Numbers 9:1-14

Numbers 9:1-14

[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  [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  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  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  [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. 

What does Numbers 9:1-14 Mean?

Contextual Meaning

On the first anniversary of the Passover in Egypt, just after the Israelites had dedicated the tabernacle, they observed this feast as God had commanded ( Numbers 9:5). Most of the males were already circumcised (cf. Joshua 5:5). This event took place in the first month of the second year after the Exodus ( Numbers 9:1). The census in chapter1occurred in the second month of the same year ( Numbers 1:1). This fact shows that at least these events described in Numbers are not in chronological order.
God graciously gave an ordinance that people who were unclean or on a journey when the rest of the nation celebrated the Passover could eat it exactly one month later ( Numbers 9:10-11). However to preclude negligence in observing the primary Passover in view of this exception God prescribed the death penalty for anyone who did not observe it at the preferred time if he or she could ( Numbers 9:13). This regulation applied also to foreigners living among the Israelites who had identified with the Abrahamic Covenant through circumcision ( Numbers 9:14; cf. Exodus 12:48-49).
"The purpose of including this segment of narrative was perhaps to show that God"s laws were not arbitrary and unreasonable. The Israelites themselves even played a part in their formulation." [1]