(7.) Menorah: The Almond Tree

(7.) Menorah: The Almond Tree.

“You shall make a menorah of pure gold, and this lampstand shall be made of hammered work: its base, its centrals stem, its cups at the tops of each branch, its ring of outer leaves, and its flowers shall be one piece with it. And there shall be six branches going out of sides of the central stem, three branches of the menorah out of one side of it and three branches out of the other side of it. On one branch are to be three cups shaped like almond blossoms, each with a ring of outer leaves and flowers, and similarly for all six branches extending from the menorah. And on the menorah’s central branch there shall be four cups shaped like almond blossoms, each with its ring of outer leaves and flowers… You shall make seven lamps for the golden menorah…” (Exodus 25:31-40).

What is the Menorah? “Menorah” is a Hebrew word that simply means light-bearer, or the place that shines and gives light. Menorah and lampstand are treated as synonyms throughout the Bible, even with its variations down through biblical history. The first official menorah was made according to very precise spec’s from Lord Yahweh Himself given to Moses on Mt. Sinai. As with every other piece of furniture in the wilderness Tabernacle, every piece meant something profound, and was a shadow of a heavenly thing to help us understand God better (Hebrew 8:5). Included in the Lord’s instructions regarding the Lampstand were items like these (refer to Exodus 25 and various rabbinic sources):

1. It is to be shaped by hammering out one large piece of pure gold that weighs around 75 pounds;
2. It is to be large enough to completely light up the interior of the Holy Place, and according to rabbinic tradition the Lampstand was about 5 feet tall and over 3 feet in width;
3. It is to have a central shaft resting on a golden base with six branches extending outwards, three shafts on each side facing the central branch in the middle;
4. It was to be made with a cup on top of each branch to be refilled daily with olive oil to fuel the lights;
5. It was to be fueled by pure olive oil and was not to be made for candles;
6. It had one end of the wick in the oil stored in each cup at the branch’s top, and the other end, the lighted end, hanging out to be burned;
7. It was to be elaborately decorated with images of a flowering almond tree that had leaves, blossoms, buds and flowers;
8. It was to be lighted every evening and kept burning through the night until morning;
9. It was to receive daily maintenance by the priests that involved cleaning the Lampstand, trimming the wicks, and refilling the cups of olive oil on each branch;
10. It was for private use by the priests inside the Tabernacle and not to be seen by worshipers outside;
11. It was to be carefully covered by a special blue cloth and a layer of fine leather when the Israelites broke camp and continued their wandering.

Sign of New Life. Almond trees are beloved in Israel, because they are the first sign of spring. Their beautiful white blossoms bloom in late January. So when those pure white blossoms bloom, the people know that winter is almost over and new life is just around the corner. When Aaron’s dead almond branch in Numbers 17 brought forth living buds, and full blossoms, and ripe almonds, the Israelites were not merely assured of Aaron’s leadership role in the priesthood. They were also reminded that God was always watching over them, ready to perform His word over their life in their journey to the Promised Land and beyond. In God’s powerful hands, Aaron’s staff shows us that the dead can come back to life, the powerless can wield God’s authority, the common can become miraculous, the Lord will be alert and watchful, and beauty can come in the most unexpected and timely ways. It’s no wonder the famous paintings of Mary’s Annunciation always pictured an almond branch, complete with blossoms. The pregnancy of Mary would speak to unexpected fruitfulness, to God’s love and watchfulness, and to signs of God’s new life coming just around the bend, springtime in the history of man.

“Now it came to pass on the next day that Moses went into the Tent of the Testimony, and behold, the tribal branch of Aaron, of the house of Levi, had already sprouted and put forth buds, blossoms had bloomed, and almonds had already ripened.” (Numbers 17:8).

