Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, “Speak to the children of Israel, and take rods from them, one for each fathers’ house, of all their princes according to their fathers’ houses, twelve rods. Write each man’s name on his rod. You shall write Aaron’s name on Levi’s rod. There shall be one rod for each head of their fathers’ houses. You shall lay them up in the Tent of Meeting before the covenant, where I meet with you. It shall happen that the rod of the man whom I shall choose shall bud. I will make the murmurings of the children of Israel, which they murmur against you, cease from me.”
Moses spoke to the children of Israel; and all their princes gave him rods, for each prince one, according to their fathers’ houses, a total of twelve rods. Aaron’s rod was among their rods. Moses laid up the rods before Yahweh in the Tent of the Testimony.
On the next day, Moses went into the Tent of the Testimony; and behold, Aaron’s rod for the house of Levi had sprouted, budded, produced blossoms, and bore ripe almonds. Moses brought out all the rods from before Yahweh to all the children of Israel. They looked, and each man took his rod.
Yahweh said to Moses, “Put back the rod of Aaron before the covenant, to be kept for a token against the children of rebellion; that you may make an end of their complaining against me, that they not die.” Moses did so. As Yahweh commanded him, so he did.
The children of Israel spoke to Moses, saying, “Behold, we perish! We are undone! We are all undone! Everyone who keeps approaching Yahweh’s tabernacle, dies! Will we all perish?”
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On vv1, 5, 6, 8, 10, 12 While he was in the door of the Tabernacle.
While he was in the door of the Tabernacle.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv2, 5, 8, 10, 13 Num 17:2 Speak unto the children of Israel, and…
Num 17:2 Speak unto the children of Israel, and take of every one of them a rod according to the house of [their] fathers, of all their princes according to the house of their fathers twelve rods: write thou every man’s name upon his rod.
Ver. 2. Take of every one of them a rod.] Or, Staff; the ensign of their honour, {Num 21:18} and of their civil authority; {Psa 110:2 Jer 48:16-17} a suificient witness against them, that the priesthood belonged not to them. Uzziah smarted for invading it. George, prince of Anhalt, was a singular example, qui primus et unus ex omni Principum Germanorum numero, subditos suos ipse et viva voce et scriptis editis de via salutis erudiret, who was the first, and the only German prince, that both by preaching and writing taught his subjects. {a}
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{a} Melch. Adam.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On vv2, 3, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 13 Speak unto the children of Israel, that I may…
Speak unto the children of Israel, that I may fully and finally satisfy all their scruples, and take away all pretence and cause of murmuring.
Of every one of them; not of every person, but of every tribe, as it follows.
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A rod; either an ordinary walking staff; or rather, that staff or rod which the princes carried in their hand as tokens of their dignity and authority, as may be gathered from Num 21:18, compared with Psa 110:2; Jer 48:16,17.
According to the house of their fathers, i.e. according to each family proceeding from the patriarch or father of that tribe.
Every man’s name, i.e. every prince’s; for they being the first-born, and the chief of their tribes, might above all others pretend to the priesthood, if it was communicable to any of their tribes, and besides each prince represented and acted for all his tribe; so that this was a full decision of the whole question. And this plate seems to confirm what was before observed, that not only Korah and the Levites, but also those of other tribes, contested with Moses and Aaron about the priesthood, as that which belonged to all the congregation, they being all holy, as they said, Num 16:3.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Matthew Henry 1710 · Public Domain On vv1, 8 Here we have, I. Orders given for the bringing…
Here we have, I. Orders given for the bringing in of a rod for every tribe (which was peculiarly significant, for the word here used for a rod sometimes signifies a tribe, as particularly Num 34:13), that God by a miracle, wrought on purpose, might make it known on whom he had conferred the honour of the priesthood. 1. It seems then the priesthood was a preferment worth seeking and striving for, even by the princes of the tribes. It is an honour to the greatest of men to be employed in the service of God. Yet perhaps these contended for it rather for the sake of the profit and power that attended the office than for the sake of that in it which was divine and sacred. 2. It seems likewise, after all that had been done to settle this matter, there were those who would be ready upon any occasion to contest it. They would not acquiesce in the divine appointment, but would make an interest in opposition to it. They strive with God for the dominion; and the question is whose will shall stand. God will rule, but Israel will not be ruled; and this is the quarrel. 3. It is an instance of the grace of God that, having wrought divers miracles to punish sin, he would work one more on purpose to prevent it. God has effectually provided that the obstinate shall be left inexcusable, and every mouth shall be stopped. Israel were very prone to murmur both against God and against their governors. "Now," said God, "I will make to cease from me the murmurings of the children of Israel, Num 17:5. If any thing will convince them, they shall be convinced; and, if this will not convince them, nothing will." This was to be to them, as Christ said the sign of the prophet Jonas (that is, his own resurrection) should be to the men of that generation, the highest proof of his mission that should be given them. The directions are, (1.) That twelve rods or staves should be brought in. It is probable that they were not now fresh cut out of a tree, for then the miracle would not have been so great; but that they were the staves which the princes ordinarily used as ensigns of their authority (of which we read Num 21:18), old dry staves, that had no sap in them, and it is probable that they were all made of the almond-tree. It should seem they were but twelve in all, with Aaron's, for, when Levi comes into the account, Ephraim and Manasseh make but one, under the name of Joseph. (2.) That the name of each prince should be written upon his rod, that every man might know his own, and to prevent contests. Writing is often a good preservative against strife, for what is written may be appealed to. (3.) That they should be laid up in the tabernacle, for one night, before the testimony, that is, before the ark, which, with its mercy seat, was a symbol, token, or testimony, of God's presence with them. (4.) They were to expect, being told it before, that the rod of the tribe, or prince, whom God chose to the priesthood, should bud and blossom, Num 17:5. It was requisite that they should be told of it, that it might appear not to be casual, but according to the counsel and will of God.
II. The preparing of the rods accordingly. The princes brought them in, some of them perhaps fondly expecting that the choice would fall upon them, and all of them thinking it honour enough to be competitors with Aaron, and to stand candidates, even for the priesthood (Num 17:7); and Moses laid them up before the Lord. He did not object that the matter was sufficiently settled already, and enough done to convince those that were not invincibly hardened in their prejudices. He did not undertake to determine the controversy himself, though it might easily have been done; nor did he suggest that it would be to no purpose to offer satisfaction to a people that were willingly blind. But, since God will have it so, he did his part, and lodged the case before the Lord, to whom the appeal was made by consent, and left it with him.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv1–11 And the Lord spake unto Moses,.... After the plague…
And the Lord spake unto Moses,.... After the plague ceased, for the further confirmation of the priesthood in Aaron's family, another method is directed to by the Lord:
saying: as follows.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On vv1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 13 The blossoming of Aaron's rod, ver. 1-9. It is…
The blossoming of Aaron's rod, ver. 1-9. It is laid up for a memorial, ver. 10, 11. The people are terrified, ver. 12, 13.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv1, 2, 5, 8, 12 The twelve chiefs of the tribes are commanded to…
CHAPTER XVII
The twelve chiefs of the tribes are commanded to take their
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rods, and to write the name of each tribe upon the rod that
belonged to its representative; but the name of Aaron is to be
written on the rod of the tribe of Levi, 1-3.
The rods are to be laid up before the Lord, who promises that
the man's rod whom he shalt choose for priest shall blossom,
4, 5.
The rods are produced and laid up before the tabernacle, 6, 7.
Aaron's rod alone buds, blossoms, and bears fruit, 8, 9.
It is laid up before the testimony as a token of the manner in
which God had disposed of the priesthood, 10, 11.
The people are greatly terrified, and are apprehensive of being
destroyed, 12, 13.
NOTES ON CHAP. XVII
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On vv2, 3, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12 Num 17:2. Take of every one — Not of…
Num 17:2. Take of every one — Not of every person, but of every tribe. A rod — A twig, or branch, from one and the same almond-tree, as some infer from Num 17:8. Or, according to others, the ordinary rods which the princes of the tribes carried in their hands, as tokens of their dignity and authority, Num 21:18. And indeed the miracle would appear the greater, if neither Aaron’s rod, nor any of the rest, was of the almond-tree. But the miracle was sufficiently great either way to demonstrate the extraordinary interposition of Providence. Every man’s name — Every prince’s: for they being the firstborn, and the chief of their tribes, might, above all others, pretend to the priesthood, if it was communicable to any of their tribes; and besides, the prince represented all his tribe: so that this was a full decision of the question. And this place seems to confirm the opinion, that not only Korah and the Levites, but also those of other tribes, contended with Moses and Aaron about the priesthood, as that which belonged to all the congregation, they being all holy.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain On vv2, 3, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12 Compare Eze 37:16 ff.
Compare Eze 37:16 ff.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain On vv2, 5, 6, 8, 10, 12, 13 Speak. The cause of the different families of the…
Speak. The cause of the different families of the Levites now being fully decided, that one of the other tribes might pretend to the honour of the priesthood, God orders Moses to propose another miracle to them, of a less terrible nature than the preceding one. --- Man, or prince of the tribe. (Haydock) --- The name of Aaron was written upon his staff, which was taken from an almond tree; those of the princes of the other tribes appeared upon their respective rods, and represented their different families, ver. 3. (Calmet)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures 1864 · Public Domain On v1 The New Miraculous Confirmation of the Aaronic Priesthood
FOURTH SECTION
The New Miraculous Confirmation of the Aaronic Priesthood
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Num_17:1-13 (Heb. Text Numbers 17:16–28).
1And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, 2Speak unto the children of Israel, and take 1of every one of them a rod according to the house of their fathers, of all their princes according to 2the house of their fathers, twelve rods: write thou every man’s name upon his rod. 3And thou shalt write Aaron’s name upon the rod of Levi: for one rod shall be for the head of bthe house of their fathers. 4And thou shalt lay them up in the 3tabernacle of the congregation before the testimony, where 4I will meet with you. 5And it shall come to pass, that the man’s rod, whom I shall choose, shall 5blossom: and I will make to cease from me the murmurings of the children of Israel, 6whereby they murmur against you.
6And Moses spake unto the children of Israel, and every one of their princes gave him 7a rod apiece, for each prince one, according to their fathers’ houses, even twelve rods: and the rod of Aaron was among their rods. 7And Moses laid up the rods before the Lord in the tabernacle of 8witness. 8And it came to pass, that on the morrow Moses went into the tabernacle of gwitness; and, behold, the rod of Aaron for the house of Levi was budded, and brought forth buds, and bloomed blossoms, and yielded 9almonds. 9And Moses brought out all the rods from before the Lord unto all the children of Israel: and they looked, and took every man his rod.
10And the Lord said unto Moses, Bring Aaron’s rod again before the testimony, to be kept for a token against the 10rebels; 11and thou shalt quite take away their murmurings from me, that they die not. 11And Moses did so: as the Lord commanded him, so did he.
12And the children of Israel spake unto Moses, saying, Behold, we die, we perish, we all perish. 13Whosoever cometh anything near unto the tabernacle of the Lord shall die: shall we be consumed with dying?
EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL
In reference to the connection of this section with the foregoing and following ones, Knobel remarks, that this outcry (12, 13) would come in very suitably after Num_16:44, Num_16:45, but certainly does not belong here a day after the plague had ceased, and when Jehovah was already reconciled (Num_17:10). This critic, who is usually able to discover an interpolation where there is none, passes by the present striking indications of one without further remark. Keil, on the other hand, finds no difficulty in believing that the story that Aaron’s rod brought forth in one night, not only buds, but also blossoms and fruit, is the simple and literal truth. Yet the question presents itself: Was not the confirmation of Aaron by the act of incense-offering, that abated the great pestilence, stronger than the confirmation by the miracle of the blossoming rod, in which Moses alone attended to depositing the rod in the Tabernacle, and which might so easily have occasioned fresh mistrust? If after Num_16:50 we read Num_17:12, there appears a complete connection. And this connection continues in 18. when it states of Aaron: “Thou and thy sons and thy father’s house with thee shall bear the iniquity of the Sanctuary,” etc. These words stand out like a commentary upon the act of atonement enjoined before. The phenomenon of Aaron’s rod blossoming calls to mind the joys and honors of the priesthood, rather than its sufferings and humiliations, and it could hardly call forth a cry of woe from the people, but would sooner evoke a festal celebration. However, if there seems to lie before us here an interpolation of a later date, still we hold fast that it belongs within the sphere of revelation, and refers to some mysterious fact connected with the Aaronic priesthood, to which has been given a symbolic form. The motive of the interpolation here was the desire to put together the various testimonies to the divine legitimacy of the Aaronic priesthood; just as a similar interest occasioned the interpolation of 1Jn_5:7, and in like manner the incorporation of the Epistle of Jude in 2 Pet. (see my Gesch. des apostolischer Zeitalters, I., p. 156). According to the assumptions of canonical purity, we can understand the interpolations that occur very seldom, and have a motive, easier than we can understand a continuous revision of three chapters with interpolations such as is assumed by our worthy colleague in the work on Daniel in reference to Daniel 10-12. [see Dr. Zoeckler’s Introd. to Daniel, § 4, Rem. 1, On the Unity, and the Comm. at Daniel 10-12., “Prelim. Remarks on the Last Vision of Daniel,” and Dr. Lange’s hypothesis regarding Daniel in the volume on Gen., Introd., § 25.—Tr.]. The interruption of the connection is here, as in 2 Pet. and in 1 Jno., to be particularly noticed as a specially important indication. Thus also in the book of Joshua we cannot ignore the connection between Num 17:13 and 16 of chap. 10.
[The result of the foregoing, stated in plain terms, is that there never was such a miracle as the blossoming of Aaron’s rod. Nothing is saved by the indefinite notion of “some mysterious fact connected with the Aaronic priesthood, to which was given a symbolic form,” unless this very miracle was the mysterious fact, and the symbolism is that of the miracle itself as recorded. Something that was not this miracle, but is recorded as a startling miracle that is incredible, cannot, as regards the record, “belong to the sphere of revelation,” for the record is false, and it is the record that is the revelation for us. It reveals nothing if the facts were not so. Moreover the symbolism is nothing without the fact. But if such a miracle was wrought, then it fits into the present history. The abruptness of the account harmonizes with the event. How could such a miracle happen in any other way? Once accept the simple account, and the moral harmony of the events soon impresses the mind, and is expressed by many commentators. Thus Calvin says: “Although the majesty of the priesthood had been already sufficiently, and more than sufficiently established, still God saw that in the extreme perversity of the people there would be no end to their murmurs and rebellions, unless a final ratification were added, and that, too, in a season of repose, inasmuch as, whilst the sedition was in progress, they were not disposed and ready to learn.” And on the outcry of the people, Num_17:12-13, Bush remarks: “A miracle of mercy seems to have extorted from them the confession which previous miracles of judgment had failed to do.”—Tr.]
Num_17:2-3. The twelve rods are taken from the twelve princes of Israel’s tribes, according to the rule that the eldest son of a father’s house (patriarchate) within a tribe is the prince. Aaron was older than Moses. The rods that they took were not necessarily the staves that they used; they could be fresh rods, and it is an intruded notion of Keil’s to represent here, that the staves, as staves of the head of the house, would signify the man’s dignity as ruler, whence the staff of the prince becomes the sceptre. According to Keil, the explanation of Ewald, that fresh cuttings of the almond tree were taken, and the rod marked with Aaron’s name blossomed the best over night, goes flat in the face of the text. Of course this is true regarding absolute literalness. But it is allowable here, too, to look on the letter as anointed with the oil of symbolic-spiritual expression. Moreover, the antithesis: the priesthood did not have its root in natural dispositions and natural gifts, but flowed from the power of the Spirit, sets nature and grace in a false opposition. We know, for instance, that Aaron had the natural gift of eloquence; but the Lord made this the basis of the anointing with the priestly spirit. The almond tree is called the alert, the one early up in reference to blossoms and fruit, Jer_1:11 [see Almond-Tree in Smith’s Bib. Dict.—Tr.]
Num_17:5. For the present, the mortal judgment of Jehovah and the subsequent atonement had subdued the murmuring of the people. But it might in the sequel be aroused again. This was to be counteracted by the budding and blossoming of Aaron’s rod. Does that mean: the permanent reminiscence of the miracle once performed, and the knowledge that there was a rod in the Holiest of all, laid beside the ark of the covenant, that the people did not see? [Dr. Lange seems to hint at an absurdity here. If so, we might reason in the same way about the pot of manna and of the tables of the Law.—Tr.] or does it not rather have the symbolical meaning: the staff of the priest must maintain itself in the full recognition of the people by its fresh, spiritual budding, blossoming and fruit-bearing? Any way, the rod in the Holiest of all fell now and then only under the eyes of Aaron, also in chap. 18. things appertaining thereto are laid on his heart.
Num_17:6. The rods were each designated by the name of the tribal prince that they represented; Aaron’s was among the rest
Very much as in drawing lots. [The rods were not marked with the names of the tribes, Levi excepted, for which Aaron’s name was substituted, as Keil states. “The Levites had taken part in the late outbreak. It was therefore necessary to vindicate the supremacy of the house of Aaron over them; and accordingly his name was written on the rod of Levi, although, being the son of Kohath, the second son of Levi (Exo_6:16 sqq.), he would not be the natural head of the tribe.” Bib. Comm.—Tr.]
