Numbers 17:12

Num 17:5. The rods are produced and laid up before the tabernacle, Num 17:6, Num 17:7. Aaron's rod alone buds, blossoms, and bears fruit, Num 17:8, Num 17:9. It is laid up before the testimony as a token of the manner in which God had disposed of the priesthood, Num 17:10, Num 17:11. The people are greatly terrified, and are apprehensive of being destroyed, Num 17:12, Num 17:13. Verse 2 And take of every one of them a rod - מטה matteh, the staff or scepter, which the prince or chief of each tribe bore, and which was the sign of office or royalty among almost all the people of the earth. Verse 5 The man's rod, whom I shall choose, shall blossom - It was necessary that something farther should be done to quiet the minds of the people, and for ever to settle the dispute, in what tribe the priesthood should be fixed. God therefore took the method described in the text, and it had the desired effect; the Aaronical priesthood was never after disputed. Verse 8 The rod of Aaron - was budded, etc. - That is, on the same rod or staff were found buds, blossoms, and ripe fruit. This fact was so unquestionably miraculous, as to decide the business for ever; and probably this was intended to show that in the priesthood, represented by that of Aaron, the beginning, middle, and end of every good work must be found. The buds of good desires, the blossoms of holy resolutions and promising professions, and the ripe fruit of faith, love, and obedience, all spring from the priesthood of the Lord Jesus. It has been thought by some that Aaron's staff (and perhaps the staves of all the tribes) was made out of the amygdala communis, or common almond tree. In a favorable soil and climate it grows to twenty feet in height; is one of the most noble, flourishing trees in nature: its flowers are of a delicate red, and it puts them forth early in March, having begun to bud in January. It has its name שקד shaked from shakad, to awake, because it buds and flowers sooner than most other trees. And it is very likely that the staves of office, borne by the chiefs of all the tribes, were made of this tree, merely to signify that watchfulness and assiduous care which the chiefs should take of the persons committed, in the course of the Divine providence, to their keeping. Every thing in this miracle is so far beyond the power of nature, that no doubt could remain on the minds of the people, or the envious chiefs, of the Divine appointment of Aaron, and of the especial interference of God in this case. To see a piece of wood long cut off from the parent stock, without bark or moisture remaining, laid up in a dry place for a single night, with others in the same circumstances - to see such a piece of wood resume and evince the perfection of vegetative life, budding, blossoming, and bringing forth ripe fruit at the same time, must be such a demonstration of the peculiar interference of God, as to silence every doubt and satisfy every scruple. It is worthy of remark that a scepter, or staff of office, resuming its vegetative life, was considered an absolute impossibility among the ancients; and as they were accustomed to swear by their sceptres, this circumstance was added to establish and confirm the oath. A remarkable instance of this we have in Homer, Iliad, lib. i., ver. 233, etc., where Achilles, in his rage against Agamemnon, thus speaks: - Αλλ' εκ τοι ερεω, και επι μεγαν ὁρκον ομουμαι· Ναι μα τοδε σκηπτρον, το μεν ουποτε φυλλα και οζους Φυσει, επειδη πρωτα τομην εν ορεσσι λελοιπεν, Ουδ' αναθηλησει· περι γαρ ῥα ἑ χαλκος ελεψε Φυλλα τε και φλοιον· ὁ δε τοι μεγας εσσεται ὁρκος. But hearken: I shall swear a solemn oath: By this same scepter which shall never bud, Nor boughs bring forth, as once; which, having left Its parent on the mountain top, what time The woodman's axe lopp'd off its foliage green, And stripp'd its bark, shall never grow again. Cowper. Virgil represents King Latinus swearing in the same way, to confirm his covenant with Aeneas: - Ut Sceptrum hoc (dextra sceptrum nam forte gerebat) Nunquam fronde levi fundet virgulta neque umbras, Cum semel in silvis imo de stirpe recisum. Matre caret, posuitque comas et brachia ferro; Olim arbos, nunc artificis manus aere decoro Inclusit, patribusque dedit gestare Latinis, Talibus inter se firmabant foedera dictis. Aen., lib. xii., ver. 206-12. Even as this royal Sceptre (for he bore A scepter in his hand) shall never more Shoot out in branches, or renew the birth; An orphan now, cut from the mother earth By the keen axe, dishonor'd of its hair, And cased in brass, for Latian kings to bear. And thus in public view the peace was tied With solemn vows, and sworn on either side. Dryden. When the circumstance of the rod or scepter being used anciently in this way, and the absolute impossibility of its reviviscence so strongly appealed to, is considered, it appears to have been a very proper instrument for the present occasion, for the change that passed on it must be acknowledged as an immediate and incontestable miracle. Verse 12 Behold, we die, we perish, we all perish - גוענו gavaenu signifies not so much to die simply, as to feel an extreme difficulty of breathing, which, producing suffocation, ends at last in death. See the folly and extravagance of this sinful people. At first, every person might come near to God, for all, they thought, were sufficiently holy, and every way qualified to minister in holy things. Now, no one, in their apprehension, can come near to the tabernacle without being consumed, Num 17:13. In both cases they were wrong; some there were who might approach, others there were who might not. God had put the difference. His decision should have been final with them; but sinners are ever running into extremes. Introduction The priests are to bear the iniquity of the sanctuary, Num 18:1. The Levites to minister to the priests, and have charge of the tabernacle, Num 18:2-4. The priests alone to have the charge of the sanctuary, etc., no stranger to come nigh on pain of death, Num 18:5-7 The portion allowed for their maintenance, Num 18:8. They shall have every meat-offering; and they shall eat them in the holy place,

