Why put blood on the right ear, the right thumb, and the right big toe in the consecration?

Sometimes reading the Levitical law can seem daunting. Okay, maybe all of it is unnerving. This morning as I read about Moses consecrating Aaron and how he put the blood of the sacrifice on Aaron's right ear lobe, right thumb, and right toe suddenly this all made sense to me.

First, we need to know that the right hand represented the favored one. So to be on the right is favor. Whenever the right hand is referenced about the LORD it represented the strong arm of the LORD. When we ponder both of these we begin to understand why culturally the right hand respresented cleanliness or purity. What good is favor and strength if it is not done from purity? This is probably why the right hand was never used for doing unclean tasks. It was meant to be set apart. Essentially, we need to know that the right is used to symbolize favor and strength that is pure. 

The ear was marked by the blood sacrifice because we need to listen to God. If we are not tuned to Him then we can not be set apart. The whole point of consecration is to be set apart. Different. Holy. To be an instrument of God so that we can honor Him as we listen and obey.

The thumb was marked because our thumb is the appendage that makes us uniquely different than any other creature. Our thumb allows us to create, build, grasp; well, do fine motor skills that would be hard to do other wise. Our ability to create is one thing that illustrates that we are created in the image of God. 

We are also told in Scripture that God gives the Holy Spirit to the craftsman or artisan so they can create. We are inspired by created things to worship. This reminds us that we are called to not just create, build, work or serve,  but to worship as we do. But our worship should be in the One who gave us that thumb so that we can create as HE created to inspire others to worship Him alone!  Worship should never be in the object or the one who created the object. 

The right toe was covered with the blood sacrifice as a reminder to us that we are called to go. Our feet are what help us go so we can create, build, work, serve and worship. But, consider this also, our big toe is what gives us balance. Without it we cannot balance our person. 

Could it have been a physical reminder to keep things in balance as we go create, build, serve, and worship?  

Could it be it was placed on the big toe so that we must remember in all things that if we truly are set apart it should be done as an act of worship? 

I also wonder if it was done on the ear, thumb, and toe because this covers the entire person. True consecration must be whole hearted. All of you!  There is no room to say to the hand or toe that we will not do as we hear from the LORD. All three must work in a spirit of oneness.

As for the blood sacrifice, this is a symbolic pointer toward the final sacrifice that would be shed in Jesus. He is the One who died for our sins and covered us so that we may be consecrated or set apart for the kingdom of God. Because of Jesus, blood sacrifices are no longer needed because HE was God's favored one, who sat at His right hand that lived a holy and pure life. 

When I was younger reading Leviticus seemed tedious, but now that I know how to ask good questions and assimilate truths with the rest of the Word of God I see such depth and I find it affirming. 

May His favor, strength, and sacrifice be upon your right ear lobe, right thumb, and right big toe so that you are keenly aware that if you have believed in the LORD Jesus then you are set apart to create, build, serve and worship with your whole being. Amen!

What if..? Moses asked God

Do you ever struggle with "What if" syndrome? What if the car breaks down? What if I don't get it done in time? What if they make fun of me? What if they don't like me? What if I am not good enough? What if they dont believe me? What if it can't be fixed? What if..?

As I read Moses' conversation with God at the burning bush this morning, I noticed he said, "What if they don't believe me or listen to me?" Oh I knew he said it but it hit me hard this morning. 

Moses revealed alot in his "what if" statement. Fear! You heard me! The fear of man in particular. Even worse, he was giving more power to man not believing or listening than to God telling him that HE was sending him and would help him.

I love how in their conversation God revealed to Moses that He is all powerful, all knowing, and all present God. He reminded Moses that He was the Father of his father, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. 

As if that wasn't enough God gave him mini miracles for Him to interact with so that he could experience before hand what HE would do through Moses before Pharaoh. 

Do you see how God revealed His character and person to Moses?

Why? 

When we know and understand the character of God, how HE is bigger than creation because HE created it, we find our "what ifs" seem insignificant when we trust and obey. 

Moses went so far as to ask God to send someone else. This caused God's anger to burn, but God gave him a concession for a moment, but in the end Moses did exactly as God asked.

This gives me hope that my "what if" moments don't sideline me. They do give me opportunity to grow and know the LORD more. They become faith steps.

