15 There is to be one law for you and for the man of another country living with you, one law for ever from generation to generation; as you are, so is he to be before the Lord.
And if a man from another country is among you and has a desire to keep the Passover to the Lord, let him do as is ordered in the law of the Passover: there is to be the same rule for the man from another nation and for him who had his birth in the land.
The law in connection with wrong done unconsciously is to be the same for him who is an Israelite by birth and for the man from another country who is living among them.
And this day is to be kept in your memories: you are to keep it as a feast to the Lord through all your generations, as an order for ever.
And you are to keep this as an order to you and to your sons for ever.
You are to have the same law for a man of another nation living among you as for an Israelite; for I am the Lord your God.
The horns are to be sounded by the sons of Aaron, the priests; this is to be a law for you for ever, from generation to generation.
And so he made it a rule and an order for Israel from that day till now.
There is no Jew or Greek, servant or free, male or female: because you are all one in Jesus Christ.
For this reason keep it in mind that in the past you, the Gentiles in the flesh, who are looked on as being outside the circumcision by those who have circumcision, in the flesh, made by hands; That you were at that time without Christ, being cut off from any part in Israel's rights as a nation, having no part in God's agreement, having no hope, and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who at one time were far off are made near in the blood of Christ. For he is our peace, who has made the two into one, and by whom the middle wall of division has been broken down, Having in his flesh put an end to that which made the division between us, even the law with its rules and orders, so that he might make in himself, of the two, one new man, so making peace; And that the two might come into agreement with God in one body through the cross, so putting an end to that division. And he came preaching peace to you who were far off, and to those who were near; Because through him the two of us are able to come near in one Spirit to the Father. So then you are no longer as those who have no part or place in the kingdom of God, but you are numbered among the saints, and of the family of God, Resting on the base of the Apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the chief keystone, In whom all the building, rightly joined together, comes to be a holy house of God in the Lord; In whom you, with the rest, are united together as a living-place of God in the Spirit.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on Numbers 15
Commentary on Numbers 15 Matthew Henry Commentary
Chapter 15
This chapter, which is mostly concerning sacrifice and offering, comes in between the story of two rebellions (one ch. 14, the other ch. 16), to signify that these legal institutions were typical of the gifts which Christ was to receive even for the rebellious, Ps. 68:18. In the foregoing chapter, upon Israel's provocation, God had determined to destroy them, and in token of his wrath had sentenced them to perish in the wilderness. But, upon Moses' intercession, he said, "I have pardoned;' and, in token of that mercy, in this chapter he repeats and explains some of the laws concerning offerings, to show that he was reconciled to them, notwithstanding the severe dispensation they wee under, and would not unchurch them. Here is,
Num 15:1-21
Here we have,
Num 15:22-29
We have here the laws concerning sacrifices for sins of ignorance; the Jews understand it of idolatry, or false worship, through the error of their teachers. The case here supposed is that they had not observed all these commandments, v. 22, 23. If they had failed in the offerings of their acknowledgment, and had not brought them according to the law, then they must bring an offering of atonement, yea, though the omission had been through forgetfulness or mistake. If they failed in one part of the ceremony, they must make it up by the observance of another part, which was in the nature of a remedial law.
Num 15:30-36
Here is,
Num 15:37-41
Provision had been just now made by the law for the pardon of sins of ignorance and infirmity; now here is an expedient provided for the preventing of such sins. They are ordered to make fringes upon the borders of their garments, which were to be memorandums to them of their duty, that they might not sin through forgetfulness.
After the repetition of some ceremonial appointments, the chapter closes with that great and fundamental law of religion, Be holy unto your God, purged from sin, and sincerely devoted to his service; and that great reason for all the commandments is again and again inculcated, I am the Lord your God. Did we more firmly believe, and more frequently and seriously consider, that God is the Lord, and our God and Redeemer, we should see ourselves bound in duty, interest, and gratitude, to keep all his commandments.