Num_17:9. As Moses went back and forth alone in caring for the rods, the decision effected by the blossoming rod brought out of the Holiest of all presupposes the most decided confidence, whereas the people saw the atoning cloud of incense. This consideration might also point away to the rich symbolical contents of the passage.
Num_17:12-13. These outbursts of mortal terror can hardly be referred to the priestly rod. Only the newly decked staff of the pontiff in the middle ages could occasion such an outcry from his associates and the popular masses that were subject to him. On the other hand, they fit perfectly to the story of the terrible judgment of death. [This fact does not conflict with the miracle having its influence also. The ruin that followed their presumption and the proof that Aaron was chosen to stand before God in holy things were fitted to bring them again to the mind they exhibited Exo_20:19 : “Speak thou with us, and we will hear; but let not God speak with us, lest we die.” Only now the feeling is with reference to Aaron, and not Moses, and with reference, not to God’s approaching them, but their approaching God.—Tr.]
With regard to the almond trees in the peninsula of Sinai, and analogous stories outside of the sphere of the theocracy, and also other interpretations of our text, e.g. that Jehovah decided for Aaron’s rod by lot, and that then his rod was decked with blossoms and fruit in token of the decision, see Knobel, p. 99.
In regard to the number of the rods, it is assumed by Knobel and Keil that Aaron’s rod is counted in with the twelve rods, consequently that Ephraim and Manasseh are reckoned as one tribe of Joseph (“as Deu_27:12”). This view is more probable than that of Baumgarten, that Aaron’s rod was written on a thirteenth rod.
Baumgarten gives the strongest antithesis to the universal priesthood in the following words: “The rod of the chosen priest must become alive again by the miraculous power of Jehovah, before whose face the rods are laid down. That is, the priest, apart from his office, is a natural man (!), and as such subject to death, and set outside of the power and fulness of life, as a severed and dried staff (one put out of office?). But by the consecration of the holy oil and ornament there comes into him and over him, in the power of Jehovah, the new life of the Spirit, so that he can impart of its fulness to others.”
HOMILETICAL HINTS.
Chap. 17. The budding rod of Aaron with its blossoms and fruit a certificate of his priestly calling. The dry and dead priestly rods as witnesses against a dead priesthood. Against a dead conception of office.
Footnotes:
[1]of them rods, one for each father’s house.
[2]their fathers’ houses.
[3]Tent of Meeting.
[4][I meet with you, Stier, De Wette.—Tr.] Dr. Lange: where I show myself to you. [See on Num_1:1 above.—Tr.]
[5]bud.
[6]which.
[7]Heb. a rod for one prince, a rod for one prince.
[8]testimony.
[9]ripe almonds.
[10]Heb. children of rebellion.
[11]that thou mayest make an end of.
Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures (Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical), ed. John Peter Lange, English translation edited by Philip Schaff (1864–1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain On vv6, 8, 10, 12, 13 the rod of Aaron was among their rods--either one…
the rod of Aaron was among their rods--either one of the twelve, or, as many suppose, a thirteenth in the midst (Heb 9:4). The rods were of dry sticks or wands, probably old, as transmitted from one head of the family to a succeeding.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On vv2, 4, 5, 7, 8, 10, 12, 13 2. A rod — Each chief prince of the…
2. A rod — Each chief prince of the twelve tribes bore a staff or sceptre as the sign of office. Such rods were often hereditary, and of great antiquity. That such dry staves should blossom and bear fruit again is so improbable that the Greeks were accustomed to swear by their sceptres. Thus Achilles:
“But hearken, I will swear a solemn oath,
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By this sceptre, which shall never bud,
Nor boughs bring forth, as once.”
Write… every man’s name — To identify beyond dispute the rod of Aaron after the trial. The illiteracy of Moses and his generation as alleged by some modern writers is here abundantly confuted. Since there were twelve rods, including Levi’s, it is evident that the tribes of Manasseh and Ephraim are here counted as one tribe — that of Joseph.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On vv2, 3, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 13 2. rods] staves. They were the official staves of…
2. rods] staves. They were the official staves of the princes, symbols of their tribal authority, not fresh rods cut from trees, which might conceivably have blossomed in the ordinary course of nature.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain On vv2, 3, 4, 5, 8, 10, 12 (2) And take of every one of them .…
XVII.
(2) And take of every one of them . . . —Better, And take of them a rod for each father’s house.
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Twelve rods.—Some suppose that Aaron’s rod was not included amongst the twelve. Others suppose that one rod only was taken for the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh. The latter supposition is more accordant with the terms here employed than the former, and is supported by Deu_27:12-13, where Joseph stands for the two tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh, and Levi is included amongst the twelve tribes.
Write thou every man’s name upon his rod.—This was in accordance with an Egyptian custom. (See Wilkinson’s Ancient Egyptians, III. 388.) The prophet Ezekiel received a similar injunction (Eze_37:16).
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
C. H. Mackintosh 1880 · Public Domain On v1 Numbers 17 - 18
Numbers 17 - 18
These two chapters form a distinct section in which we have presented to us the source, the responsibilities, and the privileges of priesthood. Priesthood is a divine institution. "No man taketh this honour unto Himself, but he that is called of God, as was Aaron." This is made manifest, in a most striking manner, in chapter 17. "The Lord spake unto Moses, saying, speak unto the children of Israel, and take of every one of them a rod according to the house of their fathers, of all their princes according to the house of their fathers twelve rods: write thou every man’s name upon his rod. And thou shalt write Aaron’s name upon the rod of Levi: for one rod shall be for the head of the house of their fathers. And thou shalt lay them up in the tabernacle of the congregation before the testimony, where I will meet with you. And it shall come to pass, that the man’s rod, whom I shall choose, shall blossom: and I will make to cease from me the murmurings of the children of Israel, whereby they murmur against you. And Moses spake unto the children of Israel, and every one of their princes gave him a rod apiece, for each prince one, according to their father’s houses, even twelve rods: and the rod of Aaron was among their rods." Verses 1-6.
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What matchless wisdom shines in this arrangement! How completely is the matter taken out of man’s hands and placed where alone it ought to be, namely, in the hands of the living God! It was not to be a man appointing himself, or a man appointing his fellow; But God appointing the man of His own selection. In a word, the question was to be definitively settled by God Himself, so that all murmurings might be silenced for ever, and no one be able again to charge God’s high priest with taking too much upon him. the human will had nothing whatever to do with this solemn matter. The twelve rods, all in a like condition, were laid up before the Lord; man retired and left God to act. There was no room, no opportunity, because there was no occasion, for human management. In the profound retirement of the sanctuary, far away from all man’s thinkings, was the grand question of priesthood settled by divine decision; and, being thus settled, it could never again be raised.
"And Moses laid up the rods before the Lord in the tabernacle of witness. And it came to pass that on the morrow Moses went into the tabernacle of witness; and, behold, the rod of Aaron for the house of Levi was budded, and brought forth buds, and bloomed blossoms, and yielded almonds." striking and beautiful figure of Him who was "declared to be the Son of God with power by resurrection from the dead!" The twelve rods were all alike lifeless; but God, the living God, entered the scene, and, by that power peculiar to Himself, infused life into Aaron’s rod, and brought it forth to view, bearing upon it the fragrant fruits of resurrection.
Who could gainsay this? The rationalist may sneer at it, and raise a thousand questions. Faith gazes on that fruit-bearing rod, and sees in it a lovely figure of the new creation in the which all things are of God. Infidelity may argue on the ground of the apparent impossibility of a dry stick budding, blossoming, and bearing fruit in the coarse of one night. But to whom does it appear impossible? To the infidel - the rationalist - the sceptic. and why? Because he always shuts out God. Let us remember this. Infidelity invariably shuts out God. Its reasonings are carried on and its conclusions reached in midnight darkness. There is not so much as a single ray of true light in the whole of that sphere in which infidelity operates. It excludes the only source of light, and leaves the soul wrapped in the shades and deep gloom of a darkness that may be felt.
It is well for the young reader to pause here, and deeply ponder this solemn fact Let him calmly and seriously reflect on this special feature of infidelity-rationalism - or scepticism. It begins, continues, and ends with shutting out God. It would approach the mystery of Aaron’s budding, blossoming, fruit bearing rod with a godless, audacious "How?" This is the infidel’s great argument. He can raise ten thousand questions; but never settle one. He will teach you how to doubt, but never how to believe. He will lead you to doubt everything; but gives you nothing to believe.
Such, beloved reader, is infidelity. It is of Satan who ever has been, is, and will be, the great question raiser. Wherever you trace Satan, you will always find him raising questions. He fills the heart with all sorts of "ifs" and "hows," and thus plunges the soul in thick darkness. If he can only succeed in raising a question, he has gained his point. But he is perfectly powerless with a simple soul that just believes that God Is, and God HAS SPOKEN. Here is faith’s noble answer to the infidels questions - its divine solution of all the infidel’s difficulties. Faith always brings in the very One that infidelity always shuts out. It thinks with God; infidelity thinks without Him.
Hence, then, we would say to the Christian reader, and specially to the young Christian, never admit questions when God has spoken. If you do, Satan will have you under his foot in a moment. Your only security against him is found in that one impregnable, immortal sentence, "It is written." It will never do to argue with him on the ground of experience, of feeling, or of observation; it must be absolutely and exclusively on the ground of this - that God is, and that God has spoken. Satan can make no hand of this weighty argument at all. It is invincible. Everything else he can shiver to pieces; but this confounds him and puts him to flight at once.
We see this very strikingly illustrated in the temptation of our Lord. the enemy, according to His usual way, approached the blessed One with a question - "If thou be the Son of God." How did the Lord answer Him? Did He say," I know I am the Son of God - I have had a testimony from the opened heavens, and from the descending and anointing Spirit - I feel, and believe, and realise that I am the Son of God?" No; such was not His mode of answering the tempter. How then? "It is written." Such was the thrice repeated answer of the obedient and dependent Man; and such must be the answer of every one who will overcome the tempter.
Thus, in reference to Aaron’s budding rod, if any inquire, "How can such a thing be? It is contrary to the laws of nature; and how could God reverse the established principles of natural philosophy?" Faith’s reply is sublimely simple. God can do as He pleases. The One who called worlds into existence, could make a rod to bud, blossom, and bear fruit in a moment. Bring God in, and all is simple and plain as possible. Leave God out, and All is plunged in hopeless confusion. The attempt to tie up - we speak with reverence - the Almighty Creator of the vast universe, by certain laws of nature, or certain principles of natural philosophy, is nothing short of impious blasphemy. It is almost worse than denying His existence altogether. It is hard to say which is the worse, the atheist who says there is no God, or the rationalist who maintains that He cannot do as He pleases.
We feel the immense importance of being able to see the real roots of all the plausible theories which are afloat at the present moment. The mind of man is busy forming systems, drawing conclusions, and reasoning in such a manner as virtually to exclude the testimony of holy scripture altogether, and to shut out God from His own creation. Our young people must be solemnly warned as to this. They must be taught the immense difference between the facts of science, and the conclusions of scientific men. A fact is a fact wherever you meet it, whether in geology, astronomy, or any other department of science; but men’s reasonings, conclusions, and systems are another thing altogether. Now, scripture will never touch the facts of science; but the reasonings of scientific man are constantly found in collision with scripture. Alas! alas! for such men! And when such is the case we must, with plain decision, denounce such reasonings altogether, and exclaim with the apostle, "Let God be true, and every man a liar."
Gladly would we dwell upon this point though it be a digression, for we deeply feel its seriousness. But we must, for the present, be content with solemnly urging upon the reader the necessity of giving to holy scripture the supreme place in his heart and mind. We must bow down, with absolute submission, to the authority of, not "Thus saith the Church" - "Thus say the fathers" - "Thus say the doctors;" but "Thus saith the Lord" "It is written." This is our only security against the rising tide of infidelity which threatens to sweep away the foundations of religious thought and feeling throughout the length and breadth of Christendom. None will escape save those who are taught and governed by the word of the Lord. May God increase the number of such!
We shall now proceed with our chapter.
"and Moses brought out all the rods from before the Lord unto all the children of Israel: and they looked, and took every man his rod. And the Lord said unto Moses, Bring Aaron’s rod again before the testimony, to be kept for a token against the rebels; and thou shalt quite take away their murmurings from me, that they die not. and Moses did so: as the Lord commanded Him, so did he." Verses 9-11.
Thus the question was divinely settled. Priesthood is founded upon that precious grace of God which brings life out of death. This is the source of priesthood. It could be of no possible use for man to take any one of the eleven dead rods and make it the badge of the priestly office. All the human authority under the sun could not infuse life into a dead stick, or make that stick the channel of blessing to souls. And so of all the eleven rods put together; there was not so much as a single bud or blossom throughout the whole. But where there were precious evidences of quickening power - refreshing traces of divine life and blessing - fragrant fruits of efficacious grace - there and there alone was to be found the source of that priestly ministry which could carry not only a needy but murmuring and rebellious people through the wilderness.
And here we may naturally inquire, "What about Moses’ rod? Why was it not amongst the twelve?" The reason is blessedly simple. Moses rod was the expression of power and authority. Aaron’s rod was the lovely expression of that grace that quickens the dead, and calls those things that be not as though they were. Now, mere power or authority could not conduct the congregation through the wilderness. Power could crush the rebel; authority might strike the sinner; but only mercy and grace could avail for an assembly of needy, helpless, sinful men, women, and children. The grace that could bring almonds out on a dead stick, could bring Israel through the wilderness. It was only in connection with Aaron’s budding rod that Jehovah could say, "Thou shalt quite take away the murmurings of the children of Israel from me, that they die not.’’ The rod of authority could take away the murmurers; but the rod of grace could take away the murmurs.
The reader may refer, with interest and profit, to a passage in the opening of Hebrews 9. in connection with the subject of Aaron’s rod. The apostle, in speaking of the ark of the covenant, says," wherein was the golden pot that had manna, and Aaron’s rod that budded, and the tables of the covenant." This was in the wilderness. The rod and the manna were the provisions of divine grace for Israel’s desert wanderings and desert need. But, when we turn to 1 Kings 8: 9, we read, "There! was nothing in the ark save the two tables of stone, which Moses put there at Horeb, when the Lord made a covenant with the children of Israel, when they came out of the land of Egypt." The wilderness wanderings were over, the glory of Solomon’s day was sending forth its beams over the land, and hence the budding rod and the pot of manna are omitted, and nothing remains save that law of God, which was the foundation of His righteous government in the midst of His people.
Now, in this we have an illustration, not only of the divine accuracy of scripture, as a whole but also of the special character and object of the Book of Numbers. Aaron’s rod was in the ark during its wilderness wanderings. Precious fact! Let the reader seek to lay hold of its deep and blessed significance. Let him ponder the difference between the rod of Moses and the rod of Aaron. We have seen the former doing its characteristic work in other days and amid other scenes. we have seen the land of Egypt trembling beneath the heavy strokes of that rod. Plague after plague fell upon that devoted scene, in answer to that outstretched rod. We have seen the waters of the sea divided in answer to that rod. In short, the rod of Moses was a rod of power, a rod of authority. But it could not avail to hush the murmurings of the children of Israel; nor yet to bring the people through the desert. Grace alone could do that; and we have the expression of pure grace - free, sovereign grace - in the budding of Aaron’s rod.
Nothing can be more forcible, nothing more lovely. That dry, dead stick was the apt figure of Israel’s condition, and indeed of the condition of every one of us by nature. There was no sap, no life, no power. One might well say, "What good can ever come of it?" none whatever, had not grace come in and displayed its quickening power. So was it with Israel, in the wilderness; and so is it with us now. How were they to be led along from day to day? How were they to be sustained in all their weakness and need? How were they to he borne with in all their sin and folly? The answer is found in Aaron’s budding rod. If the dry dead stick was the expression of nature’s barren and worthless condition; the buds, blossoms, and fruit set forth that living and life-giving grace and power of God on which was based the priestly ministry that alone could bear the congregation through the wilderness. Grace alone could answer the ten thousand necessities of the militant host. Power could not suffice. authority could not avail. Priesthood alone could supply what was needed; and this priesthood was instituted on the foundation of that efficacious grace which could bring fruit out of a dry rod.
Thus it was as to priesthood of old; and thus it is as to ministry now. All ministry in the Church of God is the fruit of divine grace - the gift of Christ, the Church’s Head. There is no other source of ministry whatsoever. From apostles down to the very lowest gifts, all proceed from Christ. The grand root principle of all ministry is embodied in those words of Paul to the Galatians in which he speaks of himself as "An apostle, not of man, neither by man, but by Jesus Christ, and God the Father, who raised him from the dead." Galatians 1: 1.
Here, be it noted, is the sublime source from whence all ministry emanates. It is not of man, or by man, in any shape or form. Man may take up dry sticks and shape and fashion them according to His own will; and he may ordain and appoint, and call them by certain high-sounding, official titles. But of what use is it? We may justly say, They are only dry, dead sticks.
