Numbers

Numbers 9: God leads His rescued people

Begin in prayer

Before hearing how Israel waited for the Lord’s command, please ask Him for patient and listening hearts. Pray that we will remember His mercy and follow the Savior He has given.

You will guide me with your counsel, and afterward receive me to glory.

Psalm 73:24

Father in heaven, please open our eyes as we read Your Word. Teach us to remember Your rescue and follow Your Word, and show us Jesus, the Savior to whom the Passover points. Make us more like Jesus. And please bless our family as we worship You together. In Jesus' name, Amen.

See where we're going

In the wilderness of Sinai, Israel keeps the Passover a year after God brought them out of Egypt. Men made unclean by contact with the dead ask Moses why they must miss the offering. God allows them, and those on a distant journey, to keep it in the second month according to the same rules. Anyone clean and present who neglects the feast must be cut off, and one law governs the foreigner and the native. The cloud over the tent shows when Israel must travel and when they must remain. Whether the wait lasts a night or a year, they follow God’s command.

As you read Numbers 9, look for the answers:

Reflect together

Key truth

God teaches His rescued people to worship and follow Him by His word.

Before Israel leaves Sinai, God calls them to remember the rescue that made them His people. The Passover belongs at its appointed time, because God determines how His rescue is remembered. Yet some men are unclean through contact with the dead and cannot keep it then. Moses waits for God’s answer, and God gives them another appointed day in the second month. Mercy makes room for those prevented from coming, while anyone who neglects the feast must bear his sin. The cloud then teaches the same trust in God’s command, whether the people must wait or move. Rescue and guidance both call them to listen to the Lord.

How does Numbers 9 show us that God teaches His rescued people to worship and follow Him by His word?

God’s mercy gives His people a way to remember His rescue.

Those who touch the dead must respect God’s rule about uncleanness. Moses asks the Lord, and God gives another day for their Passover. They must still keep its rules, including leaving no meat until morning and breaking no bone.

God’s command must never be treated as unimportant.

A person who is clean and present, yet neglects the Passover, must be cut off from the people. God says that person must bear his sin. Foreigner and native alike come under the same law when they keep the feast.

God tells His people when to move and when to wait.

The cloud remains over the tent until God directs Israel to travel. They may wait for a night, several days or a whole year. Their timetable belongs to the Lord, and listening to Him includes staying where He has placed them.

Memorise

At the commandment of Yahweh they encamped, and at the commandment of Yahweh they traveled.

Numbers 9:23

Looking to Jesus in my life

Ask yourself in your heart, where do I rush past God’s word instead of trusting Jesus with my way?

Moses tells the men, “Wait, that I may hear what Yahweh will command concerning you.” The Lord gives a way for them to remember His rescue. They must keep the Passover without breaking a bone of the lamb. John 19 verse 36 names the fulfilment when Jesus dies with none of His bones broken.

Our sin deserves the judgment we cannot escape. Jesus died for His people, carrying the sin that made them guilty before God. His death accomplished their rescue, and He rose to life. The sacrifice is finished and fully sufficient to bring them to God.

Turn from your sin and trust the risen Jesus. Through Him, repentant sinners receive forgiveness and peace with God. Please listen to His Word, even when obedience means waiting. The Savior who has rescued His people can be trusted with their journey.

Parent's note

Tell your children that God’s mercy deserves a listening heart, and the Passover points them to Jesus and His saving death. Please do not tell them they are saved just because they grew up in a Christian home. Call each child to turn from sin and trust Jesus, and pray that God would give them a new heart.

Pray together

Now please close your time together in prayer. Thank God for teaching His rescued people how to worship and follow Him, and bring the heart question to Him. Every child can pray, so let each one say a short prayer if they want to.

Jesus therefore said to those Jews who had believed him, “If you remain in my word, then you are truly my disciples.

John 8:31

Lord God, thank You for making Your way known and for the rescue You give through Jesus. Forgive our impatience and our neglect of Your Word. Please turn us from sin to trust in Christ. Teach us to obey You when it is time to act and when we must wait. Amen.