THE SIGNIFICANCE OF AARONS ROD IN THE HOLY OF HOLIES OF THE SANCTUARY

The general significance of Aaron’s rod which was in the holy of holies of the sanctuary.
INTRODUCTION
Let me commence by explaining what a sanctuary is before I come to the significance of Aaron’s rod which was in the holy of holies of the sanctuary. “The word sanctuary is a translation of two Hebrew words, kodesh and midkosh, both of which are derived from the verb “to be clean” and/or “to be holy.” “Sanctuary” refers to the place where God appeared and/or dwelt, as indicated by the presence of the ark. God’s Word was kept there and issued forth from it. There God’s people gathered for sacrifice, for hearing the covenant word, for worship and prayer, and for the celebration of the major feasts. The first reference to sanctuary (Exodus 15:17) speaks of it as a symbol of God’s dwelling among his people and ruling over them from within it. The New Testament refers to the Old Testament sanctuary as a type of a foreshadowing of God’s eternal dwelling with and among his people (Hebrews 8:5-6; Hebrews 9:1-14).” Ilumina soft ware. encyclopedia
A ROD IN THE HANDS OF AARON, THE HIGH PRIEST
A rod which, in the hands of Aaron, the high priest, was endowed with miraculous power during the several plagues that preceded the Exodus. In this function the rod of Moses was equally potent. Upon two occasions, however, the singular virtue of spontaneous power, when not in the grasp of its possessor, was exhibited by Aaron's Rod. At one time it swallowed the rods of the Egyptian magicians, and at another it blossomed and bore fruit in the Tabernacle, as an evidence of the exclusive right to the priesthood of the tribe of Levi. In commemoration of this decision it was commanded that the rod be put again "before the testimony" (Num. xvii. 10). A later tradition asserts (Heb. ix. 4) that the rod was kept in the Ark of the Covenant. The main fact, however, is thus confirmed, that a rod was preserved in the Tabernacle as a relic of the institution of the Aaronic priesthood.J. F. McC.
In Rabbinical Literature
The Bible ascribes similar miraculous powers to the Rod of Aaron and to the staff of Moses (compare, for example, Ex. iv. 2 et seq. and vii. 9). The Haggadah goes a step further, and entirely identifies the Rod of Aaron with that of Moses. Thus the Midrash Yelamdenu (Yal?. on Ps. ex. § 869) states that "the staff with which Jacob crossed the Jordan is identical with that which Judah gave to his daughter-in-law, Tamar (Gen. xxxii. 10, xxxviii. 18). It is likewise the holy rod with which Moses worked (Ex. iv. 20, 21), with which Aaron performed wonders before Pharaoh (Ex. vii. 10), and with which, finally, David slew the giant Goliath (I Sam. xvii. 40). David left it to his descendants, and the Davidic kings used it as a scepter until the destruction of the Temple, when it miraculously disappeared . When the Messiah comes it will be given to him for a scepter in token of his authority over the heathen."
“That so wonderful a rod should bear external signs of its importance is easily to be understood. It was made of sapphire, weighed forty seahs (a seah = 10.70 pounds), and bore the inscription , which is composed of the initials of the Hebrew names of the Ten Plagues (Tan., Waëra 8, ed. Buber).”
Haggadic Modification
Aaron's Rod. (From the Sarajevo Haggadah.)
Legend has still more to say concerning this rod. God created it in the twilight of the sixth day of Creation (Ab. v. 9, and Mek., Beshalla?, ed. Weiss, iv. 60), and delivered it to Adam when the latter was driven from paradise. After it had passed through the hands of Shem, Enoch, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob successively, it came into the possession of Joseph. On Joseph's death the Egyptian nobles stole some of his belongings, and, among them, Jethro appropriated the staff. Jethro planted the staff in his garden, when its marvelous virtue was revealed by the fact that nobody could withdraw it from the ground; even to touch it was fraught with danger to life. This was because the Ineffable Name of God was engraved upon it. When Moses entered Jethro's household he read the Name, and by means of it was able to draw up the rod, for which service Zipporah, Jethro's daughter, was given to him in marriage. Her father had sworn that she should become the wife of the man who should be able to master the miraculous rod and of no other (Pir?e R. El. 40; Sefer ha-Yashar; Yal?. Ex. 168, end). It must, however, be remarked that the Mishnah (Ab. v. 9) as yet knew nothing of the miraculous creation of Aaron's Rod, which is first mentioned by the Mekilta (l.c.) and Sifre on Deut. (Ber. xxxiii. 