Smell the Blossoms, Eat the Almonds

Aaron was the brother of Moses, you might remember. In fact when God asked Moses to speak to pharaoh, he told the Lord that he was unable to speak well, so God appointed Aaron to speak for his brother. The bible does not say what problem Moses had with speaking, we don't know if he had a speech impediment or was just not a public speaker but we do know Aaron was chosen to be Moses' mouth piece. Maybe Aaron just had a gift for gab and the bible tells us he did indeed speak and pharaoh did let God's people go.

But as we pick up the account later, when Moses went up the mountain to talk to God and left Aaron in charge he didn't do so well. While Moses was gone, the people got inpatient and Aaron agreed to make a golden calf for them to worship. Now, the once mouth piece of Moses was just a "mouth" who bent to the pressure of the people and their desire to worship idols. Failure we would say, scoundrel would befit such a man but High Priest, who'd a thought it? We find in Exodus that even after his great failure, God indeed made him High Priest and in fact we find that the Lord went to great measure to consecrate him in great style right down to the clothing he wore. Wouldn't you think that someone more worthy would have been chosen for this grand position? Actually there were some who apparently thought they were more suited to be priests, they went against Aaron and so went against the will of God. In order to prove that Aaron was His chosen one, God caused his staff to bloom, bud and even to produce almonds! I love this! Have you ever failed? Have you ever fallen way short of God's will? Have you ever made for yourself a "golden calf" and let God down? I would have to raise my hand as one who has failed God! But through Jesus, he hands us the blooming staff as a reminder of our worth and value even after we have failed. Scripture is full of such people who fail God! I am amazed that as Aaron, I smell the blooming staff and eat almonds as I rest in His grace! Praise God for his amazing love!