The Watchful Tree. What is the significance of Aaron’s dead walking stick developing ripe almonds, as opposed to figs, or pomegranates or dates? Why almonds? In answer to that question, there’s a good chance the Lord was reminding everyone of the divinely inspired Lampstand in the Holy Place. Yahweh had given strict instructions that the golden lampstand in the tabernacle was to be shaped in the form of an almond tree, with its branches, blossoms and almonds all engraved in the gold. (Exodus 25). It turns out that the Hebrew root word for “almond” was “watching.” Those two words are basically the same in Hebrew, and the Lord used the almond tree to let the people know that He would be observant over His Chosen people, alert to His word that it be performed as He said. Jeremiah said it best, “Moreover the word of the Lord came to me, saying, ‘Jeremiah, what do you see?’ And I said, ‘I see a branch of an almond tree.’ Then the Lord said to me, ‘You have seen well, for I am always watching, ready to perform my word.‘” (Jer. 1:11-12). In other words, almonds are a sign from God that He is always watching to make His word fruitful, to bring them through all the stages of growth, to bring forth fruit, just like Aaron’s fruitful rod in the Holy Place. It was no accident that Aaron’s staff blossomed as the branch of an almond tree. It was not random. It was all God’s design. No wonder that the Hebrew name for the almond tree was the “Watchful Tree.” Indeed, God is the watchguard of Israel, and He is always on the lookout to bring His words to life, to fulfill His promises to his chosen people. The almond tree did not sleep during the winter, and God doesn’t sleep as His word will be accomplished as He said.

So Aaron’s miraculous walking stick is rich in symbolism and proves to be a picture of many different truths.

Something dead can come to life. Aaron’s rod is a resurrection story. His staff was a dead, lifeless branch from an almond tree. It was simply a long, sturdy stick hewn from a tree, with no roots, no sap, nothing that would result in fruit or growth of any kind. According to nature’s plan, it had no chance whatsoever of coming back to life. The blossoming of Aaron’s rod was God’s doing, supernatural, a miracle from heaven. It was totally unexpected to see a dead branch display all three stages of vegetable life at all, let alone at the same time. This is a story about the resurrection, much like Ezekiel’s dry bones. It’s a powerful picture of the fact that with almighty God, dead things can come back to life, whether it’s a lifeless branch, or dry bones, or a human heart dead in sin, or a dead human body on the Last Day.

Something powerless can wield authority. In Pharaoh’s presence, God used a mere walking stick to exert His power. Everyone of those plagues visited upon Egypt was a judgment from God on the various gods of Egypt. When Aaron struck the Nile with his staff, God’s power was displayed over their god of the Nile. When Aaron waved his staff over the River and frogs inundated the land, God was giving evidence of His superiority over their worship of the frog. When Aaron struck the ground and Egypt was immediately overwhelmed with lice and gnats, God revealed His power over their god of the biting insect. When Aaron’s rod turned into a serpent that ate all the magicians’ serpents, there was no doubt whose god was most powerful… Yahweh, the God of the Israelites. The rod/staff was always a symbol of authority, and that symbol came to life with Aaron’s rod as he wielded the very real authority of the almighty God.

Something barren can blossom and bear fruit. Aaron’s staff is a story of miraculous fruitfulness. When his staff brought forth gorgeous blossoms and ripe almonds, literally overnight, we can easily see a picture of the many times barren women in the Hebrew Bible were able to bear children only after God’s intervention. We think of Sarah, Rebekah, Rachel, and Hannah, for starters. We also think of times in Scripture when a child was born unexpectedly, most notably with Mary’s pregnancy from the Holy Spirit. Jesus was the unexpected fruit of a devout teenaged girl, a branch in David’s tree, who nonetheless served the Lord by giving birth to the Son of God. A pure flower and a ripe almond from a mere branch. Only God’s miraculous power could bring this to happen. Is it any wonder that so many painters during the Middle Ages and the Renaissance thought of the almond blossom as a perfect symbol of purity and painted a blossoming almond tree into Annunciation scenes? There is Mary, an unknown, common village girl, unexpectedly and miraculously bearing the fruit of her union with the Holy Spirit. With God, even the barren can bear fruit, and even the common can be miraculous, just like Aaron’s rod.