“Aaron’s Magic Rod”
BIBLE READING: Numbers 15-17
After
disciplining Korah for leading a rebellion challenging Israel’s leadership (Numbers 16:1-50), God
reiterated his decision for the Levites to inherit the priesthood by holding an
open casting call (Numbers 17:1-5). Each of
Israel’s twelve tribes submitted a personalized rod to be housed overnight in
the tent of meeting. The location is significant because it was “where I [God]
meet with you” (Numbers 17:4 NASB). God
would be making the decision as to who would lead the people and the tribe
whose rod bloomed would guide the priesthood (Numbers 17:2-5).
In Israel, the rod was much more than a
walking stick. It was a symbol of power and authority (Psalm 2:9, 89:32; Isaiah 10:24, 11:4; Ezekiel 20:37). Leaders
would even take oaths by means of their staffs. In fact, in Hebrew the word for
“staff” (matteh) is the same as “tribe” as a tribe’s chief would lead
via the staff.
Now on the next day Moses went into the
tent of the testimony; and behold, the rod of Aaron from the house of Levi had
sprouted and put forth buds and produced blossoms, and it bore ripe almonds. (Numbers 17:8 NASB)
Specifically, the rod bloomed with buds, blossoms and almonds (Numbers 17:8). Timothy R. Ashley (b.
1947) comments that “the text describes the stages of growth of the plant. It
is not clear whether it means all these stages were present simultaneously on
the rod or only that the rod went through these stages, but the former is not
impossible (Ashley, The Book of Numbers (New International Commentary
on the Old Testament), 335).”
Regardless
of how the buds developed, they were a miracle. Life sprung forth out of death.
In the Iliad, an
enraged Achilles swears an oath against Agamemnon exclaiming:
“But I will speak out to you, and will
swear thereto a mighty oath: by this staff, that shall never more put forth
leaves or shoots since first it left its stump among the mountains, nor shall
it again grow green, for the bronze has stripped it on all sides of leaves and
bark, and now the sons of the Achaeans carry it in their hands when they act as
judges, those who guard the ordinances that come from Zeus; and this shall be
for you a mighty oath (Homer [800-701 BCE] & A.T. Murray [1866-1940], Iliad,
Book I, 233.)”
Achilles makes an oath with a rod
claiming that he will go back on his word when the staff blossoms, which to him
was an impossibility. It was an ancient equivalent of “when pigs fly”. Yet in
the case of Aaron’s rod, pigs did fly. After the rod blossomed, Moses had
each tribe’s representative withdraw their rod, save for Aaron’s whose was put
back in the place of testimony (Numbers 17:9-11). As the heads of each tribe retrieved their own staffs, they were
witness to the affirmation of Aaron’s leadership. God had intentionally drawn
Aaron’s straw. The blooming staff was a tangible sign of Aaron’s selection and
was preserved as such. Hebrews states that the budding rod was even one of the
contents of the Ark of the Covenant (Hebrews 9:4). The preserved rod was to serve as a preventive measure against
further rebellion.
When has your authority been validated?
Have you ever felt chosen by God? Why was a blossoming rod an appropriate sign
in this situation? What sign would you have given to select the priesthood? Did
Moses reimburse Aaron for the rod? Did the rod choose the owner or the owner
the rod (a very bad Harry Potter reference)?
Throughout the ordeal, Aaron never defended his own honor and left the response
to God. Aaron’s rod had previously demonstrated miraculous powers by
transforming into a serpent and swallowing all of Pharaoh’s magicians’ rods who
coincidentally had also transformed into serpents (Exodus 7:8-12).
Interestingly, both times Aaron’s rod performed supernatural feats, he was not
holding it. Perhaps he had to let go of it for it to do its job. In what
areas of your life do you need to “let go and let
God”?
Selected from Chandler Vinson’s blog
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