Matthew Henry Commentary Numbers 17:8-13

"And it came to pass on the morrow, that Moses went into the tent of the testimony; and, behold, the rod of Aaron for the house of Levi was budded, and put forth buds, and produced blossoms, and bare ripe almonds. And Moses brought out all the rods from before Jehovah unto all the children of Israel: and they looked, and took every man his rod. And Jehovah said unto Moses, Put back the rod of Aaron before the testimony, to be kept for a token against the children of rebellion; that thou mayest make an end of their murmurings against me, that they die not. Thus did Moses: as Jehovah commanded him, so did he. And the children of Israel spake unto Moses, saying, Behold, we perish, we are undone, we are all undone. Every one that cometh near, that cometh near unto the tabernacle of Jehovah, dieth: shall we perish all of us?" — Numbers 17:8-13 (ASV)

While all the other rods remained as they were, Aaron's rod became a living branch. In some places there were buds, in others blossoms, and in others fruit, all at the same time; all this was miraculous. Thus Aaron was shown to be under the special blessing of Heaven. Fruitfulness is the best evidence of a divine call; and the plants of God's setting, and the boughs cut off from them, will flourish.

This rod was preserved to take away the murmurings of the people, so that they would not die. God's design, in all His providences and in the memorials of them, is to take away sin. Christ was shown to take away sin. Christ is expressly called a rod out of the stem of Jesse; according to human views, there was little prospect that He would ever flourish.

But the dry rod revived and blossomed, confounding His adversaries. The people cried, Behold, we die, we perish, we all perish! This was the language of a complaining people, quarreling with the judgments of God, which they brought upon themselves by their own pride and obstinacy. It is very wicked to fret against God when we are in affliction, and in our distress to sin even more.

If we die, if we perish, it is because of ourselves, and the blame will rest on our own heads. When God judges, He will overcome and will compel even the most obstinate objectors to confess their folly. And how great are our mercies, that we have a clearer and a better dispensation, established upon better promises!