"Where is there a single cluster of fruit Where is there a single blossom? Nay., where is there one solitary bud? "Even one bud will suffice to prove that there is something divine. But in the absence of this there can be no living ministry in the Church of God: It is the gift of Christ and that alone that makes a man a minister. Without this it is an empty assumption for any one to set himself up, or be set up by others to be a minister.
Does the reader thoroughly own this great principle? Is it as clear as a sunbeam to his soul? has he any difficulty respecting it? If so, we entreat him to seek to divest his mind of all preconceived thoughts, from what source soever derived; let will rise above the hazy mists of traditional religion; let him take the New Testament, and study as in the immediate presence of God, 1 Corinthians 12, 1 Corinthians 14; and also Ephesians 4: 7-18. In these passages he will find the whole subject of ministry unfolded; and from them he will learn that all true ministry, whether it be apostles, prophets, teachers, pastors, or evangelists, all is of God - all flows down from Christ the exalted Head of the Church. If a man be not possessed of a bona fide gift from Christ he is not a minister. Every member of the body has a work to do. the edification of the body is promoted by the proper action of all the members, whether prominent or obscure, "comely" or "uncomely." In short, all ministry is from God, and not from man; it is by God, and not by man. There is no such thing in scripture as a humanly ordained ministry. All is of God.
We must not confound ministerial gifts with office or local charge. We find the apostles, or their delegates, ordaining elders and appointing deacons; But this was quite a distinct thing from ministerial gifts. ’Those elders and deacons might possess and exercise some specific gift in the body; the apostle did not ordain them to exercise such gift, but only to fulfil the local charge. The spiritual gift was from the Head of the Church, and was independent of the local charge altogether.
It is most necessary to be clear as to the distinction between gift and local charge. There is the utmost confusion of the two things throughout the entire professing church,, and the consequence is that ministry is not understood. The members of the body of Christ do not understand their place or their functions. Human election, or human authority in some shape or another, is deemed essential to the exercise of ministry in the Church. But there is really no such thing in scripture. If there be, nothing is easier than to produce it. We ask the reader to find a single line, from cover to cover of the New Testament in which a human call, human appointment, or human authority, has anything whatsoever to do with the exercise of ministry in its very fullest range. We boldly assert there is no such thing.* Ah, no; blessed be God, ministry in His Church is "not of men, neither by man, but by Jesus Christ, and God the Father, who raised Him from the dead." "God hath set the members every one of them in the body, as it hath pleased Him." (1 Cor. 12: 18) "But unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ. wherefore He saith, When he ascended up on High, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men.....and he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: till we all come in the unity of the faith. and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ." Ephesians 4: 7-13.
{*Even in the matter of appointing deacons, in Acts 6, we see it was an apostolic act. "Wherefore, brethren, look ye out among you seven men of honest report, full of the Holy Ghost and wisdom, whom we may appoint over this business." ’The brethren were allowed to select the men, inasmuch as it was their money that was in question. But the appointment was divine. And this, be it remembered, had reference merely to the business of deacons who were to manage the Church’s temporal affairs. But as regards the work of evangelists, pastors, and teachers, it is wholly independent of human choice and human authority, and rests simply upon the gift of Christ, Ephesians 4: 11.}
Here all the grades of ministerial gift are placed on one and the same ground, from apostles down to evangelists and teachers. They are All given by the Head of the Church and, when bestowed, they render the possessors responsible, at once, to the head in heaven, and to the members on earth. The idea of any possessor of a positive gift from God waiting for human authority, is as great an insult to the divine majesty as if Aaron had gone with his blooming rod in his hand, to be ordained to the priesthood by some of his fellows. Aaron knew better. He was called of God, and that was quite enough for him. and so now, all who possess a divine gift are Called of God to the ministry, and they need nothing more save to wait on their ministry, and cultivate their gift.
Need we add that it is vain for men to set up to be ministers unless they really do possess the gift? A man may fancy he has a gift, and it may be only a vain conceit of his own mind. It is quite as bad, if not worse, for one man to go to work on the strength of his own foolish imagination, as for another to go on the strength of the unwarrantable authority of his fellows. What we contend for is this - ministry is of God as to its source, power, and responsibility. We do not think that this statement will be called in question by any who are disposed to be taught exclusively by scripture. Every minister, whatever be his gift, should be able, in his measure, to say, "God has put me into the ministry." But for a man to use this language without possessing any gift, is, to say the least of it, worse than worthless. The people of God can easily tell where there is real spiritual gift. Power is sure to be felt. But if men pretend to gift or power without the reality, their folly shall speedily be manifest to all. All pretenders are sure to find their true level, sooner or later.
Thus much as to ministry and priesthood. The source of each is divine. The true foundation of each lies in the budding rod. Let this be ever borne in mind. Aaron could say," God put me into the priesthood;" and if challenged for his proof, he could point to the fruit-bearing rod. Paul could say, "God put me into the ministry;’’ and when challenged for his proof, could point to the thousands of living seals to his work. Thus it must ever be in principle, whatever be the measure. Ministry must not be merely in word or in tongue; but in deed and in truth. God will not know the speech, But the power.
But, ere we turn from this subject, we deem it most necessary to impress upon the reader the importance of distinguishing between ministry and priesthood. The sin of Korah consisted in this, that, not content with being a minister, he aimed at being a priest; and the sin of Christendom is of the same character. Instead of allowing ministry to rest upon its own proper New Testament basis, to exhibit its proper characteristics, And discharge its proper functions, it is exalted into a priesthood, a sacerdotal caste, the members of which are distinguished from their brethren by their style of dress and certain titles. There is no foundation whatsoever for these things in the New Testament. According to the plain teaching of that blessed book, all believers are priests. Thus, in Peter we read, "But ye [not merely the apostles, but all believers] are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood." (1 Peter 2: 9) so also in Revelation "Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood, and hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father." (1 Peter 1: 5, 6) God, in pursuance of the truth set forth in the foregoing passages, we find the Apostle Paul, by the Holy Ghost, exhorting the Hebrew believers to draw nigh, and enter with boldness into the very holiest of all. (Heb. 10: 19-22) And further on he says, "By him therefore [i.e., Jesus let us offer The sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to his name. But to do good, and to communicate, forget not: for with such sacrifices God is well pleased." Hebrews 13: 15, 16.
How marvellous it must have appeared to Jewish saints - to those trained amid the institutions of the Mosaic economy, to be exhorted to enter into a place to which the very highest functionary in Israel could only approach once a year, and that but for a moment! And there to be told that they were to offer sacrifice, that they were to discharge the peculiar functions of the priesthood. All this was wonderful. But thus it is, if we are to be taught by scripture, and not by the commandments, the doctrines, and the traditions of men. All Christians are priests. They are not all apostles, prophets, teachers, pastors, or evangelists; but they are all priests. The very feeblest member of the Church was as much a priest as Peter, Paul, James, or John. We speak not of capacity or spiritual power, but of the position which all occupy in virtue of the blood of Christ. There is no such thing in the New Testament as a certain class of men, a certain privileged caste, brought into a higher or nearer position than their brethren. All this is flatly opposed to Christianity - a bold traversing of all the precepts of the word of God, and the special teachings of our blessed Lord and Master.
Let no one suppose that these things are unimportant. Far from it. They affect the very foundations of Christianity. We have only to open our eyes and look around us in order to see the practical results of this confounding of ministry and priesthood. And we may rest assured that the moment is rapidly approaching when these results will all assume a far more awful character, and bring down the very heaviest judgements from the living God. We have not yet seen the full antitype of "the gainsaying of Core;" but it will soon be manifested: and we solemnly warn the Christian reader to take heed how he lends his sanction to the serious error of mixing up two things so entirely distinct as ministry and priesthood. We would exhort him to take this whole subject up in the light of scripture. we want him to submit to the authority of God’s word, and to abandon everything that is not founded thereon. It matters not what it is; it may be a time-honoured institution; an expedient arrangement; a decent ceremony supported by tradition, and countenanced by thousands of the very best of men. It matters not. If the thing has no foundation in holy scripture, it is an error, and an evil, and a snare of the devil, to entice our souls, and lead us away from the simplicity that is in Christ. For example, if we are taught that there is, in the Church of God, a sacerdotal caste, a class of men, more holy, more elevated, nearer to God, than their brethren - than ordinary Christians; what is this but Judaism revived and tacked on to Christian forms? And what must be the effect of this, but to rob the children of God of their proper privileges as such, and to put them at a distance from Him, and place them under bondage?
We shall not pursue this subject any further just now. Enough, we trust, has been suggested to lead the reflecting reader to follow it up for himself. We only add, and that with special emphasis, let him follow it up only in that light of scripture. Let him resolve, by the grace of God, to lay aside everything which rests not upon the solid and sacred basis of the written word. Thus, and thus alone, can he be preserved from every form of error, and led to a sound conclusion on this most important and interesting question.
The closing lines of chapter 17 furnish a remarkable illustration of how quickly the human mind passes from one extreme to another. "The children of Israel spake unto Moses, saying, Behold, we die, we perish, we all perish. Whosoever cometh anything near unto the tabernacle of the Lord shall die: shall we be consumed with dying?" In the preceding chapter, we see bold presumption in the very presence of the majesty of Jehovah, where there should have been profound humility. Here, in the presence of divine grace and its provisions, we observe legal fear and distrust. Thus it is ever. Mere nature neither understands holiness nor grace. At one moment we hearken to such accents as these, "All the congregation are holy;’’ and the next moment, the word is, "Behold we die, we perish, we all perish." The carnal mind presumes where it ought to retire; it distrusts where it ought to confide.
However, all this becomes the occasion, through the goodness of God, of unfolding to us, in a very full and blessed manner, the holy responsibility as well as the precious privileges of the priesthood. How gracious it is - how like our God, to turn His people’s mistakes into an occasion of furnishing deeper instruction as to His ways! It is His Prerogative, blessed be His name, to bring good out of evil; to make the eater yield meat, and the strong, sweetness. Thus "the gainsaying of Core" gives occasion for the copious volume of instruction furnished by Aaron’s rod; and the closing lines of chapter 17 call forth an elaborate statement of the functions of Aaron’s priesthood. To this latter we shall now proceed to direct the reader’s attention.
"And the Lord said unto Aaron, Thou and thy sons, and thy father’s house with thee, shall bear the iniquity of the sanctuary; and thou and thy sons with thee shall bear the iniquity of your priesthood. All thy brethren also of the tribe of Levi, the tribe of thy father, bring them with thee, that they may be joined unto thee, and minister unto thee: but thou and thy sons with thee shall minister before the tabernacle of witness. And they shall keep thy charge, and the charge of all the tabernacle: only they shall not come nigh the vessels of the sanctuary and the altar, that neither they, nor ye also, die. And they shall be joined unto thee, and beep the charge of the tabernacle of the congregation, for all the service of the tabernacle: and a stranger shall not come nigh unto you. and ye shall keep the charge of the sanctuary, and the charge of the altar: that there be no wrath any more upon the children of Israel. And I, behold, I have taken your brethren the Levites from among the children of Israel: to you they are given as a gift for the Lord, to do the service of the tabernacle of the congregation. Therefore thou and thy sons with thee shall keep your priest’s office for every thing of the altar, and within the veil; and ye shall serve: I have given your priest’s office unto you as a service of gift: and the stranger that cometh nigh shall be put to death." Num. 18: 1-7.
Here we have a divine answer to the question raised by the children of Israel," Shall we be consumed with dying?" "No," says the God of all grace and mercy. And why not? Because "Aaron and his sons with him shall keep the charge of the sanctuary, and the charge of the altar; that There be no wrath any more upon the children of Israel.’’ Thus the people are taught that in that very priesthood which had been so despised and spoken against, they were to find their security.
But we have to notice particularly that Aaron’s sons, and his father’s house are associated with him in His high and holy privileges and responsibilities. the Levites were given as a gift to Aaron, to do the service of the tabernacle of the congregation. They were to serve under Aaron, the head of the priestly house. This teaches us a fine lesson, and one much needed by Christians at the present moment. We all want to bear in mind that service, to be intelligent and acceptable, must be rendered in subjection to priestly authority and guidance. "And thy brethren also of the tribe of Levi, the tribe of thy father, bring thou with thee, that they may be joined unto thee, and minister unto thee." This stamped its distinct character upon the entire range of Levite service. The whole tribe of workers were associated with and subject to the great high priest. All was under his immediate control and guidance. So must it be now, in reference to all God’s workers. All Christian service must be rendered in fellowship with our great High Priest, and in holy subjection to His authority. It is of no value otherwise. There may be a great deal of work done, there may be a great deal of activity; but if Christ be not the immediate object before the heart, if His guidance and authority be not fully owned, the work must go for nothing.
But, on the other hand, the smallest act of service the meanest work done under the eye of Christ, done with direct reference to Him, has its value in God’s estimation, and shall, most assuredly, receive its due reward. This is truly encouraging, and consolatory to the heart of every earnest worker. The Levites had to work under Aaron. Christians have to work under Christ. We are responsible to Him. It is very well and very beautiful to walk in fellowship with our dear fellow-workmen, and to be subject one to another, in the fear of the Lord. Nothing is further from our thoughts that to foster or countenance a spirit of haughty independence, or that temper of soul which would hinder our genial and hearty co-operation with our brethren in every good work. All the Levites were "joined unto Aaron,’’ in their work, and therefore they were joined one to another. Hence, they had to work together. If a Levite had turned his back upon his brethren, he would have turned his back upon Aaron. We may imagine a Levite, taking offence at something or other in the conduct of his fellows, and saying to Himself, "I cannot get on with my brethren. I must walk alone. I can serve God, and work under Aaron; but I must beep aloof from my brethren inasmuch as I find it impossible to agree with them as to the mode of working." But we can easily see through the fallacy of all this. For a, Levite to adopt such a line of action would have produced nothing but confusion. All were called to work together, how varied soever their work might be.
Still, be it ever borne in mind, their work did vary and, moreover, each was called to work under Aaron. There was individual responsibility with the most harmonious corporate action. We certainly desire, in every possible way, to promote unity in action; but this must never be suffered to trench upon the domain of personal service, or to interfere with the direct reference of the individual workman to his Lord. the Church of God affords a very extensive platform to the Lord’s workers. There is ample space thereon for all sorts of labourers. We must not attempt to reduce all to a dead level, or cramp the varied energies of Christ’s servants by confining them to certain old ruts of our own formation. This will never do. We must, all of us diligently seek to combine the most cordial unanimity with the greatest possible variety in action. Both will be healthfully promoted by each and all remembering that we are called to serve together under Christ.
Here lies the grand secret. Together, under Christ! May we bear this in mind. It will help us to recognise and appreciate another’s line of work though it may differ from our own; and, on the other hand, it will preserve us from an overweening sense of our own department of service, inasmuch as we shall see that we are, one and all, but co-workers in the one wide field; and that the great object before the Master’s heart can only be attained by each worker pursuing his own special line, and pursuing it in happy fellowship with all.
There is a pernicious tendency in some minds to depreciate every line of work save their own. This must be carefully guarded against. If all were to pursue the same line, where were that lovely variety which characterises the Lord’s work and workmen in the world? Nor is it merely a question of the line of work, but actually of the peculiar style of each workman. You may find two evangelists, each marked by an intense desire for the salvation of souls, each preaching, substantially, the same truth; and yet there may be the greatest possible variety in the mode in which each one seeks to gain the self-same object. We should be prepared for this. Indeed we should fully expect it. And the same holds good in reference to every other branch of Christian service. We should strongly suspect the ground occupied by a Christian assembly if there were not ample space allowed for every branch and style of Christian service - for every line of work capable of being taken up in individual responsibility to the great Head of the priestly house. We ought to do nothing which we cannot do under Christ, and in fellowship with Him. And all that can be done in fellowship With Christ can surely be done in fellowship with those who are walking with Him.
Thus much as to the special manner in which the Levites are introduced in our chapter, in connection with Aaron and his sons. To these latter we shall now turn for a few moments, and meditate on the rich provision made for them, in the goodness of God, as well as the solemn functions devolving upon them, in their priestly place.
"And the Lord spake unto Aaron, Behold, I also have given thee the charge of mine heave-offerings of all the hallowed things of the children of Israel; unto thee have I given them, by reason of the anointing, and to thy sons, by an ordinance for ever. This shall be thine of the most holy things, reserved from the fire: every oblation of theirs, every meat-offering of theirs; and every sin-offering of theirs, and every trespass offering of theirs, which they shall render unto me, shall be most holy for thee and for thy sons. In the most holy place shalt thou eat it; every male shall eat it: it shall be holy unto thee." Verses 8-10.
Here we have a type of the people of God looked at in another aspect. They are here presented, not as workers, but as worshippers; not as Levites, but as priests. all believers - all Christians - all the children of God, are priests. There is, according to the teaching of the New Testament, no such thing as a priest upon earth, save in the sense in which all believers are priests. A special priestly caste - a certain class of men set apart as priests, is a thing not only unknown in Christianity, but most positively hostile to the spirit and principles thereof. We have already referred to this subject, and quoted the various passages of scripture bearing upon it. We have a great High Priest who has passed into the heavens, for if He were on earth He should not be a priest. (Compare Heb. 4: 14 and 8: 4 "Our Lord sprang Out Of Judah; of which tribe Moses spake nothing concerning priesthood." Hence, therefore, a sacrificing priest on the earth is a direct denial of the truth of scripture, and a complete setting aside of the glorious fact on which Christianity is based, namely, accomplished redemption. If there is any need of spriest now, to offer sacrifice for sins, then, most assuredly, redemption is not an accomplished fact. But scripture, in hundreds of places, declares that it is, and therefore we need no more offering for sin. "But Christ being come an high priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building; neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood, He entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption." (Heb. 9: 11, 12) So also, in Heb. 10 we read, "By one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified." And again, "Their sins and iniquities will I remember no more. Now where remission of these is, there is no more offering for sin."
