Numbers 17:1-13

F. BUDDING OF AARON'S ROD (Numbers 17)

TEXT

Numbers 17:1. And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, 2. Speak unto the children of Israel, and take of every one of them a rod according to the house of their fathers, of all their princes according to the house of their fathers, twelve rods: write thou every man's name upon his rod. 3. And thou shalt write Aaron's name upon the rod of Levi: for one rod shall be for the head of the house of their fathers. 4. And thou shalt lay them up in the tabernacle of the congregation before the testimony, where I will meet you. 5. And it shall come to pass, that the man's rod, whom I shall choose, shall blossom: and I will make to cease from me the murmurings of the children of Israel, whereby they murmur against you.

6. And Moses spake unto the children of Israel, and every one of their princes gave him a rod apiece, for each prince one, according to their father's houses, even twelve rods; and the rod of Aaron was among their rods. 7. And Moses laid up the rods before the Lord in the tabernacle of witness, 8. And it came to pass, that on the morrow Moses went into the tabernacle of witness; and, behold, the rod of Aaron for the house of Levi was budded, and brought forth buds, and bloomed blossoms, and yielded almonds. 9. And Moses brought out all the rods from before the Lord unto all the children of Israel: and they looked, and took every man his rod.

10. And the Lord said unto Moses, Bring Aaron's rod again before the testimony, to be kept for a token against the rebels; and thou shalt quite take away their murmurings from me, that they die not. 11. And Moses did so; as the Lord commanded him, so did Hebrews 12. And the children of Israel spake unto Moses saying, Behold, we die; we perish; we all perish. 13. Whosoever cometh anywhere near unto the tabernacle of the Lord shall die; shall we be consumed with dying?

PARAPHRASE

Numbers 17:1. Now the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 2. Speak to the children of Israel, and take from each one of them a rod, one for each father's family, of all their princes according to the father's family: twelve rods in all. Write every man's name on his rod, 3. and write Aaron's name upon the rod of Levi, for one rod shall represent each of the fathers-' families. 4. And you shall lay them up in the Tent of Meeting in front of the Testimony, where I will meet with you. 5. And it will happen that the man whose rod I shall choose shall blossom. In this way I will put an end to the grumblings against Methe grumblings of the children of Israel who complain against you.

6. So Moses spoke to the children of Israel, and each of the princes gave him a rod, one for each prince, according to their fathers-' families: twelve rods, among which was the rod of Aaron. 7. So Moses put the rods before the Lord in the Tent of the Testimony. 8. And it happened on the next day that Moses went into the Tent of the Testimony; and lo, the rod of Aaron, representing the house of Levi, had sprouted and brought forth buds and bloomed, and had produced ripe almonds. 9. Moses then brought out all the rods from before the Lord to all the children of Israel; and they looked, and each man took his rod.
10. But the Lord said to Moses, Put Aaron's rod back before the Testimony, to be kept as a sign against the rebels so that you may put an end to their complaining against Me, in order that they may not die. 11. And Moses did it; just as the Lord commanded him, he did it. 12. And the children of Israel spoke to Moses, saying, Look we are dying! We perish! We are all dying! 13. Everyone who comes near, everyone who even approaches the Tabernacle of the Lord dies! Shall we all perish?

COMMENTARY

Of this account, IB says, The story of Aaron's rod presents a miracle which the modern mind finds difficult to accept as a literal historical fact, (p. 227). The revealing comment is hardly surprising from such a source; we might expect it to have been made of virtually any miracle in Scripture, since all revolve about the intervention of God in normal life, and they vary only in time, dimension and circumstances. But to the man who is convinced of God's supreme power, and of His concern with the affairs of men, the miracle is more than credible, it is virtually mandatory at this point in time. When the seeds of rebellion have been sown widely among Israel, and the full crop has led to the deaths of nearly 15,000 people; when God's appointed leaders have been subjected to crude, cruel and totally unjustified criticism, nothing could be more appropriate than for God to demonstrate convincingly that He is still in power upon His throne, and that His selection of Moses and Aaron is now more fully justified than ever before.

True, it is unusual that a branch, broken from its source, should live, let alone bring forth buds, blossoms and fruit overnight. But who would have been convinced by a sign requiring natural processes to produce the same effects in four months? The God of nature, Whose Son eliminated the time and process required to turn water into wine naturally, chose a like technique to gainsay the scoffers of Israel and reaffirm the station of Aaron, further setting him apart to the highest permanent office among the people: High Priest.

It is probable that the twelve rods presented before the Lord were not sticks randomly chosen to fulfill a specific commandment of the Lord, but that they had served each individual man as a useful staff in daily life; and that each might have been identifiable to its owner even without inscribing his name upon it. The identification would demonstrate beyond dispute, however, ownership of the rod chosen of the Lord; and none could question it. Hebrews 9:4 lists the rod, along with the tablets of the Law and a pot of manna, as an item kept within the Ark of the Covenantcontinuing as a reminder of the divine appointment of the High Priest. And, just as the rod, separated from the tree, could have produced nothing at all except by divine power, so the priesthood itself, if severed from God, would be sterile.

The rod is preserved as a sign against rebellion, and God remarked that thus He had literally buried their murmurings (Numbers 17:10). When the people witnessed the sign of the fruitful rod, they were struck with terror, perhaps realizing the gravity of their complaints more fully than ever before. They feared another fatal judgment upon their number at the moment, or at intervals in the future when they approached the Tabernacle, and their cries, We are dying! are expressed in what are known as perfects of certainty, indicating the inevitable. But they have only seen God's warning, not His execution, in the sign: and they have no reason to fear unless they should repeat the dastardly conduct of the recent past.

QUESTIONS AND RESEARCH ITEMS

313.

Name ten miracles, besides the one in Numbers 17, in which the power of God neutralizes, reverses, or accelerates some natural power.

314.

Why would it be important that the twelve rods were placed in the Tabernacle during the time of the test?

315.

Why was this test important, and why was it appropriate to the circumstances?

316.

What was the probable service of the rods before they were brought for this test?

317.

What was the ultimate destination of Aaron's rod?

318.

Explain the reaction of the people to the sight of Aaron's rod.

319.

Under what circumstances should they have been afraid?