Following Moses, we have the people of Israel. Israel was a people called to be a kingdom of priests (Exo. 19:6). Israel was not called to be a kingdom of kings, but a kingdom of priests. The priesthood is altogether related to God's image. The kingship is related to God's authority. In both the Old Testament and the New Testament we have these two posts, the priesthood and the kingship. The priesthood is for us to contact God and to have the image of God; the kingship is for us to represent God and to exercise God's authority. Later on we will see that Christians have been called to be priests and kings. The destiny of the people of Israel was to be a kingdom of priests. They were to contact God until, like Moses, their faces shone with the glory of God. Don't look at the negative side of the people of Israel. Look at the positive side. With the ark of the tabernacle they were the priests that defeated Jericho (Josh. 6:1-21). If you read Joshua 6 again, you will see that the whole nation of Israel did not fight the battle with swords or spears. Day by day, they bore the testimony and blew the rams' horns. Then they shouted, meaning that they praised God. Jericho fell. They did not fight the battle like soldiers or warriors. They fought the battle like priests. As long as you are a priest, you are qualified to defeat the enemy.
Wives, why do you lose the war in your family life? Because you don't have a priest's face. Perhaps you have the face of a scorpion or a turtle or a serpent. If you don't express the face of a priest, you have lost the war already. Husbands, we are the head, but what kind of head are we—the head of a scorpion? The husband who has a scorpion's head can never be a proper head. You must have a head that bears the face of a priest, shining with God's glory. If we have a priest's face, we will gain the victory in our family life. I would even check with you brothers in the brothers' house. What kind of face do you bear? Do you bear the face of a priest reflecting the glory of the Lord or the face of a mouse? We must be priests. Then we will subdue the whole environment. As long as you have the priest's face, you have authority. Jericho will be subdued.
The case of Aaron is very interesting. Although God's intention was to make the whole nation of Israel a kingdom of priests, the nation failed God. So, out of the entire nation, God called out one tribe, the Levites, to be a tribe of priests. The head of that tribe was the house of Aaron. At a certain time, the people of Israel murmured and rebelled against Aaron, saying, "Is God only with you and not with us?" Then God asked each of the twelve tribes to bring a rod with the name of the tribe written upon it. A rod means authority. Aaron's rod was the only rod that budded (Num. 17:2-10). It budded almonds. In Palestine, the first thing that blossoms in the springtime is the almonds. In typology, the almond blossoms signify resurrection life. After the wintertime, the first thing that blossoms is almonds—that is resurrection life. Aaron's rod was a piece of dead wood. Overnight this piece of dead wood budded. It became a budding rod, not budding with apples or grapefruit, but with almonds. This means that it was surviving with the resurrection life. Where there is life, there is authority. Where there is divine life, there is divine authority. Where there is life, there is the image, and the image brings in dominion. Thus, Aaron had the resurrection life to express God. So, Aaron had authority to represent God.
Elders in the local churches, leaders in all the service groups, leading sisters—you all must be very clear that to be a leading one in the churches among God's people means that you must bud. You must bud with the resurrection life. We are all simply pieces of dead wood. Whether or not this dead wood can be a rod of authority depends on whether or not this dead wood buds with resurrection life. If you have the intention to be a leader in a certain service, we will wait to see whether or not the dead wood rots or buds. If it buds with resurrection life, that is a sign authority is there. It is no more a piece of dead wood; it is a ruling rod.