This settles the great question as to priesthood and sacrifice for sin. Christians cannot be too clear or decided in reference to it. It lies at the very foundation of true Christianity, and demands the deep and serious attention of all who desire to walk in the clear light of a full salvation, and to occupy the true Christian position. There is a strong tendency towards Judaism - a vigorous effort to engraft Christian forms upon the old Jewish stem. This is nothing new; But, just now, the enemy seems peculiarly busy. We can perceive a great leaning towards Romanism, throughout the length and breadth of Christendom; and in nothing is the leaning more strikingly apparent than in the institutions of a special priestly order in the Church of God. We believe it to be a thoroughly antichristian institution. It is the denial of the common priesthood of all believers. If a certain set of men are ordained to occupy a place of peculiar nearness and sanctity, then where are the great mass of Christians to stand?
This is the question. It is precisely here that the great importance and gravity of this whole subject are made apparent. Let not the reader suppose that we are contending for some peculiar theory of any particular class or sect of Christians. Nothing is further from our thoughts. It is because we are convinced that the very foundations of the Christian faith are involved in this question of priesthood that we urge its consideration upon all with whom we have to do. We believe it will invariably be found that in proportion as Christians become clear and settled on the divine ground of accomplished redemption, they get further and further away from the Romanism and Judaism of an order of priests in the Church of God. And, on the other hand, where souls are not clear, not settled, not spiritual; where there is legality, carnality and worldliness, there you will find a hankering after a humanly appointed priesthood. Nor is it difficult to see the reason of this. If a man is not himself in a fit state to draw nigh to God, it will be a relief to him to employ another to draw nigh for him. And, most certainly, no man is in a fit state to draw nigh to a holy God who does not know that his sins are forgiven - has not got a perfectly purged conscience - is in a dark, doubting, legal state of soul. In order to come boldly into the holiest of all, we must know what the blood of Christ has done for us; we must know that we ourselves are made priests to God; and that, in virtue of the atoning death of Christ, we are brought so near to God that it is impossible for any order of men to come between. "He hath loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood, and made us priests unto God and his Father." (Rev. 1) "But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should show forth the praises of Him who hath called you out of darkness into His marvellous light." and again, "Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ." (1 Peter 2: 5, 9) "By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to his name. But to do good and to communicate, forget not: for with such sacrifices God is well pleased." Hebrews 13: 15, 16.
Here we have the two great branches of spiritual sacrifice which, as priests, we are privileged to offer, namely, praise to God, doing good to men. The very youngest, the most inexperienced, the most unlettered Christian is capable of understanding these things. Who is there in all the family of God - in all the priestly household of our divine High Priest, who cannot, with his heart, say, "The Lord be praised" And who cannot, with his hand, do good to His fellow? And this is priestly worship, and priestly service - the common worship and service of all true Christians. True, the measure of spiritual power may vary; But all the children of God are constituted priests, one as much as another.
Now in Numbers 18 we are presented with a very full statement of the provision made for Aaron and his house; and, in that provision, a type of the spiritual portion of the Christian priesthood. And surely we cannot read the record without seeing what a royal portion is ours. "Every oblation of theirs, every meat offering of theirs, and every sin offering of theirs, and every trespass offering of theirs, which they shall render unto me, shall be most holy for thee and for thy sons. In the Most holy place shalt thou eat it; every male shall eat it: it shall be holy unto thee."
It demands a very large measure of spiritual capacity to enter into the depth and meaning of this marvellous passage. To eat the sin offering, or the trespass offering is, in figure, to make another’s sin or trespass one’s own. This is very holy work. It is not every one who can, in spirit, identify himself with the sin of his brother. To do so in fact, in the way of atonement, is, we need hardly say, wholly out of question. There was but one who could do this; and He - adored for ever be His name! - has done it perfectly.
But there is such a thing as making my brother’s sin my own, and bearing it in spirit before God, as though it were my own. This is shadowed forth by Aaron’s sons eating the sin offering, in the most holy place. It was only the sons who did so. "Every male shall eat it.* It was the very highest order of priestly service. "in the most holy place shalt thou eat it." We need to be very near to Christ in order to enter into the spiritual meaning and application of all this. It is a wonderfully blessed and holy exercise; and it can only be known in the immediate presence of God. How little we really know of this the heart can testify. Our tendency is, when a brother has sinned, to sit in judgement upon him; to take the place of a severe censor, to look upon his sin as a something with which we have nothing whatever to do. This is to fail sadly in our priestly functions. It is refusing to eat the sin offering in the most holy place. It is a most precious fruit of grace to be able so to identify oneself with an erring brother as to make his sin one’s own - to bear it in spirit before God. This truly is a very high order of priestly service, and demands a large measure of the spirit and mind of Christ. It is only the spiritual who really enter into this; and alas! how few of us are truly spiritual! "Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted. Bear ye one another’s burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ." (Gal. 6: 1, 2) May the Lord give us grace to fulfil this blessed "law!" How unlike it is to everything in us! How it rebukes our harshness and selfishness! Oh! to be more like Christ in this as in All beside!
{*As a general principle, the "son" presents the divine idea; the "daughter," the human apprehension thereof: the male" sets forth the thing as God gives it; the "female" as we realise and exhibit it.}
But there was another order of priestly privilege, not so high as that which we have been considering. "And this is thine: the heave offering of their gift, with all the wave offerings of the children of Israel: I have given them unto thee, and to thy sons, and to the daughters with thee, by a statute for ever: every one that is clean in thy house shall eat of it." Verse 11.
The daughters of Aaron were not to eat of the sin offerings or the trespass offerings. They were provided for according to the utmost limit of their capacity; but there were certain functions which they could not discharge - certain privileges which lay beyond their range - certain responsibilities too weighty for them to sustain. It is far easier to have fellowship with another in the presentation of a thank offering than it is to make his sin our own. This matter demands a measure of priestly energy which finds its type in Aaron’s "sons," not in his "daughters." We must be prepared for those varied measures amongst the members of the priestly household. we are all blessed be God, on the same ground; we all stand in the same title; we are all in the same relationship; but our capabilities vary; and while we should all aim at the very highest standard of priestly service, and the very highest measure of priestly capacity, it is of no possible use to pretend to what we do not possess.
One thing, however, is clearly taught in verse 11 and that is, we must be "clean" in order to enjoy any priestly privilege, or eat of any priestly food - clean, through the precious blood of Christ applied to our conscience - clean, through the application of the word, by the Spirit, to our habits, associations, and ways. When thus clean, whatever be our capacity, we have the richest provision made for our souls, through the precious grace of God. Hearken to the following Words: "All the best of the oil, and all the best of the wine, and of the wheat, the firstfruits of them which they shall offer unto the Lord, them have I given thee. And whatsoever is first ripe in the land, which they shall bring unto the Lord, shall be thine; every one who is clean in thy house shall eat of it." Verses 12, 13.*
{*Let the reader consider what the moral effect must be of taking the above passage literally and applying it to a certain priestly class in the Church of God: Take it typically and spiritually, and you have a striking and beautiful figure of the spiritual food provided for all the members of the priestly family, which is, in one word Christ in all His preciousness and fullness.}
Here, assuredly, we have a princely portion provided for those who are made priests unto God. They were to have the very best, and the very first of everything which the Lord’s land produced. There was "The wine which maketh glad the heart of man, and oil to make his face to shine, and bread which strengtheneth man’s heart." Psalm 104: 15.
What a figure have we, in all this, of our portion in Christ! The olive, the grape, and the finest of the wheat were pressed and bruised, in order to feed and gladden the priests of God; and the blessed Antitype of all these has, in infinite grace, been bruised and crushed in death, in order that by His flesh and blood, He might minister life, strength, and gladness to His household. He, the precious corn of wheat, fell into the ground and died, that we might live; and the juices of the living vine were pressed to till that cup of salvation of which we drink, now, and shall drink for ever, in the presence of our God.
What, therefore, remains? What do we want, save an enlarged capacity to enjoy the fullness and blessedness of our portion in a crucified, risen, and glorified Saviour? We may well say, "We have all and abound." God has given us all that even He could give - the very best He had. He has given us His own portion. He has called us to sit down with Himself, in holy, happy fellowship, and feast upon the fatted calf. He has caused our ears to hear, and our hearts, in some small degree, to enter into these most marvellous words, "let us eat and be merry."
How wonderful to think that nothing could satisfy the heart and mind of God but to gather His people round Himself and feed them with that in which He Himself delights! "Truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son, Jesus Christ." (1 John 1) What more could even the love of God do for us than this? And for whom has He done it? For those who were dead in trespasses and sins - for aliens, enemies, guilty rebels - for dogs of the Gentiles - for those who were far from Him, having no hope, and without God in the world - for those who, had we our deserts, should lie now burning in the eternal flames of hell. Oh! what wondrous grace! What profound depths of sovereign mercy! And, we must add, what a divinely precious atoning sacrifice, to bring poor self-destroyed, guilty, hell-deserving sinners into such ineffable blessedness! - to pluck us as brands from everlasting burnings, and make us priests to God! - to take away all our "filthy garments" from us, and cleanse, clothe, and crown us, in His own presence, and to His own praise! May we praise Him! May our hearts and lives praise Him! May we know how to enjoy our priestly place and portion, and to wear our mitre well! We can do nothing better than praise God - nothing higher than to present to Him, by Jesus Christ, the fruit of’ our lips giving thanks to His name. This shall be our everlasting employment in that bright and blessed world to which we are hastening, and where we shall soon be, to dwell for ever with Him who has loved us and given Himself for us - our own blessed Saviour God - to go no more out for evermore.
In verses 14-19 of our chapter we have instruction as to "the firstborn of man and beast." We may remark that man is placed on a level with the unclean beast. Both had to be redeemed. The unclean beast was unfit for God; and so was man, unless redeemed by blood. The clean animal was not to be redeemed. It was fit for God’s use, and was given to be the food of the entire priestly household - sons and daughters alike. In this we have a type of Christ in whom God can find His perfect delight the full joy of His heart - the only object, throughout the wide universe, in which He could find perfect rest and satisfaction. And - wondrous thought - He has given Him to us, His priestly household, to be our food, our light, our joy, our all in all for ever.*
{*For further remarks on the subject presented to Numbers 18: 14-19, the reader is referred to "Notes on Exodus," chapter 13 we are anxious to avoid, as much as possible any repetition of what has been gone into in previous volume.}
’’Jesus, of thee we ne’er would tire:
The new and living food
Can satisfy our heart’s desire,
And life is in thy blood.’
The reader will notice, in this chapter, as elsewhere, that every fresh subject is introduced by the words, "And the Lord spake unto Moses," or "unto Aaron." Thus, from verses 20-32, we are taught that the priests and Levites - God’s worshippers and workers, were to have no inheritance among the children of Israel, but were to be absolutely shut up to God Himself, for the supply of all their need. Most blessed position. Nothing can be more lovely than the picture here presented. The children of Israel were to bring their offerings, and lay them down at the feet of Jehovah, and He, in His infinite grace, commanded His workers to pick up these precious offerings - the fruit of His people’s devotedness - and feed upon them, in His own blessed presence, with thankful hearts. Thus the circle of blessing went round. God ministered to all the wants of His people; His people were privileged to have the rich fruits of His bounty with the priests and Levites; and these latter were permitted to taste the rare and exquisite pleasure of giving back to God of that which had flown from Him to them.
All this is divine. It is a striking figure of that which we should look for in the Church of God now. As we have already remarked, God’s people are presented, in this book, under three distinct phases, namely, as warriors, workers, and worshippers; and in all three they are viewed as in the attitude of the most absolute dependence upon the living God. In our warfare, in our work, and in our worship, we are shut up to God. Precious fact. "All our springs are in Him." What more do we want? Shall we turn to man or to this world for relief or resource? God forbid! Nay, rather let it be our one grand object to prove, in our entire history, in every phase of our character, and in every department of our work, that God is enough for our hearts.
It is truly deplorable. to find God’s people, and Christ’s servants, looking to the world for support, and trembling at the thought of that support being withheld. Only let us try to imagine the Church of God, in the days of Paul, relying upon the Roman government for the support of its bishops, teachers, and evangelists. Ah! no, dear reader; the Church looked to its divine Head in the heavens, and to the divine Spirit upon earth, for all its need. Why should it be otherwise now? The world is the world still; and the Church is not of the world, and should not look for the world’s gold and silver. God will take care of His people and of His servants, if they will only trust Him. We may depend upon it, God’s gift is far better for the Church than the government gift - no comparison in the estimation of a spiritual mind.
May all the saints of God, and all the servants of Christ, in every place, apply their hearts, earnestly, to the consideration of these things! And may we have grace to confess, practically, in the face of a godless, Christless, infidel world, that the living God is amply sufficient for our every need, not only while passing through the narrow archway of time, but also for the boundless ocean of eternity. God grant it for Christ’s sake!
C. H. Mackintosh, Notes on the Pentateuch — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On vv1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 12, 13 AARON"S ROD THAT BUDDED (verses 1Co_12:12) or the particular…
AARON"S ROD THAT BUDDED (verses 1Co_12:12) or the particular Church as a unit in that same whole which is the body of Christ. (1Co_12:27 Eph_1:22, Eph_1:23)
II THAT THE ALMOND ROD HAD A SPECIAL SIGNIFICANCE FOR AARON, inasmuch as its name and character spake of vigilance and the attribute of preventing others both in promise and in performance. Even so it is the fitting emblem of the Rod out of the stem of Jesse, and the Branch which grew out of his roots; for that Branch was "beautiful and glorious" (Isa_4:2) when all the other trees in the garden of God (Eze_31:9) stood dry and leafless, and there was no sign of any life stirring nor promise of any fruit coming. Then was he "awake," and showed the pure beauty of a perfect life before the eyes of men. (Luk_2:52 Luk_3:22) Even more in his resurrection was the almond rod his natural symbol; for then indeed he had been cut off from the stock of Israel, from the natural stem out of which he grew, and had been laid in the dust of death, and had seemed to be withered and lifeless; but on the third day he "awoke" early, (Psa_108:2) and became the first-fruits of them that slept, anticipating all expectation, and putting forth the glorious blossom of life and immortality. (Son_2:10-13)
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III THAT THE VISIBLE CONFIRMATION OF AARON"S PRIESTHOOD IX THE TYPE WAS THE BLOSSOMING AND FRUITING OF HIS ROD. Even So Our Lord is commended unto us beyond all cavil as the High Priest of our profession in that his priesthood is ever adorned with the buds of hope, the blossoms of beauty, the ripened fruits of holy deeds, such as always and everywhere grow out of that priesthood as ministered among us, and testify to its enduring vitality and energy, whereas no such results follow any other guide and redeemer of souls. And note that what is true of the priesthood of Christ must be true, in a secondary sense, of all ministries of grace claiming rightly to be such. "By their fruits ye shall know them," or by their absence of fruit. If they really live and blossom into purity and beauty, and ripen the fruits of holy and devoted deeds, then are they attested by God to be ministries of grace indeed, standing in vital relation to the only priesthood of Christ. Moreover, since only Aaron"s rod can blossom, it is certain that every true grace and beauty not of earth which is found in Christian souls and lives must be due to the fruitful energy of "Christ in us" through the Spirit.
IV THAT THE CONTINUED VITALITY AND FRUITFULNESS OF THE ROD WAS NOT NATURAL, BUT WAS SIMPLY DUE TO GOD"S POWER FOLLOWING HIS ELECTION. Even so whatever energy for good is found in any Christian ministry, whatever grace in any means of grace, is assuredly not of nature, for there is no inherent power in any man or in any outward thing to communicate spiritual life or blessing. It is only the Divine grace, following" the Divine choice of the agents and instruments of redeeming love, which can make them or their ministry of any real effect; it is not they who can produce any change for the better, but only the mighty power of God working in them and through them.
V THAT THE BUDS, THE BLOSSOMS, AND THE FRUIT WOULD SEEM TO HAVE BEEN ON THE ROD ALL AT ONCE. Even so in the history and course of Christianity there was no slow progression towards the perfection of Christian character and action. The ripened fruits of holy living were put forth at once side by side with the promise of better things in some, and with the beauty of early piety in others. And so it is, wherever the powers of the world to come are at work, there may always be discerned, apparently from the first, the three stages of growth in Christ. What the energy of the Spirit seems to ripen at once in some happy souls seems to take him many years to bring to maturity in others, even if maturity be ever reached in this world. Nevertheless, the bud and the blossom are as impossible to mere nature as the fruit itself.
