bethel, “a little sanctuary,” sacred with His presence and radiant with His glory. (d)
ILLUSTRATIONS
(a) Previous to your entering into the house of God, seek a prepared heart, and implore the blessing of God on the ministry of the Word. It may be presumed that no real Christian will neglect to preface his attendance on social worship with secret prayer. But let the acquisition of a devout and serious frame, freed from the cares, vanities, and pollutions of the world, accompanied with earnest desires after God, and the communications of His grace, form a principal subject of your private devotions. Forget not to implore a blessing on the public ministry, that it may accomplish in yourselves, and to others, the great purposes it is designed to answer; and that those measures of assistance may be afforded to your ministers which shall replenish them with light, love, and liberty, that they may speak the mystery of the Gospel as it ought to be spoken. Pastors and people would both derive eminent advantages from such a practice; they, in their capacity of exhibiting, you, in your preparation for receiving, the mysteries of the Gospel. As the duties of the closet have the happiest tendency, by solemnizing and elevating the mind, to prepare for those of the sanctuary, so the conviction of your having borne your minister on your heart before the throne of grace would, apart from every other consideration, dispose him to address you with augmented zeal and tenderness. We should consider it as such a token for good, as well as such an uneqivocal proof of your attachment, as would greatly animate and support us under all our discouragements.—Robert Hall, A.M.
(b) A more despicable character I know not than the poor mortal who proclaims his opinions as if they were the very Gospel of God; who denounces all who adopt them not as heretics. I pity the mental serfs, who, instead of drinking at the crystal river of truth, that rolls majestically by, consent to sip at the puddled cisterns of the would-be theological dictators. While around us have been flung, with God-like profusion, the fruits and beauties of a Paradise, shall we consent to confine ourselves to the scanty provisions of a petty kitchen garden? To all the dogmatists who would bind us to their own narrow creed we would say with Pope:—
“Go, wondrous creature! mount where science guides;
Go, measure earth, weigh air, and stem the tides; Instruct the planets in what orbs to run, Correct old time and regulate the sun. Go, teach eternal Wisdom how to rule, Then drop into thyself, and be a fool.”
It is the duty of every man to get convictions of Divine truth for himself, to hold those convictions with firmness, and to promote them with earnestness; but at the same time with a due consciousness of his own fallibility, and with a becoming deference to the judgment of others. Sure am I that he who has penetrated farthest into the realms of truth, wrestled most earnestly with its questions, will be the most free from all bigotry and dogmatism in the proclamation of his views. The more knowledge the more humility. True wisdom is ever modest. Those who live most in the light are the most ready to veil their faces.—David Thomas, D.D.
(c) Among all the formative influences which go to make up a man honoured of God in the ministry, I know of none more mighty than his own familiarity with the mercy-seat. All that a college course can do for a student is coarse and external compared with the spiritual and clear refinement obtained by communion with God. While the unformed minister is revolving upon the wheel of preparation, prayer is the tool of the Great Potter by which He moulds the vessel. All our libraries and studies are mere emptiness compared with our closets. We grow, we wax mighty, we prevail in private prayer. That we may be strong to labour, tender to sympathise, and wise to direct, let us pray. If study makes men of us, prayer will make saints of us. Our sacred furniture for our holy office can only be found in the arsenal of supplication; and after we have entered upon our consecrated warfare, prayer alone can keep our armour bright.—C. H. Spurgeon.
Moses was but the echo of God’s voice; John Baptist “the voice of one crying in the wilderness;” St. Paul “received of the Lord” what he delivered to the Church (1Co_11:23), and took care that the faith of his hearers “might not be in the wisdom of man, but in the power of God” (1Co_2:4-5). Unwarranted doctrines come not cum gratia et privileqio.—John Trapp, M A.
(d) Do not think for a moment that by frequenting places that have an odour of peculiar sanctity you can alone acceptably worship God. Have you got a contrite heart? That can consecrate the meanest place on earth. It does not matter where the congregation may gather, only let them be a congregation of faithful men, yearning for truth, ready to make any sacrifice to obtain it, and that God who is everywhere present will reveal Himself in blessings wherever they may choose to assemble. They may crowd into the solemn Minster, and while the organ peals out its alternate wail and psalm, to them it may be a spiritual service, and their hearts may glow in purer light than streams through painted windows. They may draw around the hearth of the farmer’s homestead, and while the frost king reigns outside, their spirits may burn with a warmth that may defy the keenness of the sternest winter. For them there may be a spiritual harvest more plentiful than the garnered store in the barn that has been lent for worship; or a season of refreshing beneath the thatch through which the penitent soul can filter up its signs for heaven. On the gallant vessel’s deck, with no witnesses of the service but the sky and sea, there may be the sound of many waters as the Lord of hosts comes down. And in the Alpine solitudes, where the spirit, alone with God mid murmuring streams, and bowing pines, and summits of eternal snow, uplifts its adoration, there may be a whisper stiller, and sweeter, and more comforting than that of nature, saying, “Peace, peace be unto you.” Oh! it is a beautiful thought, that in this, the last of the dispensations, the contrite heart can hallow its own temple! Wherever the emigrant wanders—wherever the exile pines—in the dreariest Sahara, rarely tracked save by the Bedouin on his camel—on the banks of rivers yet unknown to song—in the dense woodlands where no axe has yet struck against the trees—in the dark ruin—in the foul cell—in the narrow street—on the swift rail—there where business tramps and rattles—there where sickness gasp and pines—anywhere—anywhere in this wide, wide world, if there is a soul that wants to worship, there can be a hallowed altar and a present God.—W. M. Punshon, LL.D.
