IN THE CHURCH OF GOD FOR ALL NATIONS
“And the Lord said unto
me, take unto thee yet the instruments of a foolish shepherd.” – Zechariah
11:15. The staff is a foolish instrument; however, Paul said that the majority
of people forget that God has always taken the foolish things of this world to
confound the wise (I Corinthians 1:27).
We can see the invisible power of God in action revealed through things that are
made (Romans 1:20) as we go to Exodus 4:1-4. “And Moses answered and said, But,
behold, they will not believe me, nor hearken unto my voice: for they will say,
The Lord has not appeared unto thee. And the Lord said unto him, “What is that
in thine hand? And he said, A rod. And he said, Cast it on the ground. And he
cast it on the ground and it became a serpent; and Moses fled from before it.
And the Lord said unto Moses, Put forth thine hand, and take it by the tail. And
he put forth his hand, and caught it, and it became a rod in his hand.” Here we
find a visible, outward manifestation of God, but His means of displaying His
invisible power was in a rod. In spite of God’s greatness, Moses was told, “And
thou shall take this rod in thine hand, wherewith thou shalt do signs.”
In Numbers 17:1, 2, we read: “And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto
the children of Israel, and take of every one of them a rod according to the
house of their fathers, and of all their princes according to the house of their
fathers twelve rods: write thou every man’s name upon his rod.” The rod in the
hand of Moses (God’s Anointed) had the name written thereon: The Rod of God. The
camp of Israel was divided into twelve tribes, and each of the tribal leaders
carried a staff with his name written on it, thereby letting the people know by
this manifestation of staves who were the heads of the people with authority
over them. We also read of the time when God commanded Moses to put the twelve
rods in the Tabernacle of Witness along with Aaron’s rod. This was done because
of the murmuring against Moses as to who would be the High Priest. God told
Moses that He would cause the murmuring to cease against him. Moses took the
twelve rods along with Aaron’s rod and lay them before God in the Tabernacle of
Witness. God said, “It shall come to pass, that the man’s rod, whom I shall
choose, shall blossom: and I will make to cease from me the murmurings of the
children of Israel, whereby they murmur against you.” – Numbers 17:5. Further
reading shows that it was Aaron’s rod that brought forth buds and blossoms and
yielded almonds. So, it is evident that the staves were made of an almond tree.
Here again He used a stick without life, but gave it life in order to prove His
invisible power and the man whom He had chosen.
Though the staff is a symbol of authority, it is of no power in itself as is
demonstrated in II Kings 4. God’s power was not manifested in this case in order
to let us know that a man of an evil heart cannot use the staff to work wonders.
Anyone cannot take up a staff as though he is something and receive the approval
of God’s power. At the same time, in the right hand, it will bring results.
Gehazi was the man who tried to sell the power of God, and the Lord already knew
the intentions of his heart (Hebrews 4:13).
David, with his staff in his hand, went forth in spirit and power to win the
battle for Israel against the Philistines. In Psalm 23, David prophesied of our
Lord Jesus Christ, just as much as in Psalm 22. “Yea, though I walk through the
valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy
rod and thy staff they comfort me.” Apparently David carried two staves, as a
prophecy of the true Son or God (Jesus) who also carried two staves (or sticks)
to fulfill Bible prophecy. As you can read in Zechariah 11:7, 10-11, 14, there
is still Bible prophecy to be fulfilled with two sticks, or staves, and the rod
of God, which will be fulfilled among the Gentiles.
In fulfillment of Deuteronomy 18:15: “The Lord thy God will raise up unto thee a
prophet from the midst of thee, of thy brethren, like unto me; unto him ye shall
hearken,” Jesus did the same works that Moses did. When in Numbers 17:1, 2 Moses
gave his twelve heads staves (rods) and said, “. . . write thou every man’s name
upon his rod,” and they carried these to prophesy of Jesus with His Twelve
Apostles. “And commanded them that they should take nothing for their journey,
save a staff only; no scrip, no bread, no money in their purse.” — Mark 6:8. The
Twelve Jewish Apostles carried their staves in fulfillment of that which was
written by the Lawgiver, Moses. Jesus was not a natural shepherd who cared for
sheep, nor did His Twelve Apostles have this occupation. Jesus was a carpenter.
His twelve were fishermen, tax collectors, and the like. Their staves then were
visible signs of the invisible power or authority that they possessed.
In fulfillment of Acts 3:20, 21, the House of God (Church) is being restored
among the Gentiles in this day. All things that were in the Early Church must be
restored, including the ministerial gifts (Ephesians 4:11), the perfect pattern
(Hebrews 8:5) with God’s Anointed, Twelve Gentile Apostles, Seventy Prophets,
Seven Men of Wisdom, the cloak, and the staffs. They must be carried by the
Apostles and Prophets of the Church today.
The staves carried by the officials of The Church of God for All Nations are the
proper scriptural length – about three feet. In Genesis 48:1, 2 we read that
Jacob was sick unto death. Joseph brought his two sons to be blessed of Jacob.
The Bible said that he sat upon his bed. This is important to notice. The
Apostle Paul in Hebrews 11:21 says, “By faith Jacob, when he was dying, blessed
both the sons of Joseph; and worshipped, leaning upon the top of his staff.”
Jacob sat on the bed and blessed the two sons, as he leaned on the top of this
staff, which must have been about three feet long.
If the length of the staff is still questionable, let us refer to Numbers 17,
where Aaron’s rod budded. His rod was the same as the other twelve rods. The
Apostle Paul knew this and made it clear in Hebrews 9:4 that this rod was placed
in the ark of the covenant. According to Exodus 25:10-15, the ark of the
covenant was three feet, nine inches long, and two feet high. From these
measurements, the staff must have been something on the order of the average
walking stick of today.
In Revelation 11:1, John was given a rod and was told to arise and measure the
temple of God (Church) with the altar (Twelve Apostles). This rod showed his
authority to rebuild the temple of God and to restore the altar (Twelve
Apostles). John was told in Revelation 2:26-28, He that keepeth His (Jesus’)
works, He would give him a rod (or authority) over the nations to rule them –
and as God requires that which has already been (Eccl. 3:14-15; Matt. 24:45-47),
I will do what God has told me to do, in fulfillment of Micah 7:14-15. “Feed thy
people with thy rod, the flock of thine heritage, which dwell solitarily in the
wood, in the midst of Carmel: let them feed in Bashan and Gilead, as in the days
of old. According to the days of thy coming out of the land of Egypt will I shew
unto him marvellous things.”
This may sound foolish, but Paul said that it pleased God by the foolishness of
preaching to save them that believe. “And the Lord said unto me, Take unto thee
yet the instruments of a foolish shepherd.” — Zechariah 11:15.
The Church of God for All Nations, therefore, practices the carrying of staves
by its officials in positions of authority as outward signs of that authority
and spiritual shepherdship. AMEN — NO LAWBOOK BUT THE BIBLE!
