Representation of the Rod

Ark of the Covenant and the House of God
Today’s Focus: Aaron’s Rod: Representation of the Rod
Scripture: Numbers 17:1-10

Greetings Kingdom Citizens
Now we know that the rod is symbolic of theocratic leadership or leadership that is ordained by God. Now let me show you what the rod represents in scripture. The rod is a symbolic representation of a tribe. Remember in Numbers 17:2 the Lord spoke to Moses and told them to take a rod according to the house of their fathers and there were twelve rods taken up. Now one of the key principals I want to bring to your attention before I go any further is that the children of Israel were complaining against the one carrying the rod. What they did not understand was then when you grumble or murmur against the God-chosen leader this brings upon death per Numbers 17:10. So we need to be conscious of what we say and who we grumble against. Now if the rod is representative of the tribe itself then the one carrying the rod is the God-ordained leader and because he is carrying the rod which represents the tribe, he himself is a reflection of his house.

Remember from our series on Servanthood, leaders are servants themselves and through their service to the household they show the children how they are to serve as a son in their father’s or Father’s house. Now one of the unique things God did in Numbers 17 was that He caused one of the rods to blossom and it blossomed and sprouted almonds. So what is that about? The sprouting of the rod is symbolic of the favor of God conferred upon the leader. Leadership is not conferred by vote or committee in the Kingdom of God. It is conferred by the King unto the man and this called the favor of God. Now the sign of favor was the almond blossoming from the rod. Now let’s look at some powerful scriptures to bring this concept home.

Now for the sake of time I will give you the scripture where you can find this information but I want to draw these two pictures rather quickly. Here in Genesis 30:25-43 we see the interaction between Laban and Jacob about the cattle but there was a very important principal presented here that the Lord wants to bring out.
Genesis 30:32 – The speckled and spotted cattle represented a picture of deficient believers.
Jacob made rods out of the green poplar, hazel and chestnut tree and them white and put them before the flocks in the gutters in the watering troughs (Genesis 30:37,38). Now when the cattle would come before the rods they would conceive and become stronger (Genesis 30:41). So if we can get the sheep to look at the rod they will become stronger. In other words when we can get the sons of God to recognize the God-ordained leader or set-man over the household then the sons of God will mature and become stronger.

Peace, Love and Grace from the Father,
Calvin Calhoun, Jr.