THE WILFUL NEGLECT OF RELIGIOUS ORDINANCES
(Num_9:13)
In this verse we have set before us a case of,—
I. The wilful neglect of religious ordinances.
“The man that is clean, and is not in a journey, and forbeareth to keep the Passover.” The Passover was instituted by command of God; neither ceremonial uncleanness nor absence from home prevented his observing it; yet he fails to do so—such is the case which is set before us in the text. In our day the wilful neglect of religious ordinances is painfully prevalent. Churches, chapels, mission halls, and religious services abound; yet in this nominally Christian country there are hundreds of thousands who are in a position to attend public worship, who live in the habitual neglect of it. (a)
II. The wilful neglect of religious ordinances is sinful.
It is said in the text that the man who wilfully forbeareth to keep the Passover “shall bear his sin.” The worship of God is not optional, but obligatory upon man; it is our duty. He who wilfully neglects religious ordinances by such neglect sins, because he,—
1. Withholds from God that which is His due. God has an indefeasible right to our homage. His greatness should excite our awe; His kindness should enkindle our gratitude; His skill should awaken our admiration; His holiness should inspire our adoring love.
2. Despises the gifts which God bestows. Worship is a privilege as well as a duty. It is a great kindness on the part of God that He has instituted the ordinances of worship, and great condescension that He graciously accepts our worship. To neglect public worship is to despise the ordinance and reject the gift of God.
3. Neglects the culture and development of the highest faculties of his being. Worship is a necessity of our nature. We have religious tendencies and aspirations which seek expression and satisfaction in worship. We cannot neglect worship without the deepest and most deplorable self-injury. (b) Wilfully to neglect religious ordinances, then, is to sin—to sin against our own nature and against God.
III. The wilful neglect of religious ordinances will be punished.
“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,” &c. The expression “cut off from among his people” denotes either capital punishment, or exclusion from the society and privileges of the chosen people. The latter seems to us the more probable. No one can neglect religious ordinances without incurring punishment—a punishment which grows directly out of the sin. By his wilful neglect he brings the punishment upon himself.
1. He foregoes the highest joys of life.
2. He dwarfs and degrades his soul.
3. He excludes himself from the highest fellowship on earth.
4. He renders himself unfit for the fellowship of heaven. The worship of God here is a natural and necessary preparation for uniting in His worship in the innumerable company of the glorified.
ILLUSTRATIONS
(a) The need of more effort to induce persons who never attend a place of worship to do so seems very great. Thus there are 2,500 people living in one block of buildings in the South of London, of whom not more than 130 frequent public worship. This is a sad fact, and needs the consideration of Christian people.—“The Christian World” May 10, 1878.
A very large proportion of the outside world is voluntarily irreligious or indifferent. A very large proportion of those who are not church-goers, who connect themselves with no religious society, and make no profession of religion, reside in the midst of those who do. Intelligent, educated, surrounded by religious influences, it is not through ignorance they remain where they are. Had they the longing for that peace which Christianity gives, they know in general where to find it. Their indifference and irreligion are in a great measure their own choice. No special mission is needed to them, as it is to those who have not their knowledge or their opportunities. They may be reached by the quiet, unobtrusive influence, and by the steady growth of vital religion among their neighbours; by the appeal of a Christian friend in sickness; by the perusal of a book; by the voice of some distinguished preacher whom they are led to hear. This class is very large; it is hindered by causes within rather than without.—Joseph Mullens, D.D.
That the religion of the working man is at a low ebb is a fact there can be no disputing. Our churches are for the rich, our chapels for the lower half of the middle class; the working man seldom finds his way to either. The Sunday morning is mostly spent in bed, the afternoon in an indolent and half apathetic condition, lolling on chairs or sofa, if he has one, nodding and slumbering over Lloyd’s, or the Weekly Times; it is only during the few hours of evening that he begins to show any signs of active life. On the Monday he feels more tired, and imagines the day to have been very considerably longer than any other. This is how the majority of London working men, at least, spend their Sunday, half sad to see it come, and wholly glad when it is over. This is a state of things to be lamented; who can doubt it is only in the degree in which families are happy (to rise to which there must be love, sympathy, confidence, and mutual esteem), that a nation becomes truly great; and this happiness is not possible without religion. We trust the day is not far distant when almost every working man will not only think it a duty to attend public worship, but will feel it a pleasure likewise.—Eclectic Review.
(b) Worship is the instinctive act and necessity of the religions consciousness. Its root lies in our recognition of God, and of our personal relationship to Him, its eucharistic element in our sense of His transcendent excellencies, and its supplicatory element in our consciousness of absolute dependence upon Him. We do not, that is, worship in mere compliance with a Divine injunction, nor in conformity with a conventional cultus, nor as a means of religious benefit. We worship under the impulse of our own religious instincts, because the constitution of our nature being what it is, we cannot without violence to it help doing so. Worship, therefore, has its ultimate reason neither in the sense of obligation, nor in considerations of utility; it is the simple necessity of the religious soul. Hence, in the severest persecutions of the Church, no considerations of personal peril have ever been sufficient to deter Christian men from assembling for social worship. Although there is no direct injunction of public worship, and although the spiritual relationships of the soul are so personal, and find their full expression in acts of personal and private devotion, yet the consecrating impulse of social worship has led men for the sake of it to dare and sacrifice life itself.—H. Allon, D.D.
THE MANIFESTATION OF THE DIVINE PRESENCE
(Num_9:15-16)
I. The Sphere of the Manifestation of the Divine Presence.
“And on the day that the tabernacle was reared up the cloud covered the tabernacle, namely, the tent of the testimony.” Previously the cloud had hung up on high over the camp; but now that the tabernacle is finished it descended and rested upon it. In the tabernacle and in the ordinances of religion God specially manifested Himself. He is everywhere present. The thoughtful mind discovers evidences of His power and skill everywhere. To the religious heart the whole world is a temple resplendent with His glory and resounding with His praise. But still He is specially present in His Church:
1. By the ministry of the Word. He speaks to men by His servants as they expound and apply the teachings of His Book.
2. By the observance of the Sacraments. To the believer Christ is really and blessedly present in the Sacraments which He instituted.
