God Chooses Aaron: The Staff Blossoms and Bears Fruit

When Israel rebelled against Moses and Aaron, God caused Aaron’s staff to blossom and bear fruit. God still brings life to those He chooses!

Scripture:       

Numbers, chapters 17-18; Psalm 29; Mark, chapter 4

Numbers 17:1-10 (NASB):

Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, “Speak to the house of Israel, and obtain from them a staff for each father’s household: twelve staffs, from all their leaders for their fathers’ households. You shall write each man’s name on his staff, and write Aaron’s name on the staff of Levi: for there is to be one staff for the head of each of their fathers’ households. You shall then leave them in the tent of meeting in front of the testimony, where I meet with you. And it will come about that the staff of the man whom I choose will sprout. So I will relieve Myself of the grumblings of the sons of Israel, who are grumbling against you.”

So Moses spoke to the sons of Israel, and all their leaders gave him a staff, one for each leader, for their fathers’ households, twelve staffs in all, with the staff of Aaron among their staffs. Then Moses left the staffs before the Lord in the tent of the testimony.

Now on the next day Moses went into the tent of the testimony; and behold, Aaron’s staff for the house of Levi had sprouted and produced buds and bloomed with blossoms, and it yielded ripe almonds. Moses then brought out the staffs from the presence of the Lord to all the sons of Israel; and they looked, and each man took his staff. But the Lord said to Moses, “Put the staff of Aaron back in front of the testimony to be kept as a sign against the rebels, so that you may put an end to their grumblings against Me and they do not die.”

Observations: God Chooses Aaron as Priest

In yesterday’s post (“Rebelling Against God: Not a Good Idea!”), we saw the Israelites’ latest rebellion. God had chosen Aaron to serve as priest. Even after the “golden calf incident” (see Exodus 32), God still acknowledged Aaron as the priest. But in Numbers 16, some Israelites – led by Korah, a Levite, among others – challenged the leadership of Moses and Aaron. “You have gone far enough! For all the congregation are holy, every one of them, and the Lord is in their midst; so why do you exalt yourselves above the assembly of the Lord?” (Numbers 16:3). God responded by causing the earth to open up and swallow the rebels alive (Numbers 16:31-33).

As we also saw yesterday, on the next day the congregation continued to grumble against Aaron and Moses. God’s wrath broke out against the Israelites. Aaron interceded for them, offering incense standing between the dead and the living.

That sets the stage for today’s passage. God directs Moses to bring twelve staffs into the tent where the Ark of the Covenant stood. One staff represented each of the twelve tribes. The staff for the tribe of Levi had Aaron’s name on it. The other staffs had the names of the leaders of those tribes. God told Moses, “And it will come about that the staff of the man whom I choose will sprout.”

God Chooses Aaron by Causing His Staff to Sprout

Now, remember: these staffs are basically sticks that have been cut off trees. In other words, they weren’t growing; they were dead. You might be able to get a recently-cut branch to start growing again – but not overnight. So the idea that God said that He would demonstrate the man whom I choose. So the next morning, Moses goes into the tent to get the staffs. And behold, Aaron’s staff for the house of Levi had sprouted and produced buds and bloomed with blossoms, and it yielded ripe almonds. In other words, the staff didn’t just sprout; God caused it to produce blossoms and fruit! Even if a recently-cut branch could sprout, it wouldn’t produce blossoms and fruit immediately. Only God can do that.

God demonstrates that His choice of Aaron was not a temporary thing. He told Moses to put Aaron’s staff back in front of the Ark of the Covenant. God commanded Moses to keep the staff as a sign against the rebels. Now, two things were required for it to be a sign for the rebels. First, Moses would have to be able to bring the staff out again to remind them that God chose Aaron. Moses had to bring the staff out because no one other than Moses or Aaron could enter.

And the second requirement was that the staff would have to continue to sprout and blossom and bear fruit. What good would it do for Moses to bring out a staff that looked like every other staff? That wouldn’t be a sign for anyone. The staff would be “kept as a sign” meant that God would continue to refresh and regenerate that staff.

Application: God Chooses and Confirms His Choices

Well, at some point Aaron died, and his son took over as priest. I don’t know at what point the staff stopped budding. The writer of Hebrews tells us the Ark contained a golden jar of manna, Aaron’s staff, and the two tablets from Sinai (Hebrews 9:4). By that point, the staff was no longer a “sign.” First, no one could open the Ark, so the staff couldn’t be removed. Second, and more important, the priesthood was no longer an issue, because God had sent His Son as our great high priest.

• “Therefore, brothers and sisters, partakers of a heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our confession: Jesus” (Hebrews 3:1)
• “Since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let’s hold firmly to our confession. For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things just as we are, yet without sin” (Hebrews 4:14-15).
• “And having been perfected, He became the source of eternal salvation for all those who obey Him, being designated by God as High Priest according to the order of Melchizedek” (Hebrews 5:9-10).
• “For it was fitting for us to have such a high priest, holy, innocent, undefiled, separated from sinners, and exalted above the heavens; who has no daily need, like those high priests, to offer up sacrifices, first for His own sins and then for the sins of the people, because He did this once for all time when He offered up Himself” (Hebrews 7:26-27).
• “Every priest stands daily ministering and offering time after time the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins; but He, having offered one sacrifice for sins for all time, sat down at the right hand of God, waiting from that time onward until His enemies are made a footstool for His feet. For by one offering He has perfected for all time those who are sanctified” (Hebrews 10:11-14).

So how does this relate to Aaron’s staff? God brought a dead stick back to life, blooming and bearing fruit. In the same way, God brought Jesus back to life, to serve for all time as a sign and Savior for us! And the same God who brought Jesus back to life can bring us back to life. He brings us to life spiritually when we are born again, and He will bring us back to life physically to live in His eternal kingdom. When God chooses us to serve Him, He gives us power and life!

Prayer:

Father, thank You for confirming Jesus’ mission and ministry by bringing Him back to life. Just as You caused Aaron’s staff to blossom and bear fruit, so You bring us to life and cause us to bear spiritual fruit. Your Spirit confirms Your work in us each day, as we walk in obedience to Your call. Help us today to live so that we, too, can be a sign for others to see. Amen.