Numbers 9:9-14 – The matchless God of grace

God would certainly require that we obey Him and act precisely with specificity, but what happens if one could not do it for a good reason? This was an issue some of the people of Israel brought to Moses. Either someone in the family had died or while helping someone, that person died and their contact with that dead person had made them ceremonially unclean. Should they then be defaulted and not allowed to partake of the Passover although the predicament they were in was not a making of their own? It would seem unfair to excommunicate them.

So in Numbers 9:9-12, Moses came back with the answer. Graciously, God did not just make provision for those who were made ceremonially unclean accidentally, He also made provision for those who had to travel and had to miss the Passover. In verses 11-12, in these incidences, God allowed a second Passover to be conducted one month later to accommodate these people. However, this make-up Passover must be celebrated with the exact same condition. It must be observed in accordance with the required statutes. It must be said that the provision was made for the people, who through no fault of theirs missed the Passover celebration. It was not for those who had no reason to miss the celebration but chose to skip it. These latter people would have defaulted themselves by their own making. They were deemed to show an utter disregard for God, and they would be excommunicated.

In making these provisions, God has shown that while He wants specificity in obedience, He recognizes that perfect obedience may not always be possible in a fallen world. He is not an unreasonable God. His grace would make room for a second opportunity to make right with Him. He will give a second chance for His people to make and live right when a mistake made is not committed deliberately.  

In verse 14, the grace of God extended even further to include the aliens and foreigners. He allowed the foreigners who dwelled among them to partake of the celebration. We know that this celebration was to commemorate God’s grace of redeeming the people and to recall His faithfulness to the covenant He had made with Abraham. He was not obliged to include those Gentiles who were not part of the covenant. But in His grace and mercy, He allowed them to enjoy the redemptive celebration accorded only to the redeemed. For the aliens and foreigners who were not Abraham’s children, God reached out to embrace them and allow them to partake in the Passover celebration. This presupposes that they were first circumcised in accordance with the covenant requirement.

God knows that in this fallen world, to be perfectly sinless is not possible. But we must seek to do our best to live obediently. And when we have done our best and still fall short of His requirements, there is a provision in Christ. First John 1:9 promises that “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous, so that He will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” Our God is merciful and gracious. We must not take Him for granted but we can trust Him to forgive us when we make a genuine mistake. What a God we worship and serve!