Ⅱ
The budding rod signifies that Christ, the resurrected One, should be our life, our living, and the resurrection life within us and that this life should bud, blossom, and bear fruit to maturity—Num. 17:8:
Ａ
After the children of Israel rebelled, as recorded in Numbers 16, God commanded the twelve leaders to take twelve rods according to the twelve tribes of Israel and put them in the Tent of Meeting before the Testimony (17:4); then He said, "The rod of the man whom I choose shall bud"—v. 5.
Ｂ
All twelve rods were leafless, rootless, dry, and dead; whichever one budded was the one chosen by God; here we see that resurrection is the basis of God's selection and that the basis of service is something apart from our natural life; thus, the budding rod signifies our experience of Christ in His resurrection as our acceptance by God for authority in the God-given ministry.
Ｃ
The principle to every service lies in the budding rod; God returned all the eleven rods to the leaders but kept Aaron's rod inside the Ark as an eternal memorial; this means that resurrection is an eternal principle in our service to God—vv. 9-10:
１
Resurrection means that everything is of God and not of us; it means that God alone is able and that we are not able—Phil. 3:10-11.
２
What we can do belongs to the natural realm, and what is impossible for us to do belongs to the realm of resurrection; a man must come to the end of himself before he will be convinced of his utter uselessness—Matt. 19:26; Mark 10:27; Luke 18:27.
３
If a man has never realized his own inability, he can never experience God's ability; resurrection means that we cannot make it and that God is the One who has done everything—cf. 2 Cor. 1:8-9; 4:7.
Morning Nourishment
Num. 17:5-6 And the rod of the man whom I choose shall bud.... Every one of their leaders gave him a rod, one rod for each leader according to their fathers' houses, twelve rods...8 And on the next day Moses went into the Tent of the Testimony, and there was the rod of Aaron for the house of Levi: it had budded; it even put forth buds and produced blossoms and bore ripe almonds.
A rod is a piece of dead wood that has not only been cut but is also dried up. Yet such a dead and dried-up piece of wood budded! A bud is something organic, something of life. The budding rod of Aaron typifies not a dead Christ but the resurrected Christ, the budding Christ, who not only buds but also blossoms and bears fruit to maturity. Such a Christ imparts life to others (John 12:24; 1 Pet. 1:3). Today He is still budding, and we are the fruit, the almonds, of His budding. (Num. 17:8, footnote 1)
Today's Reading
God commanded the twelve leaders to take twelve rods according to the twelve tribes of Israel, and put them in the Tent of Meeting before the Ark.... A rod is a piece of wood. It is a branch that has been stripped of its leaves and roots. It once was living but now has become dead. It once derived its sap from the tree.... All twelve rods were leafless, rootless, dry, and dead. Whichever one budded was the one that was chosen by God. Here we see that resurrection is the basis of God's selection. It is also the basis of authority.Resurrection is everything that is not out of our natural life, not out of ourselves, and not based on our ability. Resurrection speaks of the things that are beyond us, which we cannot do in ourselves.... If a man has never realized his own inability, he can never experience God's ability...Resurrection means that God has given us something that we did not have in ourselves. The Bible testifies again and again that man cannot make it by himself. But many people think that they can make it....Resurrection means that you cannot make it and that God is the One who has done everything.
The principle to every service lies in the budding rod. God returned all the eleven rods to the leaders, but kept Aaron's rod inside the Ark as an eternal memorial. This means that resurrection is an eternal principle in our service to God. A servant of the Lord is one who has died and resurrected. God testifies again and again to His people that authority to serve God lies in resurrection, not in a person himself. All services to the Lord must pass through death and resurrection before they will be acceptable to God. Resurrection means that everything is of God and not of us. It means that God alone is able and that we are not able. Resurrection means that everything is done by God, not by ourselves. All those who think highly of themselves and who hold a misguided judgment of themselves have never realized what resurrection is. No one should be mistaken to think that he can do anything by himself. If a man continues to think that he is able, that he can do something, and that he is useful, he does not know resurrection.... All those who know resurrection have given up hope in themselves; they know that they cannot make it. As long as the natural strength remains, the power of resurrection has no ground for manifestation. As long as Sarah could beget a child, Isaac would not come. What we can do belongs to the natural realm, and what is impossible for us to do belongs to the realm of resurrection.
God's ability is not manifested in His creation but in resurrection. God's greatest power is manifested not through creation but through resurrection. When God's power is manifested in creation, it does not need to be preceded by death. But when His power is manifested in resurrection, there is the need for it to be preceded by death. Every created thing needs no precedence for its creation, but everything in resurrection has its precedence.... A man must come to the end of himself before he will be convinced of his utter uselessness. (CWWN, vol. 47, "Authority and Submission," pp. 243,247-250)
Further Reading: CWWN, vol. 47, "Authority and Submission," ch. 15; CWWL, 1990, vol. 2, "A Thorough View of the Body of Christ," ch. 2; CWWL, 1991-1992, vol. 2, "The Christian Life," ch. 7