3. By the presence and power of the Holy Spirit. By His Spirit the Lord Jesus abides with His Church. In His material works we see Him as the God of nature; in His Church we see him as the God of grace and salvation, we realize His helpful and hallowing presence, and hold delightful communion with Him. Comp. Psa_27:4; Psa_132:13-16; Mat_18:20. (a)
II. The Aspects of the Manifestation of the Divine Presence.
“The cloud covered the tabernacle, namely, the tent of testimony; and at even there was upon the tabernacle, as it were the appearance of fire, until the morning.”
1. The aspect of the manifestation of the Divine Presence was varied. In the day He appeared in cloud; in the night in the appearance of fire. The Divine Being does not present the game aspects to different minds; nor does He always appear in the same aspects to the same persons. He changes not, “with Him is no variableness;” but the forms of His manifestation to His creatures change. Moreover, our vision of Him varies with our varying spiritual conditions and moods.
2. The aspect of the manifestation of the Divine Presence was varied according to the need of the people. The diversity of the Divine manifestation was perfectly adapted to the diversity of human need. The cloud by day and the appearance of fire by night were easily discernible. Mark the precious truth of universal application which is here shadowed forth: God manifests Himself to His people according to their need. To the soul seeking Him in penitence He reveals Himself as a gracious Sovereign or a kind Father waiting to forgive; to the distressed mourner, as the great and tender-hearted Comforter; to the perplexed student of the Divine will and work, as the wise and kind Guide; to the lonely and sad by reason of the bereavements of death, as “the Resurrection and the Life;” &c. With infinite wisdom and goodness He adapts the revelations of His presence and the communications of His grace to our varying circumstances, conditions, and needs. (b)
III. The Permanence of the Manifestations of the Divine Presence.
“So it was alway: the cloud covered it by day, and the appearance of fire by night.” Through the whole of their wanderings the blessed Presence never forsook them. God has never left His Church. The light of His Presence has varied, sometimes burning more brightly than at others; but it has never been extinguished or withdrawn. The light of the Church has waned in one place, but it has shone the more brightly in another. “I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world.” In the abiding presence of our Lord and Saviour with us we have the guarantee of the continuance, the progress, and the ultimate triumph of His Church over all enemies. (c)
Conclusion.
1. Here is admonition for Christians. The Lord is with us ever, His eye is ever upon us; let us, then, walk circumspectly, &c.
2. Here is encouragement for Christians. The Lord is ever present to guide us in our way, to sustain us in difficulty and trial, to defend us from harm, and to conduct us in safety and in triumph to our rest and home with God. Wherefore, let us be of good cheer.
“In thy presence we are happy;
In Thy presence we’re secure;
In Thy presence all afflictions
We will easily endure;
In Thy presence we can conquer,
We can suffer, we can die;
Far from Thee, we faint and languish:
Lord, our Saviour, keep us nigh.”
W. Williams.
ILLUSTRATIONS
(a) If Louis Napoleon could call a senate of all the potentates in the world in Paris, and hold a congress there, the whole of them put together would not be worth the snap of a finger compared with half-a-dozen godly old women who meet together in the name of Christ as a Church, in obedience to the Lord’s command; for God would not be there with the potentates—what cares He for them?—but He would be with the most poor and despised of His people who meet together as a church in Jesus Christ’s name. “Lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world,” is more glorious than ermine, or purple, or crown. Constitute a church in the name of Christ, and meet together as such, and there is no assembly upon the face of the earth that can be compared with it, and even the assembly of the first-born in heaven is but a branch of the grand whole of which the assemblies of the Church on earth make up an essential part.—C. H. Spurgeon.
(b) There are in the Bible many allusions to this cloud; all of them indicating its remarkable and peculiar and significant character. Several times we find allusions to it in the book of Psalms. See Psa_78:14; Psa_105:39. We also find it mentioned in Neh_9:19. And we have a very beautiful allusion, assuming the shape of a cheering promise, in Isa_4:5-6 We find in all these passages very plain and unmistakeable allusions to this symbol. Now what does it seem to have been? First a lumincus fire, in the midst of the darkness of the night; supposed to extend to a mile in height into the sky, as if a great pillar, majestic in appearance, but phosphorescent or luminous and shining. Then in the daytime, when the splendour of a fire would be lost in the greater splendour of the sun, and could not necessarily be a guide to those that sought to follow it, the fire, or the luminous portion of it, retreated into the innermost recesses of the cloud, and a dark pillar, as it made of smoke or of cloud, stretched from the place where the tabernacle rested, a mile upward into the sky. And when God meant that the children of Israel should proceed forward, it marched before them, or moved before them, their signal, their director, and their guide. It was adapted exactly to the circumstances of their journey; a beautiful proof in its being cloud by day, and in its being fire by night, that God adapts the manifestations of Himself, the supplies of His wisdom, His grace, and His bounty to the peculiar circumstances, necessities, and condition of His believing people. Now, this symbol, as we gather from all the allusions to it scattered through the Scriptures, was a type of Christ, God manifest in the flesh. It was God’s mode of revealing Himself to that people in the midst of the desert; and was to them the perpetual pledge of His favourable and gracious presence.—John Cumming, D.D.
God rises upon the sight of some Christians as the sun comes right up against a clear sky, and over a sharp-cut horizon, and upon others as the sun comes up behind clouds, which it is his first work to wear out and disperse with His bright beams. I have seen men that never realized God till they were dying. Some never see Him till the midday of their life. Others see Him early in the morning. Some see Him during sickness; some after sickness; some on the occurrence of some special providence. Sometimes Christians are lifted up, through the susceptibility of their imagination, their affections, and their reason, all conjoined, into such an extraordinary sense of God’s glory that it seems as though their soul could not abide in the body, and they think, “Praise God! At last He has had mercy on me, and revealed Himself to me”—supposing that He had not before cast the light of His countenance upon them.—H. W. Beecher.