21; ed. Friedmann, p. 355). This supposed fact of the supernatural origin of the rod explains the statement in the New Testament (Heb. ix. 4) and Tosef., Yoma, iii. 7 (it is to be interpreted thus according to B. B. 14a), that Aaron's Rod, together with its blossoms and fruit, was preserved in the Ark. King Josiah, who foresaw the impending national catastrophe, concealed the Ark and its contents (Tosef., So?ah, 13a); and their whereabouts will remain unknown until, in the Messianic age, the prophet Elijah shall reveal them (Mek. l.c.).
Christian Modifications
A later Midrash (Num. R. xviii. end) confuses the legends of the rod that blossomed with those of the rod that worked miracles, thus giving us contradictory statements. There exists a legend that Moses split a tree trunk into twelve portions, and gave one portion to each tribe. When the Rod of Aaron produced blossoms, the Israelites could not but acknowledge the significance of the token. The account of the blossoming of Aaron's Rod contained in Clement's first letter to the Corinthians (ep. 43) is quite in haggadic-midrashic style, and must probably be ascribed to Jewish or, more strictly speaking, Jewish-Hellenistic sources. According to that account, Moses placed upon each of the twelve staffs the corresponding seal of the head of a tribe. The doors of the sanctuary were similarly sealed, to prevent any one from having access to the rods at night. This legend of the rod as given by the Syrian Solomon in his "Book of the Bee" ("Anecdota Oxoniensia, Semitic Series," vol. i. part ii.) has Christian characteristics. According to it the staff is a fragment of the Tree of Knowledge, and was successively in the possession of Shem, of the three Patriarchs, and of Judah, just as in the Jewish legend. From Judah it descended to Pharez, ancestor of David and of the Messiah. After Pharez's death an angel carried it to the mountains of Moab and buried it there, where the pious Jethro found it. When Moses, at Jethro's request, went in search of it, the rod was brought to him by an angel. With this staff Aaron and Moses performed all the miracles related in Scripture, noteworthy among which was the swallowing up of the wonder-working rods of the Egyptian Posdi. Joshua received it from Moses and made use of it in his wars (Josh. viii. 18); and Joshua, in turn, delivered it to Phinehas, who buried it in Jerusalem. There it remained hidden until the birth of Jesus, when the place of its concealment was revealed to Joseph, who took it with him on the journey to Egypt. Judas Iscariot stole it from James, brother of Jesus, who had received it from Joseph. At Jesus' crucifixion the Jews had no wood for the transverse beam of the cross, so Judas produced the staff for that purpose ("Book of the Bee," Syr. ed., pp. 50-53; Eng. ed., pp. 50-52). This typological explanation of Moses' rod as the cross is not a novel one. Origen on Exodus (chap. vii.) says: "This rod of Moses, with which he subdued the Egyptians, is the symbol of the cross of Jesus, who conquered the world." Christian legend has preserved the Jewish accounts of the rod of the Messiah and made concrete fact of the idea. Other Western legends concerning the connection of the cross and the rod may be found in Seymour, "The Cross," 1898, p. 83.
The rod is likewise glorified in Mohammedan legend, which, as is usually the case with the Biblical accounts of the Mohammedans, is plainly derived from Jewish sources. The following passage will serve as an illustration:(G. Weil, "Biblische Legenden der Muselmänner," p. 140, Frankfort-on-the-Main, 1845)
"Moses flung his staff upon the ground, and instantly it was changed into a serpent as huge as the largest camel. It glared at Pharaoh with fire-darting eyes, and lifted his throne to the ceiling. Opening its jaws, it cried aloud, 'If it pleased Allah, I could not only swallow up the throne with thee and all that are here present, but even thy palace and all that it contains, without any one perceiving the slightest change in me'".L. G.
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www.greatdreams.com/aaronBy : J. Frederic McCurdy Louis Ginzberg
The Jewish Encyclopedia