VI THAT THE ROD WHICH BUDDED WAS LAID UP FOR A TOKEN AGAINST THE REBELLIOUS. Even so if men oppose themselves we have no other sign but this. Pilate asked our Lord, "What hast thou done?" and if he had but sought the answer which so many could have given him, he had not condemned the Lord of glow. "By their fruits ye shall know them," for thereby shall they be judged at the last day. Our good works then are the credentials of our creed and of our priesthood. The "doctrine" is (and must be) but a dry rod which savours only of rule and domination in the eyes of a natural man unless it be "adorned" with these fair blossoms, this substantial fruit.
VII THAT THE OBJECT OF THE MIRACLE WAS ESPECIALLY TO CONVINCE THE PEOPLE FOR THEIR GOOD, LEST THEY SHOULD RUSH AGAIN UPON DESTRUCTION (verse 10 b). Even so it is the will of God that the witness of good works and piety come abroad, and not that men "keep their religion to themselves," and within their own doors, in order that prejudice may be dispelled and souls attracted to their own salvation. (Mat_5:16 1Pe_2:12)
VIII THAT THE SINFUL PEOPLE CHARGED UPON THE LAW OF GOD THE FATAL CONSEQUENCES OF THEIR OWN SIN, AND DESPAIRED WHEN THEY COULD NO LONGER REBEL. Even so do men complain bitterly of their misfortunes when they reap the fruits of their own willful sin, and are filled with an amazed despair when they find that a man must really reap as he has sown.
IX THAT THE TABERNACLE AND PRIESTHOOD, WHICH SHOULD HAVE BEEN A SAFETY AND DELIGHT, DID IN TRUTH BECOME A DANGER AND A FEAR, BECAUSE THE PEOPLE WERE CARNAL. Even so the very nearness of God to us in Christ and in his Church, which is the glory of the gospel, (2Co_6:16) is fraught with fearful dangers to them that walk unworthy of the heavenly calling. (Mat_21:44 2Co_2:15, 2Co_2:16)
HOMILIES BY D. YOUNG Vers. 1-9. Aaron"s rod that budded.
The priesthood of Aaron, as a solemn reality, and no mere arrogant pretence, had already been amply shown. It had been shown, however, in a way which left behind terrible associations. Those who impugned it bad died by a sudden and fearful death. And though the priesthood appears differently when it becomes the means of staying death from the living, yet even this was not sufficient to glorify it before the eyes of the people. These illustrations of its validity had arisen from the urgent pressure of circumstances. If the people had not sinned against God by despising his ordinance, that ordinance would not have been manifested in such awful power. It becomes God now to glorify the priesthood by a new and independent testimony, the way of which had been prepared by the judgments they had lately seen and suffered.
I AARON IS EQUALISED WITH THE REST. He had been equalized before in voluntary humility. (Num_16:16, Num_16:17) Now the thing is specially commanded. Aaron is taken as a simple member of the tribe of Levi. and Levi itself is considered as but one of the tribes of Israel. Thus to any one disposed to complain of Aaron exalting himself, God, as it were, gave for answer: "Aaron does not exalt himself; he is nothing more than any of you. Let there be a rod for each of the tribes, and nothing to make his better than the rest. It shall then be made manifest that whatever his power, his holiness, his honour, they do not come from anything inherent in himself as a simple Israelite." And so in a certain sense Jesus was equalized with men. (Php_2:6-8) He grew to manhood among the poor and lowly. He had been so like the rest of the simple Nazarenes in outward form, so unpretending, so little fitted to excite attention and wonderment, that his brethren did not believe in him. There was everything in him but sin to show his community with men. He became in all things like his brethren; and one of the results of this full, demonstrative humanity is to make clear how highly God exalted him (Php_2:9-11)
II The objects taken to represent the tribes ONCE HAD LIFE IN THEM. They were not stones of the wilderness which God was about to turn into living, fruitful branches. The work was one of restoration, not of creation altogether fresh and original. But for sin, all these Israelites, Aaron included, would have been like branches, full of beautiful and fruitful life rejoicing in God"s presence, instead of being, as they were, dead to him, alive to sin. These rods, were significant for their past as well as their future. The Israelites used these rods doubtless for some purpose to which dead wood could be put, and thinking nothing of the life that had once been in them. Dead wood is useful, but the state and service are low as compared with those of the living tree. So Israel was now in an utterly humiliated state, quite ignorant and careless as to the glory and joy of man"s first unfallen days. These tribes were now as dead rods, but if all had gone according to the original purpose, they would have been as living, fruitful branches. It is part of the priestly office of Christ to bring back that which is lost, and to swallow up in a new and glorious creation the ruin that has befallen the old one.
III Hence the CAPACITY OF RESTORATION is indicated to the people. Ask an Israelite if a rod, a dead, sapless, long-separated branch, shall live again, he will reply, "No." In one sense he is right, for such a thing is outside of his experience; in another sense he is wrong, as not knowing the power of God. Aaron"s rod alone lived, but it is plain that the same power which revived it could have acted on the rest with a like result. When Jesus was raised from the dead, this was an indication that all dead ones might come back to life. "Because I live, ye shall live also". (Joh_14:19) The very descent of Aaron to an equality with the rest implied a possibility that they might ascend to an equality with him. The risen Saviour in the glory of his heavenly life is the first-born among many brethren. Aaron became different from the rest in order that by his difference he might draw the rest nearer to God. The rod budded for the benefit of the rods that remained dead.
IV THERE IS AN ANTICIPATION OF THE SLOWER PROCESSES OF NATURE. Not only is dead wood restored to life, but the life rushes forward into fruit. In the Lord"s hand the work of all seasons can be done in a night. Buds, blossoms, and fruit at the same time! What a fullness of life this indicates! By thus combining in one example three stages of plant life, God shows the power of the priest"s office. There was not only promise, but performance. It would have been a work of God to show just peeping buds; but the work of God here is to show life in its fullness. It was the clamour of the people that nothing more than empty promise had been got out of Moses. They had lately learned that Aaron"s office was full of worth by his protecting atonement as against the plague. Now in this budding, blossoming, fruit-bearing rod they see both promise and performance. He who makes the rod bud is thereby promising; he who makes it blossom is drawing onward in increased hope; but he who also makes it yield fruit shows that he can perform as well as promise. So may we think of Jesus. Consider the multitudes for whom and in whom his priestly work is being done. They are in different stages. With some the bud, with some the blossom, with some the ripened, fragrant fruit. It needed that all stages should be shown in the life of the typifying rod.
V THE USUAL AIDS OF NATURE, THE AIDS COMMONLY COUNTED NECESSARY, ARE DISPENSED WITH. There is no planting of the rods in the soil, no exposure to the sunshine and the rain. God, who usually works through many combined ministries, and shows man the blessed fellow-worker with himself, finds it fitting here, for his glory, and for the full manifestation of the truth, to set all customary ministries on one side. If usually there are all these aids, it is because of what is fitting, not of what is indispensably needed. Nothing is needed but to lay the rods in the tabernacle, before the testimony. Thus we see how far from any human choice, contrivance, or control was the budding of this rod. The result was from God"s secret power, and that alone. Thereby he invested Aaron and the ark and every priestly function with fresh importance. Henceforth we look upon Aaron not only as one who keeps back death from the living, but who has to do with the giving back of life to the dead. When this rod was formerly on the tree it did not live after this glorious fashion. There was life, but not in such exaltation and abundance. This rod was known henceforth not after its first life, but its second. So now we know Christ not after the flesh, but after the spirit; not according to those first works, in curing the sick, assuaging temporal sorrows, or even bringing back Lazarus to continue awhile longer his mortal life, but according to those second works by which he, the chosen and only mediatorial channel of them, saves, sanctifies, and perfects those who come to God through him. If this marvelous rod so glorified Aaron, and stopped the murmurings of the people, should it not have stone effect, rightly and repeatedly considered, in glorifying Jesus, and bringing us closer to him in humble acceptance and faith. The murmuring of the Israelites was a great evil, but our neglect of that gracious Intercessor whom God has appointed is not one whit better. Y.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain On v1 Write Aarons name upon the rod of Levi.
Num_17:1-13
Write Aarons name upon the rod of Levi.
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Aarons rod
I. Instructive to the Israelites.
1. An end hereby put to murmuring. By an incontrovertible sign they knew who was the true priest.
2. A preventative furnished against future rebellion. Miracles apt to be forgotten; of this the evidence was to be preserved. Kept for a token.
II. Suggestive to Christians. Every man has some rod on which he leans. The Christians is faith. Like Aarons rod, faith flourishes--
1. Most in the sanctuary. There are strengthening influences, and a Divine power. It will become a barren stock elsewhere.
2. Under circumstances in which other rods cannot live. The almond flourishes even before the winter is fully past. Faith budding in adversity.
3. Produces fruit and flowers on the bare stock of adversity.
4. Bears fruit speedily when God causes His blessing to rest upon it. Believe and be saved.
5. Stirs the Christian up to vigilance. Almond-tree a symbol of watchfulness.
III. Typical of Christ.
1. For it is perpetual. Aarons rod laid up as a lasting remembrance.
2. It bore fruit on a barren stock. Jesus, a root out of a dry ground.
3. It was distinguished among the sceptres of the princes. Christs kingdom and sceptre rule over all. He is a plant of renown.
4. It was the object of special favour. So in Jesus, He was well pleased. He was elect and precious.
IV. Symbolical of a true teacher.
1. His home the house of God.
2. Presents himself constantly before the testimony.
3. In himself dry and barren.
4. Relies upon God for fruitfulness.
5. Produces by Divine help not flowers only, but fruit also.
6. As a dry and lifeless stock he receives quickening power from God; so with his flowers and fruit he presents himself before God, and offers all his works to Him.
Learn--
1. The wisdom of God in choice of methods.
2. To seek a strong and living and practical faith.
3. To rejoice in and rely upon the perpetual high priesthood of Christ.
4. To endeavour, like the almond-tree, to bring forth fruit early. (J. C. Gray.)
Aarons rod that budded
This is our subject: the miraculous conversion of Aarons rod into a living, blossoming, and fruit-bearing plant. It must have been a most convincing prodigy for the purpose it was designed to answer, for the people no sooner saw it than they cried out in remorse for their wavering allegiance, Behold, we die! we perish! we all perish! But beyond the age wherein the marvel occurred, this putting vegetable life into that dry staff has frequently been borrowed and used for other objects. Thus Achilles, in classic poetry, when enraged against Agamemnon, is made by Homer to refer to this miracle:--
But hearken! I shall swear a solemn oath
By this same sceptre, which shall never bud,
Nor boughs bring forth, as once ; which, having left
Its stock on the high mountains at what time
The woodmans axe lopt off its foliage green
And stript its bark, shall never grow again :-
By this I swear!
And amongst Latin literature you will, some of you, remember that a certain king confirms a covenant with AEneas by a similar oath.
I. We begin by reminding you that among the greatest of our blessings in this world is our strict obligation to do the Divine will and to keep the Divine law. It is far more worth our while to sing of Gods statutes than it is to sing of Gods promises. Where should we be in a country without human authority, and a human authority founded on a reverence for the Divine? Very truly does Bushnell say that, without law, man does not live, he only grazes. If he had no government he would never discern any reason for existence, and would soon not care to exist. How different is the world of Voltaire from the world of Milton I The one finds nothing but this clay world and its material beauties, flashes into a shallow brilliancy of speech, and, weaving a song of surfaces, empties himself into a book of all that he has felt or seen. But the other, at the back of all and through all visible things, beholds a spirit and a Divinity. Now is there not a very beautiful picture of the comeliness and the beneficence of law in the old miracle that was wrought upon the rod of Aaron? That staff, as we have put it to you, was selected as the sign of authority. This was a declaration, first, that no law was perfect that did not display life and beauty and fertility; and a declaration, secondly, that by Gods choice that perfect law dwelt in the high priest. But apart from the imagery as a message to the children of Israel, I cling to that blooming staff as the very best type I can find anywhere of what Gods rule is amongst us and in His Church. I find myself taught by this early prodigy on Aarons staff that Gods dominion is the dominion of the almond-branch. It is a rod; alas! for us, if there were no rod. But it is a rod displaying all the three several pledges and gradations of life; and thus--oh! beautiful coincidence, if it be nothing more--God turns His law towards the children of men into what the forbidden tree so falsely appeared to the first transgressor--pleasant to the eye, and good for food. Of course I know that the staff or the sceptre is the symbol of authority, because a staff is that with which one person smites another. The ultimate significance of a rod is a blow. But is it nothing to be taught by Gods picture-alphabet of the Old Testament that He smites only with buds, and with flowers, and with fruit? This seems to change, even to any childs apprehension, the whole character of the sovereignty under which we bow in the modern camp of the Church. You tremble as you read the chapter of hard duties. Turn the leaf, and you will come upon the chapter of precious promises. There is not a verse in the Bible that is not in flower with some comfort; aye, though it be a verse that smites you with a difficult commandment. You are never to tell a man to do a single thing in religion without telling him that God will help him to do it. You are never to command a sacrifice from me for Christs sake without comforting me with the assurance that God is able to give me much more than this. If you have a strong, rough, hard stick of responsibility, you must show it to me bursting out all over with the rich petals and the hanging clusters of the sovereignty of Divine grace. Aye, for I want you to mark well that here was a miracle within a miracle. The natural almond-branch never has upon it at one time buds, blossoms, and fruit. But I seem to be taught by this accumulation of successive life all at once on one stem that there is no element of mercy wanting in the code by which I am to be managed. But remember that if we deserve nothing but the rod, and yet if God never uses the rod save with the buds, the blossoms, and the fruit, He may well record it against us if either we despise the chastening of the Lord, or faint when we are rebuked of Him.
II. But now the real and only proper commentary on the facts of the Pentateuch will be found in the doctrines of the Epistle to the Hebrews. Do you believe that all those lives would have been lost, and all that commotion would have been made about the prerogative of Aarons priesthood, but for that other Priest on whom the whole world was to rely--the Priest for ever--made, not after the law of a carnal commandment, but after the power of an endless life? It is not by one Scripture, it is by scores, that I find myself pointed, through that staff, to the real government of this world in the rod out of the stem of Jesse. He shall grow up before Him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground, without form or comeliness. And yet, all the while, He was the rod out of the stem of Jesse. And when I read, in the Book of Numbers, how the Hebrews rose up against Aaron and put him to shame, I can only take it for a foreshadowing of another rebellion, when they insulted another Sceptre, who was despised and rejected of men. We preach to you Christ, a stumbling-block to the Jews. And scarcely can you wonder that so long as the rod was only the root out of a dry ground, the Son of the carpenter and the Friend of sinners, there was no beauty in Him that they should desire Him. But that is not the staff with which, this day, God governs His Church. No, no! He hath declared that lowly peasant preacher to be the Son of God with power, in that He hath raised Him from the dead. Ah, that night in which they concealed Aarons rod in the tabernacle of witness, it was never less living, never less blossoming, than then. But it was not left in darkness, neither did it see corruption. And on the appointed morning men found it, marked by the choice of the Omnipotent with the buds, the blossoms, and the fruit. In like manner the coldest, darkest, least living period in Immanuels career was when they hid Him, among all the other millions of the dead, in the tomb cut out of the rock in the garden of Joseph. But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the first-fruits of them that slept. He was raised up a plant of renown. And from that glorious Easter morning the rod out of the stem of Jesse has been the tree whose leaves are for the healing of the nations, and filling the face of the world with fruit. Men can be governed by a Mediator and yet not perish. The soul that sinneth, it shall die. That is a rod, but if any man sin we have an Advocate with the Father, that is, Aarons rod that budded--the rod of the Priest. Reuben, Gad, and all the rest have rods. Christianity is not alone in the sternness of its government or the severity of its sanctions. But it is alone in telling me how I can receive remission of sins that are past, and how I can obtain the strongest of motives for a life of obedience in the time to come. (H. Christopherson.)
Aarons rod blossoming and bearing fruit
I. As the priesthood of Aaron was a type of the priesthood of Christ, there is here a suggestion of facts which must have their counterpart in Christs life and history.
1. The atonement and death of our Lord Jesus were matters of Divine appointment. The whole work of our salvation originated with God.
2. But more than this--which is the essential truth here enshrined--we see here that God often manifests Himself in unexpected forms of beauty and of grace. The dry rod blossomed and bare fruit. The powers of Divine salvation were enshrined in the person of the Carpenter of Nazareth. There was life for a dead world in the Cross and in the grave of the dead Christ.
II. There are suggestions here concerning Christian life.
1. Christian life begins with God.
2. The Christian life manifests itself in unfavourable conditions. It is in human souls a power of active benevolence, or it is nothing at all. It takes hold of human misery with a healing hand, and it changes it into blessing. Where sin abounded there grace does much more abound.
3. There is beauty associated with the developments of Christian life and character. There is nothing half so winning as Christian grace.
III. Suggestions in relation to the gospel ministry.
1. There is a Divine designation of men to the highest service of the Church.
2. But what is the qualification of men thus sent? Evidently the possession of Divine life, the gift which is to be imparted to those needing it. To be a Christian teacher a man must be a Christian and must know the things of Christ.
3. How, then, are we to judge a mans Divine call and authority? Only and solely by the blossoms and fruit--by the spiritual results of his ministry.
