NUMBERS: A Generation Cursed to Die in the Wilderness Because They Rejected God; "All these men who have seen My glory and the signs which I did in Egypt and in the wilderness, and have put Me to the test now these ten times, and have not heeded My voice, they certainly shall not see the land of which I swore to their fathers, nor shall any of those who rejected Me see it."

But Joshua the son of Nun and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, who were among those who had spied out the land, tore their clothes; and they spoke to all the congregation of the children of Israel, saying: “The land we passed through to spy out is an exceedingly good land. If the Lord delights in us, then He will bring us into this land and give it to us, ‘a land which flows with milk and honey.’Only do not rebel against the Lord, nor fear the people of the land, for they are our bread; their protection has departed from them, and the Lord is with us. Do not fear them.” (Numbers 14:6-9) 

We studied previously how the Lord God spoke to Moses and he sent them from the Wilderness of Paran according to the command of the Lord, all of them men who were heads of the children of Israel. ... Then Moses sent them to spy out the land of Canaan,... So they went up and spied out the land... they brought back word to them and to all the congregation, and showed them the fruit of the land. Then they told him, and said: “We went to the land where you sent us. It truly flows with milk and honey, and this is its fruit. Nevertheless the people who dwell in the land are strong; the cities are fortified and very large; moreover we saw the descendants of Anak there. The Amalekites dwell in the land of the South; the Hittites, the Jebusites, and the Amorites dwell in the mountains; and the Canaanites dwell by the sea and along the banks of the Jordan.” (Numbers 13:3, 17, 21, 26-29) 

Then Caleb quieted the people before Moses, and said, “Let us go up at once and take possession, for we are well able to overcome it.” But the men who had gone up with him said, “We are not able to go up against the people, for they are stronger than we.” And they gave the children of Israel a bad report of the land which they had spied out, saying, “The land through which we have gone as spies is a land that devours its inhabitants, and all the people whom we saw in it are men of great stature. There we saw the giants (the descendants of Anak came from the giants); and we were like grasshoppers in our own sight, and so we were in their sight.” (Numbers 13:30-33)

After all God had done for the children of Israel, they continued to have a lack of faith in Him and his power. Of the twelve spies, only Joshua and Caleb believed the Lord. They, along with Moses understood, If the Lord delights in us, then He will bring us into this land and give it to us. Only do not rebel against the Lord, nor fear the people of the land, for they are our bread; their protection has departed from them, and the Lord is with us. Do not fear them. What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? (Romans 8:31) Who? No one!

And all the congregation said to stone them with stones. Now the glory of the Lord appeared in the tabernacle of meeting before all the children of Israel. Then the Lord said to Moses: “How long will these people reject Me? And how long will they not believe Me, with all the signs which I have performed among them? I will strike them with the pestilence and disinherit them, and I will make of you a nation greater and mightier than they.” (Number 14:10-12) 

The Lord God had threatened to destroy the children of Israel previously, after they had committed idolatry with the golden calf. And the Lord said to Moses, “I have seen this people, and indeed it is a stiff-necked people!10 Now therefore, let Me alone, that My wrath may burn hot against them and I may consume them. And I will make of you a great nation.” Then Moses pleaded with the Lord his God, and said: “Lord, why does Your wrath burn hot against Your people whom You have brought out of the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand? Why should the Egyptians speak, and say, ‘He brought them out to harm them, to kill them in the mountains, and to consume them from the face of the earth’? Turn from Your fierce wrath, and relent from this harm to Your people." (Exodus 32:9-12)

Now Moses would make a similar plea to the Lord God again on behalf of the children of Israel; And Moses said to the Lord: “Then the Egyptians will hear it, for by Your might You brought these people up from among them, and they will tell it to the inhabitants of this land. They have heard that You, Lord, are among these people; that You, Lord, are seen face to face and Your cloud stands above them, and You go before them in a pillar of cloud by day and in a pillar of fire by night. (Numbers 14:13-14) 

"Now if You kill these people as one man, then the nations which have heard of Your fame will speak, saying, ‘Because the Lord was not able to bring this people to the land which He swore to give them, therefore He killed them in the wilderness.’ And now, I pray, let the power of my Lord be great, just as You have spoken, saying, ‘The Lord is longsuffering and abundant in mercy, forgiving iniquity and transgression; but He by no means clears the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generation.’ [Exodus 34:6-7] Pardon the iniquity of this people, I pray, according to the greatness of Your mercy, just as You have forgiven this people, from Egypt even until now.” (Numbers 14:15-19) 

The power of intercessory prayer!  When we truly believe and obey the two greatest commandments, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind,’ and ‘your neighbor as yourself.’” (Luke 10:27) And when we really start loving God and others the way we're supposed to, we would never be content to stand idly by and watch others suffer, even if they have justly deserved it; but, we will always be moved to pray and ask God to pardon our sins according to the greatness of His mercy. 

Who is a God like You, Pardoning iniquity And passing over the transgression of the remnant of His heritage? He does not retain His anger forever, Because He delights in mercy. (Micah 7:18) In mercy and truth Atonement is provided for iniquity; And by the fear of the Lord one departs from evil. (Proverbs 16:6) However, for those who don't know to ask for forgiveness and mercy, like the children of Israel, who had an intercessor in Moses, we also have an intercessor, He [Chirst Jesus], because He continues forever, has an unchangeable priesthood. Therefore He is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them. (Hebrews 7:24-25)

Then the Lord said: “I have pardoned, according to your word; but truly, as I live, all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the Lord— because all these men who have seen My glory and the signs which I did in Egypt and in the wilderness, and have put Me to the test now these ten times, and have not heeded My voice, they certainly shall not see the land of which I swore to their fathers, nor shall any of those who rejected Me see it. But My servant Caleb, because he has a different spirit in him and has followed Me fully, I will bring into the land where he went, and his descendants shall inherit it. Now the Amalekites and the Canaanites dwell in the valley; tomorrow turn and move out into the wilderness by the Way of the Red Sea.” (Numbers 14:20-25) 

The Lord God had brought them out of the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand. After over two years of preparing them in the wilderness at Mount Sinai to go into the promised land, He had removed the inhabitants of the promised land protection from them, and the Lord was with the children of Israel. After all they had been through and God delivered them from, they get that close to the promise being fulfilled, and then start to doubt the Lord God; therefore, only a remnant of His heritage would be saved in the wilderness and enter into the promised land. God forgives sins, and He is merciful not to destroy the whole nation, but the consequences for those who reject Him are devastating and eternal. 

