Numbers 17
Numbers 17:1 Yahveh spoke to Moses, and this is what he said,
Numbers 17:2 “Speak to the people of Israel, and get from them staffs, one for each father’s house, from all their leaders according to their fathers’ houses, twelve staffs. Write each man’s name on his staff,
Numbers 17:3 and write Aaron’s name on the staff of Levi. Because there will be one staff for the head of each father’s house.
Numbers 17:4 Then you will deposit them in the conference tent at the face of the reminder, where I meet with you.
Numbers 17:5 And the staff of the man whom I choose will sprout. Thus, I will make to cease from me the complaints of the people of Israel, which they complain about you.”
Numbers 17:6 Moses spoke to the people of Israel. All their leaders gave him staffs, one for each leader, according to their fathers’ houses, twelve staffs. The staff of Aaron was among their staffs.
Numbers 17:7 And Moses deposited the staffs at the face of Yahveh in the tent of the reminder.
Numbers 17:8 On the next day, Moses went into the tent of the reminder and noticed that Aaron’s staff for the house of Levi had sprouted, put forth buds, produced blossoms, and bore ripe almonds.
Numbers 17:9 Then Moses brought out all the staffs from at the face of Yahveh to all the people of Israel. And they looked, and each man took his staff.
Numbers 17:10 And Yahveh said to Moses, “Put back the staff of Aaron at the face of the reminder, to be kept as a sign for the rebels, that you may make an end of their grumblings against me, or else they will die.”
Numbers 17:11 This is what Moses did. He did what Yahveh commanded him.
Numbers 17:12 And the people of Israel said to Moses, “Notice, we are expiring,[1] we are perishing, we are all perishing.
Numbers 17:13 Everyone who comes near, who comes near to the tabernacle of Yahveh, will die. Are we going to finish up expiring?”
[1] גָּוַע = expire. Numbers 17:12, 13; 20:3, 29.
Numbers 17 quotes:
“In the startling events at the Tent of Meeting, the people had just been given undeniable proof of the divine authenticity of the priesthood, but the Lord knew that not everyone would be convinced. He knew all about ‘that disease of obstinacy’ which still maintained ‘its secret hold upon their hearts’.! So, to the existing ‘sign’ of the bronze altar-covering (16:36-38), he added another. Some who could be overwhelmed by an expression of instant wrath might be persuaded by a manifestation of continuing mercy. Therefore, the Lord added to the daunting testimony of death (the bronze altar-covering), a persuasive testimony of life. A further sign, a fruit-bearing staff, was to be kept as a sign to the rebellious (10).”
Brown Raymond. The Message of Numbers : Journey to the Promised Land. InterVarsity Press 2002. p. 152.
“Aaron’s family is established as the true priesthood.”
Martin, Glen, and Max E. Anders. Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers. Broadman & Holman, 2002. p. 321.
“Each tribe must bring a rod with their name upon it; and these rods, together with one bearing Aaron’s name, were to be laid up in the Tabernacle before the Lord. The next day, when they were brought forth, they were all the same dead sticks as before, with the exception of Aaron’s rod, which had budded and blossomed, and borne fruit. So the question as to whom God had appointed as high priest was settled by this sign, bringing life out of the dead stick, making the dead to live. Was not the question as to whom God has appointed to be our High Priest settled by the same sign-— making the dead to live? The resurrection of Christ proved Him to’ be what He claimed.”
Saxe, Grace. Studies in Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. Grace Saxe, 1921. p. 43.
“Thus these three stories reiterate clearly and unequivocally God’s choice of Aaron. He is the pre-eminently holy one. Only he can draw near to God. Only he can make atonement for Israel’s sin. Israel must acknowledge his unique place in the scheme of salvation by not usurping his prerogatives and by supporting his ministry financially.’
Wenham, Gordon J.. Numbers: An Introduction and Commentary (Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries Book 4) (p. 157). InterVarsity Press. Kindle Edition.
Numbers 17 links:
a submissive walk
from accusation to fear
Perish the thought
Maranatha Daily Devotional – Wednesday, May 3, 2023
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