Numbers 17:8: “Now it came to pass on the next day that Moses went into the tabernacle of witness, and behold, the rod of Aaron, of the house of Levi, had sprouted and put forth buds, had produced blossoms and yielded ripe almonds.”

January 27th, 2023 by Pastor Ed in devotional

God was tired of the children of Israel complaining about being led by Moses and Aaron. So He instructed Moses to collect a wooden rod, or walking stick, from each of the tribes with their name written on it. God said, “it shall be that the rod of the man whom I choose [to lead this people] will blossom” (Num. 17:5). Aaron’s rod, representing the tribe of priests, was set next to the rods from each of the other tribes. The following morning Aaron’s rod had not only blossomed, it had miraculously produced mature, ripe almonds. God was again speaking very clearly to His people so that there could be no doubt in their minds as to whom He had chosen for leadership. The sight of that fruit-filled bough must have been a great surprise to everyone who witnessed it.

Aaron’s rod was a dry, dead stick, but at the touch of God it had literally come back to life. We could say it was resurrected from the dead, which is exactly the sort of thing God still does today with men and women who come to Him. Although every person in the world has been born physically full of life, they are in fact, spiritually dead. The good news is that through the touch of God, everyone can be born again. The miracle performed on Aaron’s dead staff looked forward to the ultimate miracle of Jesus’ resurrection on that special morning 14 centuries later. And that miracle looks forward to the morning when all who know Him will be made new, and will rise to meet Him in the air.

Benjamin Franklin, founding father and signer of the Declaration of Independence, penned his own epitaph filled with this great truth. He wrote:

The Body of B. Franklin, Printer,
Like the Cover of an old Book,
Its Contents torn out,
And stripped of its Lettering and Gilding,
Lies here, Food for Worms.
But the Work shall not be wholly lost:
For it will, as he believed, appear once more,
In a new & more perfect Edition,
Corrected and Amended By the Author.

We need to remember the same is true for all of us.

“LORD, help us to live this day in light of the coming resurrection.”

=============================================================

Numbers 17 KJV

¹ And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, 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. ³ 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. ⁴ And thou shalt lay them up in the tabernacle of the congregation before the testimony, where I will meet with you. ⁵ 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. ⁶ 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 fathers’ houses, eventwelve rods: and the rod of Aaron was among their rods.  ⁷ And Moses laid up the rods before the LORD in the tabernacle of witness. ⁸ 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. ⁹ 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. ¹⁰ 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.  ¹¹ And Moses did so: as the LORDcommanded him, so did he. ¹² And the children of Israel spake unto Moses, saying, Behold, we die, we perish, we all perish. ¹³ Whosoever cometh any thing near unto the tabernacle of the LORD shall die: shall we be consumed with dying?