Father, please forgive me of my "what ifs". Help me to let go of my fear of man and help me to know You are bigger than what man says. Help me to let go of not being good enough and trust that You will give me the Words to speak. Help me to let go and just get up and go. Thank you that You are all present, all knowing and all powerful. Thank you that I can trust You to help, provide, and make a way. Help me to honor Your calling in me and through me. In Jesus name amen

Seeing God in an Ordinary Routine

Sometimes when I drive a familiar route I go into mental autopilot and have no clue what is happening. It is terrifying to think of how unobservant I can be when doing a routine activity. I think knowing this about myself causes me concern not just on the physical danger level, but on the spiritual as well. 

As I read about Moses watching over Jethro's flocks I realize Moses was doing his routine activity. There is nothing extraordinary about watching flocks in a field. Yet, he was observant. He noticed something unusual... a burning bush that was not consumed. So he walked over to check it out. This moment of curiosity allowed him to have a conversation with God and receive a holy game plan to rescue the nation and help them to move into their promised land.

I want to be so observant! Now, don't think that I believe that in my ordinary that God plans on using me to change our nation. I do not have grandiose expectations. But I do believe that God can and will meet me in the ordinary to show Himself to me.

Because God is always the same I can trust that He will reveal His presence, His Name, His purpose, His history, His destiny, His plan, and His outcomes to me in my circumstances.

So, I find myself asking, "Are you seeing God? Are you looking for Him? Do you listen to Him? What is He revealing to you? How might the ordinary become extraordinary simply because I am willing to pause, be curious, ask, listen, and obey?

Father, help me to guard against being on auto pilot. Help me to be observant even in the ordinary so that I can be with You and how You are at work around me. In Jesus name amen

Raise up Leaders who Seek the LORD First

Look at this cool chart on the difference between Moses and Joshua. As I read through it I wondered if God is raising up our next generation of leaders to be like Joshua! 

As justice is sought in our nation and around the world the only way it will be won is if the leaders like Joshua stand up!

We need leaders that will fight the battle face to face. 

We need leaders that will confront laziness and fear of the enemy. 

We need tough leaders that will not put up with compromise in the WORD OF GOD on any topic! The message will always be the same. The methods must change. 

We need leaders that will tell people to get up and dig their own wells or in today's language get off your lazy toosh and take care of yourself and stop looking for hand outs. 

I think my struggle as a leader might be that I am a mix of Moses and Joshua. I think my flesh takes over and I act like Joshua in a sinful way by reacting and not seeking the LORD first. 

My heart also longs to be the peacemaker like Moses but I tend to be more of a peacekeeper. I think by just listening and not doing I can keep the peace. Ugh!  That never works. Peacemaking requires strength, resilience, and grit. There will always be a "do" in order to make peace! 

In both cases when I mess up, it is because I did not seek the LORD first. Ugh.

Father, rise up in me the necessary leadership skills to make Your will known and accomplished. Help me to release leaders around me to be like Joshua. Use them to tear down the walls that are barriers to Your will and plan. In Jesus name amen

Moses Met God in his Daily Routine

I don't know about you, but sometimes I wonder how I could possibly meet God in a given circumstance. I search hard when there are big issues, but I can be forgetful in the daily routine. 

Yet, God meets us where we are at. It is in our daily routine that we can encounter God. We must simply be observant and curious enough to check it out. 

If we are willing to see God, God will reveal His presence, His name, His plan, and His purposes for our lives.

I love how Moses saw the burning bush and just went to go check it out. It was in this simple act of curiosity that he had the most intimate conversation with God.

I love that he was real and raw with his fears. He feared his ability was not good enough. He feared how the people would respond. He feared that he would not be recognized as one with authority. 

With each fear God responded in kind. 

I AM WITH YOU! 

       WORSHIP ME!

I AM THE GOD OF YOUR FORE- FATHERS. 

       KNOW MY NAME!

I AM SENDING YOU! 

      TELL THEM THAT!

Such intimacy, security, and comfort found as Moses just went about his day watching his flock if sheep.

Do I watch for God? AM I willing to pause and check things out when He is at work around me? Do I share with Him my greatest fears?  Do I listen to His answers?

I can know this. God does not change and if He did this with Moses, He will do this with me.

I can trust that God is present!

I will worship Him alone!

I know His Name! 

I will share what I know!

