"Let Me Take a Dead Piece of Wood and Bring Life Out of It Overnight. Will That Do It?" -- God

Numbers Chapter 17: Confirmation of the Divine Call

Numbers 17:1-13

Day 69. Well, thanks to my IT friend we were able to make sure you can leave comments again once you click into a specific blog. Then you’ll see the comment box. Leave us a comment or a question. We love interaction and that’s what the study of God’s Word should be like – all of studying together.  The lockdown continues. Nothing new of significance to report. Except we did find we were unable to purchase tomato and cucumber plants for our vegetable garden. Perhaps everyone in Michigan bought them all up to spite their governor who tried to ban the purchase of seeds for planting.  Oh well, judgement day is ‘a-coming’.  Meanwhile we press on.

The Passage

17 ^[a]Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ² “Speak to the sons of Israel, and get from them a rod for each father’s household: twelve rods, from all their leaders according to their fathers’ households. You shall write each name on his rod, ³ and write Aaron’s name on the rod of Levi; for there is one rod for the head of each of their fathers’ households. ⁴ You shall then deposit them in the tent of meeting in front of the testimony, where I meet with you. ⁵ It will come about that the rod of the man whom I choose will sprout. Thus I will lessen from upon Myself the grumblings of the sons of Israel, who are grumbling against you.” ⁶ Moses therefore spoke to the sons of Israel, and all their leaders gave him a rod apiece, for each leader according to their fathers’ households, twelve rods, with the rod of Aaron among their rods. ⁷ So Moses deposited the rods before the Lord in the tent of the testimony.

⁸ Now on the next day Moses went into the tent of the testimony; and behold, the rod of Aaron for the house of Levi had sprouted and put forth buds and produced blossoms, and it bore ripe almonds. ⁹ Moses then brought out all the rods from the presence of the Lord to all the sons of Israel; and they looked, and each man took his rod. ¹⁰ But the Lord said to Moses, “Put back the rod of Aaron before the testimony ^[b]to be kept as a sign against the ^[c]rebels, that you may put an end to their grumblings against Me, so that they will not die.” ¹¹ Thus Moses did; just as the Lord had commanded him, so he did.

¹² Then the sons of Israel spoke to Moses, saying, “Behold, we perish, we are dying, we are all dying! ¹³ Everyone who comes near, who comes near to the tabernacle of the Lord, must die. Are we to perish completely?”

Footnotes

1. Numbers 17:1 Ch 17:16 in Heb
2. Numbers 17:10 Lit for preserving
3. Numbers 17:10 Lit sons of rebellion

Thoughts on the Passage

God, using Moses and Aaron as intercessors, stops the plague from killing more Israelites who had rebelled against him, and the approaches Moses with some more instructions. The people were about to see another miracle proving the that God was indeed behind Aaron as the High Priest of the congregation.

God told Moses to have each of the twelve tribes bring a leader’s “rod” to him, Moses. Remember these rods were symbols of authority. And that’s what God wanted to establish here – the appointed Authority over His house.  On each rod, Moses was to write the name of the tribe’s leader, including the name of Aaron on the rod from the tribe of Levi. Once that was done, all 12 rods were to be put into the tent of meeting in front of the place where God normally met with Moses. Then just watch. These rods were, according to Robert Jamieson, of dry sticks or wands, probably old, as transmitted from one head of the family to a succeeding.

One of the rods would actually sprout (something very difficult with old dried out rods) – the owner of that rod was to be the one that God had chosen. It is interesting that the text says that God was doing this in order to lessen the amount of grumbling that the Israelites were undertaking against Moses. Again, God was acting on behalf of His servant, not Himself. That is something that we often forget about our God. He acts on our behalf, not His.

And Moses got the rods from the Israelites, put their names on them, and on the same day placed in the tent of meeting as instructed, near the ark. He left them overnight and went in again the next day to find that Aaron’s rod had sprouted, produced buds and blossoms, and if that’s not enough, bore ripe almonds – in one day. Can you imagine one old dry (Guzik says ‘dead’) rod, bearing three stages of development at the same time, in one day?  He took all the rods out to the sons of Israel, and each man took his rod.

