“Moreover the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Jeremiah, what seest thou? And I said, I see a rod of an almond tree. Then said the Lord unto me, Thou hast well seen: for I will hasten my word to perform it.” Jeremiah 1:11-12 

When the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah, it came in the form of word play. The Hebrew word for almond is shaked, and the word for hasten is shoked. The word shoked, to hasten, is also used throughout Scripture to speak of watching, or of vigilance. The way the Lord spoke to the young prophet from the desert was full of symbolism from the land and from the history of the people of Israel. 

The Biblical Symbolism of Almonds

In Israel, the almond tree is a herald of spring, since it is the first tree to blossom. So when God says that He will shoked His own word to perform it, we understand that what He promises will follow shortly afterwards. In this case, His judgement on the land. Jesus used the fig tree as a parallel example in the New Testament. Just as the fig tree presages the coming of summer, so the increasing chaos of the world foreshadows the coming of the kingdom of God (Luke 21:29-31).   

However, Jeremiah did not just see an almond tree. He saw a rod of an almond tree, a piece of an almond tree that had been cut down. God gave him this vision as a clarification of his mission: he was sent as a prophet to the rebellious people of Israel (Jeremiah 4:17, 5:23). Centuries earlier, when the children of Israel rebelled against God and the leadership of Moses and Aaron, God showed them whom He had chosen with a rod and almonds.

The Biblical Significance of Almonds

Every tribe of Israel wrote their name on a rod, and laid the rods before the Lord in the Tabernacle. The next day, only Aaron’s rod, representing Levi, had budded. God hastened to perform His word! The rod budded, bloomed, and gave almonds (Numbers 17:8). Aaron’s rod that budded was placed in the ark of the covenant, along with a pot of manna, and the two tables of the covenant (Hebrews 9:4). Due to this miracle, the uprising against Moses and Aaron was quelled. God showed the rebellious people that Moses and Aaron had not chosen themselves, but were appointed by God Himself.  

In the next verses of Jeremiah 1, God revealed to the prophet that judgment was coming from the north, and soon. Indeed, that judgment came on the land of Judah in the days of Jeremiah. Before it came, the desert prophet repeatedly called on the inhabitants of Jerusalem to turn from their wicked ways and to turn back to God before it was too late. Repeatedly, God says that He would stay His judgment if they would repent. Sadly, they did not listen to the Word of the Lord, and instead were punished for their rebellion.  

What rebellion against the Word of God are you harboring in your life? Perhaps, like the people of Israel, you have risen up against the spiritual leaders God has placed in your life. Or maybe, like the inhabitants of Judah in the days of Jeremiah, you have mixed the worship of the true God with the paganism that He abhors. If so, consider the almond rod. Just as in the days of Jeremiah, God will hasten to bring His chastisement, so repent of your rebellion against Him.  

About John Buckner

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