Numbers 17. Aaron’s Staff Buds

• In the Hebrew, chapter 17 begins with the censers and plague material that English Bibles place at the end of chapter 16.

Aaron’s Staff Buds

The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ² “Speak to the people of Israel, and get from them staffs, one for each fathers’ house, from all their chiefs according to their fathers’ houses, twelve staffs. Write each man’s name on his staff, ³ and write Aaron’s name on the staff of Levi. For there shall be one staff for the head of each fathers’ house. ⁴ Then you shall deposit them in the tent of meeting before the testimony, where I meet with you. ⁵ And the staff of the man whom I choose shall sprout. Thus I will make to cease from me the grumblings of the people of Israel, which they grumble against you.” ⁶ Moses spoke to the people of Israel. And all their chiefs gave him staffs, one for each chief, according to their fathers’ houses, twelve staffs. And the staff of Aaron was among their staffs. ⁷ And Moses deposited the staffs before the Lord in the tent of the testimony.

• The staff test: 12 tribes each put staffs into the Tent of Meeting with their names on them. The staff that sprouts is whom God has chosen.
  • They won’t trust God’s word that Aaron is the high priest, so they need a visual to trust it.
  • Aaron’s staff represents Levi.

⁸ On the next day Moses went into the tent of the testimony, and behold, the staff of Aaron for the house of Levi had sprouted and put forth buds and produced blossoms, and it bore ripe almonds. ⁹ Then Moses brought out all the staffs from before the Lord to all the people of Israel. And they looked, and each man took his staff. ¹⁰ And the Lord said to Moses, “Put back the staff of Aaron before the testimony, to be kept as a sign for the rebels, that you may make an end of their grumblings against me, lest they die.” ¹¹ Thus did Moses; as the Lord commanded him, so he did.

• The next day to no surprise Aaron’s staff was chosen (budded blossoms and ripe almonds).
• Why almonds? It might be word play!
  • Almond = שָׁקֵד (shaqed)
  • “watching” = שָׁקַד (shaqad)
  • We see this in Jeremiah 1:11-12, where Jeremiah sees an almond branch (שָׁקֵד, shaqed) and God says He is “watching” (שֹׁקֵד, shoqed) over His word.
  • Almond blossom designs also decorated the menorah

¹² And the people of Israel said to Moses, “Behold, we perish, we are undone, we are all undone. ¹³ Everyone who comes near, who comes near to the tabernacle of the Lord, shall die. Are we all to perish?”

• Israel had great fear after
  • Why did the budding of the staff have to happen to prove Aaron’s role?
  • Didn’t God literally spend so much time proving Aaron as high priest??
• Was Israel repentant at end of Numbers 17 or were they complaining?