Numbers 17:1-13 - Growth is from God

Numbers 17:1-13

The Budding of Aaron’s Rod

1 And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying: 2 “Speak to the children of Israel, and get from them a rod from each father’s house, all their leaders according to their fathers’ houses—twelve rods. Write each man’s name on his rod. 3 And you shall write Aaron’s name on the rod of Levi. For there shall be one rod for the head of each father’s house. 4 Then you shall place them in the tabernacle of meeting before the Testimony, where I meet with you. 5 And it shall be that the rod of the man whom I choose will blossom; thus I will rid Myself of the complaints of the children of Israel, which they make against you.”

6 So Moses spoke to the children of Israel, and each of their leaders gave him a rod apiece, for each leader according to their fathers’ houses, twelve rods; and the rod of Aaron was among their rods. 7 And Moses placed the rods before the LORD in the tabernacle of witness.

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. 9 Then Moses brought out all the rods from before the LORD to all the children of Israel; and they looked, and each man took his rod.

10 And the LORD said to Moses, “Bring Aaron’s rod back before the Testimony, to be kept as a sign against the rebels, that you may put their complaints away from Me, lest they die.” 11 Thus did Moses; just as the LORD had commanded him, so he did.

12 So the children of Israel spoke to Moses, saying, “Surely we die, we perish, we all perish! 13 Whoever even comes near the tabernacle of the LORD must die. Shall we all utterly die?”

Growth is from God, whether supernaturally as in the case of the staff of Aaron placed with those of the other tribal families of Israel in front of the Testimony of witness in the house of God.  In this case, the contention was rising against God’s choice of Aaron to be head of the priesthood and the complaints had to be stopped by the LORD Himself by making the rod of Aaron grow and bud overnight to validate he was the one chosen by God as a witness to all who grumbled against him.  The blossom was grown by God to validate the choice as His and not merely by Moses or Aaron him.  Likewise, when the Lord by His Spirit continues to choose leaders such as pastors, elders, and teach of His word today, it is the growth in them brought about by His work in them and validated not by blossoming staffs, but by the staff of existing men in the church already chosen and established by the Lord who are guided by His Spirit in them to choose other leaders in the church from the congregation.  If the people then grumble with human complaints against the choice, they argue against the Lord Himself if they cannot see the fruit of His work preparing and enabling these men chosen by the Lord and confirmed by His existing servants in place for this oversight and under shepherding calling given them by supernatural selection.  Often it still comes down to jealousy and a feeling of entitlement for some who are not chosen and put in the positions they believe must be theirs and not for another whom they speak against to win their place.  This is carnal and not yielding to the Lord and the work of His Spirit.  We see how God made the staff of Aaron grow and blossom to prove God’s choice and bless on the role he was given to quiet the dissent by the evidence of the fruit already there in God’s man for him.  This rod was put before the Testimony of God as His work as a reminder to all who rail against the choices He makes though the elders of today as they listen to the Lord and move to lay hands by His Spirit on successive generations of leaders in His church.  The people then saw the proof before the Testimony and feared the consequences of death if they approached too closely to that part of the tabernacle where the proof was on display.  May we accept those chosen by the Lord also today (Acts 14:23, 20:28)  and realize it is not death we face when seeing and disagreeing with the work of the choices of the Lord, but reassurance of grace and individual callings that we accept and respect (1 Thessalonians 5:12, Hebrews 13:7) those put over us in the Lord.  May we not be jealous or feel threatened by their knowledge of wisdom in their humble oversight but learn from them who are taught by God for our good and growth instead of complaining and working against them in their shepherding of the word and us, following and submitting to them (1 Peter 5:5) he of what is evidenced by their works and not after the things in which they fall short, for we ultimately worship the Lord, not the man appointed by Him, “whose faith follow, considering the outcome of their conduct.”  Remember, growth comes from God and is validated by His Spirit through the appointing of others already chosen and appointed by Him over us.  May we therefore grow together in our sanctification (Ephesians 4:11-12) and not fight against His work for our good in those He chooses and appoints for this task. We are to grow together (Ephesians 4:13-14) into a more mature man as we come to understand and acknowledge the truths of scripture that are not separate individual different ideas (2 Peter 1:20-21) but God’s Word of truth delivered by the prophets and apostles to us already set in the stone of verity, that we all converge upon these things taught us together as the body of Christ with the mind of Christ (1 Corinthians 1:10, 2:4-5, 12-13, 16) to one another in common spiritual understanding and application of His word. This shows that our Growth is from God through the ones chosen to lead and teach us that we might sharpen one another in the common truths of His word that we come to understand as written and intended by God.