CLARITY EDITION · OLD TESTAMENT
Numbers 9
Chapter 9 of 36
Chapter Overview
What happens in Numbers 9
The Israelites celebrate the Passover in the wilderness for the first time since leaving Egypt. God makes a special rule for people who cannot celebrate on time. The chapter also describes how a cloud over the tabernacle guided the people on when to travel and when to camp.
Scripture
Numbers 9
Passover in the Wilderness
Study note
In the first month of the second year after leaving Egypt, God told the people to celebrate the Passover at the appointed time. This was the annual remembrance of how God had rescued them from slavery in Egypt by passing over their homes while striking the firstborn of the Egyptians.
1 The Lord spoke to Moses in the Sinai desert. It was the first month of the second year after leaving Egypt. He said, And the LORD spake unto Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, in the first month of the second year after they were come out of the land of Egypt, saying,
2 "The Israelites must celebrate the Passover at its proper time." Let the children of Israel also keep the passover at his appointed season.
3 "Hold the celebration on the fourteenth day of this month at twilight. Follow every rule and regulation connected with it." In the fourteenth day of this month, at even, ye shall keep it in his appointed season: according to all the rites of it, and according to all the ceremonies thereof, shall ye keep it.
4 Moses passed along the directions. He told the Israelites to celebrate the Passover. And Moses spake unto the children of Israel, that they should keep the passover.
5 On the fourteenth day of the first month at twilight, there in the Sinai wilderness, they celebrated the Passover. The Israelites did everything exactly as the Lord had told Moses. 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.
A Second Chance for Passover
Study note
Some men were unable to celebrate the Passover because they had touched a dead body and were unclean. God provided a solution: anyone who was unclean or traveling could celebrate the Passover one month later, in the second month. However, anyone who was clean and not traveling but chose not to celebrate would be cut off from the community.
6 Some men, however, had become unclean by touching a dead body and could not celebrate the Passover that day. They went to Moses and Aaron with their problem. And there were certain men, who were defiled by the dead body of a man, that they could not keep the passover on that day: and they came before Moses and before Aaron on that day:
7 They asked Moses, "We became unclean because of a dead body. But why should that stop us from presenting the Lord's offering at the right time along with everyone else?" And those men said unto him, We are defiled by the dead body of a man: wherefore are we kept back, that we may not offer an offering of the LORD in his appointed season among the children of Israel?
8 Moses told them, "Wait here while I go ask the Lord what to do about your situation." And Moses said unto them, Stand still, and I will hear what the LORD will command concerning you.
9 The Lord answered Moses, And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
10 "Tell the Israelites. You or your future children might become unclean from touching a dead body. Or you might be far away on a trip. You may still keep the Lord's Passover." Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, If any man of you or of your posterity shall be unclean by reason of a dead body, or be in a journey afar off, yet he shall keep the passover unto the LORD.
11 "Celebrate it on the fourteenth day of the second month at twilight instead. Eat the Passover lamb with unleavened bread and bitter herbs." The fourteenth day of the second month at even they shall keep it, and eat it with unleavened bread and bitter herbs.
12 "Do not save any of it until morning, and do not break any of the lamb's bones. Follow all the standard Passover rules." They shall leave none of it unto the morning, nor break any bone of it: according to all the ordinances of the passover they shall keep it.
13 "But if someone is clean and not traveling and still skips the Passover, that person must be cut off from the community. They failed to bring the Lord's offering at the right time and must face what comes." But the man that is clean, and is not in a journey, and forbeareth to keep the passover, even the same soul shall be cut off from among his people: because he brought not the offering of the LORD in his appointed season, that man shall bear his sin.
14 "An outsider among you might want to keep the Lord's Passover. He must follow the same rules. One set of rules applies to everyone." 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.
The Cloud Guides Israel
Study note
When the tabernacle was first set up, a cloud covered it during the day and appeared like fire at night. When the cloud lifted from the tabernacle, the people would pack up and travel. When the cloud settled, they would make camp. Whether it was two days, a month, or a year, the people followed the cloud's movements as God's direct guidance.
15 On the day the tabernacle was set up, a cloud settled over it. It covered the tent of the testimony. From evening until morning, it glowed above the tabernacle like fire. And on the day that the tabernacle was reared up the cloud covered the tabernacle, namely, the tent of the testimony: and at even there was upon the tabernacle as it were the appearance of fire, until the morning.
16 This was the constant pattern: the cloud covered the tabernacle during the day and glowed like fire at night. So it was alway: the cloud covered it by day, and the appearance of fire by night.
17 Whenever the cloud rose up from the tent, the Israelites would pack up and start traveling. Wherever the cloud came down and stopped, the Israelites would set up camp. And when the cloud was taken up from the tabernacle, then after that the children of Israel journeyed: and in the place where the cloud abode, there the children of Israel pitched their tents.
18 The Israelites traveled when the Lord signaled them to move and stopped when the Lord signaled them to stop. They stayed camped as long as the cloud remained over the tabernacle. At the commandment of the LORD the children of Israel journeyed, and at the commandment of the LORD they pitched: as long as the cloud abode upon the tabernacle they rested in their tents.
19 Sometimes the cloud hovered over the tabernacle for many days. During those times, the Israelites obeyed the Lord and stayed put. And when the cloud tarried long upon the tabernacle many days, then the children of Israel kept the charge of the LORD, and journeyed not.
20 Other times the cloud only stayed for a few days. Following the Lord's signal, they would camp and then move on. And so it was, when the cloud was a few days upon the tabernacle; according to the commandment of the LORD they abode in their tents, and according to the commandment of the LORD they journeyed.
21 Sometimes the cloud stayed overnight. When it lifted the next morning, they traveled. Day or night, whenever the cloud rose up, they moved out. And so it was, when the cloud abode from even unto the morning, and that the cloud was taken up in the morning, then they journeyed: whether it was by day or by night that the cloud was taken up, they journeyed.
22 Whether the cloud stayed over the tabernacle for two days, a month, or even a whole year, the Israelites remained camped and did not travel. But the moment it lifted, they headed out. Or whether it were two days, or a month, or a year, that the cloud tarried upon the tabernacle, remaining thereon, the children of Israel abode in their tents, and journeyed not: but when it was taken up, they journeyed.
23 They camped when the Lord told them to camp and traveled when the Lord told them to travel. They followed the Lord's direction, given through Moses. 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.
Key Themes
Themes in Numbers 9
Remembering God's deliveranceA second chance for the excludedFollowing God's guidance day by dayTrust in God's timing
Prophetic Connections
How this chapter points to Christ
Numbers 9:12 John 19:36
The instruction that no bone of the Passover lamb shall be broken points to Jesus, the ultimate Passover Lamb, whose bones were not broken at the crucifixion.
Apply This Today
Living Numbers 9
God graciously provides second chances for those who miss an opportunity through no fault of their own. The cloud over the tabernacle teaches us to follow God's leading rather than rushing ahead or lagging behind. Faithfulness means being ready to move or stay as God directs.
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