IV. Last of all, there are here suggestions concerning Christian humiliation.
1. The world has not known its best benefactors. It has always had a scornful word for the saintly and the true-hearted. It has always risen up in rebellion against the anointed of the Lord.
2. Here is a word of encouragement to all weak and mistrustful and diffident and self-emptied souls. I am but a dry rod, says the old labourer in the Masters vineyard, and the holy matron whose life has been careful and troubled about many things, but who has ever been anxious to honour and serve her dear Lord in lowliest ways and household duties. I am but a dry rod, says the saint, waiting dismission to rest, who has not done what he would or been as useful as he desired and hoped and prayed to be. I am but a dry rod, says one whose strength has been weakened by the way, and whose unfinished purposes lie sadly enough at his feet, fallen out of hands which could not longer hold them or fashion them into completeness. We are but dry rods, say many earnest, anxious, longing souls who hardly dare to trust for the future, because so often when they would do good evil is present with them. We are not saved by trust in our own righteousness or by satisfaction with our own goodness and deeds. But Gods grace is all-sufficient, and He can work miracles of beauty and fruitfulness where human might is feeblest, and self mistrust is greatest, and humility of spirit is deepest. (W. H. Davison, D. D.)
The Divine plan for vindicating the high priesthood of Aaron, and its moral teaching
I. That true ministers of religion are elected by God.
II. It is of great importance that men should know that their ministers of religion are called by God.
1. In order that they may regard them with becoming respect.
2. In order that they may take heed to their message.
III. The vitality of sin is of dreadful tenacity. Many mens lips, says Trapp, like rusty hinges, for want of the oil of grace and gladness, move not without murmuring and complaining. It is a thing of extreme difficulty to eradicate any evil disposition from the human heart. For such is the habitual hardness of mens hearts, as neither ministry, nor misery, nor miracle, nor mercy can possibly mollify. Nothing can do it but an extraordinary touch from the hand of Heaven.
IV. God is engaged in eradicating sin from human hearts. (W. Jones.)
Aarons rod an illustration of the true Christian ministry
I. The characteristics of the true Christian ministry.
1. Life,
2. Beauty.
3. Fruitfulness.
II. The origin of the true Christian ministry. Gods creation, and gift to the Church.
III. The influence of the true Christian ministry. Abiding. (W. Jones.)
The budded rod, a type of Christ
The rod in many graphic tints shows Jesus. The very name is caught by raptured prophets (Isa_11:1; Zec_6:12-13). Thus faith gleans lessons from the very title--Rod. But the grand purport of the type is to reject all rivals. It sets Aaron alone upon the priestly seat. The parallel proclaims, that similarly Jesus is our only Priest. God calls, anoints, appoints, accepts, and ever hears Him; but Him alone. In His hands only do these functions live. Next, the constant luxuriance has a clear voice. In natures field, buds, blossoms, fruit, soon wither. Not so this rod. Its verdure was for ever green; its fruit was ever ripe. Beside the ark it was reserved in never-fading beauty. Here is the ever-blooming Priesthood of our Lord (Psa_110:4; Heb_7:24). Mark, moreover, that types of Jesus often comprehend the Church. It is so with these rods. The twelve at first seem all alike. They are all sapless twigs. But suddenly one puts forth loveliness; while the others still remain worthless and withered. Here is a picture of Gods dealings with a sin-slain race. Since Adams fall, all are born lifeless branches of a withered stock. When any child of man arises from the death of sin, and blooms in grace, God has arisen with Divine almightiness. Believer, the budded rod gives another warning. It is a picture of luxuriance. Turn from it and look inward. Is your soul thus richly fertile? Instead of fruit, you often yield the thorn (Joh_15:8). Whence is the fault? (Joh_15:4) Perhaps your neglectful soul departs from Christ. Meditate in Gods law day and night; (Psa_1:3). But if the budded rod rebukes the scanty fruit in the new-born soul, what is its voice to unregenerate worldlings? (Heb_6:8.) (Dean Law.)
The rod of Aaron
Buds are evidence of life. A nominal Christian is like a dead trunk, and he cannot bud unless the sap of Divine grace courses through him. Spiritual life is an attribute of the converted Christian. The spiritual life of a being is his presiding sentiment or disposition--the chief inspiration of his soul--that which gives motion and character to his mental and moral being.
I. Life is a resistless force. The smallest blade of grass that raises its tiny head into light, or the feeblest insect that sports in the sunbeam, displays a force superior to that which governs the ocean or controls the stars. Man stands erect, the tree rises, and the bird soars, because of life.
II. Life is an appropriating force. Vegetable and animal existences have a power of appropriating to themselves all surrounding elements conducive to their well-being, just as the life of the plant converts the various gases around it into nutriment to promote its strength and development. Wherever there is true religion, there is a power to render all external circumstances subservient to its own strength and growth; all things work together for its good.
III. Life is a propagating force. It has the seed in itself. Forests start from acorns, and boundless harvests from the solitary grain. It is said that the grateful Israelites, anxious to carry away a bud, a blossom, or almond as a memento of the occasion, the flowers and fruit on the rod were repeatedly and miraculously renewed for that purpose. Be that as it may, wherever there is religious life it will spread; it scatters broadcast the incorruptible seed which liveth and abideth for ever.
IV. Life is a beautifying force. There are two kinds of beauty--the sensational and the moral. Nature in her ten thousand forms of loveliness, and art in her exquisite expressions of taste, are ministries to the former, whilst spiritual truth, moral goodness, and the holiness of God address the latter. The one is the poetry of the eye and ear ; the other, of the soul. The beauty that appeals to the religious nature of man is the beauty of holiness--the beauty of the Lord--the glory of God in His goodness.
V. Life is a fructifying force. The true Christian not only lives and unfolds a noble disposition, but is really useful. St. Paul speaks of the fruit of the Spirit--righteousness, goodness, truth. The first, as opposed to all injustice and dishonesty; the second, as opposed to the ten thousand forms of selfishness; the third, as opposed to all that is erroneous and false in the doctrines and theories of men. (G. L. Saywell.)
Aarons rod
Here are three miracles in one:--
1. That a dry rod--made of the almond tree--should bring forth buds in a moment.
2. That those buds should presently become blossoms anal flowers.
3. That these should immediately become ripe fruit, and that all at once, or at least in a little space.
Nature makes no such leaps. All this was supernatural to these ends.
1. For a testimony of Gods calling Aaron to the priesthood.
2. For a type of Christ, the Branch (Isa_11:1).
3. For a figure of the fruitfulness of a gospel ministry.
4. For a lively representation of a glorious resurrection. (C. Ness.)
Lessons from the budding rod
A wonderful work of God, which sundry ways may profit us.
1. As first to consider that if the power of God can do this in a dry stick, cannot He make the barren woman to bare, and be a joyful mother of children? Can He not do whatsoever He will do? By this power the sea is dried, the rock gives water, the earth cleaveth under the feet of men, fire descends whose nature is to ascend, raiseth the dead, and calleth things that are not as if they were. In a word, He is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, &c.
2. This rod is a notable type of Christ, His person and office. Of His person, in that He was born of the Virgin Mary, who, though He descended of the royal blood, yet was now poor and mean, as that royal race was brought exceeding low, nothing remaining but as it were a root only. Now the said Virgin flourisheth again as Aarons rod did, and beareth such fruit as never woman bear. Of this speaks Isaiah the prophet, when he saith, There shall come a rod forth of the stock of Jesse, and a graft shall grow out of his roots. Of His office both priestly and kingly. His priestly office is figured in that being offered upon the cross He was as Aarons dried rod, or as the Psalm saith, dried up like a potsherd. But when He rose again He became like Aarons budding and fruit-bearing rod, bringing forth to man, believing on Him, remission of sins, righteousness, and eternal life. His kingly office, in that He governeth His Church with a rod or sceptre of righteousness, as it is in the Psalm: The sceptre of Thy kingdom is a right sceptre. Which rod and sceptre is the preaching of the gospel, &c.
3. Again, it was a resemblance of true ministers, and of all faithful men and women, for none of all these ought to be dry and withered sticks, but bear and bring forth buds and fruit according to their places.
4. It is a shadow also of our resurrection by which we should grow green again, and flourish with a new and an eternal glory, having like dead seed lain in the ground, and we shall bring forth ripe almonds, that is, the praise of Gods incomprehensible goodness to us for ever and ever.
5. It resembleth our reformation and amendment of life, for when our heart feeleth what is amiss, this is as the bud; when it resolveth of a change and a future amendment, this is the blossom; and when it performeth the same by a new reformed life indeed, this is as the ripe almonds of Aarons rod.(Bp. Babington.)
The priesthood divinely selected
What matchless wisdom shines in this arrangement! How completely is the matter taken out of mans hands and placed where alone it ought to be, namely, in the hands of the living God! It was not to be a man appointing himself, or a man appointing his fellow, but God appointing the man of His own selection. In a word, the question was to be definitively settled by God Himself, so that all murmurings might be silenced for ever, and no one be able again to charge Gods high priest with taking too much upon him. The human will had nothing whatever to do with this solemn matter. The twelve rods, all in a like condition, were laid up before the Lord ; man retired and left God to act. There was no room, no opportunity, because there was no occasion for human management. In the profound retirement of the sanctuary, far away from all mans thinkings, was the grand question of priesthood settled by Divine decision; and, being thus settled, it could never again be raised. (C. H. Mackintosh.)
Aarons fruitful rod
Striking and beautiful figure of Him who was declared to be the Son of God with power by resurrection from the dead! The twelve rods were all alike lifeless; but God, the living God, entered the scene, and, by that power peculiar to Himself, infused life into Aarons rod, and brought it forth to view, bearing upon it the fragrant fruits of resurrection. Who could gainsay this? The rationalist may sneer at it, and raise a thousand questions. Faith gazes on that fruit-bearing rod, and sees in it a lovely figure of the new creation in the which all things are of God. Infidelity may argue on the ground of the apparent impossibility of a dry stick budding, blossoming, and bearing fruit in the course of one night. But to whelm does it appear impossible? To the infidel, the rationalist, the sceptic. And why? Because he always shuts out God. Let us remember this. Infidelity invariably shuts out God. God can do as He pleases. The One who called worlds into existence could make a rod to bud, blossom, and bear fruit in a moment. Bring God in, and all is simple and plain as possible. Leave God out, and all is plunged in hopeless confusion. (C. H. Mackintosh.)
The rods contrasted
Ponder the difference between the rod of Moses and the rod of Aaron. We have seen the former doing its characteristic work in other days and amid other scenes. We have seen the land of Egypt trembling beneath the heavy strokes of that rod. Plague after plague fell upon that devoted scene in answer to that outstretched rod. We have seen the waters of the sea divided in answer to that rod. In short, the rod of Moses was a rod of power, a rod of authority. But it could not avail to hush the murmurings of the children of Israel, nor yet to bring the people through the desert. Grace alone could do that; and we have the expression of pure grace--free, sovereign grace--in the budding of Aarons rod. Nothing can be more forcible, nothing more lovely. That dry, dead stick was the apt figure of Israels condition, and indeed of the condition of every one of us by nature. There was no sap, no life, no power. One might well say, What good can ever come of it? None whatever, had not grace come in and displayed its quickening power. So was it with Israel, in the wilderness; and so is it with us now. How were they to be led along from day to day? How were they to be sustained in all their weakness and need? How were they to be borne with in all their sin and folly? The answer is found in Aarons budding rod. If the dry, dead stick was the expression of natures barren and worthless condition, the buds, blossoms, and fruit set forth that living and life-giving grace and power of God on which was based the priestly ministry that alone could bear the congregation through the wilderness. Grace alone could answer the ten thousand necessities of the militant host. Power could not suffice. Authority could not avail. Priesthood alone could supply what was needed; and this priesthood was instituted on the foundation of that efficacious grace which could bring fruit out of a dry rod. Thus it was as to priesthood of old; and thus it is as to ministry now. All ministry in the Church of God is the fruit of Divine grace--the gift of Christ, the Churchs Head. (C. H. Mackintosh.)
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The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary 1892 · Public Domain On v1 In this chapter the High-priesthood of Aaron is further…
CRITICAL AND EXPLANATORY NOTES
In this chapter the High-priesthood of Aaron is further confirmed by a supernatural and significant sign.
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Num_17:4. The testimony, “i.e., the Two Tables of the Law; cf. Exo_25:16. No doubt the rods lay in front of the Tables within the Ark.”—Speaker’s Comm.
Num_17:5. I will make to cease from Me. “שָׁכַךְ, Hiph., to cause to sink, to bring to rest, construed with מֵעַל in a pregnant signification, to quiet in such a way that it will not rise again.”—Keil and Del.
Num_17:6. Twelve rods. “Possibly the two tribes of the children of Joseph were reckoned together, as in Deu_27:12. But as these two tribes had separate princes, and it was with the names of the princes that the rods were marked (Num_17:2), it is more probable that the whole number of rods was twelve exclusively of Aaron’s, as the Vulgate expressly renders (‘fuerunt virgæ duodecim absque virga Aaron’).”—Speaker’s Comm.
Num_17:8. Yielded almonds. “Or rather ‘ripened almonds,’ i.e., ‘brought forth ripe almonds.’ Probably different portions of the rod showed the several stages of the process of fructification through which those parts which had advanced the furthest had passed. The name almond in Hebrew denotes the ‘waking tree,’ the ‘waking fruit;’ and is applied to this tree because it blossoms early in the season. It serves here, as in Jer_1:11-12, to set forth the speed and certainty with which, at God’s will, His purposes are accomplished.”—Ibid. “This was miraculous … for no ordinary branch would have buds, blossoms, and fruits upon it, all at once.”—M. Henry.
Num_17:10. For a token, &c. Keil and Del. translate: “For a sign for the rebellious, that thou puttest an end to their murmuring, and they die not.” Aaron’s rod was probably lost while the Ark was in the hands of the Philistines; for it is stated in 1Ki_8:9 that there was “nothing in the Ark save the two tables of stone.”
Num_17:12-13. “A new section should begin with these verses. They are connected retrospectively with chap. 16; and form the immediate introduction to chap. 18. The people were terror-stricken with the fate of the company of Korah at the door of the tabernacle, followed up by the plague in which so many thousands of their numbers had perished. Presumption passes by reaction into despair. Was there any approach for them to the tabernacle of the Lord? Was there any escape from death, except by keeping aloof from His presence? The answers are supplied by the ordinances that follow; ordinances which testified that the God of judgment was still a God of grace and of love.”—Speaker’s Comm.
Num_17:13. Keil and Del. translate: “Every one who comes near to the dwelling of Jehovah dies; are we all to die?”
THE DIVINE PLAN FOR VINDICATING THE HIGH-PRIESTHOOD OF AARON, AND ITS MORAL TEACHING
(Num_17:1-5)
The directions which are here given to Moses teach us—
I. That true ministers of religion are elected by God.
In directing Moses to place these rods in the tabernacle, the Lord promises to meet with him there, and He says, “And it shall come to pass, that the man’s rod whom I shall choose, shall blossom.” God called Aaron to his office (Heb_5:4). He here makes arrangements for confirming that call, and placing it beyond dispute. To enter the Christian ministry for its honours, or its emoluments, &c., is an awful sin. To refuse to enter it when convinced of the Divine call thereto is also a sin. The authority of the true minister of Christ arises from his being sent forth by God. Comp. 1Co_12:4-11; 1Co_12:28; Gal_1:1; Eph_4:7-13. (a)
II. It is of great importance that men should know that their ministers of religion are called by God.
The Lord here makes arrangements for His own miraculous interposition, in order that the Israelites might be completely convinced of the Divine authority of Aaron in his office. It is important that people should be convinced of the Divine call of their ministers, in order that—
1. They might regard them with becoming respect. They are ambassadors for Christ; and should be treated as such. Comp. Joh_13:20; Php_2:29; 1Th_5:12-13; 1Ti_5:17.
2. They might take heed to their message. If the ministers of Christ come to be regarded as mere lecturers on religious themes, having no authority from God, their ministry will be productive of little true and lasting good. Crowds may gather round the eloquent preacher, but they will be like those which gathered round the ancient prophet (Eze_33:30-32). When people see in their ministers a Christlike life, and manifest fitness for their sacred duties, and the signs of the Divine approval of their ministry, let them rest assured that such ministers have their commission from God, and their ministry should be received accordingly. “Despise not prophesyings.” “Take heed how ye hear.” (b)
III. The vitality of sin is of dreadful tenacity.
The miraculous sign for which Moses is directed to make arrangements was necessary to completely subdue the murmurings of the children of Israel. The previous judgments, although so numerous and terrible, had not effectually destroyed their tendency to murmur against the leaders whom God had appointed. “Many men’s lips,” says Trapp, “like rusty hinges, for want of the oil of grace and gladness, move not without murmuring and complaining.” It is a thing of extreme difficulty to eradicate any evil disposition from the human heart. “For such is the habitual hardness of men’s hearts, as neither ministry, nor misery, nor miracle, nor mercy, can possibly mollify. Nothing can do it, but an extraordinary touch from the hand of Heaven.” (c)
IV. God is engaged in eradicating sin from human hearts.
“I will make to cease from me the murmurings of the children of Israel,” &c. He cries to the sinner, “O do not this abominable thing, which I hate.” His laws are all against sin. The great redemptive mission of Jesus Christ aims at the destruction of sin. “He appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself.” (d)
Since God is thus engaged, we may confidently anticipate that the crusade against sin will be gloriously triumphant. “He shall not fail nor be discouraged, till He have set judgment in the earth: and the isles shall wait for His law.”
