Aaron's Staff

After a rebellion by Korah and cohorts against the tribe of Levi and the priests in particular, Yahvah gave a sign that he really did choose Levi and Aaron. A staff for each of the tribes was placed in the Tabernacle overnight, and in the morning Aaron's staff had budded and grown almonds while everyone elses remained a normal staff. The math points at another passage about fruitfulness.

Numbers 17

FE ¹The Master spoke with Moses and said to him, ²Speak with the children of Israel and take from each of them a rod according to the house of their fathers from all their princes according to the house of their fathers, 12 rods, and write each man's name on his rod. ³You will write the name of Aaron on the rod of Levi, for 1 rod will be for the head of the tribe of their fathers. ⁴You will put them in the tent of time before the testimony where I will meet with you. ⁵It will come to pass, that the rod of the man with whom I am pleased will bud; so I will make cease the murmurings of the children of Israel from me, by which they murmur against you. Numbers 17:1-5⁶Moses spoke to the children of Israel, and each one of their princes gave him a rod, for each prince 1, according to their fathers' houses, 12 rods; and the rod of Aaron was in the middle of their rods. ⁷Moses placed the rods before the Master in the tent of the testimony. Numbers 17:6-7⁸The next day Moses went into the tent of the testimony; and the rod of Aaron for the house of Levi was budded, and blossomed, and yielded ripe almonds. ⁹Moses brought out all the rods from before the Master to all the children of Israel; and they looked, and took every man his rod. Numbers 17:8-9¹⁰The Master said to Moses, Bring the rod of Aaron back before the testimony to be kept as a token for the rebellious sons so that their murmurings may cease from me that they do not die. E Hosea 4:12 ¹¹Moses did so; as the Master commanded him, so he did. Numbers 17:10-11¹²The children of Israel said to Moses, We perish and are lost, we all perish. ¹³Whoever comes near to the tent of the Master will die, and we are also near to perishing. Numbers 17:12-13 (Numbers 17 BRB)

Count

12+1+1+12 = 26 = Psalms

Psalms

Psalms is a large book and each and every psalm is more or less a unique, stand-alone, passage. There's no overarching narrative or form to the book, particularly, so this makes it harder to know which of the 150 psalms a given passage of scripture pointing at the book of Psalms wants as a cross reference. However, this particular cross reference seems to point right at the first Psalm.

FE ^1aBlessed is the man ^1bwho does not walk in the way of the ungodly, ^1cnor stays in the counsel of sinners, ^1dnor sits in the company of mockers, ^2abut his delight is in the law of the Master, ^2band on his law he meditates day and night. ^3aHe will be like a tree planted by a stream of water, ^3bthat brings forth its fruit in its season; ^3cwhose leaves do not fall off, ^3dand whatever he begins he accomplishes. Psalms 1:1-3^4aThe ungodly are not so, ^4bbut are like the chaff which the wind drives away. Psalms 1:4^5aTherefore the ungodly will not be justified in the judgment, ^5bnor sinners in the assembly of the righteous, ^6abecause the Master knows the way of the righteous, ^6band the way of the ungodly will perish. Psalms 1:5-6 (Psalms 1 BRB)

To play with the connection, the tree planted by steams of water that brings forth fruit is the one who delights in the law and who avoids groups of mockers. Aaron's staff, standing in for the whole tribe of Levi, yielded ripe almonds. Levi, of course, was the tribe charged with teaching the law to Israel, so of all people he would need to delight in the law and meditate on it day and night.

Another relationship here seems to be the way the ungodly will not be justified in the judgment and the way the staffs of the other men, especially those who had come against Levi, did not bud or yield fruit. Their response afterwards was basically that they were toast if they tried to interfere any longer with Levi's business at the Tabernacle. This is similar to the ungodly being driven away by the wind like chaff. Aaron, on the other hand, was able to continue in his call to serve as a priest, or to use vocabulary from Psalm 1, to accomplish what he began.

Ryan Eaton 2013-05-27