And the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying, “How long shall I bear with this evil congregation who complain against Me? I have heard the complaints which the children of Israel make against Me. Say to them, ‘As I live,’ says the Lord, ‘just as you have spoken in My hearing, so I will do to you: The carcasses of you who have complained against Me shall fall in this wilderness, all of you who were numbered, according to your entire number, from twenty years old and above. Except for Caleb the son of Jephunneh and Joshua the son of Nun, you shall by no means enter the land which I swore I would make you dwell in. (Numbers 14:26-30) 

'But your little ones, whom you said would be victims, I will bring in, and they shall know the land which you have despised. But as for you, your carcasses shall fall in this wilderness. And your sons shall be shepherds in the wilderness forty years, and bear the brunt of your infidelity, until your carcasses are consumed in the wilderness. According to the number of the days in which you spied out the land, forty days, for each day you shall bear your guilt one year, namely forty years, and you shall know My rejection. I the Lord have spoken this. I will surely do so to all this evil congregation who are gathered together against Me. In this wilderness they shall be consumed, and there they shall die.’” (Numbers 14:31-35)

A journey that only took forty days from Mount Sinai to the promised land, and a guarantee that If the Lord delights in us, then He will bring us into this land and give it to us, turned into a curse of forty years of wandering in the desert, and a whole generation who left Egypt would die and not see the fulfillment of the promise of God for themselves, except for two men. What a sad self-imposed end and devastating consequence for sin. Rejecting God is the same as rejecting His Word, and just as the consequence for the children of Israel was that a whole generation who rejected Him would not receive the promised land, if we reject God's Word today, Christ Jesus, Who was the Word of God in the flesh, we too will not make it into "the promised land". 

For if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a certain fearful expectation of judgment, and fiery indignation which will devour the adversaries. ... For we know Him who said, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,” says the Lord. And again, “The Lord will judge His people.” It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. ... Therefore do not cast away your confidence, which has great reward. For you have need of endurance, so that after you have done the will of God, you may receive the promise: “For yet a little while, and He ho is coming will come and will not tarry. Now the just shall live by faith; but if anyone draws back, My soul has no pleasure in him.” But we are not of those who draw back to perdition, but of those who believe to the saving of the soul. (Hebrews 10:26-39)

NUMBERS: The Twelve Spies Go to the Promised Land; “We went to the land where you sent us. It truly flows with milk and honey, and this is its fruit. Nevertheless the people who dwell in the land are strong."

And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, “Send men to spy out the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the children of Israel; from each tribe of their fathers you shall send a man, every one a leader among them.” (Numbers 13:1-2)

It had been over 300 years, from the time Abraham departed from Haran. Then Abram took Sarai his wife and Lot his brother’s son, and all their possessions that they had gathered, and the people whom they had acquired in Haran, and they departed to go to the land of Canaan. So they came to the land of Canaan. Abram passed through the land to the place of Shechem, as far as the terebinth tree of Moreh. And the Canaanites were then in the land. Then the Lord appeared to Abram and said, “To your descendants I will give this land.” (Genesis 12:7-7)

During those years, the Lord God would reconfirm that promise to Isaac and Jacob. Finally, He would tell Moses, “I have surely seen the oppression of My people who are in Egypt, and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters, for I know their sorrows. So I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up from that land to a good and large land, to a land flowing with milk and honey, to the place of the Canaanites and the Hittites and the Amorites and the Perizzites and the Hivites and the Jebusites. Now therefore, behold, the cry of the children of Israel has come to Me, and I have also seen the oppression with which the Egyptians oppress them. Come now, therefore, and I will send you to Pharaoh that you may bring My people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt.” (Exodus 3:7-10)

Even after the children of Israel sinned against God in the wilderness with the golden calf, the Lord God still promised, “Depart and go up from here, you and the people whom you have brought out of the land of Egypt, to the land of which I swore to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, saying, ‘To your descendants I will give it.’ And I will send My Angel before you, and I will drive out the Canaanite and the Amorite and the Hittite and the Perizzite and the Hivite and the Jebusite. Go up to a land flowing with milk and honey; for I will not go up in your midst, lest I consume you on the way, for you are a stiff-necked people.” (Exodus 33:1-3)

So Moses sent them from the Wilderness of Paran according to the command of the Lord, all of them men who were heads of the children of Israel. Now these were their names: from the tribe of Reuben, Shammua the son of Zaccur; from the tribe of Simeon, Shaphat the son of Hori; from the tribe of Judah, Caleb the son of Jephunneh; from the tribe of Issachar, Igal the son of Joseph; from the tribe of Ephraim, Hoshea [aka Joshua] the son of Nun; from the tribe of Benjamin, Palti the son of Raphu; from the tribe of Zebulun, Gaddiel the son of Sodi; from the tribe of Joseph, that is, from the tribe of Manasseh, Gaddi the son of Susi; from the tribe of Dan, Ammiel the son of Gemalli; from the tribe of Asher, Sethur the son of Michael; from the tribe of Naphtali, Nahbi the son of Vophsi; from the tribe of Gad, Geuel the son of Machi. These are the names of the men whom Moses sent to spy out the land. And Moses called Hoshea the son of Nun, Joshua. (Numbers 13:3-16)

Then Moses sent them to spy out the land of Canaan, and said to them, “Go up this way into the South, and go up to the mountains, and see what the land is like: whether the people who dwell in it are strong or weak, few or many; whether the land they dwell in is good or bad; whether the cities they inhabit are like camps or strongholds; whether the land is rich or poor; and whether there are forests there or not. Be of good courage. And bring some of the fruit of the land.” Now the time was the season of the first ripe grapes. (Numbers 13:17-20)

So they went up and spied out the land from the Wilderness of Zin as far as Rehob, near the entrance of Hamath. And they went up through the South and came to Hebron; Ahiman, Sheshai, and Talmai, the descendants of Anak, were there. (Now Hebron was built seven years before Zoan in Egypt.) Then they came to the Valley of Eshcol, and there cut down a branch with one cluster of grapes; they carried it between two of them on a pole. They also brought some of the pomegranates and figs. The place was called the Valley of Eshcol, because of the cluster which the men of Israel cut down there. And they returned from spying out the land after forty days. (Numbers 13:21-25)

Now they departed and came back to Moses and Aaron and all the congregation of the children of Israel in the Wilderness of Paran, at Kadesh; they brought back word to them and to all the congregation, and showed them the fruit of the land. Then they told him, and said: “We went to the land where you sent us. It truly flows with milk and honey, and this is its fruit. Nevertheless the people who dwell in the land are strong; the cities are fortified and very large; moreover we saw the descendants of Anak there. The Amalekites dwell in the land of the South; the Hittites, the Jebusites, and the Amorites dwell in the mountains; and the Canaanites dwell by the sea and along the banks of the Jordan.” (Numbers 13:26-29)

Well, "So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth;It shall not return to Me void, but it shall accomplish what I please, and it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it." (Isaiah 55:11) The spies found everything in the promised land EXACTLY how the Lord God had described it to Moses previously. If He could describe every detail, from the people who would be occupying the land, to the fruitfulness of the land, then surely He would fulfill His promise, "I will send My Angel before you, and I will drive out the Canaanite and the Amorite and the Hittite and the Perizzite and the Hivite and the Jebusite." After all the miracles He had performed for them thus far, surely they knew He was able to do this also?

