“And it shall come to pass, that the man’s rod, whom I shall choose, shall blossom” (Numbers 17:5).
Korah and his company were jealous of Moses. They along with 250 princes rebelled against Moses and Aaron. God judged them very severely, and yet we see that the children of Israel did not stop murmuring against Moses (Num. 16:41). That is why God told Moses to take twelve rods, one for each tribe and keep them in the tabernacle. Then he said “And it shall come to pass, that the man’s rod, whom I shall choose, shall blossom: and I will make to cease from the murmurings of the children of Israel, whereby they murmur against you. And Moses laid up the rod before the LORD in the tabernacle of witness” (Num. 17:5, 7). The next day, they saw to their surprise that the rod with the name of Aaron has blossomed and yielded almonds. Normally, it takes a long time for an almond tree to bear fruit. Here in one night, the rod brought forth buds, blossoms and fruit. Through this God was saying that even though Aaron’s rod appeared to be the same as other rods, there was a vast difference. There was some kind of life in that rod which other rods did not have. It was heavenly life. When a seed is own in the ground and watered, it grows because the seed has life in it. But Aaron’s rod was completely a dry one yet the same dry rod yielded blossom and fruit. The same power was manifest when God created everything as we read in Gen. 1:11, “And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth: and it was so”. There was no sowing, tilling or gathering. God just spoke and different kinds of trees came forth straightaway. That is the power of the word of God. Even though Moses and Aaron were ordinary men, yet God had put new life into them. The spirit of God was working through them.
Moses had to obey the Lord and give His message at His command. Whatever God told him he spoke without adding to it. But Korah and his followers thought that Moses was saying everything in his own wisdom. Even though Moses and Aaron spoke the same words as others, yet there was life in their words. One could find new life flowing through their words. There was power and authority in every word. But these men, because they were princes, though, surely they too could speak like Moses. God showed them through the budded rod that they were only like dry rods. Whereas Moses and Aaron had power in them. God proved that He had chosen them for His service. Many people want to become great preachers in the world by getting much knowledge. There is no joy and no power in them. One can see only dryness, though they may teach and preach very clearly in the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ. In Matt. 7:22, 23 we have a solemn warning. “Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? And in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.