Numbers 17:8 - Meaning and Application

Here is the final settling of the dispute about the priesthood by a miracle (Numbers 17:8, 9). The rods were brought out from the most holy place, where they had been laid up, and shown publicly before the people. While all the other rods stayed the same, Aaron’s rod, a dry stick, became a living branch. It budded, blossomed, and produced almonds. In some places there were buds, in others blossoms, and in others fruit, all at the same time. This was a miracle, and it removed any suspicion of trickery, as if Moses had secretly taken away Aaron’s rod in the night and replaced it with a living almond branch. No ordinary branch would have had buds, blossoms, and fruit all at once.

This gave the people a clear sign that Aaron had been chosen for the priesthood, and not any of the other tribal leaders. He was set apart from them and shown to be under God’s special blessing, which can give increase where no human hand has planted or watered. Bishop Hall notes here that fruitfulness is the best proof of a divine calling, and that the plants God sets will flourish, even when they seem dry. See (Psalm 92:12-14). The trees of the Lord, though they look dry, are full of sap.

It was also a fitting sign of what the priesthood itself would be like under Aaron’s charge. It was to be fruitful and useful to God’s people. It produced not only blossoms, but almonds, because the priesthood was meant not only to honor Aaron, but to bless Israel. In the same way, Christ appointed his apostles and ministers to go and bear fruit, and for their fruit to remain (John 15:16).

The rod also pointed to succession in the priesthood. There were not only almonds for the present, but buds and blossoms that promised more to come. In that way, Christ has provided in his church for a people who will serve him from one generation to the next. Yet this priesthood was not to last forever. Like the branches and blossoms of a tree, it would in time fade and wither. The blooming of the almond tree is one sign of old age (Ecclesiastes 12:5). That mark was placed early on the Mosaic priesthood, which soon grew old and was ready to disappear (Hebrews 8:13).

It was also a type, or picture, of Christ and his priesthood. He is the man, the Branch, who would be a priest on his throne, as later said in (Zechariah 6:12). He would grow up before God, as this rod grew before the ark, like a tender plant and a root out of dry ground (Isaiah 53:2).

The record of this decision was kept by preserving the rod before the testimony, so it would remain as a lasting memorial (Numbers 17:10, 11). It is likely that the buds, blossoms, and fruit stayed fresh. The same power that brought them forth in one night kept them for years, at least as long as they were needed as a warning to rebels. So it became a standing miracle, and its continued presence was clear proof that the miracle was real. Even the leaf of God’s trees does not wither (Psalm 1:3).

This rod was preserved, like the censers, to stop their murmuring, so that they would not die. God’s purpose in all his dealings, both mercies and judgments, and in the memorials of them, is to remove sin and keep it from returning. These things are done, and these things are written, so that we may not sin (1 John 2:1). Christ was revealed to take away sin.

What God does to remove sin is done in true kindness to us, so that we may not die. All the bitter remedies he gives, and all the hard ways he uses with us, are meant to cure a disease that would otherwise be deadly. Bishop Hall also notes that the tablets of the law, the jar of manna, and Aaron’s rod were all kept together in or near the ark, as the apostle mentions them together (Hebrews 9:4). This showed later generations how the old church was taught, fed, and ruled. From that he concludes that the doctrine, sacraments, and government of the church are precious to God and should be precious to us.

Moses’ rod was used in many miracles, yet we do not read that it was preserved. Keeping it would only have satisfied curiosity. But Aaron’s rod, which carried its miracle with it, was carefully preserved because it would serve a lasting purpose. It would convince consciences, end disputes about the priesthood, and strengthen the faith of God’s people in his commands. That is the difference between the sacraments Christ appointed for building up his people and the relics men have invented for superstition.

The people then cried out, “We die, we perish, we all perish. Shall we all be consumed with dying?” (Numbers 17:12, 13). This can be read in one of two ways. It may be the complaint of a stubborn people, arguing against God’s judgments, which they had brought on themselves by pride and resistance. They seem to speak in despair, as if God were a harsh master looking for fault, always ready to find a reason to destroy them. They seem to say that if they stepped even a little out of line, they must die and perish, as though God would never be satisfied until he had wiped them out completely. They are like a trapped bull, full of the fury of the Lord (Isaiah 51:20), angry that God is stronger than they are and forced them to submit. It is a very sinful thing to fret against God in suffering and to add more guilt to our trouble. If we die and perish, the blame is our own.

Or these words may be the speech of a repentant people. Many interpreters take them as submission: “Now we see that it is God’s will that we keep our distance, and that it is dangerous for us to come closer than he has allowed. We yield to his command. We will not argue anymore, lest we all perish.” In that case, they ask Moses to plead for them, so they will not all be destroyed. In this way the matter was settled, and God removed their murmuring. After that, they accepted his decision.

When God gives judgment, he will win in the end. In one way or another, he will force even the most stubborn opponents to admit their error, sooner or later, and to confess that in the thing where they behaved proudly, he was above them. “You have conquered,” as the old cry says.