Bereans Corner
Bereans Corner
Thru the Bible - #132 -Numbers 17 - Aaron's Rod Buds
Welcome to Berean's Corner, the podcast where we go through books of the Bible chapter by chapter and verse by verse, wherever you are in the world. Thank you for joining. Grab a glass of water, a cup of coffee or tea and let's get into today's lesson. All right, welcome back. Thank you for joining me once again. We are in Numbers chapter 17 today, so please open your Bible there.
Speaker 1:The title of today's lesson is Aaron's Rod Buds Israel is at it again. The title of today's lesson is Aaron's Rod Buds Israel is at it again. The Lord is once again going to prove to Israel who he called to be in charge, unlike what happened in chapter 16, where Israel was rebelling, korah was doing his thing, riling the people up, trying to question who the leader of the Lord is. And, as the Lord has done ever since he brought them up out of Egypt matter of fact, even while they were in Egypt, but particularly since he brought them up out of Egypt he is going to show them who he has put in charge. So, with that being said, let's get into this lesson, numbers 17, and let's read.
Speaker 2:Number 17,. The Lord said to Moses speak to the Israelites and get twelve staffs from them, one from the leader of each of their ancestral tribes. Write the name of each man on his staff, on the staff of Levi. Write Aaron's name, for there must be one staff for the head of each ancestral tribe. Place them in the tent of meeting in front of the testimony, where I meet with you. Place them in the tent of meeting in front of the testimony where I meet with you. The staff belonging to the man I choose will sprout and I will rid myself of this constant grumbling against you by the Israelites. So Moses spoke to the Israelites and their leaders gave him twelve staffs, one for the leader of each of their ancestral tribes, and Aaron's staff was among them. Moses placed the staffs before the Lord in the tent of the testimony.
Speaker 2:The next day Moses entered the tent of the testimony and saw that Aaron's staff, which represented the house of Levi, had not only sprouted but had budded, blossomed and produced almonds. Then Moses brought out all the staffs from the Lord's presence to all the Israelites. They looked at them and each man took his own staff. The Lord said to Moses Put back Aaron's staff in front of the testimony to be kept as a sign to the rebellious. This will put an end to their grumbling against me, so that they will not die. Moses did as the Lord commanded him. The Israelites said to Moses we will die, we are lost, we are all lost. Anyone who even comes near the tabernacle of the Lord will die. Are we all going to die?
Speaker 1:Lord will die. Are we all going to die? All right Now. The last time we were together, we saw what happened when Cora and the people rebelled. We also saw the consequence of the murmuring of the people the people challenged God's appointed leader, which is indirectly challenging God. Today we are looking at another sign, as the Lord will make it known that Aaron is his appointed man. And let me be very clear about something when the people speak out against the Lord's man, now you know, I'm definitely talking about this time in our history when the Lord was using Moses and Aaron to deal with Israel.
Speaker 1:They were actually challenging God, as we, when we get into first Samuel. You're going to see this again. When the people are challenging the Lord, they make it seem as if they're challenging Samuel and telling him that they want a king because he's gotten old, and this and that and the other, but the truth is that they are really challenging the Lord. The Lord, and it is no different. Here the people are calling out Aaron and Moses, but really they are challenging the Lord. Now, in this lesson, we are going to break this one down into three parts. The first part Moses, was to get a rod from each of the 12 tribes of Israel. We see this in verses 1 through 5. Then the Lord spoke to Moses saying speak to the sons of Israel and get from them a rod for each father's household, 12 rods from all their leaders, according to their father's households. You shall write each name on his rod and write Aaron's name on the rod of Levi, for there is one rod for the head of each of their father's households. You shall then deposit them in the tent of meeting in front of the testimony, where I will meet with you. It will come about that the rod of the man whom I choose will sprout. Thus I will lessen from upon myself the grumblings of the sons of Israel who are grumbling against you. Now, these leaders, you know, you know, the Lord told him to get a rock from each of the 12 leaders. Now, these leaders were probably the same leaders that were chosen back in chapter 10. I want to go over those again so you may get a refresher on who those leaders are. So there's the 12 tribes and these are the leaders that I'm pretty sure that the Lord is referring to.
Speaker 1:In the first tribe, we see Nashan, who was the leader of the tribe of Judah. First tribe, we see Nishan, who was the leader of the tribe of Judah. Nethael was the leader of the tribe of Issachar. Eliab was the leader of the tribe of Zebulun. Eleazar was the leader of the tribe of Reuben. Shulumael was the leader of the tribe of Simeon.
Speaker 1:Elishaphaz was the leader of the tribe of Gad. Elishhamah was the leader of the tribe of Gad. Elish-hama was the leader of the tribe of Ephraim. Gamaliel was the leader of the tribe of Manasseh. Abadan was the leader of the tribe of Benjamin. Ahazur was the leader of the tribe of Dan. Pejael was the leader of the tribe of Asher. Ahara was the leader of the tribe of Naphtali. Now I'm thinking that those would be the same leaders that the Lord is referring to here. We move to part two. The staffs are put in the tent of meeting. We see this in verses six through nine. Moses therefore spoke to the sons of Israel and their leaders and gave him a rod of peace for each leader according to their father's households households 12 rods with the rod of Aaron among their rods.