Then Caleb quieted the people before Moses, and said, “Let us go up at once and take possession, for we are well able to overcome it.” But the men who had gone up with him said, “We are not able to go up against the people, for they are stronger than we.” And they gave the children of Israel a bad report of the land which they had spied out, saying, “The land through which we have gone as spies is a land that devours its inhabitants, and all the people whom we saw in it are men of great stature. There we saw the giants (the descendants of Anak came from the giants); and we were like grasshoppers in our own sight, and so we were in their sight.” (Numbers 13:30-33)

So all the congregation lifted up their voices and cried, and the people wept that night. And all the children of Israel complained against Moses and Aaron, and the whole congregation said to them, “If only we had died in the land of Egypt! Or if only we had died in this wilderness! Why has the Lord brought us to this land to fall by the sword, that our wives and children should become victims? Would it not be better for us to return to Egypt?” So they said to one another, “Let us select a leader and return to Egypt.” Then Moses and Aaron fell on their faces before all the assembly of the congregation of the children of Israel. (Numbers 14:1-5)

Yet again, the children of Israel represented so many of us, who look at our problems or challenges as being bigger than our God. The problem is our lack of faith. We have to learn to put and keep our faith in God, no matter how things may appear. By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to the place which he would receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going. By faith he dwelt in the land of promise as in a foreign country, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise; for he waited for the city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God. (Hebrews 11:8-10)

Our God is not an idol, like a golden calf or some other false god the children of Israel were exposed to in Egypt. He is "I AM", "For I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like Me, declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times things that are not yet done, saying, ‘My counsel shall stand, and I will do all My pleasure,’... (Isaiah 46:9-10) When He says He will do something, He will do it! When He says something will be a certain way, it will be that way! It doesn't matter how things appear; our problems or challenges can appear like giants; and we were like grasshoppers in our own sight. The fear of man brings a snare, but whoever trusts in the Lord shall be safe. (Proverbs 29:25) AMEN!

NUMBERS: Aaron and Miriam Punished for Speaking Against Moses; "He is faithful in all My house. I speak with him face to face, even plainly, and not in dark sayings; and he sees the form of the Lord. Why then were you not afraid to speak against My servant Moses?”

Then Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses because of the Ethiopian woman whom he had married; for he had married an Ethiopian woman. (Numbers 12:1) 

Anyone who teaches that people of different races aren't to marry each other is a false teacher. When Moses fled from Egypt, he dwelt in the land of Midian;... Now the priest of Midian had seven daughters. ... Then Moses was content to live with the man, and he gave Zipporah his daughter to Moses. (Exodus 2:15-21)

Zipporah and Moses had two sons, and when the Lord God called Moses to return to Egypt to lead the children of Israel from there, Moses took his wife and his sons and set them on a donkey, and he returned to the land of Egypt. (Exodus 4:20) While traveling to Egypt, Zipporah took a sharp stone and cut off the foreskin of her son... (Exodus 4:25) Even though she didn't agree, for circumcised their oldest son because that's what the Lord God required. 

After leading the children of Israel out of Egypt to Mount Sinai, Jethro, the priest of Midian, Moses’ father-in-law, heard of all that God had done for Moses and for Israel His people—that the Lord had brought Israel out of Egypt. Then Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, took Zipporah, Moses’ wife, after he had sent her back, with her two sons,...; and Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, came with his sons and his wife to Moses in the wilderness, where he was encamped at the mountain of God. (Exodus 18:1-5)

During his visit, Jethro said, “Blessed be the Lord, who has delivered you out of the hand of the Egyptians and out of the hand of Pharaoh,and who has delivered the people from under the hand of the Egyptians. Now I know that the Lord is greater than all the gods; for in the very thing in which they behaved proudly, He was above them.” Then Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, took a burnt offering and other sacrifices to offer to God. And Aaron came with all the elders of Israel to eat bread with Moses’ father-in-law before God. (Exodus 18:10-12)

So why now, after all of that, did Aaron and Miriam decide to show racism towards Moses' wife? It wasn't just about Moses' wife being Ethiopian. It was also about the Lord God using Moses solely as His mediator between Him and the people. So they said, “Has the Lord indeed spoken only through Moses? Has He not spoken through us also?” And the Lord heard it. (Now the man Moses was very humble, more than all men who were on the face of the earth.) (Numbers 12:2-3) 

The problem Aaron and Miriam had with Moses is the same problem the Jews and many people today have with Christ Jesus. "Is Jesus really the only way to God?" The answer is YES! "Don't all paths lead to God?" The answer is NO! Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me." (John 14:6) Remember, Jesus was the Word [which] became flesh... (John 1:14) And the same way we are saved since Christ Jesus came in the flesh is the same way people were saved before Christ Jesus came in the flesh; Therefore He who supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles among you, does He do it by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith? (Galatians 3:5)

Just as Abraham “believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.” Therefore know that only those who are of faith are sons of Abraham. And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel to Abraham beforehand, saying, “In you all the nations shall be blessed.” So then those who are of faith are blessed with believing Abraham. (Galatians 3:6-9) We are saved because we believe the Word of God, whether we believe when it was spoken by God before Christ Jesus, or we believed after it was manifested in Christ Jesus.

Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. (II Corinthians 6:14) Moses' wife and father-in-law came to believe and know that the Lord is greater than all the gods. Therefore, regardless of race, their marriage was under covenant by God just as if Moses would have married an Israeli woman who believed. They were Gentiles justified by faith, so then those who are of faith are blessed with believing Abraham, just like anybody else.

