5"It will come about that the rod of the man whom I choose will sprout. Thus I will lessen from upon Myself the grumblings of the sons of Israel, who are grumbling against you."
6Moses therefore spoke to the sons of Israel, and all their leaders gave him a rod apiece, for each leader according to their fathers' households, twelve rods, with the rod of Aaron among their rods.
God had compassion on Moses and Aaron who were the brunt of the people's grumblings. The people were really angry with God and his choice of Moses and Aaron as leaders, but Moses and Aaron were convenient targets for the disgruntled masses. Therefore, God directed Moses to gather rods from each of the family leaders to make his choice of Aaron absolutely clear. What happened next was amazing!
7So Moses deposited the rods before the LORD in the tent of the testimony.
8Now on the next day Moses went into the tent of the testimony; and behold, the rod of Aaron for the house of Levi had sprouted and put forth buds and produced blossoms, and it bore ripe almonds.
Not only did Aaron's dead stick sprout leaves, but flowers and ripe almonds, too! In this way, God showed the people His choice. In addition, He revealed His power to make something dead bring life. It reminds me of what Paul wrote in Romans 4 concerning the faith of Abraham that God accounted to him as righteousness.