So this first month of the second year was prior to the numbering of the males of the tribes for army service, and the numbering of the Levites for tabernacle service. The numbering took place in the first day of the second month, of the second year. The time of this communication between God and Moses then was just fourteen days prior to the Passover, that was to occur on the fourteenth day, of the month of Abib. God told Moses that the year would start at sundown of the day of the Spring Equinox each year. In Exodus 40:17 we were told that this would be the time that the Tabernacle would first be raised; "And it came to pass in the first month of the second year, on the first day of the month, that the tabernacle was reared up." So this establishes the exact time that Numbers 9, the week of Aaron's consecration took place. This is talking about the Passover and the supplementary Passover.

Numbers 9:2 "Let the children of Israel also keep the passover at his appointed season."

God had this statement placed here because of a misinterpretation of a previous statement; in Exodus 12:25, in that statement is was talking about keeping the Passover when you reach the promise land, the land of Canaan. So God is telling Moses to let the people know that He doesn't want them to wait for that latter date to start keeping the Passover. It didn't matter when or where they were, the Passover was to be kept each year.

Numbers 9:3 "In the fourteenth day of this month [Abib], 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."

Numbers 9:4 "And Moses spake unto the children of Israel, that they should keep the passover."

Moses told the children of Israel of this message from God about keeping the Passover. Today we also keep the Passover, but our Passover as Christians is the day of our Lord crucifixion. The day that Jesus went to the cross, for the two happened on the same day, and in accordance with all the prophecies foretelling the life and death of our Lord and Savior. Though most Christians today think of it as Easter, the heathen holiday, Paul told is in I Corinthians 5:7 "Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us:" When Jesus went to the Cross, He became the perfect unblemished blood sacrifice for each person that would by faith, believe in Him through repentance, and accept that gift sight unseen.

I Corinthians 5:8 "Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth."

Our Passover today is by taking the Communion; the cup and the bread of the communion table, for we take it in Remembrance for What Jesus did for each of us. Just as the first Passover, was in remembrance of that night when the death angel of God passed over the homes of the Children of Israel, because they had the blood of the lamb over the doorpost and on the sides of the door of their homes; the blood that is over the door post and sides to our hearts, is our faith in the blood of Jesus Christ, that was shed for us at the cross. This was the purpose for Jesus Christ to come to earth in the flesh in the first place.

Hebrews 2:14, 15 "Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, He also Himself likewise took part of the same; that through death He might destroy him that had the power of death, that is the devil;" [14] "And deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject of bondage." [15]

No we don't shed the blood of lambs and goats anymore, for when Christ died on the cross, His blood was sufficient for one and all times.

Hebrews 10:9, 10 "Then said he, Lo, I come to do thy will, O God. He taketh away the first, that he may establish the second. [9] By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all." [10] 

Our Lord Jesus Christ was the perfect unblemished sacrifice, and His blood fulfilled all the law blood ordinances and statutes that were first given to Moses, and written in the first covenant, so that at the death and resurrection of Christ, the the second testament or covenant may be establish for one and all times, to each soul that will have the faith to believe in Christ sight unseen. That is what grace is; [God Riches At Christ's Expense], but like any gift, you must take the gift and claim it as yours, or it is not yours. Jesus came to defeat death, and Satan is death, for that is one of his names, in English, "the destroyer". Revelation 9:11 "And they had a king over them, which is the angel of the bottomless pit, whose name in the Hebrew tongue is Abaddon [destroyer], but in the Greek tongue hath his name Apollyon [destroyer]."

Numbers 9:5 "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."

It had been two year since the children of Israel stayed in their homes and the death angel of God passed over Egypt to claim the life of the firstborn of all families of man and their beasts. Remember the year started at them day of the Spring Vernal Equinox, and that started the first month of Abib. Fourteen days later was the night of the Passover, when the death angel took the life of the first born of all the families of Egypt. The next day, the fifteenth day, the Children of Israel received orders from Pharaoh to depart from Egypt. They departed in haste, and took with them much of the wealth of Egypt that the Egyptians sent their wealth and animals and sent them on their journey. Jesus Himself demonstrated how each of us are to observe the Passover, when he took the cup and the bread, and gave thanks and said:

Luke 22:17, 18 "And He took the cup, and gave thanks, and said, Take this, and divide it among yourselves:" [17] "For I say unto you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine, until the kingdom of God shall come." [18]

This sets the time frame that all Christians, those that claim the name of Jesus Christ, are to be taking the Communion, the covenant of the New Testament. We take the cup and give thanks to the Father for the blood of Christ that was shed for our redemption from sin, and we keep doing this until our Lord Jesus Christ Kingdom comes to earth to be with us again, and that will be at the seventh trump, when this age of flesh men and women is over and done with. As long as you are in your flesh body, you are to continue to take the Communion cup in remembrance of the cross of Christ.