Suddenly the Lord said to Moses, Aaron, and Miriam, “Come out, you three, to the tabernacle of meeting!” So the three came out. Then the Lord came down in the pillar of cloud and stood in the door of the tabernacle, and called Aaron and Miriam. And they both went forward. (Numbers 12:4-5) 

Then He said, “Hear now My words: if there is a prophet among you, I, the Lord, make Myself known to him in a vision; I speak to him in a dream. Not so with My servant Moses; he is faithful in all My house. I speak with him face to face, even plainly, and not in dark sayings; and he sees the form of the Lord. Why then were you not afraid to speak against My servant Moses?” (Numbers 12:6-8) 

How powerful to have the Lord God speak up for you against those who speak against you! When people attack our character, our calling and our faith, we are to remain like Moses, very humble. Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. ... Repay no one evil for evil. Have regard for good things in the sight of all men. If it is possible, as much as depends on you, live peaceably with all men. Beloved, do not avenge yourselves, but rather give place to wrath; for it is written, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,” says the Lord. Therefore “If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him a drink; for in so doing you will heap coals of fire on his head.” Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. (Romans 12:14, 17-21)

Moses didn't have to say a word back to Aaron or Miriam. They heaped coals of fire on his head, and the Lord God avenged Moses. So the anger of the Lord was aroused against them, and He departed. And when the cloud departed from above the tabernacle, suddenly Miriam became leprous, as white as snow. Then Aaron turned toward Miriam, and there she was, a leper. So Aaron said to Moses, “Oh, my lord! Please do not lay this sin on us, in which we have done foolishly and in which we have sinned. Please do not let her be as one dead, whose flesh is half consumed when he comes out of his mother’s womb!” (Numbers 12:9-12) 

So Moses cried out to the Lord, saying, “Please heal her, O God, I pray!” Then the Lord said to Moses, “If her father had but spit in her face, would she not be shamed seven days? Let her be shut out of the camp seven days, and afterward she may be received again.” So Miriam was shut out of the camp seven days, and the people did not journey till Miriam was brought in again. And afterward the people moved from Hazeroth and camped in the Wilderness of Paran. (Numbers 12:13-16)

We've stated it so many times before, that God is a Loving God, but He is also a Just God! He will forgive us for our sins, but we will still have to deal with the consequences. But thanks be to God, He is gracious and merciful, so that the consequences don't have to last forever; and just as He cleansed Miriam an allowed her back in the camp, If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. (I John 1:9)

NUMBERS: The Lord God Gives the Children of Israel What They Desire, Meat; "But while the meat was still between their teeth, before it was chewed, the wrath of the Lord was aroused against the people, and the Lord struck the people with a very great plague."

And Moses said, “The people whom I am among are six hundred thousand men on foot; yet You have said, ‘I will give them meat, that they may eat for a whole month.’ Shall flocks and herds be slaughtered for them, to provide enough for them? Or shall all the fish of the sea be gathered together for them, to provide enough for them?” And the Lord said to Moses, “Has the Lord’s arm been shortened? Now you shall see whether what I say will happen to you or not.” (Numbers 11:21-23) 

In the previous lesson, we studied how the mixed multitude who were among them yielded to intense craving; so the children of Israel also wept again and said: “Who will give us meat to eat? We remember the fish which we ate freely in Egypt, the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic; but now our whole being is dried up; there is nothing at all except this manna before our eyes!” (Numbers 11:4-6) The Lord God had fed them for nearly two years and two months with the bread from heaven, but now they were complaining and asking for meat. 

Rightly so, when the people complained, it displeased the Lord; for the Lord heard it, and His anger was aroused. So the fire of the Lord burned among them, and consumed some in the outskirts of the camp. Then the people cried out to Moses, and when Moses prayed to the Lord, the fire was quenched. (Numbers 11:1-2) But the Lord God, because of His grace and mercy was going to give the people what they asked for; however, He warned them, the Lord will give you meat, and you shall eat. You shall eat, not one day, nor two days, nor five days, nor ten days, nor twenty days, but for a whole month, until it comes out of your nostrils and becomes loathsome to you, because you have despised the Lord who is among you, and have wept before Him, saying, “Why did we ever come up out of Egypt?”’” (Numbers 11:18-20)

We've studied enough to know ALL that the Lord God did, and how mightily He did to deliver the children out of Egypt; yet, at the end of the day, they just like so many of us, when times get hard and things don't go the way we want, start remembering our past life as not being as bad as it was. Christ Jesus once said, “No one, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.” (Luke 9:62) 

When we surrender our lives to God through faith in Christ Jesus as our Savior and Lord, there should be no looking back, other than to give God thanks and praise for where He's brought us from. Let's never forget Lot's wife, who disobeyed the Lord God's command when He told them to leave Sodom and Gomorrah and never look back; But his wife looked back behind him, and she became a pillar of salt. (Genesis 19:26)

Nor should we try to go back to the place, lifestyle, relationships or behaviors that the Lord God has delivered us from. For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted the heavenly gift, and have become partakers of the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come, if they fall away, to renew them again to repentance, since they crucify again for themselves the Son of God, and put Him to an open shame. (Hebrews 6:4-6)

The only possible exceptions to looking back and going back is if we do as the Apostle Paul testified he did, For though I am free from all men, I have made myself a servant to all, that I might win the more; and to the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might win Jews; to those who are under the law, as under the law, that I might win those who are under the law; to those who are without law, as without law (not being without law toward God, but under law toward Christ), that I might win those who are without law; to the weak I became as weak, that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all men, that I might by all means save some. Now this I do for the gospel’s sake, that I may be partaker of it with you. (I Corinthians 9:19-23)

The Apostle Paul was trying to explain that our goal should be to try and relate with all people, so that we can lead them to Christ Jesus, that I might by all means save some. That does not mean we are to behave like them or go back to our former ways; but we are to meet people where they are in their relationship or lack of a relationship with God, and by sharing the gospel of Christ Jesus with them, help lead them to where we are, into an eternal relationship of salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.

But as for the children of Israel and the mixed multitude who were among them, the Lord God was going to answer their plea for meat. However, before doing so, He made a very important statement, “Has the Lord’s arm been shortened?" Meaning, is God limited in His powers and abilities? Of course, the answer is NO! We must be very careful that we don't put God "in a box, on a shelf". He is the great I AM; for in Him we live and move and have our being,... (Acts 17:28) We exist within Him, not the other way around. God is Spirit,... (John 4:24) But, He is so gracious towards us who accept Christ Jesus as our Savior and Lord, ...because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us. (Romans 5:5)

He would pour out His Holy Spirit back then also, so that the chosen elders would speak His Word to all the children of Israel. So Moses went out and told the people the words of the Lord, and he gathered the seventy men of the elders of the people and placed them around the tabernacle. Then the Lord came down in the cloud, and spoke to him, and took of the Spirit that was upon him, and placed the same upon the seventy elders; and it happened, when the Spirit rested upon them, that they prophesied, although they never did so again. (Numbers 11:24-25) 

But two men had remained in the camp: the name of one was Eldad, and the name of the other Medad. And the Spirit rested upon them. Now they were among those listed, but who had not gone out to the tabernacle; yet they prophesied in the camp. And a young man ran and told Moses, and said, “Eldad and Medad are prophesying in the camp.” (Numbers 11:26-27) 

So Joshua the son of Nun, Moses’ assistant, one of his choice men, answered and said, “Moses my lord, forbid them!” Then Moses said to him, “Are you zealous for my sake? Oh, that all the Lord’s people were prophets and that the Lord would put His Spirit upon them!” And Moses returned to the camp, he and the elders of Israel. (Numbers 11:28-30) 

Even though people were not filled with the Holy Spirit until after Christ Jesus death, resurrection and ascension back to the Father, people were empowered by God's Holy Spirit to prophesy and to perform certain tasks that the Lord God assigned for them to do. What's interesting here is that the Lord God didn't limit His Spirit to just the elders who had gone out to the tabernacle, but others within the camp were given the Spirit to prophesy also.

