Good morning…

In this tumultuous time leading up to our next presidential election, I discovered an intriguing Bible story I had never read before. Read with me Numbers 17:1-11 (NLT).

Then the Lord said to Moses, “Tell the people of Israel to bring you twelve wooden staffs, one from each leader of Israel’s ancestral tribes, and inscribe each leader’s name on his staff. Inscribe Aaron’s name on the staff of the tribe of Levi, for there must be one staff for the leader of each ancestral tribe. Place these staffs in the Tabernacle in front of the Ark containing the tablets of the Covenant, where I meet with you. Buds will sprout on the staff belonging to the man I choose. Then I will finally put an end to the people’s murmuring and complaining against you.”

So Moses gave the instructions to the people of Israel, and each of the twelve tribal leaders, including Aaron, brought Moses a staff. Moses placed the staffs in the Lord’s presence in the Tabernacle of the Covenant. When he went into the Tabernacle of the Covenant the next day, he found that Aaron’s staff, representing the tribe of Levi, had sprouted, budded, blossomed, and produced ripe almonds!

When Moses brought all the staffs out from the Lord’s presence, he showed them to the people. Each man claimed his own staff. And the Lord said to Moses: “Place Aaron’s staff permanently before the Ark of the Covenant to serve as a warning to rebels. This should put an end to their complaints against me and prevent any further deaths.”

So Moses did as the Lord commanded him.

Interesting. Is it not? I ask you to join me in full bodied prayer, begging God diligently, between now and election day, to symbolically sprout buds, blossoms, and almonds on the staff belonging to the person God chooses as our nation’s next president. The LORD has performed this mysterious miracle before and we must trust God to produce supernatural, organic growth again. The political candidate through which the LORD chooses to sprout and bud, to blossom and produce ripe nourishment, this president must receive our support and not our rebellion. Maybe putting an end to our murmurings and complaints against God’s chosen leader will help to prevent further deaths.

Preparing to cast our presidential vote, are we willing to listen closely to God’s instructions and do what the LORD commands us, like Moses did as the LORD commanded him?

Sue