 The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Speak to the people of Israel, and get from them staffs, one for each fathers' house, from all their chiefs according to their fathers' houses, twelve staffs. Write each man's name on his staff, 3 and write Aaron's name on the staff of Levi. For there shall be one staff for the head of each fathers' house.4 Then you shall deposit them in the tent of meeting before the testimony, where I meet with you. 5 And the staff of the man whom I choose shall sprout. Thus I will make to cease from me the grumblings of the people of Israel, which they grumble against you.” 6 Moses spoke to the people of Israel. And all their chiefs gave him staffs, one for each chief, according to their fathers' houses, twelve staffs. And the staff of Aaron was among their staffs. 7 And Moses deposited the staffs before the Lord in the tent of the testimony.
8 On the next day Moses went into the tent of the testimony, and behold, the staff of Aaron for the house of Levi had sprouted and put forth buds and produced blossoms, and it bore ripe almonds. 9 Then Moses brought out all the staffs from before the Lord to all the people of Israel. And they looked, and each man took his staff. 10 And the Lord said to Moses, “Put back the staff of Aaron before the testimony, to be kept as a sign for the rebels, that you may make an end of their grumblings against me, lest they die.” 11 Thus did Moses; as the Lord commanded him, so he did. 12 And the people of Israel said to Moses, “Behold, we perish, we are undone, we are all undone. 13 Everyone who comes near, who comes near to the tabernacle of the Lord, shall die. Are we all to perish?” Meditation Paul warns the Church to look for people claiming leadership but who are really lovers of self when he says, “People will be lovers of self… having the form of godliness, but denying it’s power” (2 Timothy 3:2-5). James describes this as dead faith, no works to witness to a living relationship with God (James 2:14-26). God’s work of grace alone awakens a soul for His Spirit to live in and bear fruit through (Galatians 5:23-24). Israel rebelled against Moses and Aaron, God’s appointed leaders (chapter 16). But God marks the men He chose to lead and intercede with a miracle, a sprouting staff to be kept as a sign for rebels to remember consequences of complaining. God commanded Moses to mediate the miracle (1-5), caused the miracle to happen as a mark of whom He had chosen (6-9), and God explains the miracle (10-11) as the people apply the miracle to their wilderness situation (12-13). Like Aaron’s staff, God marks His people with flowering fruitfulness that can only be explained by the work of His Sovereign grace. The work of Jesus was witnessed by wonders from the Father (John 5:31-37), marking Him as the only true mediator. Jesus teaches His disciples “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. 16 You will recognize them by their fruits. … 18 A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit.” (Matthew 7:15-20). Look for fruit from God’s Spirit to bear witness to confirm God’s leader! Richly Dwelling -Where in the passage do you see the significance of flowering and fruitfulness marking the leaders God has chosen? How is this a sign to the people of God? -Where in the Christian church today do you see God’s people claiming godliness but not bearing fruit of the Spirit? Do you see this in your own life and leadership? How does this inform your heart and transform your trajectory? -Where do you need to fertilize your soul with God’s grace so you can live more freely in God’s Spirit to more deeply abide in Christ to bear more Godly fruit? Key Verse 8 On the next day Moses went into the tent of the testimony, and behold, the staff of Aaron for the house of Levi had sprouted and put forth buds and produced blossoms, and it bore ripe almonds Comments are closed.
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