(c) It was enough for the army of Cromwell to know that he was there, the ever-victorious, the irresistible, to lead on his Ironsides to the fray. Many a time the presence of an old Roman general was equal to another legion; as soon as the cohorts perceived that he was come whose eagle eye watched every motion of the enemy, and whose practised hand led his battalions upon the most salient points of a tack, each man’s blood leaped within him, and he grasped his sword and rushed forward sure of success. My brethren, our King is in the midst of us, and our faith should be in active exercise—“The shout of a King is in the midst of us,” it is said, for where the King is there the people shout for joy, and because of confidence of victory. The preacher may preach, but what is that? but if the King be there, then it is a preaching in very deed. The congregations may have met, and they may have gone again. “The panoramic view which has dissolved,” you say. Ah, so it may seem to you, but if the Spirit of God was there, all that has been done will abide, and remain even to that day of judgment, when the fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is. “Nothing but a simple girl sitting down to talk to a few little children about their souls.” Just so, but if the Lord be there, what awe gathers round that spot! If the King Himself sit in that class, what deeds are done that shall make the angels of heaven sing anew for joy! “Nothing but a humble man, unlettered, earnest, but not eloquent, standing at the corner of a street addressing a few hundred people. His talk will soon be forgotten.” The footprints of every true servant of the Lord shall not be in the sand, but in the enduring brass, the record of which shall outlast the wreck of matter.—C. H. Spurgeon.
THE PILLAR OF CLOUD AND FIRE
(Num_9:16)
One of the most extraordinary things associated with the journey of God’s ancient people was the pillar of cloud and fire. The fame of this wonderful phenomenon was spread abroad among the nations of the earth. There were several miraculous things connected with it that made it differ from other clouds. Its form was never changed. It always maintained its station over the tabernacle, unlike other clouds, that are carried about with the wind and tempest. It preserved its consistency and shape for forty years; while other clouds are either exhaled in the sun, dissipated by the wind, or dissolved in rain or dew, and in a very short time blotted out of the firmament. It moved in a peculiar direction. And, above all, it was brighter at night than by day. We cannot be mistaken in the typical meaning of this cloud. It must be viewed as a symbol of the presence and glory of God in the midst of His people (see Exo_16:10; Exo_19:9; Exo_34:5; 1Ki_8:10). Notice two things in reference to the presence of God:
I. The Advantages of its Possession.
Let us select some of the advantages to be derived from it by believers on earth:
1. The distinction it maintains. The pillar of cloud and fire among the Israelites may be viewed as a token of their being a separate people from other nations. This distinguished them; they were the only nation that were so privileged. It was a complete division of their forces one from the other (see Exo_14:19-20). Christians, you are a peculiar people—your origin is peculiar—your character is peculiar—your spirit—your desires and affections—the objects of your pursuit. You have peculiar privileges and honours conferred on you. There is to be a marked difference between you and the world. “No man can serve two masters,” etc.
2. The guidance it ensures. All the movements of the Israelites were under the direction of this cloud. God’s presence now goes with His people for their guidance, and shall conduct them safely home. “My presence shall go with you, and I will give you rest.” Jesus is now the guide of His people. He leads in the way of truth and wisdom. How? By His example. He has gone before us in the path of duty, temptation, and sorrow. By His Word. This is our rule. By His ordinances. He sends His ministers as your guides. By His Spirit, effectually. By the leadings of His providence. As the Israelites watched the motion of the cloud, so must we the movements of His providence.
3. The protection it affords. This was remarkably the case with the Israelites when pursued by their enemies, the Egyptians.… (Psa_77:16-20.) How admirably does this apply to the protecting presence of God with His people now. They have their enemies, who thirst for their destruction. How numerous, crafty, and powerful they are! But God is their hiding-place, etc.
4. The joy it inspires. God is the source of happiness, the fountain of life. His presence gives joy even in sorrow, and makes us glory in tribulation.
5. The glory it confers. What a wondrous, glorious sight must have been the exit of the Israelites out of Egypt, and their encampment in the wilderness. Balaam viewing them from a neighbouring mountain, cried out in admiration, etc. (See Ch. Num_23:9-10). The presence of God is our highest, best, only real glory. But what is all that God confers here to what is in reserve! The partial enjoyment of God’s presence affords some particles of glory; but the full enjoyment of Him shall constitute a weight of glory.
II. The perpetuity of its enjoyment.
“So it was alway.” Notwithstanding all the sins and provocations of the Israelites, the cloud did not leave them till they arrived in Canaan. Will not this apply to Christians now in their enjoyment of God’s presence? Observe two things:
1. Its necessity. It was indispensably necessary to the Israelites, for the purposes to which we have alluded; and is it loss so now? We always need the Divine presence. We are dependent on Him for every thing. We need His providential presence and agency to continue us in being and supply our numerous wants; and we require His gracious presence for the maintenance of spiritual life, and for the reception of spiritual blessings. We need His presence for the duties of life, for consolation in sorrow, for support in temptation, peace in death, and happiness in glory. If we have His presence, we have everything; if we want it, we have nothing.
2. The manner in which it is ensured. This may be seen three ways. From what He has done—is doing—and has promised to do.
(1) A retrospect of the past. May not we say of God’s presence with His Church, “So it was alway?” Was not His presence with Abraham? and Moses? and David? and Daniel? And in the New Testament times, was He not with Peter? and Paul? He has never left His Church to the will of her enemies. But come to individual experience. Has He not been with you? Recall past scenes, deliverances, comforts, joys.
(2) A view of the present. Is He not near at hand? always accessible?
(3) A glance at the future. So it shall be always. How is it ensured? His past dealings with us would be enough; but we have more. Look at His promises. “I will never leave you,” etc. Look at the mediation of His Son. The death and intercession of Christ ensure it. Look at the influences of His Spirit. All combine to testify His continual care and watchfulness over you.
