Глава 17

Aaron's dry rod miraculously blossomed and bore fruit. Numbers 17:1. And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: Numbers 17:2. Speak to the children of Israel and take from them a rod from each tribe, from all their rulers by tribe, twelve rods, and write each person’s name on his rod; Numbers 17:3. write the name of Aaron on the rod of Levi, for one rod is from the chief of their tribe [they shall give]; Numbers 17:4. and you shall put them in the tabernacle of meeting, before the ark of the testimony, where I appear to you; Numbers 17:5. and whomever I choose, the rod will blossom; and so will I calm the murmuring of the children of Israel, wherewith they murmur against you. (Heb. v. 16–20). In order to further strengthen the people’s faith in God’s chosenness of the high priest and to provide constant tangible evidence of it, God performs a miracle with Aaron’s dry rod. Following the terrible sign of death for those who persisted in their unbelief was a sign that pointed to the fullness of spiritual life granted to the chosen one and through the chosen one to all the faithful sons of Israel. Numbers 17:6. And Moses spoke to the children of Israel, and all their rulers gave him a rod from each ruler, and according to their tribes twelve rods, and Aaron's rod was among their rods. Wands are taken as an expression of power. The rod of the tribe of Levi was the thirteenth. Numbers 17:8. The next day Moses [and Aaron] entered into the tabernacle of the testimony, and behold, the rod of Aaron, from the house of Levi, blossomed, budded, gave blossom, and brought forth almonds. According to the belief of the Church, the blossoming rod of Aaron prefigured: a) the seedless origin of Jesus Christ in the flesh from the brideless Virgin Mary: “Aaron’s rod vegetated (we read in the Theotokos, according to 1 canon 1, April 23), which from Jesse brought forth the sprouted root, The Most Pure One, the color of the world who shone forth, God incarnate,” etc.; b) the incorruptibility of the flesh of Christ: “for Emmanuel, having become the son of the nature of the corruptible, alone remained incorruptible; in Himself alone He revealed the secret of incorruptibility, dispassion and immortality” (St. Ephr. Syrah, Interpretation on the book of Numbers, ch. XVII), - becoming “the likeness of the future resurrection” of people (St. Epiph. Cyprus); c) the abundance of the reviving and strengthening grace of God in the Church of Christ: “The rod is accepted as an image of the mystery, for it prejudices the priest by vegetation: but the Church, which was not fruitful before, now the tree of the cross has flourished into power and establishment” (3 p. can. Honest. Kr.). Numbers 17:10. And the Lord said to Moses: Place again the rod of Aaron before the ark of the testimony for safekeeping, as a sign for the disobedient, so that their murmuring against Me will cease, and they will not die. “Before the ark” - just like the vessel with manna (Exodus 16.34). Numbers 17:12. And the children of Israel said to Moses: Behold, we are dying, we are perishing, we are all perishing! Numbers 17:13. everyone who approaches the tabernacle of the Lord dies: shall we not all die? Realizing the truth of God's choice of their leaders, the people still cannot free themselves from the feeling of gloomy despair at the sight of the obvious impossibility of their illegal desires. The further period of 38 years (40 years are counted from the moment of leaving Raamses) wanderings, as a dark period of extinction of the people according to the terrible judgment of God's truth, was passed by the writer of everyday life in almost complete silence. During the indicated time, the Israelis moved en masse from one oasis to another (like the Bedouins) and lived there as long as there was food for the livestock; or, having divided into groups, each migrated independently. It is possible that in addition to cattle breeding, certain groups of people were sometimes engaged in agriculture (cf. Gen. 26). Moses, with the tabernacle, had to visit designated groups of people at different times. The central, so to speak, connecting, center of popular groups could be the Negeb district, the threshold of the Promised Land. You might be interested in: