Aaron’s Staff Budded
17: 1-13
Aaron’s staff budded DIG: How is this chapter related to the previous one? Why might questions about Aaron’s leadership persist? How does God address such concerns this time? Why do you think ADONAI asked for twelve staff, rather than just Aaron’s? Why are the almonds significant and what should that mean for us as believers today?
REFLECT: Why do some people seem to be pursued by persistent critics? When are you most likely to become dissatisfied with your Messianic rabbi or pastor? How do you handle it? Ask the Lord to give you the ability to honor those He has placed over you. In what way are we carrying the staff today? How are you using that privilege?
Aaron’s staff confirmed a chosen priesthood.
The story of Aaron’s staff that budded is the last mention of the Exodus generation in Numbers. By the time we return to the narrative in the next parashah in Chapter 19, the entire generation that came out of Egypt will have died. The staff that budded is a picture of life that springs forth from lifelessness. Thus, from the generation that died in the wilderness arose the generation that would cross the Jordan River and enter the Promised Land.338
The command (17:1-5): ADONAI said to Moses, “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 (Hebrew: matteh, which is the same word that can be translated tribe). On the staff of Levi write Aaron’s name, for there must be one staff for the head of each ancestral tribe. Place them in the Most Holy Place, in front of the ark of the testimony, referring to the Ten Words (see the commentary on Deuteronomy, to see link click Bk – The Ten Words), where I meet with you.” The test of legitimacy of the Aaronic priesthood needed to be unmistakable. The symbolism is that those staffs were placed, as it were, in “the lap” of the LORD. “The staff belonging to the man I choose will bud, and I will rid myself of this constant rebellion against you by the Exodus generation.”
The obedience (17:6-7): So Moses spoke to the Israelites, and their leaders gave him twelve staffs, one for the leader of each of their ancestral tribes (Ephraim and Manasseh being counted as one tribe), and Aaron’s staff was among them. Moses placed the staffs before ADONAI and the ark of the covenant (see the commentary on Exodus Fr – The Ark of the Covenant in the Most Holy Place: Christ at the Throne of Grace).
The budding (8-9): The next day a miracle happened when Moses entered the Most Holy Place, which had no window, no natural light coming into it. There, he saw that Aaron’s staff which had budded and represented the tribe of Levi. When Moshe brought all the staff’s outside of the Tabernacle and showed them to the tribal leaders, Aaron’s staff had not only budded, but also blossomed and produced almonds.
What is the significance of the almonds? They point to the election of Isra’el and the Church. There are three places in the Bible that mention almonds. First, in the Menorah in Holy Place (see Exodus Fn – The Menorah in the Sanctuary: Christ, the Light of the World), which spoke of the service of the priesthood; second, which we also see here in Numbers 17, and thirdly, we see the vision of the almond tree in the book of Jeremiah. As if out on a walk, the word of ADONAI came to Jeremiah and said: What do you see, Jeremiah? “I see the branch of an almond tree,” he replied. ADONAI said to him, “You have seen correctly, for I AM watching to see that My word is fulfilled” (1:11-12). The almond tree is the first tree to blossom in Isra’el in the spring. When the white blossoms of the almond tree appear, the people know that spring is near. There is a word play, or pun, in the original language. The Hebrew word for watching sounds like the Hebrew word for almond tree. Shaqed means almond. The root of this word means to be awake, to be watchful, or to be alert. It became the name for the almond tree because it is the first shrub to awaken from the winter’s nap (but the last to bear fruit). The pink buds come out as early as January, with the fruit appearing in March. By that time the white almond blossoms fall like snow all over Isra’el.339 So here, the fact that Aaron and his sons would be the priests of Isra’el show that God’s word was fulfilled.
The word blossomed (Hebrew: tsits) can also be seen in the word tsitsith, or the tassels that the Israelites were to wear all the time (see Cl – Tzit-tzit and Blue Thread). Therefore, all the stages of development of an almond tree – the budding, the blossoming, and the making of almonds – happened over night. 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 showing that they had no claim to the priesthood. It must have been humbling for the men from the other tribes to take back their staffs. But only those who aspired to an office that was not theirs would feel shame. Moses’ actions in having each of the men take back his staff allowed them to give silent agreement to the decision of the miracle of God, and the choice of Aaron as His priest.340
The sign (17:10-11): Aaron’s staff, however, was not returned to him. ADONAI said to Moses, “Put back Aaron’s staff in front of the ark of the covenant, to be kept as a sign to the rebellious.” It was to be a perpetual reminder of God’s choice of His priest. It is remarkable, however, that the placement of Aaron’s staff should be in the Most Holy Place where no one, except the high priest, would ever see it. But we must remember that the leaders of each tribe and many other people saw the budded staff and could bear witness that Aaron’s was the only one that produced life. And each day, when the tribal leaders took up their staffs, they would be reminded that YHVH had chosen Aaron’s sons to serve as priests. Furthermore, the high priest could always bring out the staff of Levi as unchanging evidence that Aaron’s family alone was chosen for the priesthood.341
Sometime later, the writer to the Hebrews tells us that a gold jar containing manna, Aaron’s staff that had budded, and the stone tablets of the Covenant were placed inside the ark (Hebrews 9:4). This will be a reminder and put an end to their rebellion against Me, so that they will not die.” There was to be only one priestly tribe, the family of Aaron (see Cx – The Salt Covenant). Moshe did just as ADONAI commanded.