The Apostle Paul shared a powerful lesson with the church in Philipi; But I want you to know, brethren, that the things which happened to me have actually turned out for the furtherance of the gospel,...; and most of the brethren in the Lord, having become confident by my chains, are much more bold to speak the word without fear. Some indeed preach Christ even from envy and strife, and some also from goodwill: The former preach Christ from selfish ambition, not sincerely, supposing to add affliction to my chains; but the latter out of love, knowing that I am appointed for the defense of the gospel. What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is preached; and in this I rejoice, yes, and will rejoice. (Philippians 1:12-18)

The point the Apostle Paul was making is the same point Moses was making to Joshua. No one of us is more special than any one else with God; For there is no partiality with God. (Romans 2:11) God used Paul in a mighty way, to spread the gospel to all the Gentile nations, but He could also use many others, whether in pretense or in truth, to spread the gospel of Christ also. And God has used Moses in a mighty way to lead the children of Israel from Egypt, in ways we may never witness again on this side of eternity, but He could also use the seventy elders, and two men who remained in the camp to prophesy in the camp.

Now a wind went out from the Lord, and it brought quail from the sea and left them fluttering near the camp, about a day’s journey on this side and about a day’s journey on the other side, all around the camp, and about two cubits above the surface of the ground. And the people stayed up all that day, all night, and all the next day, and gathered the quail (he who gathered least gathered ten homers); and they spread them out for themselves all around the camp. (Numbers 11:31-32) 

But while the meat was still between their teeth, before it was chewed, the wrath of the Lord was aroused against the people, and the Lord struck the people with a very great plague. So he called the name of that place Kibroth Hattaavah, because there they buried the people who had yielded to craving. From Kibroth Hattaavah the people moved to Hazeroth, and camped at Hazeroth. (Numbers 11:33-35)

Let us never forget, there is always forgiveness of sins, but the consequences will come! Therefore, we must be very careful what we ask God for and how we respond to what He allows in our lives. He caused an east wind to blow in the heavens; and by His power He brought in the south wind. He also rained meat on them like the dust, feathered fowl like the sand of the seas; and He let them fall in the midst of their camp, all around their dwellings. So they ate and were well filled, for He gave them their own desire. They were not deprived of their craving; but while their food was still in their mouths, the wrath of God came against them, and slew the stoutest of them, and struck down the choice men of Israel. (Psalm 78:26-31) 

They soon forgot His works; they did not wait for His counsel, but lusted exceedingly in the wilderness, and tested God in the desert. And He gave them their request, but sent leanness into their soul. (Psalm 106:13-15) Let's make sure we learn from the children of Israel's mistakes. Moreover, brethren, I do not want you to be unaware that all our fathers were under the cloud, all passed through the sea, all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, all ate the same spiritual food,... Now these things became our examples, to the intent that we should not lust after evil things as they also lusted. ... (I Corinthians 10:1-2, 6) 

And do not become idolaters as weresome of them. As it is written, “The people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play.” Nor let us commit sexual immorality, as some of them did, and in one day twenty-three thousand fell; nor let us tempt Christ, as some of them also tempted, and were destroyed by serpents; nor complain, as some of them also complained, and were destroyed by the destroyer. Now all these things happened to them as examples, and they were written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the ages have come. (I Corinthians 10:7-11) 

Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall. No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it. (I Corinthians 10:12-13)

NUMBERS: The Children of Israel Complain About the Bread from Heaven; "Now the mixed multitude who were among them yielded to intense craving; so the children of Israel also wept again and said: 'Who will give us meat to eat?'"

Now when the people complained, it displeased the Lord; for the Lord heard it, and His anger was aroused. So the fire of the Lord burned among them, and consumed some in the outskirts of the camp. Then the people cried out to Moses, and when Moses prayed to the Lord, the fire was quenched. So he called the name of the place Taberah, because the fire of the Lord had burned among them. (Numbers 11:1-3) 

In the previous lesson, we studied how the Lord God finally commanded the children of Israel to leave Mount Sinai and journey towards the promised land. They hadn't gone very far and had started doing their usual complaining. 

The Lord God had warned them after their idolatry with the golden calf, “Depart and go up from here, you and the people whom you have brought out of the land of Egypt, to the land of which I swore to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, saying, ‘To your descendants I will give it.’ And I will send My Angel before you, and I will drive out the Canaanite and the Amorite and the Hittite and the Perizzite and the Hivite and the Jebusite. Go up to a land flowing with milk and honey; for I will not go up in your midst, lest I consume you on the way, for you are a stiff-necked people.” And when the people heard this bad news, they mourned, and no one put on his ornaments. For the Lord had said to Moses, “Say to the children of Israel, ‘You are a stiff-necked people. I could come up into your midst in one moment and consume you." (Exodus 33:1-5)

True to His Word, He came in the midst of them and consumed some in the outskirts of the camp. Nothing is wrong with us having sincere doubts and questions, and seeking answers from God, as we will find out shortly when Moses addresses the Lord God with his concerns. But God is Holy, and we are at all times to address Him with reverence and respect. If we are to “Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long upon the land which the Lord your God is giving you." (Exodus 20:12) How much more are we to honor and reverence God; “A son honors his father, And a servant his master. If then I am the Father, Where is My honor? And if I am a Master, Where is My reverence? Says the Lord of hosts..." (Malachi 1:6) God is greatly to be feared in the assembly of the saints, And to be held in reverence by all those around Him. (Psalm 89:7)

Now the mixed multitude who were among them yielded to intense craving; so the children of Israel also wept again and said: “Who will give us meat to eat? We remember the fish which we ate freely in Egypt, the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic; but now our whole being is dried up; there is nothing at all except this manna before our eyes!” (Numbers 11:4-6)

Now the manna was like coriander seed, and its color like the color of bdellium. The people went about and gathered it, ground it on millstones or beat it in the mortar, cooked it in pans, and made cakes of it; and its taste was like the taste of pastry prepared with oil. And when the dew fell on the camp in the night, the manna fell on it. (Numbers 11:7-9) 

We must keep in mind that there were over 600,000 men, not including women and children. The average population of a city is 100,000 people, of course some have a lot more and some have a lot less. Imagine six cities worth of people moving every day through a wilderness. 

