Numbers 17
1 The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Speak to the people of Israel, and get from them staffs, one for each fathers' house, from all their chiefs according to their fathers' houses, twelve staffs. Write each man's name on his staff, 3 and write Aaron's name on the staff of Levi. For there shall be one staff for the head of each fathers' house. 4 Then you shall deposit them in the tent of meeting before the testimony, where I meet with you. 5 And the staff of the man whom I choose shall sprout. Thus I will make to cease from me the grumblings of the people of Israel, which they grumble against you.” 6 Moses spoke to the people of Israel. And all their chiefs gave him staffs, one for each chief, according to their fathers' houses, twelve staffs. And the staff of Aaron was among their staffs. 7 And Moses deposited the staffs before the Lord in the tent of the testimony.
8 On the next day Moses went into the tent of the testimony, and behold, the staff of Aaron for the house of Levi had sprouted and put forth buds and produced blossoms, and it bore ripe almonds. 9 Then Moses brought out all the staffs from before the Lord to all the people of Israel. And they looked, and each man took his staff. 10 And the Lord said to Moses, “Put back the staff of Aaron before the testimony, to be kept as a sign for the rebels, that you may make an end of their grumblings against me, lest they die.” 11 Thus did Moses; as the Lord commanded him, so he did.
12 And the people of Israel said to Moses, “Behold, we perish, we are undone, we are all undone. 13 Everyone who comes near, who comes near to the tabernacle of the Lord, shall die. Are we all to perish?”
Millennial Generation (18-29) young adults do not love the Church, but love the Lord. Numbers 17 would indicate, it's best to stay out of the herd. They just complain and jump to conclusions. The Children of Israel were constantly in knots. They always were in need of something.
The Lord is not telling the Children of Israel to make camp on their own.
The people of God cry out for gifts of the Lord to meet immediate need, yet in all of the books of the Bible, when Father God gives a miracle - a gift - awe of the Lord, need for more instruction occurs. Isaiah saw only the hem of the Lord fit in the Temple. Isaiah realized he was unclean compared to the Lord. Peter, when first meeting Jesus, asked to be left alone because he was just a man.
We seem to be much more comfortable with the fruit of the Spirit, a definite sign of God occurring over a season of time:
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.
Aaron could have been given just an Almond branch. Aaron was given a gift, God was with them all in all seasons. The bud, the blossom, the fruit. God was involved with Moses, Aaron, and the needs of the people. The steadfast, enduring love of God for the entire community - as a church community, not each person to interpret the signs of God for themselves.
Father God, we pray for the Churches believing in Your son, Jesus Christ. We pray for Your Word to be taught and believed with truthful, tender love. We pray for Your Church to reach out to all your children and to become a Church family. We pray for this in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord.
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