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this miracle a picture of? It is a picture of resurrection life! A rod is a branch cut from a tree, which then dies because it can no longer feed off the tree. The fact that there were leaves, flowers and fruit on Aaron’s rod meant that life was produced out of death. It is a picture of Jesus’ death and “overnight” resurrection.
    God wants you to know that your grumbling is forgiven and that He will meet your need.
    Jesus died for our sins, but He was raised to life for our justification. (Romans 4:25) His death brought us life. Likewise, Aaron’s “resurrection” rod is a rod of grace because it points to the way in which God “cut off” Jesus so that we can have abundant life.
    By the way, in Israel, the almond is the first fruit to appear after winter. Now, winter is a picture of death, which again demonstrates to us this amazing picture of life being produced out of death, of fruitfulness at the end of a time of famine or barrenness.
    The High Priest Always Represents Grace
    Here is another aspect of Aaron in this same picture: Aaron was the high priest and the high priest is always a representation of grace because he is always a mediator or representative of the people. The high priest represents the people to God (in the same way that prophets represent God to the people). Here again, we see that Aaron’s rod represents grace.
    Having said all that, we can now better understand why God wanted Moses to bring out Aaron’s rod and speak to the rock before the people. God wanted to show the people grace. He wanted them to know that their grumbling was forgiven and that He would meet their need.
    Friends, God wants to deal with us based on His grace. He wants to work miracles among us based on His grace. That is good news because it means that we don’t have to beg or work for His blessings! It’s simply based on His grace!

chapter 4
    Receive Your Blessings By The Grace Of God
     

chapter 4
    Receive Your Blessings By The Grace Of God

    A Covenant Based On Grace
    W e read in Exodus 17 that the children of Israel complained against Moses and tempted God at Rephidim. Now, notice that God didn’t destroy them. He didn’t say, “Step aside Moses, I am going to fry them!”
    Despite all their complaining, God responded in an amazing way by giving them water to drink out of a smitten rock. In other words, not only did they not get the punishment they deserved, they got a blessing they didn’t deserve! Why was God so gracious to them? The reason for God’s gracious response is found in Psalm 105:41–42:
41 He opened the rock, and water gushed out; it ran in the dry places like a river. 42 For He remembered His holy promise, and Abraham His servant .
    This passage tells us that God opened the rock and water gushed out. I love the way it says the water “gushed out”! It certainly wasn’t a trickle! The Israelites didn’t have to queue up in a long line to fill their coffee mugs from a trickle of water. They probably had to wade into the water! And notice that Psalm 105:41 says that “it ran in the dry places like a river” . This was a river in the desert!
    Why did God do this for the children of Israel? He did it because “He remembered His holy promise, and Abraham His servant” . This “holy promise” is God’s covenant with Abraham. (Genesis 15:9–18) It is an unconditional covenant based on His grace.
    What Is A Covenant?
    But before I explain why this covenant is grace-based, I want you to first understand what a covenant is. Some people have this idea that a covenant is like a contract. It is not. A contract is a lot less binding. A contract between two persons may be easily terminated when certain conditions are met or not met. But a covenant is forever! In fact, the only way out of a covenant is death!
    The Hebrew word for “covenant” is beriyth , which means to cut in two. So if I wanted to cut a covenant with you, I would bring an animal with me, usually a ram or a goat, and I would