Remember, And they journeyed from Elim, and all the congregation of the children of Israel came to the Wilderness of Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai, on the fifteenth day of the second month after they departed from the land of Egypt. Then the whole congregation of the children of Israel complained against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness. And the children of Israel said to them, “Oh, that we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the pots of meat and when we ate bread to the full! For you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger.” (Exodus 16:1-3) 

Then the Lord said to Moses, “Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you. And the people shall go out and gather a certain quota every day, that I may test them, whether they will walk in My law or not. And it shall be on the sixth day that they shall prepare what they bring in, and it shall be twice as much as they gather daily.” (Exous 16:4-5) They had been eating manna for two years and two months, and now they were tired of it and complaining about it. 

Then Moses heard the people weeping throughout their families, everyone at the door of his tent; and the anger of the Lord was greatly aroused; Moses also was displeased. So Moses said to the Lord, “Why have You afflicted Your servant? And why have I not found favor in Your sight, that You have laid the burden of all these people on me? Did I conceive all these people? Did I beget them, that You should say to me, ‘Carry them in your bosom, as a guardian carries a nursing child,’ to the land which You swore to their fathers? Where am I to get meat to give to all these people? For they weep all over me, saying, ‘Give us meat, that we may eat.’ I am not able to bear all these people alone, because the burden is too heavy for me. If You treat me like this, please kill me here and now—if I have found favor in Your sight—and do not let me see my wretchedness!” (Numbers 11:10-15)

The difference between complaining vs. having sincere doubts and questions. God was angry with the people and Moses was also, but he went to God directly with his complaint and concern, not complaining and among the people in the camp. So the Lord said to Moses: “Gather to Me seventy men of the elders of Israel, whom you know to be the elders of the people and officers over them; bring them to the tabernacle of meeting, that they may stand there with you. Then I will come down and talk with you there. I will take of the Spirit that is upon you and will put the same upon them; and they shall bear the burden of the people with you, that you may not bear it yourself alone. (Numbers 11:16-17)

"Then you shall say to the people, ‘Consecrate yourselves for tomorrow, and you shall eat meat; for you have wept in the hearing of the Lord, saying, “Who will give us meat to eat? For it was well with us in Egypt.” Therefore the Lord will give you meat, and you shall eat. You shall eat, not one day, nor two days, nor five days, nor ten days, nor twenty days, but for a whole month, until it comes out of your nostrils and becomes loathsome to you, because you have despised the Lord who is among you, and have wept before Him, saying, “Why did we ever come up out of Egypt?”’” (Numbers 11:18-20)

Yet again, nothing new under the sun! The children of Israel complained so much, to the point that the Lord God said He would give them what they asked for, until it comes out of your nostrils and becomes loathsome to you. We must be careful what we ask for. We must not allow ourselves to become distracted by the things the world is distracted by. The mixed multitude who were among them yielded to intense craving; so the children of Israel also wept. God has sanctified us, separated us, set us apart from the multitude through our faith in Christ Jesus as our Savior and Lord.

Wanting meat is not a problem, but the craving for the things of this world is represented by the wanting of meat. We must trust God to give us every day what we need, as Christ Jesus taught His disciples to pray, "Give us this day our daily bread." (Matthew 6:11) Also, we must learn the same lesson that Christ Jesus taught the multitude, after he had done the miraculous feeding of over 5,000 with the two fish and five loves, “Most assuredly, I say to you, Moses did not give you the bread from heaven, but My Father gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is He who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” (John 6:32-33) 

And Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst. ... All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will by no means cast out. For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me. This is the will of the Father who sent Me, that of all He has given Me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up at the last day. And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him may have everlasting life; and I will raise him up at the last day.” (John 6:35-40) 

NUMBERS: The Sound of the Trumpets and the Children of Israel Leave Mount Sinai; “Make two silver trumpets for yourself; you shall use them for calling the congregation and for directing the movement of the camps."

And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: “Make two silver trumpets for yourself; you shall make them of hammered work; you shall use them for calling the congregation and for directing the movement of the camps. (Numbers 10:1-2) 

"When they [sons of Aaron] blow both of them, all the congregation shall gather before you at the door of the tabernacle of meeting. But if they blow only one, then the leaders, the heads of the divisions of Israel, shall gather to you. (Numbers 10:3-4)

Previously, the Lord God had used the sound of the trumpet the third month after the children of Israel had gone out of the land of Egypt, on the same day, they came to the Wilderness of Sinai. ... Then the Lord said to Moses, “Go to the people and consecrate them today and tomorrow, and let them wash their clothes. And let them be ready for the third day. For on the third day the Lord will come down upon Mount Sinai in the sight of all the people. ... When the trumpet sounds long, they shall come near the mountain.”(Exodus 19:1, 10-13) 

Then it came to pass on the third day, in the morning, that there were thunderings and lightnings, and a thick cloud on the mountain; and the sound of the trumpet was very loud, so that all the people who were in the camp trembled. And Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet with God, and they stood at the foot of the mountain. Now Mount Sinai was completely in smoke, because the Lord descended upon it in fire. Its smoke ascended like the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mountain quaked greatly. And when the blast of the trumpet sounded long and became louder and louder, Moses spoke, and God answered him by voice. (Exous 19:16-19) Now all the people witnessed the thunderings, the lightning flashes, the sound of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking; and when the people saw it,they trembled and stood afar off. (Exodus 20:18)

The Lord God also used the sound of the trumpet for the feast of Trumpets, which represented the future rapture of Christ's church. Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, “Speak to the children of Israel, saying: ‘In the seventh month, on the first day of the month, you shall have a sabbath-rest, a memorial of blowing of trumpets, a holy convocation. You shall do no customary work on it; and you shall offer an offering made by fire to the Lord.’" (Leviticus 23:23-25)

And, the trumpet was sounded at the beginning of the year of the Jubilee, which represented our restoration to a right relationship with God. " ‘And you shall count seven sabbaths of years for yourself, seven times seven years; and the time of the seven sabbaths of years shall be to you forty-nine years. Then you shall cause the trumpet of the Jubilee to sound on the tenthday of the seventh month; on the Day of Atonement you shall make the trumpet to sound throughout all your land. And you shall consecrate the fiftieth year, and proclaim liberty throughout all the land to all its inhabitants. It shall be a Jubilee for you; and each of you shall return to his possession, and each of you shall return to his family.'" (Leviticus 25:8-10)

