In Numbers chapter seventeen God silenced forever any
remaining objections to His sovereign choice of Aaron and his family to serve
Him in the office of priests. The remaining chiefs or princes of the different
tribes were commanded by God through Moses to bring an almond rod, one for each
tribe, and the name of its owner was to be written clearly on each. Those rods
were to be laid up in the Holy of holies in the Tabernacle, where Moses only had
free access. Even Aaron had access to that place on only one day in the year.
(The great day of atonement). But Moses had the unique privilege of entering
there, and of communing with God, whenever he felt the need. Aaron’s rod was to
be placed in the midst of the bundle of the rods of the tribes, just to show
that it was exposed to the very same influences as the others, there was no
favouritism thus to be shown to him. These rods were a symbol both of dignity
and authority, and when the owner died it was doubtless handed to his successor.
Thus they would be old dead and dry, and probably had been cut off from the tree
for many rears.
When the rods were taken out of the holy of holies the next
morning, they were all just the same as when they had been placed there, with
the exception that Aaron’s rod had been transformed in many ways; it had come to
life again, and not only had it been transformed but it was covered with fruit,
and fruit in every stage from buds, blossoms, even right up to the final stage
of bearing ripened almonds. I am told by those that know more than me, that
though the almond is the first tree to bear in the spring time, it does not bear
continually, but all the blossoms etc are at the same stage, thus the
transformation of Aaron’s rod was more miraculous.
Resurrection: The miracle of Aaron’s
rod is a picture of resurrection. It is the resurrection of Christ that has
singled Him out as God’s chosen High Priest. God testified to His approval of
Christ, and His satisfaction with the work that He did on the cross, and the
fact that Christ was His anointed, His chosen High Priest, and the One by whom
He will yet judge the world; by raising Him from the dead. (Acts 17:31). This
perhaps explains why the doctrine of the physical resurrection of Christ is the
most hotly challenged doctrine of the scriptures, yet it is one of the most
strongly attested facts in existence today. It is denied by Muslims, by Hindus,
by Buddhists, by the cults, (Jehovah’s witnesses etc), and by nominal Christians
and orthodox Jews etc, to name but a few. Thus we have the meaning of this
miracle. Aaron was a type of Christ, and though Christ’s High Priesthood is
after the Aaronic pattern, yet He is Priest forever after the order of
Melchizedek, because the scriptures bear testimony of Christ that he lives, and
Christ lives in the power of an endless life, and He ever lives to make
intercession for us. (Hebrews:7)
A Rod Of An Almond Tree: The Almond
tree is the first to give buds and blossoms at the end of winter. It is the
first to awaken from the long night of winter, and in thus is a symbol of
resurrection, (life from the dead), Its blossoms are of the purest white, a
symbol of the pure and holy, and the sinless nature of Christ, and also of the
sinless nature of His work in the saints who share His resurrection, Christ
being the first fruits. . It is also a symbol of the pure and holy nature .of
the eternal promises that God has made to us in Christ, all of which are yea and
amen in Christ in His resurrection. He is the “Faithful and true witness, the
beginning of the creation of God”. Christ is the “Firstborn from the dead, the
Prince of the kings of the earth”. Blessed be His holy name! [To be concluded]
----
[Reproduced with permission of the
Author]