1 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,

2Speak 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.

3And 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.

4And thou shalt lay them up in the tabernacle of the congregation before the testimony, where I will meet with you.

5And 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.

6And 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 wasamong their rods.

7And Moses laid up the rods before the LORD in the tabernacle of witness.

8And 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.

9And 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.

10And 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.

11And Moses did so: as the LORD commanded him, so did he.

12And the children of Israel spake unto Moses, saying, Behold, we die, we perish, we all perish.

13Whosoever cometh any thing near unto the tabernacle of the LORD shall die: shall we be consumed with dying?

1And the Lord spake vnto Moses, saying,

2Speake vnto the children of Israel, and take of euery one of them a rod, according to the house of their fathers, of all their princes, according to the house of their fathers, twelue rods: write thou euery mans name vpon his rodde.

3And thou shalt write Aarons name vpon the rod of Leui: for one rod shall be for the head of the house of their fathers.

4And thou shalt lay them vp in the Tabernacle of the Congregation, before the Testimony, where I will meet with you.

5And it shall come to passe, that the mans rod whom I shall choose, shall blossome: and I will make to cease from mee the murmurings of the children of Israel, whereby they murmure against you.

6 And Moses spake vnto the children of Israel, and euery one of their Princes gaue him a rod a piece, for each Prince one, according to their fathers houses, euen twelue rods: and the rod of Aaron was among their rods.

7And Moses layd vp the rods before the Lord, in the Tabernacle of Witnesse.

8And it came to passe that on the morrow Moses went into the Tabernacle of Witnesse, and behold, the rod of Aaron for the house of Leui was budded, and brought forth buds, and bloomed blossomes, and yeelded almonds.

9And Moses brought out all the rods from before the Lord, vnto all the children of Israel: and they looked, and tooke euery man his rod.

10 And the Lord said vnto Moses, Bring Aarons rod againe 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.

11And Moses did so: as the Lord commanded him, so did he.

12And the children of Israel spake vnto Moses, saying, Behold, wee die, we perish, we all perish.

13Whosoeuer commeth any thing neere vnto the Tabernacle of the Lord, shall die: Shall wee be consumed with dying?

 

 

IV == Ex 25:22 ; 29:42-43 ; 30:36

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

V == Num 16:5 , 11

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

VII == Ex 38:21 ; Num 18:2 ; Acts 7:44

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

X == Num 16:38 ; 17:5 ; Heb 9:4

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

XIII == Num 1:51 , 53 ; 18:4 , 7

 

 

 

1 The LORD said to Moses,

2 "Tell Eleazar, son of Aaron the priest, to remove the censers from the embers; and scatter the fire some distance away,

3 for these sinners have consecrated the censers at the cost of their lives. Have them hammered into plates to cover the altar, because in being presented before the LORD they have become sacred. In this way they shall serve as a sign to the Israelites."

4 So Eleazar the priest had the bronze censers of those burned during the offering hammered into a covering for the altar,

5 in keeping with the orders which the LORD had given him through Moses. This cover was to be a reminder to the Israelites that no layman, no one who was not a descendant of Aaron, should approach the altar to offer incense before the LORD, lest he meet the fate of Korah and his band.

6 The next day the whole Israelite community grumbled against Moses and Aaron, saying, "It is you who have slain the LORD'S people."

7 But while the community was deliberating against them, Moses and Aaron turned toward the meeting tent, and the cloud now covered it and the glory of the LORD appeared.

8 Then Moses and Aaron came to the front of the meeting tent,

9 and the LORD said to Moses and Aaron,

10 "Depart from this community, that I may consume them at once." But they fell prostrate.

11 Then Moses said to Aaron, "Take your censer, put fire from the altar in it, lay incense on it, and bring it quickly to the community to make atonement for them; for wrath has come forth from the LORD and the blow is falling."

12 Obeying the orders of Moses, Aaron took his censer and ran in among the community, where the blow was already falling on the people. Then, as he offered the incense and made atonement for the people,

13 standing there between the living and the dead, the scourge was checked.

14 Yet fourteen thousand seven hundred died from the scourge, in addition to those who died because of Korah.

15 When the scourge had been checked, Aaron returned to Moses at the entrance of the meeting tent.

16 The LORD now said to Moses,

17 "Speak to the Israelites and get one staff from them for each ancestral house, twelve staffs in all, one from each of their tribal princes. Mark each man's name on his staff;

18 and mark Aaron's name on Levi's staff, for the head of Levi's ancestral house shall also have a staff.

19 Then lay them down in the meeting tent, in front of the commandments, where I meet you.

20 There the staff of the man of my choice shall sprout. Thus will I suppress from my presence the Israelites' grumbling against you."

21 So Moses spoke to the Israelites, and their princes gave him staffs, twelve in all, one from each tribal prince; and Aaron's staff was with them.

22 Then Moses laid the staffs down before the LORD in the tent of the commandments.

23 The next day, when Moses entered the tent, Aaron's staff, representing the house of Levi, had sprouted and put forth not only shoots, but blossoms as well, and even bore ripe almonds!

24 Moses thereupon brought out all the staffs from the LORD'S presence to the Israelites. After each prince identified his own staff and took it,

25 the LORD said to Moses, "Put back Aaron's staff in front of the commandments, to be kept there as a warning to the rebellious, so that their grumbling may cease before me; if it does not, they will die."

26 And Moses did as the LORD had commanded him.

27 Then the Israelites cried out to Moses, "We are perishing; we are lost, we are all lost!

28 Every time anyone approaches the Dwelling of the LORD, he dies! Are we to perish to the last man?"

Jehovah’s Choice of the Tribe of Levi Confirmed.

v 1-5. The Lord now proposes a way to put a stop to the repeated rebellion of the people. A prince from each tribe was to bring a rod and have Moses write their name on it. These rods were like a shepherd staff or walking stick, and each prince’s rod may have been handed down from generation to generation as a symbol of the wand of power for that family tribe. There would be twelve rods, Joseph being in place of Ephraim and Manasseh, and Aaron’s name would be on the rod, that is the staff, for the tribe of Levi. (This was Aaron’s personal rod, not the rod of God. Moses and Aaron used the rod of God, Ex. 4:20 with which he was to do signs, Ex. 4:17 as seen in Ex. 7, 9, 19 etc. But it was Aaron’s own rod that budded in 17:8, and was laid up as a sign, never to be used again, v 10. Moses still had the rod of God in Num. 20:8-11, with which he struck the rock twice bringing forth water.) These rods were to be laid up in the Most Holy Place before the ark. The man’s rod whom God chose would blossom.

v 6-9. With special permission from God, Moses laid them inside the veil of the Most Holy Place next to the ark as instructed, and next day Aaron’s old dry staff, according to custom possibly handed down from his father, had budded, blossomed and yielded almonds. Any rod substituted by Moses might have had buds, but never all three. This was positive proof of the divine appointment of Moses and Aaron. When he brought the rod’s out for viewing, every prince took his own rod.

v 10-11. The Lord had Moses bring the rod in again before the testimony as a sign against the rebels so they would stop murmuring and dying. Perhaps this was the time at which it was placed in the ark. The tables of law, the manna and Aaron’s rod, which God may have preserved fresh, were kept in the ark of the covenant, Heb. 9:4.

v 12,13. Recognizing God’s intervention in Aaron’s behalf, the people came under terror of being consumed before the Lord if they even came near the tabernacle. God assures them in 18:5 that they need not fear because only Levites would be near the tabernacle. The budding of Aaron’s rod prefigures the resurrection of Christ, Who offered Himself.