ILLUSTRATIONS
(a) The ministry is the Divinely-appointed agency for the communication of God’s will to man. As a Divine institution, it advanced its claims in the beginning, and in no solitary instance have they been relinquished since. This Divine authorization and enactment are still in force. The Bible says, when Christ ascended up on high, “He led captivity captive, and received gifts for men; and he gave some apostles, and some prophets, and some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ.” There might be something special, perhaps, in this original commission, but the principle of its Divine origin is evidently presented as the principle of the ministry itself; for St. Paul, who was not then called, who speaks of himself afterwards as one born out of due time, earnestly and anxiously vindicates the heavenly origin of his apostleship: “I certify you, brethren, that the Gospel which was preached of me is not of men; for I neither received it of men, neither was I taught it but by the revelation of Jesus Christ” This it is which is the elevation of the Christian ministry, which exalts it far above human resources and human authority. It travels on in its own majestic strength—Heaven-inspired and Heaven-sustained. Moreover, the same passage which tells us of the institution of the ministry, announces its duration, and tells of the period when it shall be no longer needed, “Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ.” This period, thus Divinely appointed for the cessation of the ministry, has obviously not yet arrived.—W. M. Punshon, LL.D.
It would appear to be a difficult lesson for the Church to learn, that God will choose His own instruments. In spite of a thousand proofs of sovereignty on this matter, the Church will stubbornly try to have a hand in the choice of ministers. Now that civilization has become a very devil to us, we say that God’s agents shall not be carpenters, fishermen, tentmakers, or ploughmen. No, certainly not; they shall be sons of gentlemen; they shall have hands unhardened by labour; they shall be favourites of conventional fortune. God will not have this; He will not be indebted to His creatures. The shepherd shall be entrusted with His thunder, and the husbandman shall wield His lightning; the little child shall subdue the dragon, and the suckling shall not be afraid of the cockatrice.—Joseph Parker, D.D.
(b) How many hear the Gospel, but do not hear it attentively! A telegram on the Exchange—they read it with both their eyes—will there be a rise or fall of stocks? An article from which they may judge of the general current of trade—how they devour it with their minds, they suck in the meaning, and then go and practise what they have gathered from it. A sermon heard, and lo, the minister is judged as to how he preached it—as if a man reading a telegram should say the capital letter was not well inked on the press, or the dot to the “i” had dropped off the letter; or as if a man reading an article of business should simply criticise the style of the article, instead of seeking to get at its meaning, and act upon its advice. Oh, how men will hear and think it to be right, to be the height of perfection, to say they liked or disapproved of the sermon! As if the God-sent preacher cared one doit whether you did or did not like his sermon, his business being not to please your tastes, but to save your souls; not to win your approbation, but to win your hearts for Jesus, and bring you to be reconciled to God.—C. H. Spurgeon.
(c) That plant must possess great vitality which increases by being uprooted and cut down. That which lives by being killed is strangely full of force. That must be a very hard substance which is hardened by lying in the blast furnace, in the central heat of the fire, where iron melts and runs like wax. That must be a very terrible power which gathers strength from that which should restrain it, and rushes on the more violently in proportion as it is reined in. Sin kills men by that which was ordained to life. It makes Heaven’s gifts the stepping stones to hell, uses the lamps of the temple to show the way to perdition, and makes the Ark of the Lord, as in Uzzah’s case, the messenger of death. Sin is that strange fire which burns the more fiercely for being damped, finding fuel in the water which was is tended to quench it. The Lord brings good out of evil, but sin brings evil out of good. It is a deadly evil; judge ye how deadly! O that men knew its nature and abhorred it with all their hearts! May the Eternal Spirit teach men to know aright this worst of ills, that they may flee from it to Him who alone can deliver.—Ibid.
(d) God stands between the right and the wrong, not looking pleasant on the one and equally pleasant on the other; not looking as the sun looks, with a benignant face on the evil and on the good; and not as man looks, with only a less benignant face on the evil. He stands with all the fervour of His infinite love and all the majesty of His unlimited power, approving good, and legislating for it on the one side; and disapproving evil, and abhorring it, and legislating it down to the dust, and beneath the dust, into infamy and eternal penalty, on the other side. And if there be one truth that speaks throughout the Bible like the voice of God, and resounds with all the grandeur of Divine intonation, it is the truth that God does not look with an equal eye upon the evil and the good, that He is a discriminator of character, a lover of that which is right, and a hater of that which is wrong.—H. W. Beecher.
AARON’S ROD AN ILLUSTRATION OF THE TRUE CHRISTIAN MINISTRY
(Num_17:6-11)
In this rod we have an illustration of—
I. The characteristics of the true Christian ministry.
1. Life. The rod of Aaron was quickened into life by God, while all the other rods remained mere dead wood. The true minister is alive spiritually. The life of supreme sympathy with God is his. “That which is born of the Spirit is spirit.” “This is life eternal, that they might know Thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom Thou hast sent.” “He that hath the Son of God hath the life.” “I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me,” &c. The true minister is aflame with zeal for the glory of God, and the conversion of sinners, and the sanctification of believers. Without this spiritual life man is utterly unfit for the Gospel ministry, even though he possessed every other qualification in great measure. (a)
2. Beauty. “The rod of Aaron for the house of Levi was budded, and brought forth buds, and bloomed blossoms.” It was not only living, but beautiful. The true minister of Christ is adorned with the beauties of holiness. The Gospel which he preaches to others he endeavours to illustrate in his own life; he translates his creed into his conduct. (b)
3. Fruitfulness. “The rod of Aaron.… yielded almonds.” This was not promised by the Lord (comp. Num_17:5); it makes the vindication of the priesthood of Aaron more gloriously complete and conclusive. God is often better than His word: His performances never fall beneath His promises, but frequently transcend them. The true minister, like the rod of Aaron, is fruitful. His life and work are blessed by God to the conversion of sinners, and the edification of believers in Christ, and the leading of the young into the faith and service of the Lord Jesus. He is useful in quickening holy thoughts and noble purposes, in training souls for spiritual service, and in leading them in such service. He is not only alive himself, his ministry is life giving to others. (c)
II. The origin of the true Christian ministry.
The transformation of the rod of Aaron was the work of God. We have an extraordinary manifestation of the Divine power in giving life to this piece of dead wood, and causing it to put forth buds, blossoms, and fruit. It was unquestionably a supernatural achievement. The attributes of a true minister of Jesus Christ are gifts of God. Spiritual life is His gift. “Born of the Spirit.” “The gift of God is eternal life, through Jesus Christ our Lord.” “I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me.” Spiritual beauty is bestowed by God. It is “the beauty of the Lord our God upon us.” We are being transfigured into the image of the Lord, “from glory to glory, even as by the Lord the Spirit.” “The Lord will beautify the meek with salvation.” Spiritual fruitfulness is also the gift of God. “As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in Me,” &c. (Joh_15:4-5.) “Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers by whom ye believed, even as the Lord gave to every man?” &c. (1Co_3:5-7.) Thus every true minister is a creation of God, and a gift of God to His Church.
III. The influence of the true Christian ministry.
“And the Lord said unto Moses, Bring Aaron’s rod again before the testimony, to be kept,” &c. Thus this rod was to remain, and to continue to exercise a beneficent influence in repressing the disposition of the Israelites to murmur against the servants of the Lord. In like manner the true Christian ministry and its fruits are abiding things; and the manifestation of those fruits is calculated to silence murmurers and detractors. The holiest and most useful ministers may be assailed by detraction and even by cruel slander, as Aaron was; but his life and work will in due time silence the detractors and cover them with shame. The results of the life and work of the true minister will be the most effective vindication of his Divine call, and will “put to silence the ignorance of foolish” and wicked men.
ILLUSTRATIONS
(a) I once heard a preacher who sorely tempted me to say I would go to church no more. Men go, thought I, where they are wont to go, else had no one entered the temple in the afternoon. A snow-storm was falling around us. The snow-storm was real, the preacher merely spectral; and the eye felt the sad contrast in looking at him, and then out of the window behind him into the beautiful meteor of the snow. He had lived in vain. He had no one word indicating that he had laughed or wept, was married or in love, had been commended, or cheated, or chagrined. If he had ever lived and acted, we were none the wiser for it. The capital secret of his profession—namely, to convert life into truth—he had not learned. Not one fact in all his experience had he yet imported into his doctrine. This man had ploughed, and planted, and talked, and bought, and sold; he had read books; he had eaten and drunken; his head aches; his heart throbs; he smiles and suffers; yet was there not a surmise, a hint, in all the discourse that he had ever lived at all. Not a line did he draw out of real history. The true preacher can always be known by this, that he deals out to the people his life—life passed through the fire of thought. But of the bad preacher, it could not be told from his sermon what age of the world he fell in; whether he had a father or a child; whether he was a freeholder or a pauper; whether he was a citizen, or any other fact it his history.—R. W. Emerson.
For the spiritual being, man, the only real life is in goodness. Can it not be proved so? If the fountain of all the life that flows through the fields of the universe is God, God is but another name for goodness. All the life that proceeds from Him, therefore, must be according to goodness or love, whether it beats in the bosom of a sinless child, or nerves the arm of a hero-saint; whether He rounds a planet, or tints a roseleaf; whether He balances the Pleiades in their spheres, or adjusts the microscopic machinery of an insect’s wing; whether the afflatus of His Spirit bears up the “seraph that adores and burns” before the throne, or lights the lamp of a feebler reason in these vessels of clay. Only so far as we share in the Father’s goodness, then, are we partakers in His life. The measure of our being, as living souls, is precisely the measure of our excellence. In proportion as our actions are in harmony with Divine laws, and our familiar frame of feeling with God’s will, we live. Herein is the Apostolic saying true, “To be spiritually-minded is life.” Every rising-up of pure aspiration; every clinging to principle when you are tempted; every choice of abstract right above politic selfishness; every putting down of sensual passion by prayer; every preference of a truth which inherits a cross, over the lie that flatters you with a promise of prosperity—is a palpable motion of God’s life within you. Indeed, this is the most intimate subjective knowledge you have of God. God, out of His express revelation, never speaks to us so audibly as when His Spirit prompts us to struggle, or braces us for a sacrifice. A generous impulse is the plainest pledge of His presence; a devout trust in Him, the mightiest demonstration of His Fatherhood.—F. D. Huntington, D.D.
You know the difference between slow motion and rapidity. If there were a cannon ball rolled slowly down these aisles, it might not hurt anybody; it might be very large, very huge, but it might be so rolled along that you might not rise from your seats in fear. But if somebody would give me a rifle, and ever so small a ball, I reckon that if the ball flew along the Tabernacle, some of you might find it very difficult to stand in its way. It is the force that does the thing. So, it is not the great man who is loaded with learning that will achieve work for God; it is the man, who however small his ability, is filled with force and fire, and who rushes forward in the energy which Heaven has given him, that will accomplish the work—the man who has the most intense spiritual life, who has real vitality at its highest point of tension, and living, while he lives with all the force of his nature for the glory of God.—C. H. Spurgeon.
(b) Beauty and love ought always to go together. In the highest moral realm, in the noblest moral traits, there should be the beautiful. Religion is itself beautiful. Its fragments, like shining particles of gold, are beautiful; but at every stage and step of its development toward moral perfection, it grows in the direction of beauty, and the highest conception of beauty is in character. Physical beauty is but the outward symbol and the lower representation of that which has its true existence only in spiritual elements. Religion is beautiful, because it is the service of the God of beauty. Its inward and characteristic experiences are full of beauty.—H. W. Beecher.
A true man after Christ will be the most noble and beautiful thing upon the earth—the freest, the most joyous, the most fruitful in all goodness. There is no picture that was ever painted, there is no statue that was ever carved, there was no work of art ever conceived of that was half so beautiful as is a living man, thoroughly developed on the pattern of Christ Jesus.—Ibid
(c) Vitality is a test of any system of doctrine, as it is of any teacher’s qualification. If you would flud the value of any message, ask of it, Does it live? Do viral pulses leap through it? Does it reproduce its life? Does it help men to live? Does it leave them more alive or more dead than they were without it? Get an answer to these questions, and you will find whether the given ministry is of heaven, or of a private self-interest—whether it comes out of the all-quickening and all comprehending God, or out of some dreamer’s brain.
Nothing goes with much momentum, in the long trial, that does not carry life with it. Accumulate the learning of a thousand Melancthons; pile together the erudition of ancient schools and modern universities; what does it contribute to the real treasure of men, if it does not create life in them? The alcoves of libraries may be but the chambers of a mausoleum,—sepulchres of thought, instead of nurseries—and meeting houses, spiritual dormitories. Eloquence, burning as Peter the Hermit’s, is wasted breath, unless the succeeding life of men shows that it reached the springs from which that life was fed. So in all communication of man with man. Nothing tells, nothing does execution, nothing survives very long, but what makes men feel and will and act,—nothing but the “word of life.” Find me a book, a speech, a preacher, a gospel, that is not life-giving, and I know there is no true message, no inspiration, no revelation from God there.—F. D. Huntington, D.D.
THE BUDDING OF AARON’S ROD
(Num_17:8)
Notice—
I. The threefold significance of the rods which were laid to settle the question in dispute.
1. They were historic. The rods of the tribes were handed down from one generation to another, outliving many generations, and reminding the men of the present of the events of the past, as the mace of a city in England calls up to our minds events which have been connected with it in the past.
2. They were representative. They represented every man of the tribe as a mace represents every citizen, or as the heraldic sign of a noble house represents each member of the house, and the number upon the colour of each regiment represents each soldier in the regiment.
3. The rod was a sign of personal authority when borne by the man who alone was entitled to carry it—the head of the tribe. The macebearer derives no authority from bearing the sign of it, but in the hands of the chief magistrate it is an emblem of official power. The coronet in the hands, or even upon the head, of a commoner, means nothing; but it means rank upon the brow of him to whom it rightfully belongs.
II. Aaron’s rod represented more remarkable historic events, and signified more authority, than the rods belonging to the heads of the other tribes.
It is generally supposed to have been the rod used by him and by Moses in the performance of the miracles of Egypt and the wilderness (comp. Exo_7:9; Exo_7:19, &c.). It was, therefore, connected with a miracle in the past—it had been alive. And it signified an authority not derived from birth (Exo_6:16-20), but conferred by the special selection of God. The present miraculous manifestation may suggest—
1. That the creation of life is the highest manifestation of Divine power. Miracles of increase may to some extent find an analogy in the works of man when he works in co-operation with the established laws of nature. He sows a seed and reaps thirty-fold, and so on. But there is life in the seed to work upon. The giving of life to the dead can in no way be imitated by man. The character of this miracle, therefore, seems intended—
2. To vindicate most forcibly the right of God to decide who should be, not only the head of the tribe of Levi, but the priestly head of the entire nation. He who could thus dispense with all the seasons in the production of the flowers and fruit upon the rod, had a right to set aside the ordinary laws of primogeniture. God is not handcuffed by either. His natural of social laws. He can break all laws except those of moral rectitude. To violate them is His blessed impossibility.
3. It may further suggest that the choice of God would be justified in the after history of Israel. The choice for special service begins with God. The selection of an earthly ambassador springs not from himself, but from the king who sends him. So the Saviour and King of men said to His ambassadors, “Ye have not chosen Me, but I have chosen you.” But His choice was justified by their “bringing forth fruit which remained” (Joh_15:16). So the choice of Aaron’s family was justified by the fruit which some members brought forth to bless the nation. Their faith and courage in entering Jordan, the zeal of Phinehas (Num_25:7), &c., were typified in the budding and fruit-bearing rod which was their symbol.—From “Outlines of Sermons on the Miracles and Parables of the Old Testament.”
THE BUDDED ROD, A TYPE OF CHRIST
(Num_17:8)
Let us advance from the ancient record to the still-living Gospel of the fact. The Rod in many graphic tints shows Jesus. The very name is caught by raptured prophets—Isa_11:1; Zec_6:12-13. Thus faith gleans lessons from the very title—Rod.
But the grand purport of the type is to reject all rivals. It sets Aaron alone upon the priestly seat. The parallel proclaims, that similarly Jesus is our only Priest. God calls—anoints—appoints—accepts, and ever hears Him; but Him alone. In His hands only do these functions live.
Next, the constant luxuriance has a clear voice. In nature’s field, buds—blossoms—fruit, soon wither. Not so this Rod. Its verdure was for ever green; its fruit was ever ripe. Beside the Ark it was reserved in never-fading beauty. Here is the ever-blooming Priesthood of our Lord. Psa_110:4; Heb_7:24.… Because Christ ever lives, and ever loves, and ever prays, and ever works, therefore His kingdom swells. And so it shall be while the need remains. But when the last of the redeemed is safely gathered in, then heaven shall no more hear the interceding Priest. Then the one sound from the vast throng shall be—Hallelujah.
