The Rod
Isaiah 11:1
"1 And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots:"
I see that a rod shall come forth out of the stem of Jesse, Jesse is David's father. So through the bloodline of Jesse, this rod, wooden staff or stick and we also see as we continue in this verse that it is a Branch which shows even clearer that the rod is from a tree or to say a piece of wood. But we also see that it is a person. Remember all the types that represented Jesus in the New Testament. He was the door, the light, the bread and the wine, the Shepherd, the rock, etc. Let's look at some verses regarding rod:
Psalm 89:32
Then will I visit their transgression with the rod, and their iniquity with stripes.
The Lord did this many times in the Old Testament and he did it in the New Testament when he came in human flesh. He came through the rightful bloodlines to be king. He came through the order of Melchisedec in regards to the priesthood, without father or mother, decent or beginning of life or ending.
Not only did he visit their transgression with the rod, him being such. He also visted their iniquity with stripes by bearing the stripes for their iniquity before he went to the cross.
Psalm 110:2
The LORD shall send the rod of thy strength out of Zion: rule thou in the midst of thine enemies.
Psalm 125:3
For the rod of the wicked shall not rest upon the lot of the righteous; lest the righteous put forth their hands unto iniquity.
Jesus as the rod will punish the wicked and reward the righteous.
Prov 10:13
"13 In the lips of him that hath understanding wisdom is found: but a rod is for the back of him that is void of understanding."
It is kinda like this, since the rod came in human flesh, he chatised those who were void of understanding. See Matt. 21:12,13; Mark 11:15-18, keep in mind he is clearing out the garbage going on in the temple and that is true whether we are talking about the physical building made of brick or the physical building made of flesh and bone. He wants a clean temple inside and out. Not just a front but pure, clean within and without. Also Luke 19:45-47. I want you to notice something else here, the religious people will do all they can to stop you from interupting their plans for future prosperity and this in two of three gospels and the third one has them coming to him and saying, "Hearest thou what these say? And Jesus saith unto them, Yea; have ye never read, Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings thou hast perfected praise?" (Matt. 21:16.) And from the other two gospels we know what their plans were.
Prov 13:24
"24 He that spareth his rod hateth his son: but he that loveth him chasteneth him betimes."
Prov 22:15
"15 Foolishness is bound in the heart of a child; but the rod of correction shall drive it far from him."
Prov 23:13,14
"13 Withhold not correction from the child: for if thou beatest him with the rod, he shall not die.
"14 Thou shalt beat him with the rod, and shalt deliver his soul from hell."
I thought these were worth using, in our day and age, the child is not to be displinced, he is master of his own soul, so to speak.
Prov 26:3
"3 A whip for the horse, a bridle for the ass, and a rod for the fool's back."
Prov 29:15
"15 The rod and reproof give wisdom: but a child left to himself bringeth his mother to shame."
Isaiah 10:26
26 And the LORD of hosts shall stir up a scourge for him according to the slaughter of Midian at the rock of Oreb: and as his rod was upon the sea, so shall he lift it up after the manner of Egypt.
Remember Moses lifting up the rod and the sea departed so they could walk across on dry land out of Egypt, a type of the world headed for the promised land after a time through the wilderness, a time of testing for God's people just as Jesus went into the desert, wilderness for a time of testing, 40 days.
Exodus 14:16
"16 But lift thou up thy rod, and stretch out thine hand over the sea, and divide it: and the children of Israel shall go on dry ground through the midst of the sea."
Also remember Jesus saying, "And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: " (John 3:14)
Well, I believe that the serpent was a type of Jesus as we will see as we go through some of Exodus. I also believe that he was the rod or staff on which the serpent was wrapped.
Exodus 4:1-5
1 And Moses answered and said, But, behold, they will not believe me, nor hearken unto my voice: for they will say, The LORD hath not appeared unto thee.
2 And the LORD said unto him, What is that in thine hand? And he said, A rod.
3 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.
4 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:
5 That they may believe that the LORD God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, hath appeared unto thee.
We need to reach out and touch the "tail", the hem of his garment.
Check Matt. 9:20
"20 And, behold, a woman, which was diseased with an issue of blood twelve years, came behind him, and touched the hem of his garment:
"21 For she said within herself, If I may but touch his garment, I shall be whole.
"22 But Jesus turned him about, and when he saw her, he said, Daughter, be of good comfort; thy faith hath made thee whole. And the woman was made whole from that hour."