All except Aaron’s rod as God asked Moses to put it back and to keep it there as a sign “against the rebels” to end the grumbling against God – and I love this next phrase, “so that they would not die.” To put it in modern human talk, God was ready to kill them; He was so angry with their repeated grumblings. David Guzik says God wanted to give them (again) another unmistaken display of evidence that would end their grumbling once and for all. And Moses obeyed.

Now of course the sons of Israel were scared and asked Moses, “Are we to perish completely as it seems we are all dying and it appears that everyone who comes near to the tabernacle of the Lord, must die?”  So, if you were Moses, what would you do?  How would you answer them now?

We should point out here that Robert Jamieson tells us that some see this as a new springing forth of more grumblings and others see it as an indication of a reverential and submissive spirit. I don’t know the answer to that one, but if you look at verse 13 in the passage, clearly there is hint at “hey, that’s not fair; is God going to punish us for every little offense we make?” For that alone, I would agree with those that say this is more grumbling. But I’m open if our readers see it differently. By the way, Matthew Henry in his commentary, says the answer is that the verse indicates both dismay at God’s insistence and an indication that they finally understood. To be seen as we continue our study in Numbers.

Now Guzik also raises a question that many of us may be asking and he answers it: “If God demonstrated His choice of Aaron [from the tribe of Levi] and his descendants as priests for Israel, how can Jesus be our high priest, as Hebrews 2:17 says? Because Jesus is a high priest of the order of Melchizedek [from way before the Levi], not Aaron (Hebrews 7).”  For more on this you may want to check out Who Was Melchizedek.

Gems we can take from this chapter:
i. God often acts on our behalf, not His.
ii. God is very insistent on His way, not ours.
iii. When God goes to establish or prove something to us mere humans, He does it in technicolor.

That’s our God. Hang in there. Please take the time to comment in the blog and to share this blog with your friends. Next time we take a look at how the priests were to be paid. Interesting.

It would be great if you would share your thoughts or questions on this blog in the comments section below or on social media.

What you don't want to hear is: "Big Mistake. Big Mistake. Huge Mistake."

The Lampstand

                        

Photo courtesy of: http://www.templebuildersministry.com/ -- please do visit their site.

Exodus 25:31-40: “Then you shall make a lampstand of pure gold. The lampstand and its base and its shaft are to be made of hammered work; its cups, its bulbs and its flowers shall be of one piece with it. Six branches shall go out from its sides; three branches of the lampstand from its one side and three branches of the lampstand from its other side. Three cups shall be shaped like almond blossoms in the one branch, a bulb and a flower, and three cups shaped like almond blossoms in the other branch, a bulb and a flower—so for six branches going out from the lampstand; and in the lampstand four cups shaped like almond blossoms, its bulbs and its flowers. A bulb shall be under the first pair of branches coming out of it, and a bulb under the second pair of branches coming out of it, and a bulb under the third pair of branches coming out of it, for the six branches coming out of the lampstand. Their bulbs and their branches shall be of one piece with it; all of it shall be one piece of hammered work of pure gold. Then you shall make its lamps seven in number; and they shall mount its lamps so as to shed light on the space in front of it. Its snuffers and their trays shall be of pure gold. It shall be made from a talent of pure gold, with all these utensils. See that you make them after the pattern for them, which was shown to you on the mountain.”

We come now to the third piece of furniture God wanted constructed by the people of Israel – a lampstand of pure gold. He gives them specific instructions that one reads in this passage.  There are a few special aspects we should point out. The text speaks of “bulbs” and one could well say, “Wait a minute, they didn’t have bulbs, as in light bulbs, in the day of Moses.” And one would be right. This lampstand would not even be lit with candles. Instead, the ‘cups’ that were shaped like almonds, but also looked like flowers, made of gold, were to be filled with oil and a wick placed in them, which would be lit.  But once lit, they were to remain lit, and so we imagine the wick and the oil would need replacing and replenishing often. David Guzik suggests the use of the almond blossom image is significant in that it is the first tree to blossom in the springtime. I draw from that the “children of Israel” were the first of God’s children and the real light (Jesus Christ) came to them first.

