A dead stick brought back to a fruitful life.
Numbers 17:4-5, 8 Place these staffs in the Tabernacle in front of the Ark containing the tablets of the Covenant, where I meet with you. 5 Buds will sprout on the staff belonging to the man I choose. Then I will finally put an end to the people's murmuring and complaining against you.8 When he went into the Tabernacle of the Covenant the next day, he found that Aaron's staff, representing the tribe of Levi, had sprouted, budded, blossomed, and produced ripe almonds!
My study of the Old Testament has taught me a lot
about priest and their special calling to serve God and his people. One of the ways that God set his people apart from other cultures was in his rules for worship.
It seems that worship has always included sacrifice, ancient cultures around the world offered sacrifices to their "gods" long before the Levitical priesthood. Even in the Bible there are examples of priestly roles being performed by ordinary men. (Cain and Abel, Job, Melchizedek, Noah, Moses)
But when God chose a people (the nation) he also chose a people (the priest) to lead them in worship and to be his ambassador to mediate for his people. Unfortunately God's people would challenge his decision to use a particular group of men to be their religious leaders.
Man Wants To Be In Control
In my recent post about Korah's rebellion
we saw that Korah wanted more privileges than God allowed, he had a special
God given job in the Tabernacle but he wanted to get a promotion. But it
wasn't just Korah, he was able to convince a group of men to follow his
ideas instead of following God. (Numbers 16:1-11)
God already made his choice and told his people that Aaron’s descendants
were set apart for the priesthood “forever, from generation to generation.”
But that wasn't good enough to keep Aaron's position from being challenged
by the men that served under the priest.
Man has always wanted to be in control of his life even if that means worshipping God in a way that God doesn't want. Being in control didn't work out well for Adam and Eve
(Genesis 3:1-24) or for Abraham and Sarah but we still struggle with the same temptation today. (Genesis 16:1-16)
Miracles Confirm That God Is In Control
God's reaction to Korah's rebellion made it clear that he is in control
and if you rebel there may be severe consequences. But after his wrath
and justice is revealed his people still don't get it. God will give his people another lesson about his desire for the priesthood.
This time God teaches his people in a softer response that demonstrates his grace and mercy. The people will get an object lesson, a visual that should help them to remember that God is in control.
God told Moses to place a bunch of dead trees (walking sticks) in the Tabernacle so that God can prove to his people that Aaron is the High Priest. The other sticks had the name of the tribe on them but Aaron's staff had his name on it so that it was crystal clear that he is God's choice from the tribe of Levi.
So many dead sticks sitting in the same environment but only one came back to life!
A dead stick doing something that only a a live stick can do while it is still attached to a tree is a miracle that only God could do. Aaron's staff was the only one to produce buds but God took it a step
further and proved the buds were for real by having some of them produce
fruit.
God had to be in control of every detail in order for this visual lesson
to work, the buds and blossoms was pretty amazing but even the fact that the staffs were sticks from an almond tree
is not a coincidence.
God's people would have remembered the golden almond
buds and branches of the golden lamp that God told them to make for the
Tabernacle. Without sunlight, the golden lamp provided the light that is needed in the darkness of the Tabernacle o that the priest could do their work. (Exodus 25 and 37)
Jesus Is The Light
The light that shined in the Tabernacle was a picture of better things to come. Jesus was the true light, fulfilling the lamp's symbolism but expanding it's reach as the greater light of the world.John 1:4-5,9,18 The Word gave life to everything that was created, and his life brought light to everyone. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness can never extinguish it.9 The one who is the true light, who gives light to everyone, was coming into the world.18 No one has ever seen God. But the unique One, who is himself God, is near to the Father's heart. He has revealed God to us.
God wants all men from around the world to worship him, Jesus’ light extends universally, offering salvation and truth to all people that will culminate in Heaven where "the Lamb is its lamp” (Revelation 21:23).
Jesus Is The Branch
Aaron's dead branch that produced fruit was a picture of something far better. The tree like lamp and the branch of Aaron's staff are a symbol of the promised Messiah that came up from a stump that was presumed to be dead.Isaiah 11:1 Out of the stump of David's family will grow a shoot- yes, a new Branch bearing fruit from the old root.Zechariah 6:12-13 Tell him, 'This is what the LORD of Heaven's Armies says: Here is the man called the Branch. He will branch out from where he is and build the Temple of the LORD. 13 Yes, he will build the Temple of the LORD. Then he will receive royal honor and will rule as king from his throne. He will also serve as priest from his throne, and there will be perfect harmony between his two roles.'
The promised Branch that would produce an amazing amount of
fruit had a lowly starting point in our world. Born in the disappearing lineage of King David in a small town to a
humble family without status or renown yet he rose to become a "hero" in his
day.
But he would lose all of his followers and finish his life even more lowly and humble than he was at the start. All of his fans would disappear as opposition grew against him, he became despised, rejected, betrayed and crucified.
But he would lose all of his followers and finish his life even more lowly and humble than he was at the start. All of his fans would disappear as opposition grew against him, he became despised, rejected, betrayed and crucified.
How ironic that The Branch would be hung on a dead tree!
Ephesians 2:1,4-5 Once you were dead because of your disobedience and your many sins. 4 But God is so rich in mercy, and he loved us so much, 5 that even though we were dead because of our sins, he gave us life when he raised Christ from the dead. (It is only by God's grace that you have been saved!)
What a paradox! The life giving Branch hung on a lifeless tree but unlike the dead wood of the cross this dead wood came back to life and turned his defeat into victory for my benefit. The dead Branch would come alive in a greater way than Aaron's staff ever did.
In God's wisdom, the source of our physical life was put to death on a dead tree to also be the source of our spiritual life. Without Jesus I was just as dead as Aaron's staff that could not produce fruit. But if I become a part of the life giving vine that the Branch offers then I can also be used by God to produce fruit. (John 15:1-16)
Thank you Lord for making this dead man come alive. I pray that my life will produce righteous fruit that proves that I am alive physically and spiritually. (Galatians 5:22-23, Philippians 1:11)