In future studies, we will learn even more about the use of the trumpet as a call to do what the Lord God commanded. But for now, the trumpets were used for calling the congregation and for directing the movement of the camps. "When you sound the advance, the camps that lie on the east side shall then begin their journey. When you sound the advance the second time, then the camps that lie on the south side shall begin their journey; they shall sound the call for them to begin their journeys. And when the assembly is to be gathered together, you shall blow, but not sound the advance. The sons of Aaron, the priests, shall blow the trumpets; and these shall be to you as an ordinance forever throughout your generations. (Numbers 10:5-8) 

“When you go to war in your land against the enemy who oppresses you, then you shall sound an alarm with the trumpets, and you will be remembered before the Lord your God, and you will be saved from your enemies. Also in the day of your gladness, in your appointed feasts, and at the beginning of your months, you shall blow the trumpets over your burnt offerings and over the sacrifices of your peace offerings; and they shall be a memorial for you before your God: I am the Lord your God.” (Numbers 10:9-10) 

As stated previously, the trumpet would also be sounded at the beginning of their appointed feasts, but now it's also commanded to be blown at the beginning of your months, over the sacrifices of your peace offerings, almost like the sounding of an alarm, so that the children of Israel would know what time it was for which event or activity. They had so many feasts and days of offerings to remember, they needed an alarm from the Lord God through Moses, Aaron and the priests, in order to not forget any of them.

Finally, after two years and two months at Mount Sinai, the Lord God would have the children of Israel break camp and start going toward the promised land. Now it came to pass on the twentieth day of the second month, in the second year, that the cloud was taken up from above the tabernacle of the Testimony. And the children of Israel set out from the Wilderness of Sinai on their journeys; then the cloud settled down in the Wilderness of Paran. So they started out for the first time according to the command of the Lord by the hand of Moses. (Numbers 10:11-13) 

The standard of the camp of the children of Judah set out first according to their armies; over their army was Nahshon the son of Amminadab. Over the army of the tribe of the children of Issachar was Nethanel the son of Zuar. And over the army of the tribe of the children of Zebulun was Eliab the son of Helon. (Numbers 10:14-16) 

Then the tabernacle was taken down; and the sons of Gershon and the sons of Merari set out, carrying the tabernacle. (Numbers 10:17) 

And the standard of the camp of Reuben set out according to their armies; over their army was Elizur the son of Shedeur. Over the army of the tribe of the children of Simeon was Shelumiel the son of Zurishaddai. And over the army of the tribe of the children of Gad was Eliasaph the son of Deuel. (Numbers 10:18-20) 

Then the Kohathites set out, carrying the holy things. (The tabernacle would be prepared for their arrival.) (Numbers 10:21) 

And the standard of the camp of the children of Ephraim set out according to their armies; over their army was Elishama the son of Ammihud. Over the army of the tribe of the children of Manasseh was Gamaliel the son of Pedahzur. And over the army of the tribe of the children of Benjamin was Abidan the son of Gideoni. (Nummbers 10:22-24) 

Then the standard of the camp of the children of Dan (the rear guard of all the camps) set out according to their armies; over their army was Ahiezer the son of Ammishaddai. Over the army of the tribe of the children of Asher was Pagiel the son of Ocran. And over the army of the tribe of the children of Naphtali was Ahira the son of Enan. (Numbers 10:25-27) 

Thus was the order of march of the children of Israel, according to their armies, when they began their journey. (Numbers 10:28) God is a God of order! He had arranged the camps a specific way, in order that they would move in a specific way, the protect His sanctuary (the tabernacle), and His his sacred articles (the holy things).

Now Moses said to Hobab the son of Reuel the Midianite, Moses’ father-in-law, “We are setting out for the place of which the Lord said, ‘I will give it to you.’ Come with us, and we will treat you well; for the Lord has promised good things to Israel.” And he said to him, “I will not go, but I will depart to my own land and to my relatives.”  So Moses said, “Please do not leave, inasmuch as you know how we are to camp in the wilderness, and you can be our eyes. And it shall be, if you go with us—indeed it shall be—that whatever good the Lord will do to us, the same we will do to you.” (Numbers 10:29-32) 

Moses father-in-law, Jethro was a Midianite, and when Moses and the children of Israel had first arrived in the wilderness, Jethro, the priest of Midian, Moses’ father-in-law, heard of all that God had done for Moses and for Israel His people—that the Lord had brought Israel out of Egypt. Then Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, took Zipporah, Moses’ wife, after he had sent her back, with her two sons, of whom the name of one was Gershom (for he said, “I have been a stranger in a foreign land”) and the name of the other was Eliezer (for he said, “The God of my father was my help, and delivered me from the sword of Pharaoh”); and Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, came with his sons and his wife to Moses in the wilderness, where he was encamped at the mountain of God. Now he had said to Moses, “I, your father-in-law Jethro, am coming to you with your wife and her two sons with her.” (Exodus 18:1-6)

After staying for a while and giving Moses good advise regarding how he should set up the judicial system among the children of Israel, Moses let his father-in-law depart, and he went his way to his own land. (Exodus 18:27) But apparently, some other relatives of Moses' wife came and stayed. Now we are introduced to Moses' brother-in-law, Hobab. The Lord God was very clear of how the children of Israel was to treat a stranger or foreigner who chose to stay with them. “You shall neither mistreat a stranger nor oppress him, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt." (Exodus 22:21) Moses also acknowledged the Hobab would be a great help to them as the journeyed towards the promised land because he could be their eyes in the wilderness also, since he knew the land.

So they departed from the mountain of the Lord on a journey of three days; and the ark of the covenant of the Lord went before them for the three days’ journey, to search out a resting place for them. And the cloud of the Lord was above them by day when they went out from the camp. So it was, whenever the ark set out, that Moses said: “Rise up, O Lord! Let Your enemies be scattered, and let those who hate You flee before You.” And when it rested, he said: “Return, O Lord, to the many thousands of Israel.” (Numbers 10:33-36)

Even though the tabernacle and the holy things were protected within the camps as the children of Israel moved, the Word of God (ark of the covenant) went before the camps. Let that be a lesson to us today, that no matter what we do, where we go, we are to take the Word of God with us. Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path. (Psalm 119:105) Oh, send out Your light and Your truth! Let them lead me; let them bring me to Your holy hill and to Your tabernacle. (Psalm 43:3) AMEN!

NUMBERS: The Children of Israel Commanded to Keep the Passover and Lead by The Lord God as a Cloud by Day and Fire by Night; “Let the children of Israel keep the Passover at its appointed time; and as long as the cloud stayed above the tabernacle they remained encamped."