And Matt. 14:33-36
"33 Then they that were in the ship came and worshipped him, saying, Of a truth thou art the Son of God.
"34 And when they were gone over, they came into the land of Gennesaret.
"35 And when the men of that place had knowledge of him, they sent out into all that country round about, and brought unto him all that were diseased;
"36 And besought him that they might only touch the hem of his garment: and as many as touched were made perfectly whole."
Exodus 4:17
"17 And thou shalt take this rod in thine hand, wherewith thou shalt do signs."
Exodus 4:20
"20 And Moses took his wife and his sons, and set them upon an ass, and he returned to the land of Egypt: and Moses took the rod of God in his hand."
Exodus 7:10-12
"10 And Moses and Aaron went in unto Pharaoh, and they did so as the LORD had commanded: and Aaron cast down his rod before Pharaoh, and before his servants, and it became a serpent.
"11 Then Pharaoh also called the wise men and the sorcerers: now the magicians of Egypt, they also did in like manner with their enchantments.
"12 For they cast down every man his rod, and they became serpents: but Aaron's rod swallowed up their rods.
As we walk in the Spirit, we will always overcome, win until it is our time to go and then it might look as though we lost to the world but we won the ultimate battle. Praise God! The Lord will swallow up the enemy. Think about Jesus, it looked like he lost the battle when he was on the cross and he won so many before that point and time and yet... Then three days later we see that he did win the ultimate victory after all and so will we as we move and walk in him.
Exodus 7:15-20
"15 Get thee unto Pharaoh in the morning; lo, he goeth out unto the water; and thou shalt stand by the river's brink against he come; and the rod which was turned to a serpent shalt thou take in thine hand.
"16 And thou shalt say unto him, The LORD God of the Hebrews hath sent me unto thee, saying, Let my people go, that they may serve me in the wilderness: and, behold, hitherto thou wouldest not hear.
"17 Thus saith the LORD, In this thou shalt know that I am the LORD: behold, I will smite with the rod that is in mine hand upon the waters which are in the river, and they shall be turned to blood.
"18 And the fish that is in the river shall die, and the river shall stink; and the Egyptians shall lothe to drink of the water of the river.
"19 And the LORD spake unto Moses, Say unto Aaron, Take thy rod, and stretch out thine hand upon the waters of Egypt, upon their streams, upon their rivers, and upon their ponds, and upon all their pools of water, that they may become blood; and that there may be blood throughout all the land of Egypt, both in vessels of wood, and in vessels of stone.
"20 And Moses and Aaron did so, as the LORD commanded; and he lifted up the rod, and smote the waters that were in the river, in the sight of Pharaoh, and in the sight of his servants; and all the waters that were in the river were turned to blood."
The blood!? There is blood all through the bible. Some say that God is a bloody God and they don't want him. But in reality, mankind are the bloody ones and because of that the blood sacrifices were started. Animals had to be killed to clothe Adam and Eve. Seth offered a sacrifice to God and Cain offered the fruit of the ground, the fruit of the ground was rejected. So Cain killed Seth.
Without the shedding of blood there is no remission of sin and this was in regards to animal blood, mainly lambs in the Old Testament, until the Lamb of God the Lord Jesus Christ came to take away the sins of the world.
Hebrews 9:22
"And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission."
The blood that flowed from Golgatha's tree, the cross that Jesus hung on for you and me.
Exodus 7:23
"23 And Pharaoh turned and went into his house, neither did he set his heart to this also."
When we don't set our heart to hear the things of God then we are in trouble even in our own house. It seems that so many in these last days set their heart to the things of the world even more such as the t.v. set, movies, the books, and other sorts of media that the world puts in our face just about every where we go.
Looking at these different verses, can you see the Lord Jesus Christ in them? Keep in mind, John 5:39,40.
Isaiah 11:2-5
"2 And the spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD;
"3 And shall make him of quick understanding in the fear of the LORD: and he shall not judge after the sight of his eyes, neither reprove after the hearing of his ears:
"4 But with righteousness shall he judge the poor, and reprove with equity for the meek of the earth: and he shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked.
"5 And righteousness shall be the girdle of his loins, and faithfulness the girdle of his reins."
Think about it, he is called the Word of God in the book of John when he came and the written word of God is called the scriptures. Revelation shows the sword coming out of his mouth but here we see the rod coming out of his mouth yet he is the Rod to which all men will bow. Check Phil. 2:10,11.
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