THROUGH THE BIBLE - Numbers..

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com. That's cornerstonerbc.com. And the Lord 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, Let the people of Israel keep the Passover and its appointed time. On the 14th day of this month at twilight, you shall keep it at its appointed time.

According to all its statutes and all its rules, you shall keep it. So Moses told the people of Israel that they should keep the Passover. And they kept the Passover in the first month, on the 14th day of the month, at twilight, in the wilderness of Sinai, according to all that the Lord commanded Moses, so the people of Israel did. And there were certain men who were unclean through touching a dead body, so that they could not keep the Passover on that day. And they came before Moses and Aaron on that day, and those men said to him, We are unclean through touching a dead body.

Why are we kept from bringing the Lord's offering at its appointed time among the people of Israel? And Moses said to them, Wait, that I may hear what the Lord will command concerning you. The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, Speak to the people of Israel, saying, If any one of you or your descendants is unclean through touching a dead body or is on a long journey, he shall still keep the Passover to the Lord. In the second month, On the fourteenth day, at twilight, they shall keep it. They shall eat it with unleavened bread and bitter herbs.

Thou shalt leave none of it until the morning, nor break any of its bones. According to all the statutes for the Passover, they shall keep it. But if anyone who is clean and is not on a journey fails to keep the Passover, that person shall be cut off from his people, because he did not bring the Lord's offering at its appointed time, that man shall bear his sin. And if a stranger sojourns among you and would keep the Passover to the Lord according to the statutes of the Passover and according to its rule, so shall he do. You shall have one statute both for the sojourner and for the native.

On the day that the tabernacle was built up, the cloud covered the tabernacle, the tent of testimony. And at evening, it was over the tabernacle, like the appearance of fire, until morning. So it was always the cloud covered it by day and the appearance of fire by night. And whenever the cloud lifted from over the tent, After that, the people of Israel set out, and in the place where the cloud settled down, there the people of Israel camped. At the command of the Lord, the people of Israel set out, and at the command of the Lord they camped.

As long as the cloud rested over the tabernacle, they remained in camp. Even when the cloud continued over the tabernacle, many days the people of Israel kept the charge of the Lord and did not set out. Sometimes the cloud was a few days over the tabernacle, and according to the command of the Lord, they remained in camp. Then according to the command of the Lord, they set out. And sometimes the cloud remained from evening till morning, and when the cloud lifted in the morning, they set out.

Or if it continued for a day and a night, when the cloud lifted, they set out. Whether it was two days or a month or a long time, that the cloud continued over the tabernacle. Abiding there, the people of Israel remained in camp and did not set out. But when it lifted, they set out. At the command of the Lord, they camped.

And at the command of the Lord, they set out. They kept the charge of the Lord at the command of the Lord by Moses. Amen. Amen. The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of the Lord remains forever.

Well, we're in chapter 9 of the book of Numbers. We're working our way through. We've worked our way through the first three books of the Bible. Now we're in the fourth, and it just seems like time is absolutely flowing by, and we'll be through the Pentateuch in no time, it feels. But we know where we are.

We know where the people of Israel are. They're still at Sinai, at the base of Sinai, and they're preparing. The Lord is preparing these people to begin their journey into the promised land. And we know this because from the very first chapter in the book of Numbers, the people of Israel are declared, you can say, as the army of Yahweh being prepared for the conquest. And they'll begin to move towards that direction in the very next chapter, in chapter 10, which is a very important chapter.

However, we've said on numerous occasions that there are portions in this book that are not chronological. And that is to say, for example, the contents that we have before us here in chapter 9 of this book actually take place before the contents in chapter 1. That can be a bit confusing, but we need to keep that in the back of our minds so we can get an understanding of what's going on. However, one thing we need to make sure of is this, that the author, the inspired author of this book, Moses himself, has organized the information and the details of this book in a particular way, under inspiration of the Holy Spirit, for a very important reason. And the fact that he's giving instruction to Israel about the Passover in chapter 9, and it's the last instruction he's given, or it's recorded, I should say, before the people of Israel begin to go towards the Promised Land, as God has instructed.

So the text begins to shift into that direction. It makes us think that there's something very important about this observance that Moses is giving to the people. It's critical. I want you to think about it for a moment. Moses is about to tell us in chapter 10, the very next chapter, about something huge.