Conclusion:—
1. What a privileged character is the Christian. How many peculiar mercies.
2. The misery of the ungodly. Without God. How deplorable!—Ebenezer Temple.
THE CLOUDY PILLAR
(Num_9:15-19).
The cloudy pillar may be regarded—
I. As an emblem of Divine truth.
1. Supernatural as to origin.
2. Stable: only a cloud, yet not dispersed.
3. Adapted to both night and day.
4. Reliable.
5. Intolerant: “This is the way,” and no other.
II. As a symbol of Divine Providence.
1. Different appearance to different characters.
2. Presented alternations of aspect to the same people.
3. Mysterious in its movements.
4. Aims at the good of all who follow its guidance.
II. As a type of the Divine Saviour.
1. Mysterious nature.
2. Challenges attention.
3. His purpose beneficent.
4. The source of great comfort.
5. Constant in His attachment. LEARN,—
(1) Seek to be on the right side of the cloud.
(2) To seek it in the right place—over the tabernacle.
(3) To follow its guidance.—Biblical Museum.
THE PILGRIMAGE OF THE GOOD
(Num_9:17-23).
We propose to use these verses as illustrating the Pilgrimage of the People of God. So regarding them they present three main homiletical points for consideration:
I. The infallible Guide in the Pilgrimage of the Good.
In journeying through the desert the Israelites needed constant direction. There were no well-defined roads along which they could travel; there were no beaten tracks of travellers for their guidance; it was customary for “travellers to steer their course as mariners at sea do, by a mathematical chart. But the Israelites went by a better direction.” The Lord Himself led them by means of “the fiery, cloudy pillar.” “In the daytime he led them with a cloud, and all the night with a light of fire.” The movement of the cloud was to them “the commandment of the Lord;” its ascent from the tabernacle was the signal of departure; its descent upon the tabernacle was the signal for halting. Thus Infinite Wisdom was their Guide. In the pilgrimage of our life we also need guidance. There are perils to be avoided, misleading and evil ways to be shunned; and we have not the experience, the skill, or the wisdom to shun these ways and avoid these perils. “The way of man is not in himself; it is not in man that walketh to direct his steps.” God is still the Guide of all who acknowledge Him. Compare Psa_32:8; Psa_73:24; Pro_3:6.
In what way is this guidance now exercised?
1. By the indications of Providence. Circumstances sometimes become to us a guiding pillar, sometimes summoning us to arise and depart, or to pitch our tent and rest awhile. The good man in the combinations of circumstances frequently reads the directions of God.
2. By the teachings of the Bible, and especially by the example of Jesus Christ as it is there set forth. “Thy Word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.” “When thou goest it shall lead thee.… For the commandment is a lamp; and the law is light; and reproofs of instruction are the way of life”. “I have given you an example, that ye should do as I have done to you”. “Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow His steps.” “I am the Light of the world: he that followeth Me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.”
3. By the influences of the Holy Spirit. He enters into our being, and mysteriously and mightily influences our intellect and heart and will, and works within us deep convictions which lead to corresponding actions. Thus the Divine guidance, though no longer outward and visible, but inward and spiritual, is as real as when He led His people through the wilderness, (a)
II. The perfect Protector in the Pilgrimage of the Good.
The pillar of cloud and of fire was not only a guide, but a protection also to the Israelites. In the passage of the Red Sea it was an impenetrable barrier between them and their Egyptian pursuers. During the scorching heat of the daytime in the desert, like a veil it sheltered them from the fierce rays of the sun. And during the night its brightness shielded them from the attacks of wild beasts. It is a beautiful symbol of the Divine protection of the people of God in their pilgrimage.
1. This protection was constant. Night and day, during all their life in the desert, it was never withdrawn. (Comp. Psa_91:1-13; Psalms 121; Joh_10:27-28; 1Pe_1:5.)
2. This protection was adapted to the varying circumstances of the people. By day it assumed the aspect of a cloud, and by night that of fire. God is perfectly acquainted with us and with our circumstances, and with infinite skill He adapts His defence to our danger. He renders His faithful servants, and their very garments, utterly insensible to the heat of the furnace, even when it is heated “seven times more than it is wont to be heated”. He shuts the mouths of the hungry lions; and to His servant, tried and true, makes their den a place not only of perfect safety, but of angelic fellowship also.
3. This protection was inviolable. When this cloud was their shield, not even the mightiest and most malignant force could penetrate it to their hurt. (Comp. Psa_27:1-3; Psa_118:6; Rom_8:31; 1Pe_3:13. (b)
III. The true Spirit in the Pilgrimage of the Good.
The spirit of the Israelites in their wanderings in the desert had two characteristics which are worthy of imitation:
1. Dependence upon God. They were uncertain as to the duration of their sojourn in any place; when the cloud came down upon the tabernacle, they did not know whether it would continue there for a few hours, “or two days, or a month, or a year”. And with respect to the time of their departure, they did not know “whether by day or by night the cloud” would be taken up. They were entirely dependent upon the will of God in these matters; and, believing that the Divine Presence was in the cloud, they trusted God, and waited and watched for its movements as for His orders. We, too, are dependent upon God in our pilgrimage. Let us endeavour to realize our dependence; let us trust in Him; let us watch the movements of His providence, etc (c)
2. Obedience to God. “The children of Israel kept the charge of the Lord”, as indicated by the rising and resting of the cloud. Disobedient and rebellious in many things, yet in this they obeyed the commandment of the Lord. In this let us imitate them; let us make God’s “statutes our songs in the house of our pilgrimage”; let our prayer be, “Teach me, O Lord, the way of Thy statutes, and I shall keep it unto the end”. When God commands let us promptly and cheerfully obey; so shall our pilgrimage end in the rest and refreshment, the sanctity and society, the gladness and glory of Home.
Conclusion.