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 Lord commanded 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? Here is, I. The final determination of the controversy concerning the priesthood by a miracle, v. 8, 9 . The rods or staves were brought out from the most holy place where they were laid up, and publicly produced before the people; and, while all the rest of the rods remained as they were, Aaron's rod only, of a dry stick, became a living branch, budded, and blossomed, and yielded almonds. In some places there were buds, in others blossoms, in others fruit, at the same time. This was miraculous, and took away all suspicion of a fraud, as if in the night Moses had taken away Aaron's rod, and put a living branch of an almond tree in the room of it; for no ordinary branch would have buds, blossoms, and fruits upon it, all at once. Now, 1. This was a plain indication to the people that Aaron was chosen to the priesthood, and not any other of the princes of the tribes. Thus he was distinguished from them and manifested to be under the special blessing of heaven, which sometimes yields increase where there is neither planting nor watering by the hand of man. Bishop Hall here observes that fruitfulness is the best evidence of a divine call, and that the plants of God's setting, and the boughs cut off from them, will flourish. See Ps. xcii. 12-14 . The trees of the Lord, though they seem dry trees, are full of sap. 2. It was a very proper sign to represent the priesthood itself, which was hereby confirmed to Aaron. (1.) That it should be fruitful and serviceable to the church of God. It produced not only blossoms, but almonds; for the priesthood was designed, not only for an honour to Aaron, but for a blessing to Israel. Thus Christ ordained his apostles and ministers that they should go and bring forth fruit, and that their fruit should remain, John xv. 16 . (2.) That there should be a succession of priests. Here were not only almonds for the present, but buds and blossoms promising more hereafter. Thus has Christ provided in his church that a seed should serve him from generation to generation. (3.) That yet this priesthood should not be perpetual, but in process of time, like the branches and blossoms of a tree, should fail and wither. The flourishing of the almond-tree is mentioned as one of the signs of old age, Eccl. xii. 5 . This character was betimes put upon the Mosaic priesthood, which soon became old and ready to vanish away, Heb. viii. 13 . 3. It was a type and figure of Christ and his priesthood: for he is the man, the branch, that is to be a priest upon his throne, as it follows ( Zech. vi. 12 ); and he was to grow up before God, as this before the ark, like a tender plant, and a root out of a dry ground, Isa. liii. 2 . II. The record of this determination, by the preserving of the rod before the testimony, in perpetuam rei memoriam—that it might be had in perpetual remembrance, v. 10, 11 . It is probable that the buds, and blossoms, and fruit, continued fresh; the same divine power that produced them in a night preserved them for ages, at least so long as it was necessary for a token against the rebels. So it was a standing miracle, and the continuance of it was an undeniable proof of the truth of it. Even the leaf of God's trees shall not wither, Ps. i. 3 . This rod was preserved, as the censers were, to take away their murmurings, that they die not. Note, 1. The design of God in all his providences, both mercies and judgments, and in the memorials of them, is to take away sin, and to prevent it. These things are done, these things written, that we sin not, 1 John ii. 1 . Christ was manifested to take away sin. 2. What God does for the taking away of sin is done in real kindness to us, that we die not. All the bitter potions he gives, and all the sharp methods he uses with us, are for the cure of a disease which otherwise would certainly be fatal. Bishop Hall observes here that the tables of the law, the pot of manna, and Aaron's rod, were preserved together in or about the ark (the apostle takes notice of them all three together, Heb. ix. 4 ), to show to after-ages how the ancient church was taught, and fed, and ruled; and he infers how precious the doctrine, sacraments, and government, of the church are to God and should be to us. The rod of Moses was used in working many miracles, yet we do not find that this was preserved, for the keeping of it would serve only to gratify men's curiosity; but the rod of Aaron, which carried its miracle along with it, was carefully preserved, because that would be of standing use to convince men's consciences, to silence all disputes about the priesthood, and to confirm the faith of God's Israel in his institutions. Such is the difference between the sacraments which Christ has appointed for edification and the relics which men have devised for superstition. III. The outcry of the people hereupon ( v. 12, 13 ): Behold, we die, we perish, we all perish. Shall we be consumed with dying? This may be considered as the language either, 1. Of a repining people quarrelling with the judgments of God, which, by their own pride and obstinacy, they had brought upon themselves. They seem to speak despairingly, as if God was a hard Master, that sought advantage against them, and took all occasions to pick quarrels with them, so that if they trod every so little awry, if they stepped ever so little beyond their bounds, they must die, they must perish, they must all perish, basely insinuating that God would never be satisfied with their blood and ruin, till he had made an end of them all and they were consumed with dying. Thus they seem to be like a wild bull in a net, full of the fury of the Lord ( Isa. li. 20 ), fretting that God was too hard for them and that they were forced to submit, which they did only because they could not help it. Note, It is a very wicked thing to fret against God when we are in affliction, and in our distress thus to trespass yet more. If we die, if we perish, it is owing to ourselves, and the blame will lie upon our own heads. Or, 2. Of a repenting people. Many interpreters take it as expressing their submission: "Now we see that it is the will of God we should keep our distance, and that it is at our peril if we draw nearer than is appointed. We submit to the divine will in this appointment; we will not contend any more, lest we all perish:" and they engage Moses to intercede for them, that they may not be all consumed with dying. Thus the point was gained, and in this matter God quite took away their murmurings, and henceforward they acquiesced. Note, When God judges he will over come, and, one way or other, will oblige the most obstinate gainsayers to confess their folly sooner or later, and that wherein they dealt proudly he was above them. Vicisti Galilæe—O Galilæan, thou hast conquered!

We perish - Words of consternation, arising from the remembrance of these severe and repeated judgments, from the threatening of death upon any succeeding murmurings, and from the sense of their own guilt and weakness, which made them fear lest they should relapse into the same miscarriages, and thereby bring the vengeance of God upon themselves.