| Scripture |
Expanded Comments |
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| 1 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, |
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| 2 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. |
A rod – Authority; a special manifestation of divine power and rule. R5419:5
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| 3 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. |
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| 4 And thou shalt lay them up in the tabernacle of the congregation before the testimony, where I will meet with you. |
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| 5 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. |
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| 6 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. |
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| 7 And Moses laid up the rods before the LORD in the tabernacle of witness. |
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| 8 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. |
Of Aaron – Representing the Royal Priesthood. T122
Was budded – Showing the elect character of all the Body of Christ as members of the Royal Priesthood. T122
And yielded almonds – A peculiarity of the almond tree is that the fruit buds appear before the leaves do; so with the Royal Priesthood: they bring forth fruit before the leaves of profession are seen. T122
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| 9 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. |
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| 10 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. |
To be kept – In the ark of the testimony. T121
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| 11 And Moses did so: as the LORD commanded him, so did he. |
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| 12 And the children of Israel spake unto Moses, saying, Behold, we die, we perish, we all perish. |
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| 13 Whosoever cometh any thing near unto the tabernacle of the LORD shall die: shall we be consumed with dying? |
Shall die – Necessary because it illustrated something greater and more important to come later. T12
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