It's a huge event. The promise that God made over 400 years earlier to these people is about to be fulfilled. They're about to walk in or about to be taken towards the direction of conquering the land and the Canaanites and take the land unto themselves. And the last thing the Holy Spirit carries Moses to say before he brings that narrative to bear is remember the Passover. Why?

Beloved, it's because it is absolutely critical for the people of God to look back and to be reminded of who they once were. Look back. Israel is to look back and remember that they were slaves, that they were living in misery, and there was no possible way of escape. None at all. Nothing they could do.

They were trapped. They were in prison. They could not do anything. And Yahweh is saying that I, your God, I, Yahweh, have come to your rescue. I am your Redeemer.

And don't forget it. By the mighty hand of God Himself, He rescued these people from the hands of the evil taskmasters in Egypt. And he destroyed the firstborn. We know that of the Egyptians. But he spared the lives of these people through the shedding of blood, through the shedding of innocent blood of a lamb.

Blood, you remember, smeared upon the lintels of your home and the doorposts. Redemption came through the shedding of blood. But here's the thing, it wasn't your blood that was shed. No, it was the blood of a blemishless substitute. Remember that.

Never, never forget that. Passover is to be a perpetual reminder for these people, these old covenant people, that the wrath of God passed over their homes. Not because of their worthiness or their righteousness. In fact, these people were just as wicked as the Egyptians were told. They worshipped the same gods.

They engaged in the same evil, idolatrous, pagan practices. We know that. Joshua 24 tells us and the prophets continue to tell us as we progress through Scripture. These people were wicked of heart. That's not why the Lord saved them.

The Lord saved them by His grace and by His grace alone. They have no merit. They have nothing to hold on to to say that He saw something wonderful in us and therefore He saved us. That's not it at all. And they were saved through the shed blood of a substitute.

And they must never, ever forget that truth. Never. So the Passover that was first celebrated on the eve of that freedom that they enjoyed, the eve of the freedom from being under bondage to the evil taskmasters in Egypt, that same Passover is to be observed by the people of Israel perpetually starting in the passage, starting on the 40th day of the first month. And it's to be observed by all of Israel, and it's to be observed in all generations, we're told. called always to look back and remember.

Because why? Because not only are they to look back and remember who they were and the salvation of the Lord, the redemption of the Lord that has come, but the future blessings that they're going to enjoy, even now, for the presence of Yahweh, He's dwelling among His people. And the future blessings of them receiving the land and so forth will be predicated and rooted upon what took place in the Passover. It's predicated upon That lamb that was slain in their behalf. Because apart from that lamb, there would either be slaves or were dead.

Remember, look back and remember. And beyond that, beloved, the God of this universe, the only true God, is pleased to call them his own and is pleased to dwell among them because of what took place in the Passover. So on the 14th day of the first month of the second year, that's where we're at now, the people in the wilderness at Sinai are called to celebrate the second Passover. And it's a statute not to be neglected. It's a statute to be observed by them and passed down to all generations.

In fact, back in Exodus chapter 12, if you remember, when the first Passover took place on the eve that they were rescued from Egypt. If you remember, Moses spoke to the people because God had given him a word to speak to the people on that evening. And he said to them these words. He said, and when your children say to you, what do you mean by this service? This service meaning the Passover.

you shall say it is the sacrifice of the Lord's Passover for he passed over the houses of Israel of the people of Israel in Egypt when he struck the Egyptians but spared our homes and the people bowed their heads and they worshipped you teach your children you let them teach their children let them teach their children again what the Lord has done for you he passed over And He didn't require of you your life as He did the firstborn in Egypt. Remember where you are and what the Lord has done. Teach your children. Teach the strangers even who come to your land and want to live among you. There is one statute about this Passover, in verse 14 we're told, and it works for the native and also for the sojourner, the stranger in the land.

And beloved, as we read now in Exodus chapter 12, the only fitting response after meditating upon these things is what? Is they bowed down their heads and they worshipped. And then we have a few men in chapter or verse 6 who are eager to worship in this way, except they had a dilemma. They become unclean. That is, ceremonially unclean through the touching of a dead person or someone touching something dead.

Now Leviticus chapter 7 is very clear. If anyone becomes unclean in this way, they cannot partake of eating of a sacrifice that has been offered to the Lord. In fact, the punishment is severe. They're told that they could be at risk of being cut off from the people of God. And doubtless these men were aware of that fact.

