[Numbers 9] Should Christians Obey Jewish Law? In this chapter, the Father instructs Moses concerning the observance of the Passover. There were cases where people were ceremonially unclean or perhaps found themselves in a foreign land at Passover time. This speaks of our position before Christ. Jesus is our Passover. Do we clean ourselves up through applications of Christian or Jewish legalism before coming to Jesus? Are we ever too far away from God to surrender to Jesus? What about the cloud of God’s glory? Should we look for a physical manifestation of a cloud by day or fire by night? Is the glory of God, which Paul says is “in us” the same glory that led the children of Israel thousands of years ago?
[Num 9:1-23 KJV] 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, 2 Let the children of Israel also keep the passover at his appointed season. 3 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 And Moses spake unto the children of Israel, that they should keep the passover. 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. 6 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 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 And Moses said unto them, Stand still, and I will hear what the LORD will command concerning you. 9 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, 10 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 The fourteenth day of the second month at even they shall keep it, [and] eat it with unleavened bread and bitter [herbs]. 12 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 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 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. 15 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 So it was alway: the cloud covered it [by day], and the appearance of fire by night. 17 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 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 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 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 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 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 At the commandment of the LORD they rested in the tents, and at the commandment of the LORD they journeyed: they kept the charge of the LORD, at the commandment of the LORD by the hand of Moses.
In vs. 2 we see that God commands the Israelites to observe the Passover at the appointed time. Are we as Christian believers required to keep the Passover and the other Jewish feasts? There is a movement in Christianity that closely observes the Jewish laws and traditions and holds the position that they are generally more benefited in doing so than those who do not. What is our posture under grace toward the law and the prophets? Paul taught on this in Col. 2:16-17:
[Col 2:16-17 KJV] 16 Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath [days]: 17 Which are a shadow of things to come; but the body [is] of Christ.
To adhere to the Old Testament as those did before Christ is to fall short of the Father’s intention. For New Covenant believers, the Old Testament is viewed as a shadow cast of which the substance is found in Christ today. In other words, the question to be asked in reading the Old Testament is: 1.) What does this tell me about who Jesus is to me? 2.) What does this tell me about my place in the purposes of God and His kingdom?
Having that in mind, what can we learn of the Passover? The Passover is focused upon the lamb. The New Covenant presents Jesus as the Lamb of God. John the Baptist declared Jesus was the true lamb of God, which is foreshadowed by the lamb in the traditions of Passover.
[Jhn 1:29 KJV] 29 The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.
John, the Revelator, looking at the throne of God, saw a slain lamb that was representative of Jesus Himself.
[Rev 5:6 KJV] 6 And I beheld, and, lo, in the midst of the throne and of the four beasts, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent forth into all the earth.
When we look at the Passover and think of eating the lamb, we are reminded of Jesus’ words in John 5:
[Jhn 6:53 KJV] 53 Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you.
Eating the Passover is a foreshadowing of the New Birth experience. If we as New Testament believers have partaken of the substance, which is Christ, why would we continue to observe the shadow? Just as the Israelites were birthed out of Egypt by the final plague on the Egyptians (the loss of the firstborn in all the land), so we accept Jesus just as the Israelites accepted Jehovah’s command to put blood on their doorposts, thereby being saved. Jesus is our Passover lamb.
In v. 6 of our chapter, certain men were prepared to eat the Passover but were ceremonially defiled by a dead body. They don’t want to disobey, so they inquire of Moses, whether they should refrain from partaking of the Passover meal. Moses goes to God with the question, and the Lord’s reply foreshadows the message of grace. Though the men were defiled, or perhaps a man was far away in another land – they were still invited to take the Passover meal. Many people are convicted of sin and desire a savior, but they become deluded by the thought of cleaning up their lives before becoming a Christian. The fact is you cannot reform yourself outside of Christ. Jesus is the causative agent that brings us to consecration, so refraining from giving your life to Jesus by vowing to clean up your life first is fruitless. You cannot become clean until you come to Him for cleansing. The Passover was not about character reformation but about belief and transformation brought about by God alone. The children of Israel put the blood on their doorpost and, in so doing, were spared when the death angel passed over. The death angel didn’t look to see if the house were an upstanding and moral house with good, God-fearing, church-going people. He only looked for one thing – the application of the blood of the lamb. If the blood was applied, salvation was secured.
We see then that those that were unclean could and in fact, were commanded to partake. You might think you are too far from God, but the invitation is to those that are far away in a strange land to also partake and receive the efficacy of what the Passover represented, even as a foreshadowing of the salvation and cleansing and entrance through Christ into the family of God with all the entitlements appertaining thereunto that happy state.
In v. 13, we see the opposite issue of a ceremonially clean person who refuses to observe the Passover. What if someone says, “I am a good person, God looks upon my heart – I don’t need to become a born-again person, I am good enough as I am.” Moral excellence is no protection against eternal damnation. Just because you are a good person does not give you any standing before God. We must be reminded of the words of Paul in Rom. 11:32 and Gal. 3:22:
[Rom 11:32 KJV] 32 For God hath concluded them all in unbelief, that he might have mercy upon all.
[Gal 3:22 KJV] 22 But the scripture hath concluded all under sin, that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe.
What does this mean? Your goodness is irrelevant. The tree that condemned men was the Tree of the Knowledge of GOOD, as well as EVIL. Outside of Christ, your good condemns you as resoundingly as your evil. There is a strong delusion in the church today as we have tried to soften the message’s offense before a sin-hardened world. Doctrines concerning sin and hell and holiness are de-emphasized. Jesus, as savior is focused on, but Jesus as Lord, is sidelined. Make no mistake – both the moral and immoral have no standing outside of the new birth experience. The Passover foreshadowed the New Birth presenting Jesus as the Passover lamb slain for our sins, making it possible for us to mystically become new creations in Christ translated from the domain of darkness into the kingdom of God.
In v. 15, we see the cloud of God covering the Tabernacle during the day and the pillar of fire above it during the night. As New Testament believers, the cloud of God’s glory is not an outward manifestation but an inward reality. The presence of God in your life is a dynamic thing, always calling upon you to adjust and follow and comply with every nuance of guidance and leading. The cloud cooled them during the day and warmed them at night. The cloud of God was a set-it-and-forget-it GPS device leading them to the fulfillment of every promise of the covenant. For us, the cloud of Glory is within us. It is the hope of coming through whatever circumstances we are in at the moment.
[Col 1:26-28 KJV] 26 [Even] the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints: 27 To whom God would make known what [is] the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory: 28 Whom we preach, warning every man, and teaching every man in all wisdom; that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus:
The Israelites followed a physical cloud; we follow an inward witness of His abiding glory not just on us but in us, leading to the fulfillment of His every promise in our lives.
