Numbers 17:1

Numbers 17:1 says, And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,  Verse two adds, 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.  God told Moses to have the prince of every tribe of Israel to take a rod and write the name of the prince on it.  This included all twelve tribes, and still had to do with whom God had chosen to be His spokesman.  Since they were questioning God, He involved them in the process of answering the question.  I believe that God gives every person enough personal knowledge to come to Him, and also that He gives each Christian enough knowledge to know what they should be doing in His kingdom.  There should be no reason for murmuring amongst the followers of Christ.  Verse three continues, 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.  Moses was to write Aaron’s name on the rod of the tribe of Levi.  This was the one exception, and it placed both Moses and Aaron in the process.  They and the Levites were the ones God had had set apart to serve Him as His representatives to the people.  We need to make certain that we follow those that God has put in position as preachers and teachers today without jealousy or murmuring as long as they are faithful to Him.  Verse four states, And thou shalt lay them up in the tabernacle of the congregation before the testimony, where I will meet with you.  God instructed Moses to then lay the rods in the tabernacle of the congregation before the testimony where God met with Moses.  If we are going to get answers to spiritual questions today, we need to come before God for those answers.  Verse five adds, 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.  God said that He would make the rod of the of the man He had chosen to serve as His representative to blossom.  God then said this should eliminate the murmuring against Him.  I believe that God still lets His people know what they should be doing in the work of His kingdom today, and therefore there should be no murmuring against other Christians and especially not against God Himself.  Though we may not have as drastic example to show us, the Holy Spirit will let us know what God has called us to do.  Verse six declares, 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.  Moses spoke to the people of Israel and told them what God had instructed him to do, which was to take the twelve rods, one from each tribe, which also had the rod of Aaron among them.  Since they had chosen and marked the rod for their tribe they were very much involved in the process.   I believe that God still gives us clear answers to what we should be doing in His kingdom today, yet we still too often murmur about other Christians and even about God Himself.   Verse seven concludes, And Moses laid up the rods before the LORD in the tabernacle of witness.  Moses then laid the rods before God in the tabernacle of witness.  Moses did as God instructed him to do, then whatever happened was in God's hands.  We need to simply put ourselves before God in obedience to His word and then leave everything in His hands.