Numbers 16:36-18:136And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, 37Speak unto Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest, that he take up the censers out of the burning, and scatter thou the fire yonder; for they are hallowed. 38The censers of these sinners against their own souls, let them make them broad plates for a covering of the altar: for they offered them before the Lord, therefore they are hallowed: and they shall be a sign unto the children of Israel. 39And Eleazar the priest took the brazen censers, wherewith they that were burnt had offered; and they were made broad plates for a covering of the altar: 40To be a memorial unto the children of Israel, that no stranger, which is not of the seed of Aaron, come near to offer incense before the Lord; that he be not as Korah, and as his company: as the Lord said to him by the hand of Moses. 41But on the morrow all the congregation of the children of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron, saying, Ye have killed the people of the Lord. 42And it came to pass, when the congregation was gathered against Moses and against Aaron, that they looked toward the tabernacle of the congregation: and, behold, the cloud covered it, and the glory of the Lord appeared. 43And Moses and Aaron came before the tabernacle of the congregation. 44And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, 45Get you up from among this congregation, that I may consume them as in a moment. And they fell upon their faces. 46And Moses said unto Aaron, Take a censer, and put fire therein from off the altar, and put on incense, and go quickly unto the congregation, and make an atonement for them: for there is wrath gone out from the Lord; the plague is begun. 47And Aaron took as Moses commanded, and ran into the midst of the congregation; and, behold, the plague was begun among the people: and he put on incense, and made an atonement for the people. 48And he stood between the dead and the living; and the plague was stayed. 49Now they that died in the plague were fourteen thousand and seven hundred, beside them that died about the matter of Korah. 50And Aaron returned unto Moses unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation: and the plague was stayed. 1And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, 2Speak unto the children of Israel, and take of every one of them a rod according to the house of their fathers, of all their princes according to the house of their fathers twelve rods: write thou every man's name upon his rod. 3And thou shalt write Aaron's name upon the rod of Levi: for one rod shall be for the head of the house of their fathers. 4And thou shalt lay them up in the tabernacle of the congregation before the testimony, where I will meet with you. 5And 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. 6And Moses spake unto the children of Israel, and every one of their princes gave him a rod apiece, for each prince one, according to their fathers' houses, even twelve rods: and the rod of Aaron was among their rods. 7And Moses laid up the rods before the Lord in the tabernacle of witness. 8And 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. 9And 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. 10And 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. 11And Moses did so: as the Lord commanded him, so did he. 12And the children of Israel spake unto Moses, saying, Behold, we die, we perish, we all perish. 13Whosoever cometh any thing near unto the tabernacle of the Lord shall die: shall we be consumed with dying? 1And the Lord said unto Aaron, Thou and thy sons and thy father's house with thee shall bear the iniquity of the sanctuary: and thou and thy sons with thee shall bear the iniquity of your priesthood. (Numbers 16:36‑18:1)
The Lord then told Moses that the censers of the rebels, who had been consumed in judgment, were to be taken and made into broad plates for the brazen altar. These were to be a warning to any in the future who were not priests, who might attempt to approach God to offer incense. The Lord said that these men were “sinners against their own souls,” for His Word tells us that “He that sinneth against Me wrongeth his own soul.” Proverbs 8:3636But he that sinneth against me wrongeth his own soul: all they that hate me love death. (Proverbs 8:36). We may think we wrong others by naughty things we do, and we may wrong them in a measure, but we wrong ourselves most of all, as these men who were destroyed, surely did. To despise the priesthood, God’s only way of leading the people through the wilderness, was solemn indeed.
The rest of the people seemed to only harden their hearts in the face of this awful judgment, and the very next day they said to Moses, “Ye have killed the people of the Lord.” God then had to speak again, causing a plague to fall upon them. Moses, who still sought the blessing of the people, acted on their behalf and told Aaron to fill his censer with fire from the altar, and go in quickly among them. Aaron did so, and ran into the camp with his censer, and stood between the living and the dead. God then stopped the plague, and in His grace preserved them by this means, even though they had despised it. Oh, how great is His goodness! How necessary, too, the priesthood of Christ for us now as believers, for He ever lives to make intercession for us. (Heb. 7:2525Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them. (Hebrews 7:25).)
God told Moses to take twelve dry sticks, one for each tribe, and each man was to write his name on his stick, but Aaron’s name was to be written on the one for the tribe of Levi. God then said that He would make the stick of the tribe which He had chosen to blossom. The twelve sticks were taken, as the Lord laid up before the Lord, where they remained all night. In the morning Moses brought them out to the people, and they saw that Aaron’s dry stick had budded, blossomed, and brought forth almonds during the night. What a wonderful testimony to the power and goodness of God through the priesthood! What a testimony of grace, too, for this was after all their rebellion. God’s purpose in blessing had not changed at all; but the people were slow indeed to apprehend them. They could not lay hold of this display of the grace of God, any more than they could understand His righteousness in judgment upon the rebels. How blind man is to God’s character, whether as light or love!
The Lord then told Moses to lay up Aaron’s rod before Him, and so Moses put it in the ark, typical of Christ the true Great High Priest, who alone can bring the promised blessings to Israel, or to us in this dispensation. All is made sure in and through Him, the One who truly “budded, blossomed, and brought forth almonds” by His perfect obedience even unto death, for God’s glory and our eternal blessing. Now He still lives for His own above, and for Israel too, that they be not consumed.
This is emphasized in the next chapter where Aaron is told, “Thou and thy sons and the father’s house with thee shall bear the iniquity of the sanctuary.” If blessings were to come to Israel according to God’s purposes in grace, it could only be through the priesthood, for grace is never the passing over of sin.
ML 11/04/1951