It would have six branches going out from it, three on each side, and the center post shall have four ornaments looking like flowers on it, likely spread out from the top to the bottom of the stand, the top one also used as a lamp along with the other six ornaments – so seven lamps (or lights) all together.

And if that’s not enough detailed instruction, God wants the flame in each of the seven lamps to be placed in such a way that each one sheds light on the space before it.  Accessory equipment like the snuffers and the trays they sit on are also to be made of pure gold.  Wow not even ladies of the southern aristocratic families of the last century had these many demands for anything they ordered for their fancy plantation homes. And God drives home His request by telling Moses to make sure that all these things are made in accordance to the pattern He gave to him on the mountain.  Our God is a demanding God.  But here’s the newsflash – He has every right to be.  And once again that is the hardest foundational hurdle of faith for us to overcome, and the rest comes easy. For those that are looking for a better (from a human perspective) explanation, Chuck Smith says God wanted it exactly the way He wanted it “because it has to be an exact thing if it’s going to be a model of the heavenly.” Then he points out that in Hebrews 8:5 we are told that that’s exactly what it is.

Remember this lampstand (along with the Ark and the ‘table of showbread’) was to be kept in the structure that God instructs His people to build next – the tent we call the Tabernacle. The lampstand was to be the light in the tent that would be completely covered and thus needed internal light, but Chuck Smith commentates, “it really was a symbol of God’s desire for the nation Israel to be the light of the world.”

Matthew Henry takes the symbolism one step further. Until the real Light (Jesus Christ) was to come to earth (for He already existed in the heavens), God was not left without witness of His existence. The lamp, to Henry, represented the commandments of God, and the lights of this lampstand the law.  The branches from the lamp were the prophets who gave light in their time throughout the Old Testament.

As interesting as all this symbolism is, I must remind myself that it is all symbolic and sometimes left to the interpretation of commentators.  However, what we should not ignore to any extent is God’s caution that He now has repeated twice and I believe does so again later in Scripture.  Simply put, it is “Follow the Instructions!”  Not, “If all else fails, follow the instructions!” But follow them the first time. Henry says, “Nothing was left to his (Moses’) own invention, or the fancy of the workmen, or the people’s humor; but the will of God must be religiously observed in every particular.”

And here’s why this is so significant according to Henry: “All God’s providences are exactly according to his counsels, and the copy never varies from the original.  Infinite Wisdom never changes its measures; whatever is the purposed shall undoubtedly be performed.” That’s critical.  God’s principles do not change.  If something was wrong in the days of Israel, it’s wrong today. If God desired a relationship with us in the day of Moses, He desires a relationship with us today. And so on. And thus His representatives in the Church today must administer all his ordinances according to His instructions. Jesus Himself echoed this when in Matthew 28:20 He said, “Observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you.”

In the business world today, contractors lose their jobs if they fail to follow the exact specifications of the blueprints they are given. Engineers can get sued if they fail to build a product to spec. Deaths can result from such disobedience. So we all do our best to follow the instructions to a tee if we want something to work well. But for some reason, when it comes to either our relationship with God, or in our obedience to His directions for our lives, we think we can improve on the design or the process.

Many of you have seen the old movie with Julia Roberts were she, looking a little like a tramp, was refused service when trying to buy something at a very expensive store on Rodeo Drive in Beverley Hills, California. She was asked to leave.  Later in the week, she drops in to the same store, loaded with several bags from a competitor elite retailer, finds the same saleslady, holds ups all her shopping and utters her famous line, “Big mistake. Big mistake. Huge mistake.” You ask what’s the connection? Simply this: When God tells you to do something, do it.  If you’re there to serve others – don’t pick and choose who you serve; serve all that God brings your way.  And you can draw many of your own inferences.  The point is you don’t want God or the angels He sends in disguise coming back and saying, “Big mistake.” Let’s get serious about God’s instructions and let’s follow them religiously. 

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