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| Aaron's rod | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: Jun 25 2011, 06:56 AM (136 Views) | |
| MarkStaneart | Jun 25 2011, 06:56 AM Post #1 |
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And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, and take of every one of them a rod according to the house of their fathers, of all their princes according to the house of their fathers twelve rods: write thou every man's name upon his rod. And thou shalt write Aaron's name upon the rod of Levi: for one rod shall be for the head of the house of their fathers. And thou shalt lay them up in the tabernacle of the congregation before the testimony, where I will meet with you. And it shall come to pass, that the man's rod, whom I shall choose, shall blossom: and I will make to cease from me the murmurings of the children of Israel, whereby they murmur against you. And Moses spake unto the children of Israel, and every one of their princes gave him a rod apiece, for each prince one, according to their fathers' houses, even twelve rods: and the rod of Aaron was among their rods. And Moses laid up the rods before the LORD in the tabernacle of witness. And it came to pass, that on the morrow Moses went into the tabernacle of witness; and, behold, the rod of Aaron for the house of Levi was budded, and brought forth buds, and bloomed blossoms, and yielded almonds. And Moses brought out all the rods from before the LORD unto all the children of Israel: and they looked, and took every man his rod. And the LORD said unto Moses, Bring Aaron's rod again before the testimony, to be kept for a token against the rebels; and thou shalt quite take away their murmurings from me, that they die not. And Moses did so: as the LORD commanded him, so did he. (Numbers 17:1-11) We often find ourselves is a state of faithlessness thinking that God is waiting on the other side waiting for us to get a clue. It’s not that way at all. God is anxious to prove Himself to us over and over again, demonstrating His power and love in ways that we can understand. He’s not into parlor tricks, though. It’s not about Him jumping through our hoops so that we can feel good about ourselves. God’s purpose for performing yet another miracle to establish His chain of command was precisely to deal with the faithlessness of His people, not to reward the faithful. Our confusion in this matter is a reversion to pagan thinking: that we appease God to get Him to perform on our behalf. ![]() The rod is an important part of early Jewish culture. By the Text, in various places, we understand that there is both a rod and a staff; but because most of the pictures we see only the crook shepherd’s staff, we use the terms interchangeably in our minds. The rod “mah-tay” is a short stick, that is used for whacking. The same word is used to identify a tribe, the patriarchal leadership or the authority to use discipline. The staff is a longer pole, often (but not always) looped at one end. The staff is always cut from a live branch and is therefore green. This gives it strength but also flexibility. The rod is strong; but not flexible. It’s a strong message that God is sending the people in this miraculous sign that establishes the legitimacy of Aaron, His priest. The discipline of God leads to life, where all other authorities just plain hurt. I think this is so significant in the command we have as parents to train up our children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. It is the only way to have fruitful results. When we train our children according to the wisdom of our own minds and according to our own standards, the punishment is only harmful; but when we raise them as obedient to God’s commands and recognizing His authority, the fruits of our labor is bountiful and beautiful. |
| Visit Mark Staneart at www.renewourdays.com | |
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| ShofarMan57 | Jun 25 2011, 07:17 AM Post #2 |
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One of my favorite passages of scripture is "Thy rod and Thy staff" they comfort me. The rod (often made from the wood of the Olive tree) had a ball on one end. Into this ball, nails were often driven through, to make it a lethal weapon. Many enemies of the sheep were impaled, maimed, or killed by this weapon of King David. The ball end would be dipped into ink to mark each tenth sheep for a tithe (a sacrifice) unto G_d. The rod became the staff of the King. The staff was used to draw the sheep to the Shepherd. There HE inspects for flaws, to make things better, and to add a protective balm or salve to keep away the "Bot fly." This fly would make the sheep go mad. The Good Shepherd keeps watch over His flock. We are the sheep of YHVH's pasture. |
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5:53 PM Jul 10