Numbers 9:10

The Red Heifer is given in full detail only in the fourth book, because it is the special provision for defilements along the way; and this book deals with the wilderness path of God's people. So only here do we have the gracious means of a second-month Passover for those who missed the first through a passing defilement. The Passover itself was instituted and set out most fully in the second book as the sacrificial basis of redemption.

The original law in Exodus 12 does not foresee any such case, though it gives there a very full statement of all the rites and ceremonies of the feast. It was reserved for the wilderness to bring out this new point. The difficulty came up in the actual walk of the people — in the real practical details of desert life — and it needed a solution. So Numbers, the book of the wilderness, is the fitting place for the record of this whole affair.

On the one hand the Passover must be kept — the remembrance of the death of Christ is necessary everywhere. There is no pathway out of the world without the death of Christ... On the other hand, if they were not in a fit state because of defilement, the Lord here makes a special provision for it. He would not lower the Passover by setting aside its absolute obligation. But at the same time He would kindly allow for the conditions of the road that might make keeping it impossible.

The grace of God can meet us in our greatest weakness, if only we feel that weakness and confess it. But do not let this precious and comforting truth lead us to trifle with sin or defilement. Grace allowed the second month instead of the first. But it did not on that account allow any looseness about the rites and ceremonies of the feast. The unleavened bread and bitter herbs were always to have their place. God cannot allow any lowering of the standard of truth or holiness. A man might be behind the time through weakness, failure, or the pressure of circumstances. But he must not be below the mark.

God gave time for cleansing and for the return from the journey, and then a month later they could keep the Passover. No one was to be shut out from the feast of redemption that God in His grace had provided for His people... If the wanderer only returns, he finds a welcome at the table He has spread for His people... But if anyone did neglect the Passover on purpose, he was to be cut off from his people. Such neglect showed that he had no heart for the Lord and His redemption.

God tenderly regarded the desire of His people. Longing to be fully one with His own, and to enjoy the privileges He Himself has given, is always the sign of a right state of soul. So He directed that an exceptional provision be made for this case. Such believers, and any who might be on a journey, should not be barred from their place at the Passover table. They were to keep the feast on the fourteenth day of the second month, and they were to be careful at the same time to keep it according to all its rules.

When someone is cleansed from the defilement of unholy company, he is to be welcomed to the breaking of bread. And if distance has made fellowship impossible, that must not hinder fellowship when he returns from his journey.