The rod of Aaron in the tabernacle was the
ultimate symbol of resurrection power.
A man's rod or
staff was the sign of his position as ruler.
With a prince the rod becomes a sceptre, the insignia of
rule.
The Lord had just
previously given a practical proof to the people that Aaron was
the
high priest appointed by Him for service in the tabernacle, by
allowing the high-priestly incense offered by Aaron to calm
His wrath and remove the plague.
"Aaron obeyed, took his fire pan and ran
into the middle of the assembled people. When he saw that the
plague had already begun, he put the incense on the coals and
performed the ritual of purification for the people. This stopped
the plague, and he was left standing between the living and the
dead." (Num 16:47-48)
God wanted to make this
point even clearer.
"The LORD said to Moses,Tell the people
of Israel to give you twelve walking sticks, one from the leader of
each tribe. Write each man's name on his stick and then write
Aaron's name on the stick representing Levi. There will be one
stick for each tribal leader. Take them to the Tabernacle of my
presence and put them in front of the Covenant Box, where I meet
you. Then the stick of the man I have chosen will sprout. In this
way I will put a stop to the constant complaining of these
Israelites against you." (Num17:1-5)
No rod even freshly
cut off, when laid in a dry place, would bear ripe fruit in a
single night. As a severed branch, the rod could not put forth
shoots and blossom in a natural way.
But Aaron's priesthood was not founded upon natural qualifications
and gifts,
but upon the power of the Spirit.
"So Moses spoke to the Israelites, and each
of their leaders gave him a stick, one for each tribe,
twelve in all, and the rod of Aaron was put with them. Moses then
put all the sticks in the
Tabernacle in front of the LORD's Covenant Box."
(Num17:6-7)
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The
rod of Aaron not only brought forth shoots where it
was lying in in the Most holy place of the tabernacle, but
even bore blossoms and ripe fruit.
"The next day, when Moses
went into the Tabernacle, he saw that the rod of Aaron,
representing the tribe of Levi, had sprouted. It had budded,
blossomed,
and produced ripe almonds!" (Num 17:8)
This
demonstrated that Aaron was not only qualified for his calling,
but administered his office in the full power of the Spirit,
and bore the fruit expected of him.
Buds
- the symbol of (spiritual) life
Blossoms - the token of beauty of (holiness)
Fruit - the sign of usefulness - (fruit of the spirit)
In
the natural, the buds come first, then make place for the
blossoms,
which in turn makes place for the fruit. Not so in the
spiritual.
Christians are not asked to forsake their first love, but rather to
return to it.
"But this is what I have
against you:
you do not love me now as you did at first." (Rev 2:4)
- Pieter de
Waal
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This was
something to be remembered.
The LORD said to Moses, "Put the rod of
Aaron back in front of the Covenant Box. It is to be kept as a
warning to the rebel Israelites that they will die unless their
complaining stops." (Num 17:10)
After Christ was slain
because of the law that was broken,
He arose from the dead and now abides as our eternal High
Priest
The rod of
Aaron speaks of Christ.
In the flesh he did not
look like much.
"It was the will of the LORD that his
servant grow like a plant taking root in dry ground. He had no
dignity or beauty to make us take notice of him. There was nothing
attractive about him, nothing that would draw us to him." (Isa
53:2)
