Seder 117: Numbers 20:8---"Take the Staff"--Which One? Why?

 When we turn the page to Numbers 20, the years of Israel's sojourn in the wilderness have flown by.  The rest of the book of Numbers takes place in year 40 of the nation's time in the wilderness.  Most of Israel's older generation has died, and a new generation looks forward to completing the journey to the Promised Land.  When that new generation complains to Moses and Aaron (20:2-5), they are looking forward to "grain or figs or vines or pomegranates" (verse 5), not backward to garlic, leeks, fish, and melons (11:5).  

God instructs Moses and Aaron to honor Israel's request for water:  "Take the staff, and assemble the congregation, you and Aaron your brother, and tell the rock before their eyes to yield its water.  So you shall bring the water out of the rock for them and give drink to the congregation and their cattle" (verse 8).  

It's natural to compare this incident with one almost 39 years before, when the parents of these Israelites had recently crossed the Red Sea and were on their way to Sinai.  In that case God directed Moses to strike a rock with his staff, at which point water would come from the rock (Ex 17:6).  This time Moses was to speak to a rock, not strike it.

So what role was the staff to play in this case?  In answering this question, we should first note that the staff in Numbers 20:8 is probably different from the one in Exodus 17:6.  The staff in Numbers 20:8, which Moses takes "from before the Lord" (verse 9), is Aaron's staff that had budded and was subsequently placed next to the ark of the covenant as a sign for the people (Nu 17:10).

After Moses grabbed this staff, he may have handed it to Aaron.  This staff pointed to God as the source of life.  In this case, it would help communicate to the people that God was their faithful provider and would give them the water they needed.  He had not abandoned them in the wilderness; instead, he was working through Moses and Aaron to bring them into the land.  

Commentator Michael Morales proposes that the staff with which Moses struck the rock in Numbers 20:10 was his own staff, the one he had also used to strike the rock in Exodus 17.  In losing his temper and striking the rock in this case, Moses misrepresented God, who was not angry with this new generation of Israelites.  God wanted the new generation to know that he was their source of life, as symbolized by Aaron's staff.  Instead, Moses was sending a message with his own staff that the nation deserved to be judged.

Seder 63: The Contents of the Ark of the Covenant

 The ark of the covenant served as a receptacle for the tablets of the ten commandments, the words upon which God's covenant with Israel are based (Ex 34:28; Dt 4:13; 10:4).  

1 Kings 8:9 notes that at the time when Solomon's Temple was dedicated, "there was nothing in the ark except the two tablets of stone that Moses put there at Horeb."  

There were some other items that were stored near the ark. One was a commemorative jar of manna (Ex 16:33-34).  Another was Aaron's staff (Num 17:10).  

All three of these items are mentioned in Hebrews 9:4.  which speaks of "the ark of the covenant covered on all sides with gold, in which was a golden urn holding the manna, and Aaron's staff that budded, and the tablets of the covenant."  There is no contradiction between Hebrews 9:4 and I Kings 8:9, since the preposition in Hebrews 9:4 can refer to things that are near the ark as well as those that are strictly inside of it. 

Seder 116: Numbers 17-18---Aaron's Priesthood Affirmed

After Korah's rebellion challenged the high priesthood of Aaron, God took further action to endorse that priesthood.  He instructed each tribe to submit a staff to Moses, who would place the staffs in the tabernacle in front of the ark.  

On the day after Moses placed  the staffs in the tabernacle, the staff of Aaron, representing the tribe of Levi, had bloomed overnight and bore ripe almonds.  This was a powerful demonstration of God's support of Aaron's priesthood.  The staff was then placed near the ark as a reminder to would-be rebels (Num 17).

There is additional symbolism in this miracle.  The Hebrew word for "blossoms" in Num 17:8 is the same as the word for the gold "plate" on the high priest's turban (Exod 28:36).  

The tabernacle menorah was patterned after an almond tree.  The word for "almond tree" is similar to the word for "watching," as we see in Jer 1:11-12.  In Jer 1:11, Jeremiah sees a vision of an almond branch, and God explains the meaning of this image:  "I am watching over my word to perform it."  So Aaron's budding staff carried the message that God was watching and would surely carry out his word.  Rebels would be punished, and Israel, after its period of training, indeed would occupy the Promised Land.

The miracle got its message across, causing the Israelites to consider the fact that God was present among them.  "Everyone who comes near, who comes near to the tabernacle of the Lord, shall die,  Are we all to perish?" (v 13)  

Commentator Dale Brueggemann suggests two answers to this question:  (1) No, not if you put your trust in God. (2) Yes, the older generation is going to perish before the end of the 40 years.  

Additional response is given in Num 18, where the importance of the Levites is emphasized. further.  The Levites would guard the tabernacle and act in some sense as spiritual "lightning rods" (vv 1-7).  Because of their important role, they received substantial benefits from things offered to God (vv 8-19).  The tithes of the Israelites also went to them.  This was the Levites' income, so they in turn would give tithes to the priests. 

Israel would be making a substantial investment in the tabernacle's operations, putting their "treasure in heaven."