The rabbis have come up with many fanciful stories of Aaron’s staff. For example, first, they teach that this staff originally belonged to Judah (Genesis 38:18 and 49:10). Secondly, they teach that it became the staff of Moshe (Exodus 4:1-5). Thirdly, this staff was held by every king of Jerusalem until the Temple was destroyed. Fourthly, the staff was divinely hidden away in Galilee. And fifthly, this staff will be held by King Messiah in the Messianic Kingdom (Psalm 110:2).
Thus, two visual aids were set up in the Tabernacle for future remembrance by succeeding generations of the danger and blessing associated with approaching God’s presence: first, Aaron’s staff, and, secondly, the bronze covering of the bronze altar made from charred censers. The 250 rebels who had used bronze censers to offer unauthorized incense on fiery burning coles to God, died in a fiery holocaust (see Cr – The Response of God). Those censers were hammered flat and used to overlay the already bronze altar, symbolizing death. The other visual aid, Aaron’s staff that had budded, flowered, and grown almonds, symbolizing life. Those visual aids capture both the potential power of death and the power of life that flow from God’s presence among His people.342
The response (17:12-13): The trauma of the previous two days must have been overwhelming. There were the 250 laymen who had been burned alive outside the gate of the Tabernacle; there was the earth opening up and swallowing the tents of Korah, Dathan, Abiram and their families; and there was the plague in which 14,700 Israelites had been struck down dead by a plague. For the children of Isra’el, the sanctity of the Tabernacle was no longer theoretical. They had finally realized that God’s presence in their midst constituted a very real danger. His Tabernacle could be dangerous. This realization brought with it a fresh wave of despair. The Exodus generation said to Moshe, “We will die! We are dying, we are all dying. Their faulty conclusion was that anyone who even came near the Tabernacle of ADONAI would die. Of course, that wasn’t true. They died because of their rebellion. Were they all going to die? Yes, but not immediately. They would all die in the wilderness because of their sin at Kadesh-barnea (see Bv – The Sin of Kadesh-barnea).343At last they grasped the contradiction of drawing near to YHVH. They realized their vulnerability and inadequacy. To try to reach God was foolish. To try to draw near to Him was certain death. An infinite chasm of distance lies between mankind and God. Though He is ever near, He is, at the same time, far beyond us.
It is not at all uncommon for people to mistake ADONAI’s omnipresence for accessibility. God is always nearby. He seems to be generally agreeable. It is easy to imagine that He thinks I’m a pretty good guy. Sure, I have a few faults, but He made me, right? Sometimes it takes a traumatic encounter with the sheer terror that is the Most High to shock us out of our comfortable deception. The Exodus generation had suffered several such shocks. They had come to understand the utter futility in trying to approach ADONAI on their own. And like them, only when we reach a place of understanding our own inability to approach Ha’Shem, do we fully grasp the need for a priest, a mediator between us and God.344
Thus, the groundwork in Numbers is being laid. The culmination will come in Chapter 21 when we see Yeshua Messiah and salvation by faith alone (see Di – The Healing Snake). This will not be the Aaronic priesthood, for he is dead. The Temple is no more. But an eternal priesthood has existed before the Torah was even written, it is the priesthood of Melchizedek (see the commentary on Hebrews Bl – Yeshua the Melchizedek Priest). A priesthood that was established at the creation of mankind. For when sin entered the world, redemption began (see the commentary on Genesis Be – He Will Crush Your Head, and You Will Strike His Heel), and continues today (see Hebrews Bk – The New Priesthood Lasts Forever). Now this is the main point, we have such a High Priest, who sat down at the right hand of the throne of Majesty in heaven (Hebrew 8:1). And because of our faith in Him, we are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that we may declare His praises (First Peter 2:9), so, in many ways, we are carrying the staff to the world and showing it life in the Messiah.345
Dear Heavenly Father, Praise You for being so Holy and Loving and allowing me to call You my “Heavenly Father”. It is such a treasure to have You as my father! You are the father of all in the sense that You created everyone; but the fatherhood of creation is not enough to get people into heaven. What is needed is a heart that believes in God with a faith like Abraham’s faith. For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness” (Romans 4:3 quoted from Genesis 15:6).
You are the Almighty Holy Sovereign of the universe and we bow in worship of You, as do those in heaven bow in worship of you. The four living creatures, each having six wings, were full of eyes all around and within. They do not rest day or night, chanting, “Kadosh, kadosh, kadosh Adonai Elohei-Tzva’ot, asher haya v hoveh v’yavo! Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God of Hosts, who was and who is and who is to come!” And whenever the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to the One seated on the throne, who lives forever and ever, the twenty-four elders fall down before the One seated on the throne and worship Him who lives forever and ever. And they throw their crowns down before the throne, chanting, “Worthy are You, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, For You created all things, and because of Your will they existed and were created” (Revelation 4:8-11)! I love and worship You my dear Heavenly Father, and I rejoice in giving You honor and glory! In Messiah Yeshua’s holy Name and power of His resurrection. Amen
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