almonds...staff..

crazy story from the times...
  According to Michas' book, The Rod of an Almond Tree in God's Master Plan, a similar staff in the Old Testament was (1) a "divine rod" from the Tree of Life, (2) possessed of miraculous powers, (3) preserved by the Patriarchs and (4) will one day reappear to validate the true messiah. This rod had mystical powers because God had engraved upon it his own "Ineffable Name":

". . .God gave Adam a branch from the Tree of Life, which was engraved with the Ineffable Name of God (YHVH). Considering its source, it must have been of supreme symbolic significance. . .Perhaps at some future time, a discovery will be made to verify the history of this divine rod."(p. 119)
"According to rabbinical commentary and stories passed from generation to generation, the rod transferred from Adam successively down the line to Enoch, Shem, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses and David. According to the Midrash Yelamdenu: the staff with which Jacob crossed the Jordan is identical with that which Judah gave to his daughter-in-law, Tamar. . . (p. 120)
"According to one account: On Joseph's death the Egyptian nobles stole some of his belongings, and, among them, Jethro appropriated the staff. Jethro planted the staff in his garden, when its marvelous virtue was revealed by the fact that nobody could withdraw it from the ground; even to touch it was fraught with danger to life. This was because the Ineffable Name of God was engraved upon it. When Moses entered Jethro's household he read the Name, and by means of it was able to draw up the rod, for which service Zipporah, Jethro's daughter, was given to him in marriage (emphasis added). (p. 121)
"What makes this account so remarkable is the reference to planting the rod engraved with the Ineffable Name of God (YHVH). Considering the prior reference to God's transplanting the Tree of Life in the Garden of Eden, it seems of great consequence that a reference is made to planting a branch from this same tree in another garden." (p. 122)
"According to the Midrash Yelamdenu, David carried the rod into battle against Goliath. . .Undoubtedly, David's victory was proof of God's miraculous intervention. The rod, engraved with the Ineffable Name, bore witness to the authority which this miracle of redemption had been performed. . ." (p. 128)

Students of Scripture know that no such mystical branch from the Tree of Life in the Garden of Eden is found in the Old Testament. Rather, based on mere legends, Peter Michas has grossly exaggerated the importance and chronological longevity of Aaron's rod, which Scripture only states (1) miraculously became a serpent before the court of Pharaoh to swallow up the rods of the Egyptian magicians, (2) later budded as proof of Aaron's authority, (3) was preserved for a time in the Ark of the Covenant.