Speaker 1:So Moses deposited the rods before the Lord in the tent of testimony now on the next day, moses went into the tent of testimony and behold the rod of Aaron, for the house of Levi had sprouted and put forth buds and produced blossoms, and it bore ripe almonds. Moses then brought out all the rods from the presence of the Lord to all the sons of Israel and they looked and each man took his rod. Now this is very interesting, that there's 12 rods but only one rod. But it had. It had blossoms on it and it sprouted. Basically, uh, it had, uh, you know it was blossoms on it and it sprouted. Basically, uh, it had, uh, you know it was flowers on it. It became a beautiful thing.
Speaker 1:Now, this is nothing but a miracle from the Lord. You don't, you don't take a branch from a tree, throw it in your shed and then the next day, when you go in there to get your tools out or whatever it is, it's gonna's gonna have blossom. This is something from the lord. This is another sign that the lord has given israel. Now, this is something that people need to pay attention to, and the people I'm talking about are the people who say things like well, if the lord only gives a sign.
Speaker 1:The lord has given signs, particularly right, here we're talking about israel, he has give them, has, excuse me, has given them plenty of signs, but they are a stiff neck and rebellious people and no matter what, they will be great for a minute and they'll understand for a minute, but then they will also go right back to their ways. Now, this right here should have been another, another sign, a another thing to make Israel say you know the the Lord. Is true, this is the Lord's man, but of course we know this is Israel. This will not be there last time. Let's move on to part three.
Speaker 1:The staff of Aaron is a testimony of God's choice of Aaron. We see this in verses 10 through 13. But the Lord said to Moses put back the rod of Aaron before the testimony to be kept, as a sign against the rebels that you may put an end to their grumbling against me, so that they will not die. Thus moses did just as the lord had commanded him. So he did. Then the sons of israel spoke to moses saying behold, we perish, we are dying, we are all dying. Everyone who comes near, who comes near to the tabernacle of the lord must die. Are we to perish completely? Of course, here's israel again with their, with their, you know, murmuring and complaining. You know, uh, behold, we perish, we are dying, we, we are dying. Of course they're saying this because they see that the lord has spoken and he has shown that aaron is their man. He made it very known in his rod. Now I want you to also notice something. In verse 10, the lord said aaron's rod was to be kept as a sign against the rebels. Right, so we do see an application of this in the new testament. So hold your finger right there and go to hebrews 9, hebrews chapter 9, and we will look at this also being applied or this being, or this being brought up again in the new testament.
Speaker 1:In hebrews chapter 9, we are looking at the first verses to show you how, even thousands of years later, this, this, uh, this rod of aaron, the the concept of it was was kept as a sign to israel. Hebrews 9, verses 1 through 4. Now, even the first covenant had regulations of divine worship and the earthly sanctuary, for there was a tabernacle prepared, the outer one, in which were the lampstands and the table and the sacred bread. This is called the holy place, and behold the second veil. There was a tabernacle which is called the holy of holies. Having this was in. This is what was in the holy of holies, having a golden altar of incense and the ark of the covenant covered on all sides with gold, in which was a golden jar holding the manna and aaron's rod, which budded, and the tables of the covenant. So we see, even in the, the new testament, this was something that was still kept, you know, kept to israel aaron's rod that budded and the tables of the covenant. So we see, even in the New Testament, this was something that was still kept to Israel Aaron's rod that budded. Now these things were given as a sign to Israel to stop rebellion.
Speaker 1:And there were a couple of things that was pointed out as a sign. First thing was the tassels on their garments. Hold your finger right here and turn back two spots to numbers chapter 15. Go back to numbers 15 and sorry, I lost my spot. We are looking at verses 38, 39, numbers 15. Verses 38 and 39 speak to the sons of israel and tell them that they shall make for themselves tassels on the corners of their garments throughout their generations and that they shall put on the tassel of each corner a cord of blue. It shall be a tassel for you to look at and remember all the commandments of the Lord so as to do them and not follow after your own heart and your own eyes. After which you played the harlot. That was a well, that was one. That was one of the remembrances the lord gave to them. Number two was the hammered out bronze plates. We see this in number 16. So go one chapter to the right and we go to number 16 and we are looking at verses 38 and 39.
Speaker 1:As for the censors of these men who sin at the cost of their lives, let them be made into hammered sheets for a plating of the altar, since they did present them before the lord and they are holy and they shall be for a sign to the sons of israel. So eleazar, the priest, took the bronze censers which the men who were burned had offered and they hammered them out as a plating for the altar. And then number three was Aaron's rod. That budded back to number 17, and let's look at verse 10 again. But the Lord said to Moses put back the rod of Aaron's before the testimony to be kept as a sign against the rebels that you may put an end to their grumbling against me so that they will not die. So we see that the lord has given them, not only erin's rod that buzzed, that budded. He gave them the hammered out plate, bronze plates, and he gave them the tassel on their garments. All of these things were a sign to rebellious israel to remember the lord and remember his covenant with them. All right. That brings us to the end of numbers, chapter 17.
Speaker 1:I hope that you enjoyed this lesson and got something out of this lesson. As I always ask, continue to pray for me. Pray for me to stand tall, stand upright, to continue to go through these scriptures and pray that, if the Lord tarries, we make it all the way to the end through this book chronologically, and I will also do the same for you. I appreciate you all very much. That is all. Until next time, god bless.
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