Aaron's Budding Rod Signifying Authority Comes Through Resurrection

Aaron's budding rod was a testimony to the children of Israel of God's authority. Aaron's rod consisted of almond buds while other eleven rods were made of another type of wood. Almonds bud earlier than other woods, signifying Christ's resurrection life. Whereas, wood in the Old Testament often signifies man's fallen humanity. What a picture! God's authority always rests upon resurrection. God's authority always issue forth in resurrection. And God's authority only exists in resurrection. Man's authority depends on fallen human nature. Man's fallen humanity is never fully reliable. Man's fallen humanity is never able to accomplish God's economy or plan. And man's fallen humanity is NOT to be the object of our submission. Please take me correctly, we are not to submit directly to any man or woman in our lives. We submit to God and He leads us to submit to others.

THE CAUSE OF MUCH CONFUSION AND FIGHT AMONG CHRISTIAN BELIEVERS

Too often believers submit to their priest, their pastor, their minister without resurrection life as the base of their submission. This is why so many divisions exist. This is why so much confusion exists. This is why believers fight with one another rather than love one another. Believers eventually give their allegiance to a fallen man or woman rather than to the resurrected Christ in their spirit. The human tradition, culture, history and practice takes precedence over a life of faith in resurrection, in the realm of the unknown.

The New Testament reality of Aaron's budding rod is that we take Christ in resurrection as our authority. We follow Him! Apart from resurrection, nothing we do counts before God because resurrection follows death which spilled the redemptive blood of Christ. Without the blood we cannot come before the Lord. Without resurrection we cannot live before the Lord. And without living in resurrection we cannot possible follow the Lord's authority.


Aaron’s staff that sprouted leaves is first described in Numbers 17:1-11. The ilumina encyclopedia says “this is staff showed that Aaron’s descendants had indeed been chosen by God to care for the priesthood. It certified their authority as priests.” It is also reported that “this staff was also probably lost during the Philistine control of the Ark (see 1 Samuel 4–6).” Pulpit Bible Commentary says “Aaron’s rod presented memorials of Divine power. The one reminded worshipers of that all-sufficiency which supplied the wants of myriads with daily bread, and the other was a miraculous act which terminated all disputes about the priesthood. Believers now can look up to the throne and see more illustrious proofs of power in the glory of the Redeemer, who was proved to be the Son of God with power by his resurrection from the dead, and by the sight of the number of “spirits of just men made perfect,” who have come out of tribulation, and are in the joy and felicity of heaven. Age’s soft ware- Pulpit bible commentary, ILUMINA SOFT WARE



Once again, Aaron's budding rod, as with the manna, was placed in the Ark of the Covenant. This is another aspect of God's testimony on earth. God's authority is always through resurrection. What a wonderful truth! Imagine if all believers would take Christ in resurrection as their sole authority. We would live differently, and the bottom line is we would live in oneness. This would produce God's testimony on the earth. www.churchinwestland.org/id326.htm


In the ark, beneath where the angels’ wings were spread, was a golden pot of Manna, of a yellowish cast ; and I saw a rod, which Jesus said was Aaron's ; I saw it bud, blossom and bear fruit. And I saw two long golden rods, on which hung silver wires, and on the wires most glorious grapes ; one cluster was more than a man here could carry. And I saw Jesus step up and take of the manna, almonds, grapes and pomegranates, and bear them down to the city, and place them on the supper table. I stepped up to see how much was taken away, and there was just as much left ; and we shouted Hallelujah—Amen. E G White; Appendix D. Word to the little flock, TO THE RAMNANTS SCATTERED ABROAD