CHAPTER 17

(1454 B.C.)

AARONS ROD THAT BUDDED

¹And the LORD spoke unto Moses, saying,

²Speak 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: you write every mans name upon his rod. (Each rod of the twelve bore a mighty name. Through the night in which they lay hidden within the Tabernacle, the sons of Israel might have expressed confidence in such-and-such a name, as today many in the modern Church do the same. But, in the morning, all the rods were found to be dead sticks, notwithstanding the names they bore, except the rod of Aaron. It, alone, was living, beautiful, and accepted. Williams.)

³And you shall write Aarons name upon the rod of Levi: for one rod shall be for the head of the house of their fathers (concerning Aarons rod, the total would have been thirteen).

⁴And you shall lay them up in the Tabernacle of the congregation before the testimony, where I will meet with you (evidently the rods were placed in the Holy Place before the Veil which hid the Ark of the Covenant).

⁵And it shall come to pass, that the mans 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 (the problem was, they didnt want Gods choice, but rather a choice of their own).

⁶And Moses spoke unto the Children of Israel, and every one of their Princes gave him a rod apiece, for each Prince one, according to their fathers houses, even twelve rods: and the rod of Aaron was among their rods.

⁷And Moses laid up the rods before the LORD in the Tabernacle of witness (verification would be made).

⁸And 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 (this did not signify the greatness of Aaron, but the One of Whom Aaron was a Type, the Lord Jesus Christ; it signified His Death, hence, the dead stick to begin with, and Resurrection, signified by the buds, blossoms, and almonds).

⁹And 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.

¹⁰And the LORD said unto Moses, Bring Aarons rod again before the testimony, to be kept for a token against the rebels; and you shall quite take away their murmurings from Me, that they die not (because of Christ, which the rod represented, Mercy was granted, even though the people did not at all deserve such).

¹¹And Moses did so: as the LORD commanded him, so did he.

¹²And the Children of Israel spoke unto Moses, saying, Behold, we die, we perish, we all perish (as someone has said, They were fearful to offend, yet not loving to obey).

¹³Whosoever comes anything near unto the Tabernacle of the LORD shall die: shall we be consumed with dying? (But yet, the dying was their fault, and theirs alone, even though they tried to blame Moses and Aaron, which, in essence, was blaming the Lord. It is mans age-old problem of refusing to accept responsibility.)