Now 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 children of Israel keep the Passover at its appointed time. On the fourteenth day of this month, at twilight, you shall keep it at its appointed time. According to all its rites and ceremonies you shall keep it.” (Numbers 9:1-3) 

The Lord God had instituted the Passover the night he "passed over" their homes when He sent the tenth plague into Egypt, the death of the firstborn. Now the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, saying, “This month shall be your beginning of months; it shall be the first month of the year to you. Speak to all the congregation of Israel, saying: ‘On the tenth of this month every man shall take for himself a lamb, according to the house of his father, a lamb for a household. ... Now you shall keep it until the fourteenth day of the same month. Then the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it at twilight. And they shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and on the lintel of the houses where they eat it. ... It is the Lord’s Passover." (Exodus 12:1-11)

So Moses told the children of Israel that they should keep the Passover. And they kept the Passover on the fourteenth day of the first month, at twilight, in the Wilderness of Sinai; according to all that the Lord commanded Moses, so the children of Israel did. (Numbers 9:4-5) 

Now there were certain men who were defiled by a human corpse, so that they could not keep the Passover on that day; and they came before Moses and Aaron that day. And those men said to him, “We became defiled by a human corpse. Why are we kept from presenting the offering of the Lord at its appointed time among the children of Israel?” And Moses said to them, “Stand still, that I may hear what the Lord will command concerning you.” (Numbers 9:6-8) 

The scripture doesn't specify which kind of human corpse the men were defiled by. Most likely they had buried a relative, because otherwise they would have been put out of the camp, as the Lord God had previously instructed about unclean persons, “Command the children of Israel that they put out of the camp every leper, everyone who has a discharge, and whoever becomes defiled by a corpse. You shall put out both male and female; you shall put them outside the camp, that they may not defile their camps in the midst of which I dwell.” And the children of Israel did so, and put them outside the camp; as the Lord spoke to Moses, so the children of Israel did. (Numbers 5:2-4)

Moses could have easily said what the Lord God had previously commanded regarding defiled people, but he wisely sought God's counsel before making a response. The secret of the Lord is with those who fear Him, and He will show them His covenant. (Psalm 25:14) Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths. (Proverbs 3:5-6) 

Christ Jesus said based on His example and Moses, we should always be able to tell if someone's teaching or responses are from God. Jesus answered them and said, “My doctrine is not Mine, but His who sent Me. If anyone wills to do His will, he shall know concerning the doctrine, whether it is from God or whether I speak on My own authority. He who speaks from himself seeks his own glory; but He who seeks the glory of the One who sent Him is true, and no unrighteousness is in Him. Did not Moses give you the law,..." (John 7:16-19)

Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, “Speak to the children of Israel, saying: ‘If anyone of you or your posterity is unclean because of a corpse, or is far away on a journey, he may still keep the Lord’s Passover. On the fourteenth day of the second month, at twilight, they may keep it. They shall eat it with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. They shall leave none of it until morning, nor break one of its bones. According to all the ordinances of the Passover they shall keep it. But the man who is clean and is not on a journey, and ceases to keep the Passover, that same person shall be cut off from among his people, because he did not bring the offering of the Lord at its appointed time; that man shall bear his sin. And if a stranger dwells among you, and would keep the Lord’s Passover, he must do so according to the rite of the Passover and according to its ceremony; you shall have one ordinance, both for the stranger and the native of the land.’” (Numbers 9:9-14) 

This scripture points out two very important facts. First, even though the Lord God commanded that anyone defiled by a corpse be put out the camp, He lets us know that being physically defiled doesn't mean we're spiritually defiled. Remember, the priest could later examine a defiled person and allow them back into the camp, once it was determined they were clean. The desire to observe the Passover was in these men's hearts. Christ Jesus taught, “Hear and understand: Not what goes into the mouth defiles a man; but what comes out of the mouth, this defiles a man.” (Matthew 15:10-11) The same principle applies here. It's not the touching of a corpse that defiled a person from keeping the Lord's Passover, it's the intentions of their heart. That's why the man who is clean and is not on a journey, and ceases to keep the Passover, that same person shall be cut off from among his people.

Secondly, the treatment of the Passover lamb is a foreshadow of what would happen to Christ Jesus, ...our Passover, was sacrificed for us. (I Corinthians 5:7) The Lord God said they shall leave none of it until morning, nor break one of its bones. When Christ Jesus was crucified on the cross, because it was the Preparation Day, that the bodies should not remain on the cross on the Sabbath (for that Sabbath was a high day), the Jews asked Pilate that their legs might be broken, and that they might be taken away. Then the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first and of the other who was crucified with Him. But when they came to Jesus and saw that He was already dead, they did not break His legs. ... And he who has seen has testified, and his testimony is true; and he knows that he is telling the truth, so that you may believe. For these things were done that the Scripture should be fulfilled, “Not one of His bones shall be broken.” (John 19:31-36)

Now on the day that the tabernacle was raised up, the cloud covered the tabernacle, the tent of the Testimony; from evening until morning it was above the tabernacle like the appearance of fire. So it was always: the cloud covered it by day, and the appearance of fire by night. Whenever the cloud was taken up from above the tabernacle, after that the children of Israel would journey; and in the place where the cloud settled, there the children of Israel would pitch their tents. At the command of the Lord the children of Israel would journey, and at the command of the Lord they would camp; as long as the cloud stayed above the tabernacle they remained encamped. (Numbers 9:15-18) 

Even when the cloud continued long, many days above the tabernacle, the children of Israel kept the charge of the Lord and did not journey. So it was, when the cloud was above the tabernacle a few days: according to the command of the Lord they would remain encamped, and according to the command of the Lord they would journey. So it was, when the cloud remained only from evening until morning: when the cloud was taken up in the morning, then they would journey; whether by day or by night, whenever the cloud was taken up, they would journey. Whether it was two days, a month, or a year that the cloud remained above the tabernacle, the children of Israel would remain encamped and not journey; but when it was taken up, they would journey. At the command of the Lord they remained encamped, and at the command of the Lord they journeyed; they kept the charge of the Lord, at the command of the Lord by the hand of Moses. (Numbers 9:19-23)

When the Lord God gave the children of Israel the commandment to leave Mount Sinai, He promised, “Depart and go up from here, you and the people whom you have brought out of the land of Egypt, to the land of which I swore to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, saying, ‘To your descendants I will give it.’ And I will send My Angel before you,..." (Exodus 33:1-2) All they had to do was obey the commandments and laws of the Lord God by the mouth of Moses. 

The Lord God was with them every day, from morning to night, and He is with us also. I will lift up my eyes to the hills— from whence comes my help? My help comes from the Lord, Who made heaven and earth. He will not allow your foot to be moved; He who keeps you will not slumber. Behold, He who keeps Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep. The Lord is your keeper; the Lord is your shade at your right hand. The sun shall not strike you by day, nor the moon by night. The Lord shall preserve you from all evil; He shall preserve your soul. The Lord shall preserve your going out and your coming in from this time forth, and even forevermore. (Psalm 121:1-8) AMEN!