Life here is a pilgrimage in the case of every one. Be it ours to realise the fact; to seek the infallible guidance and inviolable protection of the Shepherd of Israel in our pilgrimage; and to maintain and manifest the true spirit of pilgrims; so shall our pilgrimage be secure, and our rest glorious, (d)
ILLUSTRATIONS
(a)
Lead, kindly Light, amid th’ encircling gloom,
Lead Thou me on;
The night is dark, and I am far from home;
Lead Thou me on;
Keep Thou my feet; I do not ask to see
The distant scene; one step enough for me.
I was not ever thus, nor prayed that Thou
Shouldst lead me on;
I loved to choose and see my path; but now
Lead Thou me on.
I loved the garish day, and spite of fears,
Pride ruled my will: remember not past years.
So long Thy power has blest me, sure it still
Will lead me on
O’er moor and fen, o’er crag and torrent, till
The night is gone,
And with the morn those angel faces smile
Which I have loved long since and lost a while.
J. H. Newman.
(b) The utmost degree of personal security that can be enjoyed under any form of civil power, is a most imperfect shadow of the safety which Jesus Christ bestows upon the subjects of His spiritual reign. Until a man submits to His mediatorial authority, he remains exposed to unutterable evils. He ought to feel perpetual anxiety and alarm; for, in the declared judgment of God, he is in a state of condemnation and death:—“he that believeth not in the Son of God is condemned already”; he that is not “quickened together with Christ Jesus” is “dead in trespasses and sins;” he is a criminal under sentence of execution, and only respited for a brief and uncertain period; the sword of Divine justice, suspended over him, may fall at any moment, and he is lost for ever. This is certainly the condition of every unconverted sinner—every one that has not yielded himself a willing subject to Jesus Christ his Lord. But “Kiss the Son;” yield yourself as such a subject to Him; and from that moment, you are placed in a state of perfect security; you are saved with a great salvation—protected from the wrath of God, from the dread of eternity, from the misery of sin; according to the prophet’s beautiful description of our Saviour—“In that day a King shall reign in righteousness; and a man shall be as a covert from the storm, as the shadow of a great rock in a weary land”. The subjects of Jesus Christ, justified by faith, have peace with God. The last donation He promised His disciples was peace:—“Peace I leave with you; My peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth give I unto you”. “My peace!”—the same peace which filled the bosom of the eternal Son of God, when, having finished His work, He was acknowledged by the Father as His “Beloved Son, in whom he was well pleased”. For, “because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts”—of His Son, the First-born of many brethren. And (as the Apostle argues) “if God be for us, who shall be against us? Who shall lay anything to the charge of God’s elect? Shall God that justifieth? Who is he that condemneth? Christ that died, yea, rather that is risen for us? Who shall separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord?” The Church of Christ, as a collective society, is invested with absolute security; it is a city on whose walls is engraven the name, JEHOVAH SHAMMAH, THE LORD IS THERE! it stands fast “like Mount Zion that cannot be moved;” it is founded on a Rock, and that Rock is Christ: He has “all power in heaven and earth” for its preservation; and not “the gates of hell shall prevail against it”. But a portion of this general security of the body belongs to every member of it: every believer in Christ enjoys the same; and, as he grows in grace and knowledge, he feels himself at peace with God; this peace keeps and justifies his heart and mind against every assailing trouble; and, on the most trying occasions, he learns to say with humble confidence, “I will go forth in the strength of the Lord”.—Robert Hall, A.M.
(c) Everything in their experience taught them their dependence upon God. They were led throught a region that no adventurer had ever explored, or foot had ever trod. When they pitched their tents at eventide, they knew not at what hour they should strike them, nor whether they should strike them at all; there might be forced years of encampment in that one spot; there might be forced marches and rapid progress; but they had no control over it: as the pillar went, and wherever the pillar went, they went; and as they sounded forth their matin song of praise there was not a man in the whole congregation that could tell through what rocky clifts or woody defiles the echoes of the vesper hymn would sound. Their supply was as miraculous as their guidance. No plough had turned up the soil, no river murmured by their side; they never gazed for forty years upon one solitary blossom of the spring time, nor the golden grain ever once in their sight bent gracefully to the sickle of the reaper; they were fed with manna which they knew not.
“When faint they were and parched with drought,
Water at His word gushed out.”
Oh! it is the world’s grandest illustration of man’s absolute feebleness and of God’s eternal power 600,000 fighting men, besides women and children, led by Divine leadership, and fed by Divine bounty, for the space of forty years. Brethren, the dealings of Providence with ourselves are intended to show us our dependence upon God, and to humble us in the dust under His mighty hand. We are very proud sometimes, and we talk about our endowments, and we boast largely of what we have done, and what we intend to do; but we can do absolutely nothing. The athletic frame—how soon can He bring it down! The well-endowed heritage—how soon can He scatter it! The mental glance, keen and piercing—how soon can He bring upon it the dimness and bewilderment of years! We cannot any one of us, bring ourselves into being; we cannot, any one of us, sustain ourselves in being for a moment. Alas! who of us can stay the spirit when the summons has gone forth that it must die?—W. M. Punshon, LL.D.
(d) We are all upon a journey. We are walking either by faith or by sight. We have either committed our destiny to God, or we have taken it under our own care. Can you order your own destiny as well as God? Would you rather trust your own eye than the eye of Omniscience? I address some who have no other care than to walk with God. With firm hold of His hand they wander on, knowing that He will lead them by a path they have not known. Happy the people that are in such a case! They are what they are by the grace of God,—that grace which stands for ever revealed and honoured in the Person and work of JESUS. And now we are going on; the road is often mountainous, and many a wild beast prowls upon it; but we are obeying God, and obedience ensures perpetual joy. It is God’s to lead; it is man’s to follow. We are going to a land of which Canaan was but a poor emblem,—we advance toward a city which hath foundations whose builder and maker is God! If the road is sometimes dreary, the Guide is ever safe. God hath not permitted imagination to conceive the end. Fancy’s mighty wing cannot soar to the altitude of such sublimity. It remains a mystery till our eyes are closed in death. Be it ours to move our tent and erect our altar as God may direct. We shall in due time exchange the tent for an ever-during mansion, and our prayer shall burst into praise. Our journey hath an end,—its name is HEAVEN. But what is involved in that term “heaven,” we can never know on earth. Loiter not in the way. The shadows deepen. One star more venturous than others is already twinkling, and telling of the coming night. Up! my brethren,—FORWARD, ye hosts of God!