And so they come to Aaron and Moses, and they make their appeal to them. Realize, I want you to realize something, they don't try to conceal the fact that they're unclean. They don't try to get away with it. Rather, they recognize the state of uncleanliness they're in, and they come to Moses and say, Moses, what's the remedy? We really want to partake in this act of worship.

Can we? I love what Moses does. He's been leading the people for over a year now. You would have to say he's grown in confidence. But his leadership has not got into his head.

He doesn't on the spot give the pragmatic answer. What works? I think I can tell you what you should and shouldn't do. But rather he tells them what? Wait.

Wait. See, the law is clear about what is clean and what is unclean. Moses knows that for sure. And the Passover is a sacred celebration. It needs to be observed exactly as Yahweh prescribed.

Moses knows that much. So he knows he can't modify or change anything the Lord has given. But at the same time, Moses knows how important it is for all of God's people to partake and remember the deliverance of Yahweh from the hands of the Egyptians. He knows he has those two things in his mind. So what does he do?

He goes to the Lord. And he says to the Lord, he asks of the Lord, he waits for a word from the Lord. That's what he does. Beloved, that is incredible wisdom. To not act upon one's own understanding, one's own human wisdom, or to act on what is practical in the situation, but rather to appeal to the word of the Lord.

Let's seek God in this, and that's what Moses does. Word comes back and the provision is made. If one is unclean or if one has been journeying outside the land and was unable to partake in the Passover, then a Passover, second Passover, would take place one month after the first Passover. First one's the first month, 14th day, first month. The second would be on the 14th day of the second month.

And that would be celebrated by the people who missed out. The same stipulations are carried out according to the law of God, according to how He's prescribed, and they're supposed to be obeyed exactly how the Lord gave them, except it'll be a month later. And beloved, this is a command. This is not a suggestion, it's a command. If you're unclean on the first month, make sure you are clean for the second.

And if you're outside the land, make sure you come back and you partake. Beloved, this is indeed a show of the love of God, of the grace and the mercy of God that he condescends to accommodate for his people in this way. It's incredible. But also I want you to see that it's also a show of how important it is that the people do actually partake in the Passover and how the Lord sees this as being critically important. Because it's a reminder of their salvation.

It's a reminder of what He's done for them. This is why throughout the Old Testament, as you read and you read through the prophets and so forth, all through the Old Testament, you'll continually see that the Lord God is reminding His people through the prophets about Him rescuing them from the land of Egypt. Look back, remember who you were, where you were, and remember what I've done for you. That's the message. And the Passover is such a reminder for these people.

And if someone didn't want to engage in the Passover, if someone was well and clean, ceremonially clean and in the land, and they didn't want to engage in the Passover, we're told that's a grave sin. We're told that they are to be cut off from among the people of God and their sin and iniquity is upon them because they have not embraced the truth by faith. It's a lesson for us. It's a lesson for us New Testament Christians, lest we also, beloved, forget. Who is the true Passover Lamb?

We have the privilege of being able to look back. We have the privilege of having the New Testament with us. We know the Passover Lamb is Christ. Paul says it in as many words in 1 Corinthians 5-7. Or if we're going to use the words of John the Baptist, this Jesus is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.

He is the Lamb. He is the Lamb of God who rescued us from the slavery of not the Egyptians, but the slavery of sin. And beloved, the Passover was always pointing to Jesus Christ. We know that. And that's important for us to recognize.

As the people ate of the Passover-sacrificed meat on the twilight of the Passover, we too are reminded of the spiritual application that Jesus gives us in John, where he says, unless you eat of my flesh and drink of my blood, you have no life in you. Lest we forget, beloved. Lest we forget the blood of the covenant that was shed to redeem our unworthy souls and make us a people unto the Lord. Lest we forget, beloved. Not once a year, as in the case of the Passover, but we ought to be reminded of this every single day of our lives, should we not?

Shouldn't we actively remind ourselves of what the Lord Jesus Christ has done for us in His sacrifice upon that cross on Calvary? That great truth should drive our lives. The truth that God has shown us His great love for us in that while we were still sinners, what happened? Christ died for us. It's good to look back.

