Numbers 17
THE story of sin and death ceases for a time here, and instead, we see by a lovely picture of life brought out of death, flowers and fruit out of dry wood, the man of God’s choosing.
God was going to show them that no one had any right at all, unless he was chosen by God. So He said to Moses, Tell all the princes of the twelve tribes to take a rod each, and to write the names of their tribes on each rod, and write Aaron’s name upon the rod of Levi. And the Lord said, ‘The man’s rod whom I shall choose shall blossom, and I will make to cease from Me the murmurings that they murmur against you.’ So Moses laid up the rods before the Lord in the tabernacle; and the next day, when Moses went in, he saw that Aaron’s rod for the house of Levi was covered with buds and blossoms and almond fruit. Aaron’s rod was only a stick like the rest, but God showed, that though the stick had no life or power in itself, yet that He could, if He chose, make blossoms and fruit come from it.
It was the sign of resurrection, that God gave as a proof of the one He had chosen. The Lord Jesus is the believer’s High Priest in glory, since He has died and risen again.
There was no fruit for God from the natural man, and the real fruit-bearing suited for His dwelling place, comes from the Priesthood that He has chosen.
ML 03/02/1924