Numbers 17 Aaron's Staff Budded

seekeroftruth

Well-Known Member
Numbers 17:1[a]The Lord said to Moses, 2 “Speak to the Israelites and get twelve staffs from them, one from the leader of each of their ancestral tribes. Write the name of each man on his staff. 3 On the staff of Levi write Aaron’s name, for there must be one staff for the head of each ancestral tribe. 4 Place them in the tent of meeting in front of the ark of the covenant law, where I meet with you. 5 The staff belonging to the man I choose will sprout, and I will rid myself of this constant grumbling against you by the Israelites.”

6 So Moses spoke to the Israelites, and their leaders gave him twelve staffs, one for the leader of each of their ancestral tribes, and Aaron’s staff was among them. 7 Moses placed the staffs before the Lord in the tent of the covenant law.

8 The next day Moses entered the tent and saw that Aaron’s staff, which represented the tribe of Levi, had not only sprouted but had budded, blossomed and produced almonds. 9 Then Moses brought out all the staffs from the Lord’s presence to all the Israelites. They looked at them, and each of the leaders took his own staff.

10 The Lord said to Moses, “Put back Aaron’s staff in front of the ark of the covenant law, to be kept as a sign to the rebellious. This will put an end to their grumbling against me, so that they will not die.” 11 Moses did just as the Lord commanded him.

12 The Israelites said to Moses, “We will die! We are lost, we are all lost! 13 Anyone who even comes near the tabernacle of the Lord will die. Are we all going to die?”​

Numbers 17:1 In Hebrew texts 17:1-13 is numbered 17:16-28.

There are a few significant things going on in these verses. In verse 3 God told Moses to engrave Aaron's name in the staff for the family of Levi. According to the commentary at GodVine, Aaron would not have been the natural leader.

The Levites had taken part in the late outbreak. It was therefore necessary to vindicate the supremacy of the house of Aaron over them; and accordingly his name was written on the rod of Levi, although being the son of Kohath, the second son of Levi (Exodus 6:16), he would not be the natural head of the tribe.​

Then look at verse 8. We all know that leaves and flowers don't grow on a dead piece of wood.... on top of that we know full well that almonds do not go from dormant to nut over night. This was really a sign.

Now back to GodVine.

"Ripened almonds," i. e. "brought forth ripe almonds." The name almond in Hebrew denotes the "waking-tree," the "waking-fruit;" and is applied to this tree, because it blossoms early in the season. It serves here, as in Jeremiah 1:11-12, to set forth the speed and certainty with which, at God's will, His purposes are accomplished. So again the blossoming and bearing of Aaron's rod, naturally impotent when severed from the parent tree, may signify the profitableness, because of God's appointment and blessing, of the various means of grace (e. g. the priesthood, the sacraments), which of themselves and apart from Him could have no such efficacy. Compare Isaiah 4:2; Isaiah 11:1; Isaiah 53:2; Jeremiah 33:5; Zechariah 6:12.​

And finally, for the last verse, GodVine says...

Behold, we die, we perish, we all perish - גוענו gavaenu signifies not so much to die simply, as to feel an extreme difficulty of breathing, which, producing suffocation, ends at last in death. See the folly and extravagance of this sinful people. At first, every person might come near to God, for all, they thought, were sufficiently holy, and every way qualified to minister in holy things. Now, no one, in their apprehension, can come near to the tabernacle without being consumed, Numbers 17:13. In both cases they were wrong; some there were who might approach, others there were who might not. God had put the difference. His decision should have been final with them; but sinners are ever running into extremes.

It's the commentary at the easy English site that puts it all in simple language for me though.

This is the third story to show that Aaron was God’s High Priest. These sticks were not branches that people had just cut off a tree. They were the special sticks that the leaders carried. The sticks were dead. Leaves did not grow on them.

Each leader wrote his name on his stick. So there could not be a mistake about whose stick had started to grow leaves.

Moses put all the sticks close to the Ark. He returned the next day to collect the sticks. Aaron’s stick had leaves, flowers and nuts on it! God had made a dead stick alive again. This proved that he had chosen Aaron to be his High Priest. Nobody could doubt it. God told Moses to keep Aaron’s stick in front of the Ark always.

The tassels on the Israelites’ clothes reminded them to obey God’s Law (Numbers 15:37-41). The cover on the altar reminded them that they must never oppose God (Numbers 16:36-40). Aaron’s stick reminded them that God had chosen Aaron and his family to be his only priests.

God did not want the people to die. And they would not die if they obeyed God’s Law. But the people said that this would happen anyway. They had become very afraid. So they said this to show their despair because so many people had died.

These stupid hardheaded humans.... I guess they really were afraid when they found the nuts growing on the dead piece of wood.

:coffee:
 
Top