It's good to remember. what God has done in Christ Jesus. And the beloved, this table here is a reminder of that, is it not? What a blessing. What a blessing to be able to come and to enjoy actually a visual reminder of what God has done in Christ Jesus, the body and the blood of our Lord, who is the substitute lamb of God, who was slain on behalf of those who come to trust in him on behalf of his people to rescue us from the bondage of sin.

Now God doesn't only dwell with us. We see in the tabernacle that God's presence was, His manifest presence was in the tabernacle and dwelt among His people. But not only are we New Testament Christians experiencing that God does dwell with us, but He dwells, what else? In us. How incredible is that?

But there's another lesson to be learned. How's God to be approached? Remember the men? They knew that they cannot approach God and partake because they weren't clean. You see, worshipping God is the goal of every Christian anywhere.

Worshipping Him every day ought to be the goal of our lives. So too should remaining clean be a priority in our lives. Not ceremonially clean, that we haven't touched a dead person, or worried about bodily discharges or skin disease. But beloved, the substance of what those things actually pointed towards. The substance for which all the ritual cleanliness laws in the Old Testament were always pointing towards, and that is an inner purity, an inner cleanliness, clean from sin.

Constantly examining our hearts. repenting and confessing our sins for forgiveness. If found unclean, beloved, you don't have to wait a month to partake. If found unclean, bring that before the Lord in repentance and in faith, trusting that there is an abundance of grace in Jesus Christ. And we're able to confess our sins before Him, knowing that He's completely faithful and just to forgive our sins and to cleanse us.

That is, to wash us of all unrighteousness. Remember that. and never forget remember and never forget look back remember never forget and live now your lives now in light of what he has already done for you in christ jesus and now quickly in the next section the focus now departs from the passover into how the people are going to progress on their journey towards the land promised by God. And we're told about the glory cloud. And there's a glory cloud that remains always.

It's perpetual. It's always there. Verse 16 tells us it's either a cloud in the day or it's a pillar of fire in the night. When the cloud or the pillar departs, then that's the cue for the people of Israel to pack up their stuff. And we've already learned what the Levites need to do and their responsibilities, the different tribes in packing up the tabernacle.

But they need to be getting ready to pack up and depart to wherever the Lord God leads them. You see, on three occasions, we're told in verse 18, 20, and 23, in those few verses that are before us, we're told these words, at the command of the Lord, the people of Israel set out, and at the command of the Lord, they camped. So my question to you, beloved, this afternoon, who's leading and who's following? It's clear. Yahweh is the one who's commanding.

He's the one who directs his people. He's the one who leads his people. He's the one who designates what path they take and what the destination will be. And his people are simply to follow. Follow.

It sounds so simple, right? Follow the leader. It sounds so simple. Why is it so difficult? Why is it so difficult when it sounds so simple?

He's done all the work. And he can be trusted. He says, follow me, obey. And yet it can be so difficult. And we can continue to read this book.

And even though they have the manifest presence of God in the supernatural taking place every single day, we see how they end in the end. And let's not look back and feel holier than thou. We're not. That's the sinful nature that isn't working in every single one of us. And apart from Christ, we cannot overcome it.

He's the one who's overcome it for us. And he's the one who empowers us to something better and more righteous than that. Follow. Follow. God has rescued the people from slavery under the Egyptians and he hasn't done that in order to bring them out into the wilderness and get them and have them fend for themselves and find their own way to the promised land.

I've saved you from Egypt, now find your own way. That's not who our God is. He's a complete God who saves and then leads and directs and empowers. And He's the one who brings us to the promised inheritance that He's promised His people. And we can trust Him in that.

By His grace, He does this. He lights up the path. And He leads. And He will lead His people to that promised land. It's up to us only to simply follow.

Obey. Follow. That's it. Simply fix your gaze upon the Lord and follow Him. Beloved, we want to drag.

We want to lead and drag God behind us. We want to say, no, this is what we want to do. This is what I want to do. This is where my heart is leading me. Jesus, come along and bless my work.

That's not how it works. He's the one who commands. And we have to look to Him and follow. And to look to Him and follow means putting your flesh to death. That's exactly what it means.

It's an invitation to put your flesh to death, to kill self and follow Christ. That's what it means. I can imagine. I can imagine these people every morning waking up and walking outside their tents. Now who can remind me where are their tents faced?

