Read Numbers 17
The Budding of Aaron’s Staff
17 The Lord said to Moses, 2 “Speak to the Israelites and get twelve staffsfrom 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 staffsfrom 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?”
Go Deeper
On the heels of Korah’s rebellion, God speaks to Moses and gives him a task that will serve as a sign to the Israelites. God uses the miraculous budding of the staff of Aaron to confirm His acceptance of Aaron as the high priest over any rebels. Verse 8 tells us that the staff of Aaron had not only budded, but blossomed and produced almonds. God produces on the staff, not one, not two, but three stages of fruitfulness. The white blossom of an almond symbolizes purity and holiness.
God commanded them to keep the staff before the ark of the covenant as a reminder to the Israelites that Aaron and the tribe of Levi were the holy and chosen tribe. This reminder also served to discourage any future rebellion. Verse 10 says, “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.”
Grumbling amongst the Israelites is apparent throughout the book of Numbers. But the Israelites aren’t the only ones prone to complaining and instructed against it. In Philippians 2:14-15, Paul gives the church instruction to avoid all grumbling:
“Do everything without grumbling or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, ‘children of God without fault in a warped and crooked generation.’ Then you will shine among them like stars in the sky.”
Notice in Numbers that grumbling leads to death, but in Philippians, the absence of grumbling leads to blamelessness and purity. Our refusal to complain sets us apart from the culture which gives us the opportunity to share the gospel.
Questions
- What stands out about the character of God in this chapter?
- What stands out about the nature of man in this chapter?
- In what areas are you prone to grumbling? Try replacing grumbling with gratitude in that area today.
Keep Digging
Check out this article from GotQuestions.org about the significance of Aaron’s rod.
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6 thoughts on “Numbers 17”
12 “We will die! We are lost, we are all lost!”
Fear and panic when there should only be trust and obedience. Yep, that pretty much sums up our humanity!
My prayer yesterday was for help to not be in discontentment, ingratitude, and prideful. But also that my grumbling and complaining are never harmless. Being prideful in life is not from God nor does it honor Him. But it seems like I am in a hampster wheel. EVEN when God shows up. Life is good for a minute and then here comes that same grumbling and complaining. We are going to die vs12-13. Doomsday is coming. Instead of looking to the end, we should be focusing in on the now. God gave Israel 3 reminders to encourage them to obey His law and submit to His will. He gave them the tassels on their garments, the brass plates on the altar, and Aaron’s rod in the holy of holies. We have now been given His Word, John 17:17 Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth, the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, 1 Cor 6:19-20, Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. We have the Lord’s supper to remind us of His death, burial and resurrection, but also He is coming again. Jesus is also our intercessor. We have so much every day in every minute of this day to be full of gratitude. Let us remind one another of how great is our God!!!!!!!!!!!!
God thank You for words of encouragment. Thank You for brothers and sisters in Christ who help me along the way. Thank You for today, these minutes of this day, that in them I can see, hear and speak about You. 1 Thessalonians 5:18 Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. God thank You for the ability to come before Your throne for any and reasons. God thank You for seeing delight in all things, bad or good. God help me to give You glory in all I say and do in Jesus name amen
WOOHOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The words of a hymn “Come Thou Fount” resonated with my response and prayer to this passage:
Oh, to grace how great a debtor
Daily I’m constrained to be
Let Thy goodness like a fetter
Bind my wandering heart to Thee
Prone to wander, Lord I feel it
Prone to leave the God I love
Here’s my heart, oh take and seal it
Seal it for Thy courts above
Those who murmur, complain, and cause division within the Body of Christ are to be rebuked (James 5:9; 1 Timothy 5:20; 2 Timothy 2:23). God’s plans on this earth are far beyond any single human being. He desires that we work together, in one accord, to obey Him and reflect His glory.
Jesus is our perfect high priest. Our only righteousness is in Jesus.
When we stand before God one day and the question is clear, why should we be in Heaven? My answer will be, “Nothing in my hands I bring. Simply to the cross I cling.”
Lord, help is to flourish today in obedience to You, rest in You, trust in You. Let our total identification be of You in every facet of our lives. In Your name, Amen
Ministry Comes from God
Numbers 17 shows us God attesting “that He is the one alone who appoints the ministers of Israel. He is the one alone who determines the way that you approach Him to fellowship with Him, to be reconciled with Him, to glorify and enjoy Him.”
• Only God can appoint His ministers.
• Only God can attest to His ministers.
• Only God determines the mediators and means by which His people can approach Him.
ONLY GOD can appoint the way into His presence — because ONLY GOD can save.
More importantly, this passage points us to Jesus’ ministry.
• Jesus is appointed by (sent from) God.
• Jesus is attested to by God (John 5:32, Acts 2:22)
• Jesus is the only means by which we can approach God:
Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” John 14:6
“There is no one else who has the power to save us, for there is only one name to whom God has given authority by which we must experience salvation: the name of Jesus.”
Acts 4:12 TPT
“That’s great message of this passage. God appoints the way that we come into fellowship with Him. Why? Because we can’t redeem ourselves. We can’t enter back into His presence. Only He can provide the way in Jesus Christ.”
-notes adapted from “Aaron’s Rod Blossoming,” Dr. Ligon Duncan, 8/29/07
we are easy to forget what god has done to us in the past and god is yet, still mercyful giving us warnings before true consequences come into our life. thank u god for being patient.