Joel Hendon

Little Known Biblical Facts Of Aaron’s Miraculous Rod


Posted: Saturday, December 03, 2011

by Joel Hendon
http://hebronics.org/index.html

Those who are not too familiar with the bible, may very well not even know who Aaron was. He was an older brother of Moses, and they had a sister, Miriam. This family belonged to the tribe of Levi, one of the twelve sons of Jacob (later called Israel). The story of Aaron is interesting because of the exceptional role he played in the escape from Egyptian bondage and also the part he played in installing the Law of God, given through Moses.

We also need to understand what is meant by a “rod”. Most people in biblical times, carried a long cane, which is referred to as a rod in much of the biblical texts. It was used to assist them in walking, especially in brush or rough terrain. It is from the Aramaic matteh, which meant a staff, or among royalty, a scepter.

When God chose Moses to be the one to lead (under His supervision) the children of Israel out of Egyptian bondage, He also chose Aaron to be his spokesperson. The beginning of Aaron’s rod coming into the spotlight was when God asked them to go before the wicked Pharaoh and inform him of God’s desire that he let His people go free. As expected by all, Pharaoh scoffed at their request and asked who this god was who requested such from him.

God instructed Moses and Aaron that they should cast Aaron’s rod onto the floor, which they did and it became a serpent. After Pharaoh fetched his magicians, they did the same thing, their rods also became serpents. However, Aaron’s serpent devoured the other serpents. When Aaron took the serpent by the tail, it again became a rod.

It was used also in activation of some of the plagues that God passed onto to Egypt. But after they were escaped and were moving through the wilderness, hardships and lack of things they had become accustomed to, caused them to begin to complain. They murmured against Moses and against God, demanding to know why Moses and Aaron were having the rule over them. After several interventions by God, and even a plague came upon them. Here is what God instructed Moses to do:

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. (Numbers 17:1-10 KJV)

The fact that Aaron’s rod not only budded overnight, it also grew blossoms and full grown almonds. This was sufficiently miraculous to convince the Israelites that God was behind it. It did not cause them to forever behave themselves but it did convince them that Moses and Aaron were those chosen by God to lead them to Canaan land.
Author Biography: Joel Hendon was born near Gadsden Alabama. He attended public schools in Cherokee County, Alabama and after serving a tour of duty in the U.S. Army during the Korean War, attended Jacksonville State University, majoring in Business Administration. He became a Christian in 1948, and although he followed secular work as a career and retired from Allied Signal Aerospace, he is an avid student of the Holy Bible and related works as well as biblical history. He has an extensive website of conservative religious and political articles.http://hebronics.org/index.html

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