Luke 22:19:20 "And He took bread, and gave thanks, and brake it, and gave unto them, saying, "This is My body which is given for you: this do in remembrance of Me." [19] "Likewise also the cup after supper, saying, "This cup is the New Testament in My blood, which is shed for you." [20]

The Old Testament is the killing of sacrificial bullocks, lambs and goats, for the covering for sin. And the New Covenant or Testimony is the Communion Table where we all gather around to receive the cup and the bread of the Communion. We do this "In remembrance of Me." We take it in remembrance of our Lord Jesus Christ for only He was worthy to be the Sacrificial Lamb that taketh away the sin of those that repent in His name. He was worthy, and we take the cup worthily when we focus on His blood that was shed for us. This is what Passover in our day is all about, not scrubbing floors to get the leaven out of our houses, but coming to the Communion Table to get the leaven out of our lives and putting those sins under the blood of Christ.

Again, for those hung up on the word "Easter" and fail to realize that in all the manuscripts the word is "Pascha" the Greek word for "Passover" in the New Testament. Somewhere down the line, Christians tried to mix their Passover with the heathen form of worship called "Easter", "the feast of Ishtar", in worship of the heathen Canaanite goddess. Easter was a pagan spring festival, and today Christians have placed that heathen day in their minds over the Highest of all holy Days, the Passover. Yet today, we see it is quite common where most churches like to mix heathen religious thought with the Scripture, and somehow they think by creating their own new way, it pleases God. If you think that you can mess over our Lord's mind by degrading His Highest holy Day with some form of paganism, there will be a price to paid.

Numbers 9:6 "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:"

Leviticus 10:1 - 4 tells us of what happened to cause the death of these dead. The two men that came to Moses were Mishael and Elizaphan, who had just buried Nadab and Abihu, the two priests that defiled the altar of God by bringing strange fire to the altar, as God ordered against this act. God struck Nadab and Abihu, the two oldest sons of Aaron dead, and the time lapse had not passed from the time of handling and taking care of these two dead bodies. Moses and Aaron were well aware of this problem and it had to be dealt with.

Numbers 9:7 "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?""

The offering spoken of here was the Passover lamb. These men have a conscience and they had just been told that they had to keep the Passover. You are to keep the Passover at all times, even when you are in the wilderness. Here they had just buried dead men, and were considered unclean before the Lord. So they came to Moses and asked him what they must do to keep the Passover. If you don't know the answer, then ask just as these men did.

Numbers 9:8 "And Moses said unto them, "Stand still, and I will hear what the Lord will command concerning you." 

This was something that Moses hadn't faced before, and he took the problem right to the Lord. It seems that every day more details crept in, needing answers, and Moses knew right where to go for the answers.

Numbers 9:9 "And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,"

Numbers 9:10 "Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, `If any man of you of of your posterity [generations] 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."

So it any person was in a position of an unclean state, or in a journey to a land where they did not respect the Lord, They still would have to keep the Passover. So here is how they would keep the Passover.

Numbers 9:11 "The fourteenth day of the second month at even they shall keep it, and eat it with unleavened bread and bitter herbs."

So instead of keeping the Passover on the fourteenth day of the first month, it shall be delayed to the fourteenth day of the second month at the evening, then they shall keep the Passover. Exodus 12 gives the full instructions of the keeping of the Passover.

Numbers 9:12 "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."

These Ordinances of the Passover are given in Exodus 12:43 - 49. When our Lord Jesus Christ was hanging on the cross as sundown, it was brought up that maybe they should break His leg and cause Him to die; yet even in His death, Jesus gave up the Ghost to fulfill Scripture, and His legs were not broken. He was the Passover Lamb, given for one and all times. By Jesus shedding His blood, He became our Passover Lamb, to cover our sins.

Numbers 9:13 "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."

God has his set appointed ways for his People to approach Him, He spelled that way out through the hand of Moses, and set His seasons and appointed times for His people to come to Him. There is no difference today in this fact, for the Way that our Heavenly Father YHVH as appointed for man to approach Him is through and in the name of His Son, Jesus the Christ [the Anointed One]. The Apostle Thomas asked Jesus; "Lord, we know not whether thou goest; and how can we know the way?"