What do their tents face? There's 12 tribes, three on every side, and what do all of them face? The Levites and then the tabernacles. So before them they're always reminded of the tabernacle. And we're told the cloud is in the day and the pillar of fire in the night.

They're all facing the tent. So in the morning they're waking up and the first thing they see is the manifest presence of God shown in the glory cloud in the day or the pillar of fire in the night. And every morning they wake up and they look at that. And they know, depending on where that cloud is, whether they're going to pick up, pack up, and pick up and depart, or whether they're going to stay there for the day. That's how the Lord revealed his command to them, of how they will journey and when they will journey and how long they'll stay where they're staying.

In other words, I believe it's meant of God to teach His people from the very moment they open their eyes to look to Him and seek to do His will in your heart. You're ready to obey. You wake up, you get out, first thing you want to do is, where's that cloud? What is the will of the Lord for me? What is the will of the Lord for His people?

I would think that every night these people were going to sleep thinking, I wonder if the cloud will depart tomorrow. And then we pack up and leave. You see, the Lord wants people who would obey him. He wants a people who would cry out, Yahweh, wherever you take us, we will follow, we will obey. It may be for a few days, it may be months, it may be years.

It doesn't matter. We're happy to leave the place that we've called home for days, weeks, months or whatever. We're happy to leave that place and follow after you in a heartbeat, God. Because you are with us and you're all that we need. That's the heart of God's people.

We don't belong here anyway, is what they should be thinking. What we leave behind is not even home anyway. Home is where you're leading us. Home is where you're leading us, and we will follow. We will obey.

That's obedience back then in the Old Testament, in the Old Covenant, in this time in the wilderness. But for you and I, beloved, His commands, His will is revealed to us in His Word. We don't wake up every morning looking outside and seeing whether there's things or clouds or pillars. But of course we're not doing any of these things. He has revealed to us His word.

His power has given us all things that pertain to life and godliness. There's no mysticalness or any strange things about our prayers when we ask, Lord, reveal your will to us as if we're saying, Lord, give me a sign that I can follow. No, his will is given to us in his word. His word is a lamp unto our feet and a light unto our path. And the power to obey because he says he commands.

And we just said it's very difficult to actually obey God's commands. In fact, it's impossible unless unless he provides not only the command, but the power to obey the command. Is that me? But he provides us with the power to obey the command and that power is his blessed Holy Spirit. So I believe he intends for us today beloved.

to just like those people every morning would wake up, open their eyes, open that tent, the curtain of the tent, and seek the Lord, I believe wholeheartedly, He desires for us to do the same. That we would wake up and the first thoughts in our minds, I pray this is for you and me, and I know how difficult, I know how difficult that is, and I know that it's not always the case, but that's what we should be aspiring towards. that we wake up and our eyes are open and we're not worried about the things that are going to take place in that day. The work that is ahead of us or the stresses or the worries or the bills. These are important things.

But we would wake up and our eyes are open and we are counting the many blessings and His mercies that are renewed every day and what He's already done for us by looking back to what Christ has already accomplished for us and what we receive, we receive by faith. As we read, As we commune, all the while we're saying, Lord, I'm willing to follow you. I'm willing to obey what I read in this book, because I know where you are leading me is the best place I can go. We need to trust him. We need not to impose our own wills.

There's no autonomous wills among the people of God. I want to do what I want. I want to do what I do. No, there's no place for that amongst the people of God. Nadab and Abihu learned that lesson the hard way.

No, the people of God do everything God's way as he has prescribed because it's for his glory and for the best of his people. We see it in matters of worship. How do we worship? As He has prescribed. We see that in the Passover, in the particular detail He's given, and in our text He says that it's to be followed exactly as the Lord had given the people of Israel.

There's so much more in this passage that we can say, but let me just end with this. In this chapter already we've seen that it is the Lord God who redeems His people. by grace, by grace alone. And that redemption comes through the shed blood of a substitute sacrifice. It is the Lord God who not only redeems his people, but leads his people.

And he leads his people, beloved New Testament Christian, leads us by his spirit that he gives us in salvation. It is the Lord God who directs his people, and he directs his people by his word. And it's up to us to simply trust Him. It's up to us to simply obey Him. It's up to us to say, we will follow you.

It's up to us to by faith declare with the example of our Lord Jesus Christ and say, not my will, but your will be done. Let's pray.