“Here in the body pent,
Absent from Him we roam,
Yet nightly pitch our moving tent
A day’s march nearer home”.
Joseph Parker, D.D.
THE CLOUD TARRYING
(Num_9:22)
The Israelites were favoured by God with the pillar of fire and cloud. Hereby they were reminded of His special presence, and instructed as to His will. If it moved, they must journey; if it tarried, they must encamp. Let us describe these seasons, when the cloud tarried. Remembering although we have no visible symbol of the Divine will, yet we are not ignorant of His mind. If Israel of old had the cloud, we have the Word of God, and the Holy Spirit to teach us.
I. A word of description.
The time “the cloud tarried” was:
1. One of rest. Such times in our experience. Blessed tranquillity. Sweetest fellowships with each other.
2. One of spiritual activity. Then they worshipped in the tabernacle, etc. Use your opportunities. Go while you can to the means of grace.
3. Peculiarly a time of temptation. Remember Taberah and the consuming fire, Num_11:1; Hazeroth and Miriam’s leprosy, Num_12:10; remember the fiery serpents, and the blasphemy of Sinai. In these haltings the people sinned most grievously.
II. A word of exhortation.
1. Be more anxious to keep the cloud in sight than to see it tarry. We are responsible for the one, but not for the other. We must strive to delight more in God’s will, than in what we desire.
2. Be more anxious to improve than enjoy these refreshing times. Times like these are for holy labour as well as for peaceful quiet and contemplation. Think not that Nathanael was always sitting beneath the fig tree.
3. Be more anxious to improve than prolong these periods. Seek not so much a protracted as a useful life. Strive to use seasons of rest and prosperity, rather than marring them by over anxiety about the morrow.
III. A word of caution.
1. If the cloud tarry long, think not it will never move. The Church, the home, the soul must have vicissitudes. Activity is necessary to every form of life. Rest should be the preparation time for exertion.
2. Be not impatient if it tarry when you wish to journey. It does rest sometimes over a desert land. Such is life to some of you aged ones. There were most arid deserts in the confines of Canaan.
3. Be ready, that whenever the cloud moves you may be ready to journey. Whether it be to go forward to the fight, to the Elim of plenty, or the land of promise.—R. A. Griffin.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary (gen. ed. Joseph S. Exell; Funk & Wagnalls, c. 1892) — public domain (pre-1929). A full-Bible homiletical/sermon-outline anthology covering 65 of 66 books (2 John is absent from the source module). Text from a community e-Sword module.
J. R. Dummelow 1909 · Public Domain Rules about the Passover. The Cloud as Guide
Rules about the Passover. The Cloud as Guide
1-5. The Passover of the second year. This Passover took place before the events narrated in Numbers 1 : cp. Num_9:1 with Num_1:1. The repetition of the injunction to keep the Passover was necessary, because the law in Exodus did not contemplate the possibility of a Passover in the wilderness: see Exo_12:25.
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6-14. The Supplementary Passover. Certain persons who were unable to celebrate the Passover at the proper time, because of a ceremonial defilement (Num_9:6), are enjoined to observe a supplementary Passover on the fourteenth day of the second month (Num_9:9.) This was called 'The Little Passover.'
13. Cutoff] see on Lev_7:21.
14. Stranger] one who is not a Hebrew by birth but has been admitted into the nation by circumcision, a proselyte; see Exo_12:19, Exo_12:48.
15-23. The cloudy pillar as a signal on the march. This passage is parallel to Exo_40:34-38 : see on Exo_13:21.
22. It is clear from this v. that the people were not continually marching during their sojourn in the wilderness: see intro. to Numbers 1.
J. R. Dummelow, A Commentary on the Holy Bible (Macmillan, 1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
C. I. Scofield 1917 · Public Domain first month
first month
i.e. April; also Num 9:5.
The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Arno C. Gaebelein 1922 · Public Domain 7. Passover and Jehovah with his People
7. Passover and Jehovah with his People
CHAPTER 9
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1. The command to keep the Passover (Num 9:1-3)
2. The Passover kept (Num 9:4-5)
3. Provision in case of defilement (Num 9:6-14)
4. Jehovah with His people (Num 9:15-23)
Jehovah next commands His people to keep the feast of redemption, Passover. And they obeyed at once. The first Passover was held in Egypt, the second in the wilderness at Sinai, with their faces turned towards the land of promise, and it was next celebrated in the land of Canaan. This shows how essential the blood is for everything. The blood delivers out of Egypt, it keeps in the wilderness and brings into the land of promise. Here in the wilderness they looked back to redemption as it had been accomplished in Egypt, the sprinkled blood of the paschal lamb had delivered them, and they looked forward to the land towards which they journeyed. Jehovah, who had delivered them out of Egypt by blood, carried His people through the wilderness, supplying all their wants, and brought them in virtue of that redemption blood, the ever blessed type of the precious blood of the Lamb, into the land of Canaan. We have the Lord’s table where we enjoy the feast of redemption, feeding on Himself and His great love. There we look back to the Cross where He died, and praise Him for our deliverance. There we look forward to the blessed goal “till He comes.” And we know that while on the way all our need shall be supplied, according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus.
