A Short Study in Scripture: Some Thoughts on Aaron's Rod That Budded (Num. 17)

Narrator: Chris Genthree
Numbers 17  •  2 min. read  •  grade level: 10
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“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” (Num. 17:88And 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. (Numbers 17:8)).
THERE were no separate stages of development: but life was seen in every phase at the same time—bud: budding: blossoms blooming: fruit maturing.
This is a beautiful picture of what should be seen in the Christian life—growth, fragrance, fruit: all abundantly evident: and increasingly so. The Spirit-filled life ever shedding forth the fragrance of praise and thanksgiving (Eph. 5:18-2018And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit; 19Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord; 20Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ; (Ephesians 5:18‑20): Col. 3:1616Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. (Colossians 3:16)): joy (Rom. 5:1111And not only so, but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement. (Romans 5:11)): rejoicing (1 Pet. 1:88Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory: (1 Peter 1:8)): gladness (Ps. 97:11, 12): grace, abounding more and more (2 Cor. 4:1515For all things are for your sakes, that the abundant grace might through the thanksgiving of many redound to the glory of God. (2 Corinthians 4:15)): the light, shining more and more (Pro. 4:1818But the path of the just is as the shining light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day. (Proverbs 4:18)). Flourishing like the palm: growing like the cedar (Ps. 92:12): blossoming like the lily (Hos. 14:55I will be as the dew unto Israel: he shall grow as the lily, and cast forth his roots as Lebanon. (Hosea 14:5) Marg.).
The Lord said: “The man’s rod whom I shall choose, shall blossom: and I will make to cease from Me, the murmurings” (Num. 17:55And it shall come to pass, that the man's rod, whom I shall choose, shall blossom: and I will make to cease from me the murmurings of the children of Israel, whereby they murmur against you. (Numbers 17:5): Deut. 28: 47, 48). If the light is to shine: if God to be glorified: peace, happiness, contentment, must reign. There must be blossom, or there will be no fruit.
“It yielded almonds.”
The child of God is chosen that he should bring forth fruit (John 15:1616Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you. (John 15:16)): good fruit (Matt. 3:1717And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. (Matthew 3:17)): much fruit (John 15:88Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples. (John 15:8)): more fruit (John 15:22Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit. (John 15:2)): fruit unto God (Rom. 7:44Wherefore, my brethren, ye also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ; that ye should be married to another, even to him who is raised from the dead, that we should bring forth fruit unto God. (Romans 7:4)): a fruit that shall not be consumed (imperishable, abiding) (Ezek. 47:1212And by the river upon the bank thereof, on this side and on that side, shall grow all trees for meat, whose leaf shall not fade, neither shall the fruit thereof be consumed: it shall bring forth new fruit according to his months, because their waters they issued out of the sanctuary: and the fruit thereof shall be for meat, and the leaf thereof for medicine. (Ezekiel 47:12): John 15:1616Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you. (John 15:16)). “He shall be as a tree planted by the waters . . . that shall not . . . cease from yielding fruit” (Jer. 17:88For he shall be as a tree planted by the waters, and that spreadeth out her roots by the river, and shall not see when heat cometh, but her leaf shall be green; and shall not be careful in the year of drought, neither shall cease from yielding fruit. (Jeremiah 17:8)).
How is this life sustained, this beauty preserved, this fruitfulness ensured? Aaron’s rod budded, blossomed, bore fruit: as it lay before the ark of the testimony— God’s meeting-place for man.
In proportion as the child of God is found at God’s appointed meeting-place (Heb. 4:1616Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need. (Hebrews 4:16)): abiding under the shadow of the Almighty (Ps. 91:1): frequenting the secret of His presence (Ps. 31:20: Heb. 10:1919Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, (Hebrews 10:19)): hiding in His pavilion (Ps. 27:5): will he, in continual fellowship with Himself: beholding as in a glass His glory: be changed into the same image, from glory to glory: and his life will be progressive, fragrant, fruitful.
E. A. H.