Mark, moreover, that types of Jesus often comprehend the Church. It is so with these rods. The twelve at first seem all alike. They are all sapless twigs. But suddenly one puts forth loveliness; while the others still remain worthless and withered. Here is a picture of God’s dealings with a sin-slain race. Since Adam’s fall, all are born lifeless branches of a withered stock. When any child of man arises from the death of sin, and blooms in grace, God has arisen with Divine almightiness.
Believer, the Budded Rod gives another warning. It is a picture of luxuriance. Turn from it and look inward. Is your soul thus richly fertile? Instead of fruit, you often yield the thorn. Joh_15:8. Whence is the fault? Joh_15:4. Perhaps your neglectful soul departs from Christ. Meditate in God’s law day and night, and you “shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water,” &c. Psa_1:3.
But if the Budded Rod rebukes the scanty fruit in the new-born soul, what is its voice to unregenerate worldlings? Heb_6:8.—Henry Law, D.D.
THE CRY OF THE SUBDUED REBELS
(Num_17:12-13)
This last miraculous interposition, coming after the preceding judgments, awakened a salutary dread in the minds of the rebellious people, and led them to cry to Moses in great bitterness of spirit, “Behold, we die, we perish, we all perish,” &c. This cry of theirs suggests the following observations:—
I. That sinners are prone to pass from one extreme of evil to the opposite one.
A little while ago they went to the extreme of presumption, now they are in the extreme of despair. “See,” says Dr. A. Clarke, “the folly and extravagance of this sinful people. At first, every person might come near to God, for all, they thought, were sufficiently holy, and every way qualified to minister in holy things. Now, no one, in their apprehension, can come near to the tabernacle without being consumed (Num_17:13). In both cases they were wrong; some there were who might approach, others there were who might not. God had put the difference. His decision should have been final with them; but sinners are ever running into extremes.” “In the preceding events,” says Scott, “they ‘despised the chastening of the Lord;’ and now they fainted when rebuked by Him.” For another instance of their swift transition from one sinful extreme to another, comp. Num_14:1-5, with Num_14:40-45.
II. The Divine judgments may produce outward submission, while the heart remains as rebellious as ever.
These Israelites were subdued, but they were not penitent. They do not recognise the fact that the thousands who perished, perished because of their sins; they do not confess their own sins. Their cry is that of a people who are painfully conscious that they have to do with a Being against whose judgments they cannot stand; but who evidently feel themselves injured by those judgments. Their cry was really a complaint against God. They felt themselves unable to cope with Him, and, therefore, yielded an unwilling submission to Him. Law and judgment may subdue rebellion, but they cannot enkindle loyalty; they may compel to submission, but they cannot convert to affection. It is only love that can do this.
III. The Divine judgments may produce outward submission while the mind entertains most erroneous moral opinions.
The people cried, “Whosoever cometh anything near unto the tabernacle of the Lord shall die.” They are still in error. They have renounced the error, that all men might approach the tabernacle, but they have adopted the error that no one might approach unto it. There were those who might come near unto it; the priests might do so; it was their business to do so. And all might avail themselves of the offices of the priests; and were under solemn obligations to do so. But the judgments which they had experienced had not taught them this. Under the judgments of God men are not in a fit state for learning much concerning their relation to Him. And judgments are neither designed nor fitted to teach much, except man’s utter inability to withstand God. Judgments are for correction rather than instruction. They have been used with effect for the destruction of the false and evil, but they are not fitted for building up the true and good. It was correction that Israel most needed when they were visited by these judgments. They persistently refused instruction. And, as is remarked by Keil and Del., “if this fear of death was no fruit of faith, it was fitted for all that to prevent any fresh outbreaks of rebellion on the part of the rejected generation.”
IV. The most stout-hearted rebels against God must, sooner or later, submit to Him.
If they will not submit willingly, they will be compelled into submission. Comp. Job_9:3-4; Job_40:9; Job_22:21; Psa_50:12; 1Co_15:25. (a)
ILLUSTRATIONS
(a) If we were profane enough to imagine the Lord to be vulnerable, yet where is the bow and where the arrow that could reach Him on His throne? What javelin shall pierce Jehovah’s buckler? Let all the nations of the earth rise and rage against God, how shall they reach His throne? They cannot even shake his footstool. If all the angels of heaven should rebel against the Great King, and their squadrons should advance in serried ranks to besiege the palace of the Most High, He has but to will it and they would wither as autumn leaves, or consume as the fat upon the altar. Reserved in chains of darkness, the opponents of his power would for ever become mementoes of His wrath. None can touch Him; He is the God that ever liveth. Let us who delight in the living God bow before Him, and humbly worship Him as the God in whom we live and move and have our being.—C. H. Spurgeon.
As you stood some stormy day upon a seacliff, and marked the giant billow rise from the deep to rush on with foaming crest, and throw itself thundering on the trembling shore, did you ever fancy that you could stay its course, and hurl it back to the depths of ocean? Did you ever stand beneath the leaden lowering cloud, and mark the lightning’s leap, as it shot end flashed, dazzling athwart the gloom, and think that you could grasp the bolt and change its course? Still more foolish and vain his thoughts, who fancies that he can arrest or turn aside the purpose of God, saying, “What is the Almighty that we should serve Him? Let us break His bands asunder, and cast away His cords from us!” Break His bands asunder! How He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh!—Thomas Guthrie, D.D.
Prosperity is not found in opposing God. It is only by falling in with His arrangements and following His designs. A prosperous voyage is made by falling in with winds and currents, and not in opposing them; prosperous agriculture is carried on with coinciding with the favourable seasons of the year, and taking advantage of the dews, and rains, and sunbeams that God sends, and not in opposing them; prosperity in regard to health is found in taking advantage of the means which God gives to secure it, and not in opposing them. And the sinner in his course has no more chance of success and prosperity, than a man would have who should make it a point or principle of life always to sail against tides, and currents, and head-winds; or he who should set at defiance all the laws of husbandry, and plant on a rock, or in the dead of winter; or he who should feed himself on poison rather than on nutritious food, and cultivate the nightshade rather than wheat. If a man desires prosperity, he must fall in with the arrangements of God in His providence and grace; and wisdom is seen in studying these arrangements, and in yielding to them.—Albert Banes, D.D.
THE RUIN AND THE REMEDY
(Num_17:12-13)
This was the language of desperation, remorse, and enmity to God. Israel had deeply transgressed and hardened themselves in transgression, and a just God had repeatedly visited them in wrath. Korah, Dathan, and Abiram, and their company, had been swallowed up, and 250 men bearing impious fire had been consumed, and the surviving rebels said,—“Ye have killed the people of the Lord.” When further punished, crushed, but not humbled, again they murmur against God, as in the text.
Affecting description of the ravages of sin and death. Let us consider—
I. The devastations of death.
A true picture of all mankind—“Behold, we die, we perish, we all perish—we are consumed with dying.”
1. Sad universal picture. True in all ages, countries, climes. Death is universal and unavoidable: no exemption, old and young, strong and weak, rich and poor, tyrant and oppressor, the wise man and the fool—all die. Same phenomena, sickness, pain, suffering, decay—in all lands. (Job_14:1-2, &c.; Isa_38:12; Isa_40:6-8.) How many gone from among us, and we are hasting after them, and soon shall be with them.
2. And whither are they gone? Ask the philosopher, the sceptic, the Deist—they cannot tell you—they have no comfort for you: perhaps your departed ones are annihilated, or they wander in other bodies, or are absorbed in Deity! Ah! man without God’s Word knows nothing of the future.
They are in the separate state—they have begun to be eternally happy or miserable—eternal woes or eternal bliss—a second death—oh! terrible: the first death is sad, but what is the second? “Where their worm never dies,” &c.
II. The cause of these widespread desolations of death.
Again ask the philosopher, the philanthropist, the disbeliever in the Scripture account of it—Why all this misery, pain, death? How do you reconcile it with a God of benevolence? They are silent. Our answer is one word—“Sin”—“our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.” (Isa_64:6.)
1. This world is a penal state. A fact much overlooked. It so far resembles the future world of suffering, with this difference—this world is both penal and probationary, that is penal only. But this world is a state of punishment—we are born into it under the curse and wrath of God—and every pain, sorrow, grief—bodily, mental, spiritual—is a punishment for original sin, or the effect of actual sin. “We die, we perish, we all perish,” because we sin, we all sin. Universal death proves universal sin; because death is the penalty of sin. (Rom_5:12.) Almost all men hasten death and shorten their lives by sin. It peoples gaols and madhouses, and feeds the tomb. (Rom_6:23.) The mortal wound—“sting of death is sin.” (1Co_15:56.) “Brings forth death.” (Jas_1:15.)
2. Alas, this, too, peoples hell! “The wicked turned into hell.” (Psa_9:17; Mat_23:33; 2Pe_2:4.) First death only dark portal to the second.
III. The remedy for this widespread desolation of sin and death.
It was that very “tabernacle” which these frightened, but desperate sinners dreaded. There only was their refuge; there the mercy-seat; there the propitiation—the sacrificing priest, the altar, and a sin-forgiving God above it. Yet they said, “Whosoever cometh near the tabernacle of the Lord shall die.” And perhaps they were right—for as of the Gospel it typified, so the tabernacle was a means of life or death, according as it was approached—“of life unto life, or of death unto death.” (2Co_2:16.) But there was no other refuge, no other salvation.
Now Christ is our true tabernacle (Heb_8:2.) “He hath put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself.” (Heb_9:26.) “He hath abolished death.” (2Ti_1:10.) He has offered one sacrifice for sins. (Heb_10:12.) He is our “Apostle and High Priest;” our living “Advocate with the Father.” (1Jn_2:1.)
Here is the universal remedy—Christ Jesus the Lord—He is “the tree, whose leaves are for the healing of the nations.” (Rev_22:2.) “The shadow of a great rock in a weary land.” “He healeth broken hearts”—“wipes tears from sorrowing faces”—lights up the grave with joy—makes men “long to depart” that they may “be with Him.” By faith in Him His people rejoice in tribulation—count temptations “all joy”—heavy burdens are lightened, long troubles shortened and sweetened: and they have “a hope full of immortality.” Well has He said, “Oh death, I will be thy plagues!” (Hos_13:14.)
With what view do you regard Almighty God?—as terrible, revengeful, cruel, relentless? Do you read these attributes in the present miseries of the world? Do the promised miseries of another world confirm them? Does the language of the text suit you? Then it is because you do not know God. Conscious guilt and dread of punishment we have in common with devils who “believe and tremble;” but only repent, humble your proud hearts, lay low that unbelieving spirit, and seek mercy through the Son of His love, and then you “shall see the end of the Lord, that He is very pitiful and of tender mercy.” Some men will “treasure up wrath against the day of wrath;” but if you “flee from the wrath to come,” and lay hold on the all-sufficient Saviour, you shall taste the sweetness of His mercy.
Let all who know Him, and love Him, cleave unto Him in His tabernacle, His mercy-seat; they shall find His name “Love,” and shall rejoice before Him.—F. Close, D.D.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary (gen. ed. Joseph S. Exell; Funk & Wagnalls, c. 1892) — public domain (pre-1929). A full-Bible homiletical/sermon-outline anthology covering 65 of 66 books (2 John is absent from the source module). Text from a community e-Sword module.
J. R. Dummelow 1909 · Public Domain On v1 Aaron's Authority Confirmed
Aaron's Authority Confirmed
Korah and his followers having questioned the authority of Aaron and the claim of his family to the priesthood, the matter is put beyond the possibility of further doubt by the Blossoming of Aaron's rod.
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2. A rod] The common symbol of authority: cp. Psa_110:2.
4. The testimony] i.e. the ark in which the 'testimony' is kept: see on Exo_16:34.
8-11. On the morrow Aaron's rod is found to have put forth almond buds and fruit, while the others show no sign of life. In this way the exclusive right of the tribe of Levi and family of Aaron to exercise the priestly functions is decided. Aaron's rod is ordered to be laid up before the ark as a token to succeeding generations.
8. Yielded almonds] Observe that the three stages of vegetable life are simultaneously visible, blossoms, buds, and fruit. As the almond tree blossons in January when other trees are bare and before its own leaves appear, it is used to symbolise the way in which God fulfils His promises when men least expect it: see Jer_1:11-12, and cp. Isa_11:1; Isa_53:2; Mat_4:13-16.
10. Before the testimony] According to Heb_9:4 the rod was kept in the ark. This, however, is nowhere asserted in OT. and may be a later tradition: cp. 1Ki_8:9.
12, 13. The people are awe-struck and impressed with the danger of approaching the sanctuary in any unauthorised manner.
J. R. Dummelow, A Commentary on the Holy Bible (Macmillan, 1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
C. I. Scofield 1917 · Public Domain On v8 rod of Aaron
rod of Aaron
Aaron’s rod that budded: Type of Christ in resurrection, owned of God as High Priest. Aaron’s priesthood had been questioned in the rebellion of Korah, so God Himself will confirm it Num 17:5. Each of the tribe-heads brought a perfectly dead rod; God put life into Aaron’s only. So all the authors of religions have died, Christ among them, but only Christ was raised from the dead, and exalted to be a high priest.; Heb 4:14; Heb 5:4-10.
The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Arno C. Gaebelein 1922 · Public Domain On v1 7. The Priesthood of Aaron Confirmed
7. The Priesthood of Aaron Confirmed
CHAPTER 17
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1. The divine command (Num 17:1-5)
2. The rods before Jehovah (Num 17:6-7)
3. The blossoming rod of Aaron (Num 17:8-13)
Little comment is needed on this chapter. The blossoming and fruit bearing rod of Aaron is another confirmation of the priesthood. Standing among the dying, “making an atonement,” he is a type of Christ in His atoning work. The blossoming rod is the beautiful figure of resurrection. The rods were absolutely dead, not a sign of life was there. And Aaron’s rod received life during that night and life was there in its abundance, buds, blossoms and almonds. Christ risen from the dead, the firstfruits of them that slept, is here blessedly foreshadowed. It was life from the dead and finds its application too in connection with the sinner who is dead in trespasses and sins, while it also foreshadows the spiritual resurrection of Israel. The murmurings of the children of Israel were taken away by the rod of Aaron preserved before the testimony or else they would have died. The blossoming rod preserved was a provision for the wilderness journey. In Hebrews we read, “Wherein was the golden pot of manna, and Aaron’s rod that budded, and the tables of the covenant” (Heb 9:4). The manna God’s people need constantly in the wilderness as well as the ministry of Him who ever liveth and intercedeth for us. In 1Ki 8:9 we read, “There was nothing in the ark save the two tables of stone.” They were then in the land. When we reach our eternal home the manna and the intercession of a merciful high priest are no longer needed.
The rebellion of Korah yielded after all something. It added two things to the tabernacle, the plates from the censers for the covering of the altar and Aaron’s blossoming rod.
Arno C. Gaebelein, The Annotated Bible (1913–1922) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Paul E. Kretzmann 1924 · Public Domain On vv1, 6 The Command Concerning the Rods
The Command Concerning the Rods
v. 1. And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,
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v. 2. Speak unto the children of Israel, and take of every one of them a rod according to the house of their fathers, of all their princes according to the house of their fathers twelve rods; write thou every man’s name upon his rod. This was in accordance with the rule that the oldest son of a father’s house, that is, of a patriarchate, within a tribe was considered a prince. For the member of each tribe that held this position one rod was to be chosen. These rods were small branches or twigs of trees that grew in the neighborhood, probably all, like that of Aaron, such as were taken from almond-trees.
v. 3. And thou shall write Aaron’s name upon the rod of Levi, for according to the rule Aaron was the prince of the tribe of Levi; for one rod shall be for the head of the house of their fathers. Since the tribe of Levi is here mentioned for the purposes of God’s object, the chances are that Ephraim and Manasseh were in this case considered as one tribe, the tribe of Joseph.
v. 4. And thou shalt lay them, the rods, up in the Tabernacle of the Congregation before the testimony, in the Most Holy Place, before the Ark of the Covenant, where I will meet with you.
v. 5. And it shall come to pass that the man’s rod whom I shall choose shall blossom, the Lord’s aim being to counteract any further murmuring of the people against the priesthood of Aaron by this miracle; and I will make to cease from Me the murmurings of the children of Israel whereby they murmur against you. To increase the effect of the miracle Moses was carefully to guard against fraud by writing the name of each prince on the rod which represented his tribe.
Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv1, 3, 6, 8, 10, 12 "12" (See: Numbers)
twelve
"12" (See: Numbers)
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translationWords
Yahweh
Moses
people group
Israel
staff
tribe
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv1, 4, 8, 9, 12 17:1-13 The Lord prescribed another trial to reinforce the…
17:1-13 The Lord prescribed another trial to reinforce the lessons taught by the incidents in ch 16 and to introduce the instructions of ch 18.
17:1-5 The shepherd’s staff was a common possession (cp. Ps 23:4) and, like the scepter, was a symbol of authority (cp. Jer 48:17). This trial was especially appropriate because the Hebrew words translated staffs and tribes are homonyms; the Lord’s choice of staff would indicate his choice of tribe.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.