seekeroftruth
Well-Known Member
Numbers 17:1 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?”
Here's the link to the commentary I use.Write each man’s name on his rod. And you shall write Aaron’s name on the rod of Levi: In gathering rods, and inscribing each with the name of a tribe, and on Levi’s rod inscribing Aaron’s name, God would declare which tribe possessed priestly authority by choosing one of the rods. This was the issue at hand in light of Korah’s rebellion.
And behold, the rod of Aaron: When Moses checked on the rods the next day, Aaron’s rod — and only Aaron’s rod — had sprouted. It not only sprouted, it had put forth buds. It had not only put forth buds, it had produced blossoms. It had not only produced blossoms, it had yielded… almonds. It had not only yielded almonds, it yielded ripe almonds!
Each man took his rod: This was a dramatic scene. Each murmurer from the different tribes took his rod, and clearly saw that his had not budded or borne fruit, and that Aaron’s had.
To be kept as a sign against the rebels: The rod of Aaron was to be kept as a museum piece, to remind the children of Israel that God had chosen a priesthood, and nothing would change that — Aaron’s priesthood would always be Aaron’s priesthood.
Bring Aaron’s rod back before the Testimony: Aaron’s rod was to be kept in the ark of the covenant, as another example of Israel’s failure and rebellion. When God looked down from heaven into the ark, He saw emblems of Israel’s sin: The tablets of law they broke, the manna they complained about, and Aaron’s rod meant to answer their rebellion. The covering blood of sacrifice was applied to the lid covering over these reminders of Israel’s sin, so God “saw” the blood “covering” their sin, and atonement was made.
Shall we all utterly die: After seeing all that God did in the rebellion of Korah — destroying Korah, Dathan, and Abiram, along with their 250 followers among the leading men of Israel; the retrieval and hammering out of the censers for a covering on the altar; the plague destroying 14,700 of those who sympathized with Korah and his followers, and the miraculous confirmation of Aaron’s priesthood — the people fear they are next to be judged, which was not an unreasonable fear.
What a great story! First of all, the Israelites had just witnessed Korah, Dathan, Abiram and about 250 family and friends of the Levite Tribe, swallowed up. The earth just opened a sink hole or a crack and swallowed them whole. A belch of gas full of plague must have gotten loose. Then 14,700 more were hit by a deadly plague. I bet the deadly plague was carried in the wind when the sink hole or the crack developed. Of course, only those who were rebelling against Moses and Aaron were struck with plague.
I think it's safe to say the Israelites, who are still just outside of the Promised Land, were a bit shaken.
There had been riots. Of course, the people who led the riots were now worm food. That, however, didn't stop God from making sure the message was crystal clear.
God decided to "naturally" show them Aaron was chosen by God to be the leader of the Levites.
Let's face it. If Aaron's "stick" had only budded, the Israelites would have questioned the "greenness" of the "stick". You can chop a branch off a tree and stick it in the ground and it will produce a new tree.
God wanted there to be no doubt. So, overnight, Aaron's "stick" budded, blossomed, bloomed, and produced fruit.
As a side note.... none of these "sticks" was planted in the ground and they were not tossed in water. They were just piled in the Tent of Meeting.
Almonds were produced overnight without sunlight, earth, or water.
Out here in Arizona, there is a huge discussion about the almond groves. The almond groves require massive quantities of water. Aaron's "stick" didn't have water, sunlight, or earth.
This "minor miracle" was enough to remind the Israelites who was in charge.
Now the Israelites were afraid to go near the Tent of Meeting: which was their church!
Were they afraid of a "stick"? NOPE
Had they learned to have a healthy respect for God? You Betcha!
Aaron's stick had nuts!