John 14:6, 7 "Jesus saith unto him, "I am the way, the truth and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by Me." [6] "If ye had know Me, ye should have known My Father also: and from henceforth ye know Him, and have seen Him." " [7]

When Jesus died on the cross, He became our Passover, and the way we celebrate the Passover as Christians today is through the Communion table, and the taking of the cup, and the bread; representing the blood and body of Christ. Sure the Communion table is the only manner for our taking the Passover today, but from this time of Moses to the death of Christ, the time and season for the Passover was set by YHVH the Father, and Moses received that set of instructions, and the children of Israel were faithful to God's command to keep it in this manner.

From verses nine to fourteen then is God's instruction that when it becomes impossible for one reason or another, not to partake of the Passover. Notice that it is still required to take the Passover but a second Passover or time is given by God, and that time is the fourteenth day of the second month. Remember that the first month of Abib started at sundown at the day of the Spring Vernal Equinox: That marked the first day of the year.

In our New Testament or Covenant, the Passover or Communion is to be taken also when the people of Christ come together for that table. Some Christians take it every time they meet, but most churches set a time each month for the Communion Table, and some take it three times a year. The point here is that it is taken on a regular basis for the sake of remembrance of Christ's body and blood that was broken and shed for each of us that would accept Him.

Numbers 9:14 "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."

This instruction is given in Exodus 12:49; for the instruction concerning strangers that are among the Israelites, are to do exactly as the Israelites did. The ordinance of keeping the Passover is the same for everyone, and that is how it is also at the communion table. Sure different church denominations today put restrictions at their table; but God doesn't. All men and women that have the faith in the death and resurrection of our Lord, and have come to Him in repentance have the same instructions at the communion table. Your eyes are not focused on you or your sin condition, but on the Lord. He is the one that was worthy to go to the cross and become that perfect sacrifice for one and all time, and to acknowledge this in your heart is to take the Communion worthily.

Numbers 9:15 "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."

This cloud is not just appear here, but this verse is looking back to other times, as recorded in Exodus 40:7. This cloud appeared first over the tabernacle, specifically over the Ark of the Covenant, in the holy of holies. When the children of Israel passed through the Red sea, it would appear as a cloud at one time, and a fire at another time, and still as both a cloud and fire for protection to the Egyptians it appeared as a cloud of darkness. Though it was darkness behind the Israelites, it was the fire that lit their way by night.

Numbers 9:16 "So it was alway: the cloud covered it by day, and the appearance of fire by night."

Every night, all night.

Numbers 9:17 "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."

When God wanted the children of Israel to move their camp, He moved the cloud that was over them. When they were to camp, the cloud would stop. In that hot desert sun, this cloud was the protection by day, and the pillar of fire was their light and heat by night. However, when ever the camp moved, the ark of the Covenant moved before them, and in Numbers 3 we read of the order that the tribes would move when God ordered them to move. The items of the tabernacle, its furniture and so on was moved in the middle of, and under protection of the other tribes, but the ark itself was moved by the Kohathites out front of the main body. God promised that He would lead them into the Promise land, and His presence was at the ark of the covenant, and the movement was given through the cloud movement. When it was time to move, the cloud over the ark was removed, and the people knew it was time to move on. God was in control of all movement.

Numbers 9:18 "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."

God was in the cloud, and that movement of the cloud gave them their direction.

Numbers 9:19 "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."

"Kept the charge of the Lord", means that in those days that the cloud stopped and the did not journey, the observed all the things that God told them to observe. The would have their sacrifices, offerings, and praises to the Lord.

Numbers 9:20 "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."

It is no different for Christians living today, than it was out there in the wilderness. God was in control of their lives, and He did the leading. He told His people when it was time to rest, and when it was time to move on. When to lie down, and when to rise up. God expects us to use common sense on the little things in our lives [dressing and the food we eat], but on those things that have lasting impressions to our life, we are to seek His will for our lives through His Word. These things of the Old Testament are examples of what is acceptable by God and those things that are not. On certain matters we are told what to do, or not to do, but on many things, God sets the example for us in other peoples lives that are recorded in His Word. [I Corinthians 10:1-12] So when you have a major move to make, do you consult the Lord, for He is the best counsel that we can seek.

Numbers 9:21 "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."

The cloud was always there, but by night, it had the appearance of a fire. That same cloud, appeared as a barrier of darkness, night to the Egyptians, by to the Israelites, it lit their way.

Numbers 9:22 "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."

This rising and lowering of the cloud was not on a regular basis, for it could be for a couple of days, a month, or year; this cloud determined the location of the children of Israel, and for their protection from their enemies.

Numbers 9:23 "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."

God would lead them and they would follow, and when the stopped and set up the tabernacle, then they kept the Laws, statutes, and ordinances of the Lord, as God had commanded and told Moses to write them down.