Numbers 9

AND the LORD spake unto Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, in the first month of the second year And therefore before the numbring of the people, which was not till the second moneth, Numb. 1. 1, 2. But it is placed after it, because of a special case relating to the Passe-over, which hapned after it, and which is here related, upon occasion whereof he mentions the command of God for the keeping of the Passe-over 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 Exod. 12. 25., after they were come out of the land of Egypt, saying,

Let the children of Israel also keep the passe-over at its appointed season.

In the fourteenth day of this month at even, ye shall keep it in its appointed season: according to all the rites of So far as concerned the Lamb and the unleavened bread, &c. for there were some things peculiar to the first Passe-over in Egypt, as that they were to eat it in, with their loins grided, their shoes on their feet, and their staffe in their hand, which were not properly Rites or Ceremonies of the Passe-over, but circumstances of their present condition, being then Travellers and ready to depart, &c, Qu. Whence had they meal to make unleavened bread? Answ. They were not now in haste, and so had time enough to procure it out of the land of Midian by the help of Moses his Father-in-law who lived there, which land was not far from Hor... b or Sinai, as appears from Exod. 3. 1. 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 passe-over.

And they kept the passe-over 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.

And there were certain men who were defiled by the dead body of a man By the touch of a dead body, or something belonging to it. See Numb. 19. 11., that they could not keep the passe-over Because unclean persons were prohibited to eat of holy things. See Levit. 7. 20. and 22. 3. on that day: and they came before Moses For resolution of their difficulty., and before Aaron on that day.

And those men said unto him, We are defiled by the dead body of a man: wherefore are we kept back, that we may not offer Which if we neglect, we must be cut off, and if we keep it in these circumstances, we must also be cut off. What shall we do? an offering of the LORD (i. e.) The Passeover, so called, because it was both killed and eaten in obedience to Gods command, and to Gods honour, and as a thank-offering to God for his great mercies. in its appointed season, among the children of Israel?

And Moses said unto them, stand still, and I will hear what the LORD will command concerning you God having promised to answer and direct him upon his address to him in difficult cases..

And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,

to 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 Under these two instances the Hebrews think that other hinderances of like nature are comprehended, as if one be hindred by a disease, or by any other such kind of uncleanness, which may seem probable both from the nature of the thing, and the reason of the Law which is the same in other cases, and from the application of this rule to other cases, 2 Chron. 30. afar off In some remote countrey, whence he cannot return sooner., yet ye shall keep the passeover unto the LORD.

The fourteenth day of the second month at even they shall keep it, and eat it with unleavened bread and bitter herbs.

They shall leave none of it unto the morning But either eat or burn it before that time., nor break any bone of it: according to all the ordinances of the passeover, they shall keep it.

But the man that is clean, and is not in a journey, and forbeareth to keep the passeover Through contempt or neglect, without these or any other just impediments, as before.: even the same soul shall be cut off from his people, because he brought not the offering of the LORD in its appointed season: that man shall bear his sin.

And if a stranger To wit, a Proselyte. shall sojourn among you, and will keep the passeover unto the LORD, according to the ordinance of the passeover, 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.

And on the day that the tabernacle was reared up, the cloud Of which see Exod. 13. 12. covered the tabernacle, namely, the tent of the testimony Or, The Tabernacle towards or above the tent of the Testimony, i. e. that part of the Tabernacle in which was the Testimony, or the ark of the Testimony; for there the cloudy pillar stood, Levit. 16. 2. This was an evident token of Gods special presence with and providence over them. See Exod. 14. 20, 24. Psal. 105. 39. And this cloud was easily distinguished from other clouds both by its peculiar figure and by its constant residence in that place.: and at even there was upon the tabernacle, as it were the appearance of fire That they might better discern it and direct themselves and their journeys or stations by it., 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 Or, Ascended on high, above its ordinary place, by which it became more visible to all the camp. 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 motion or stay of the cloud is fitly called the command of God, because it was a signification of Gods will and their duty, which a command properly is. 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 the tents.

And when the cloud tarried long upon the tabernacle many days, then the children of Israel kept the charge of the LORD (i. e.) The command of God mentioned before, that should stay as long as the cloud stayed, as the same phrase is manifestly taken below, ver. 23. And this, says he, they did, though it were long in one place, which was tedious to them, who desired to change places and to make haste to Canaan, yet they obeyed God herein against their own inclinations. Which because it was remarkable in so obstinate a people, it is so largely and particularly mentioned here, as an instance of their obedience, and as an aggravation of the many following instances of their Apostacy and Disobedience., 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.