A gracious provision was made for the men who were defiled by the dead or were on a journey afar. They could keep the Passover a month later, in the second month on the fourteenth day. The men who were defiled made a confession of it. And Moses not knowing what to do about their case turned to the Lord for instruction, which was immediately given. The grace of God met this need in a blessed way. There was time given for cleansing and for return from the journey and then a month later they could keep the Passover. None was to be shut out from the feast of redemption which God in His grace had provided for His people. Confession and self-judgment are needed in keeping the Lord’s Supper. If the wanderer but returns he finds a welcome at the table He has spread for His people. What grace the Lord manifests towards His people! But how little grace those who are the objects of His love and grace manifest towards each other! If one, however, did neglect the Passover wilfully, he was to be cut off from among his people. Such neglect showed that he had no heart for Jehovah and His redemption.
And the cloud was with His people. In that cloud Jehovah was present, He was with His people. They tarried and journeyed according to the command of the Lord. The cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night. “So it was alway.” He did not leave His dwelling place in the midst of the people. All their movements were ordered by the cloud, that is, by the Lord Himself.
That mighty camp of over 600,000 men of twenty years and over, the 22,000 Levites and the hundreds of thousands of women and children, were dependent on the cloud. They could make no plans of their own. They did not know where they would go the next day. When they camped they did not know for how long it would be; when they marched they were ignorant how long it would last. Their eyes had to be fixed every morning, every night and throughout the day upon the cloud. They had to look up. Daily they were dependent upon Jehovah and upon the cloud for guidance.
And does He do anything less for His people living in the present age? Is the promise of guidance confined to Israel? Is it still His promise to His trusting child, “I will guide thee with mine eye”? Every Christian knows that he is under His care and under His guidance. If He guided Israel thus, how much more He will guide us who are, through grace, members of His body, one spirit with the Lord! How often we frustrate the manifestations of His power and His love by choosing our own path.
“Thus it was with Israel, and thus it should be with us. We are passing through a trackless desert--a moral wilderness. There is absolutely no way. We should not know how to walk, or where to go, were it not for that one most precious, most deep, most comprehensive sentence which fell from the lips of our blessed Lord, ‘I am the way.’ Here is divine, infallible guidance. We are to follow Him. ‘I am the light of the world: he that followeth Me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life’ (John 8). This is living guidance. It is not acting according to the letter of certain rules and regulations; it is following a living Christ--walking as He walked, doing as He did, imitating His example in all things. This is Christian movement--Christian action. It is keeping the eye fixed upon Jesus, and having the features, traits and lineaments of His character imprinted on our new nature, and reflected back or reproduced in our daily life and ways.
“Now this will assuredly involve the surrender of our own will, our own plans, our own management, altogether. We must follow the cloud: we must wait ever, wait only upon God. We cannot say, We shall go here or there, do this or that, tomorrow, or next week. All our movements must be placed under the regulating power of that one commanding sentence (often, alas! lightly penned and uttered by us), ‘If the Lord will.’“ (C.H. Mackintosh).
Arno C. Gaebelein, The Annotated Bible (1913–1922) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Paul E. Kretzmann 1924 · Public Domain The Passover Proper
The Passover Proper
v. 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,
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v. 2. Let the children of Israel also keep the Passover at his appointed season. It was true, indeed, that the Lord had instituted the Passover as a memorial before the Lord forever, Exo 12:14, but there was a possibility of the people’s understanding the command as referring to the time of their living in Canaan only, Exo 12:25. So the Lord at this time, immediately after the erection of the Tabernacle, Exo 40:2-17, repeated the command enjoining the regular celebration of the festival, at that same certain time which had been set for that purpose.
v. 3. In the fourteenth day of this month, at even, literally, "between the two evenings," Exo 12:6, 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. The essential feature of the festival, the sacrifice of the Passover lamb, remained throughout the ages, even after the ceremonies which were peculiar to the first celebration in Egypt, such as the eating of the meal attired in traveling dress and the painting of the door-posts and lintels with blood, had been discontinued.
v. 4. And Moses spake unto the children of Israel that they should keep the Passover.
v. 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. It is a striking feature of the narrative at this time that it refers time and again to the obedience of the Israelites. It was the time of their first love. The great test of believers at all times is their steadfastness after the force of the first mighty impetus is spent, Rev 2:4.
Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 in the first month of the second year after…
in the first month of the second year after they came out from the land of Egypt
This means that they had come out of Egypt a year earlier. They were beginning their second year in the wilderness. (See: Ordinal Numbers)
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in the first month
This is the first month of the Hebrew calendar. It marks when God brought the people of Israel out of Egypt. (See: Hebrew Months and Ordinal Numbers)
after they came out from the land of Egypt
Here "they" refers to the people of Israel. The phrase "came out" means to leave. AT: "after they left the land of Egypt" (See: Idiom)
Let the people ... at its fixed time of year
The word "fixed" means "previously set." This means that this is when the observe it every year. AT: "Let the people ... at the time of year they currently observe it" (See: Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)
On the fourteenth day ... at its fixed time of year
This is the set time of year that they celebrate the Passover. The full meaning of this statement can be made clear. AT: "On the fourteenth day ... and observe it, for this is the time you do celebrate it every year" (See: Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)
the fourteenth day
"day 14" (See: Ordinal Numbers)
follow all the regulations, and obey all the decrees
These two phrases mean basically the same thing and are combined to emphasize that they needed to obey the commands. (See: Parallelism)
You must keep it
Here the phrase "keep it" is an idiom which means to observe it. AT: "You must observe it" or "You must celebrate it" (See: Idiom)
translationWords
Yahweh
Moses
desert
Sinai
year
Egypt
people group
Israel
Passover
day
obey
decree
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 9:1-14 A year after Israel’s exodus from Egypt, the…
9:1-14 A year after Israel’s exodus from Egypt, the time came for Israel to celebrate their second Passover in the wilderness of Sinai. Those unable to celebrate it on time were given permission to do so a month later.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.