I can trust this will influence generations!  

Amen

When we see injustice, how we respond matters

I don't know about you, but sometimes when I see injustice I want to be or can be very reactionary in my responses. I can move too quickly or speak too quickly and cause more harm than good. 

In today's narrative, I see three types of justice occurring and as I watch them unfold, I see Moses maturing. I have never thought of this narrative this way before, but it is almost as if his maturity is being chronicled and condensed down to these three incidents.

The three types of justice I observed are...

1. Moses's response to justice. He is impulsive, reactionary, passionate, and irrational at first. He runs because his actions are wrong. It would have been better if he stayed to chase evil away.

2. Ruel's response to justice given to his daughters was welcoming, hospitable, and generous.

3. God's response to justice was He sees, He hears, and He responds to the groaning of Israel's bondage. 

All three see, hear, and respond. Yet, we see that Moses needs to mature in his response. We are given three separate accounts of how Moses responds to justice. 

Notice that the first situation was he encountered abuse, he was impulsive, physical, and it ended poorly. He killed a man and hide what he did.

In the second situation, Moses was verbal as he encountered two men fighting and he used questions. When he was confronted with his own poor use of just judgment by killing, Moses ran and hid. His approach was better but his poor judgment before caused consequences.

In the third situation, we are not told what Moses did except that he ran off shepherds that prevented the women shepherds from feeding their flocks water. His actions were just enough that he did not run away!  Also, the women told their dad and he welcomed him in and gave him a daughter as a wife. This time Moses reaped blessings so I am going to assume his justice leaned toward the side of goodness.

Because the narrative ends with noting that God sees, hears and responds to the cry for justice as Israel groaned, we can recognize that God longs for us to respond to justice, too.

As we reflect on Moses' three incidents,  we can observe that there are mature ways to respond justly. Justice should bring blessing and what we say or do should enable us to stand firm and not run.

I realize I must slow down, be rational, ask questions, and then move with action. I should chase evil away rather than run because I did evil.

Three character traits that save lives

Creative obedience, compassionate defiance, and courageous steps saves a baby's life!

These are the three truths that God taught me this morning as I reflected on the birth of Moses.

I sure want to be the person that says I recognize that your life matters! You matter! No matter how small you might be, you matter. You are God's gift.

I want to be creatively obedient like Mose's mom. Pharaoh said throw the babies in the Nile. She did, but only after hiding him to grow in strength for three months. She then made him a nice wicker basket boat to keep him afloat and protected from the elements! Talk about creativity!

I want to be compassionately defiant like Pharaoh's daughter. She knew that her dad said,  "throw the babies in the Nile", but when she heard the baby cry she had compassion. Not the kind of compassion that just moves the heart but the kind that moves the hand. She provided for the baby by agreeing to a nurse, giving her pay, and then taking the baby to raise as her own. 

Not only that, she named him Moses meaning "I drew you out of the water!"  This child would grow up hearing every time his name was called that he was delivered from an awful fate because she drew him out. Imagine how that alone plays out in his psyche as he becomes Israel's deliverer that draws them out of their bondage.

I want courageous steps. I want to be so curious that I am willing to see, but not just see, but step forward and do, maybe impulsively, but the right thing like Mose's sister. 

Anytime a life is saved physically or even spiritually, I realize it took someone or a group of someone's creative obedience, compassionate defiance, and courageous steps.

Father, please help me to walk in these and thank you for those that have already done this before me!

God honors those that honor Him

When is civil disobedience okay in the eyes of God?

In Exodus 1:1-22, we discover that God honored the midwives when they protected the lives of little boys being born. Pharoah commanded that they kill them at birth, but they disobeyed Pharaoh and let the little Hebrew boys live. God honored their decision and blessed them with families of their own.

See, back then when a woman could not have children, she was socially despised and greatly disadvantaged socially and politically. Women were property good for bearing children. When a woman could not bear children. she might become a midwife so she can at least be near children and the blessing of bearing them. 

Shiphrah and Puah (midwives) chose to disobey Pharoah at great risk. They could lose their lives but God showed His pleasure with their choice to save lives by blessing their wombs! Wozer!

But, even beyond the blessing of family. God used these two brave women to make a way for two deliverers: Moses and Jesus. 

God used them to fulfill His promise to Abraham to make him the father of a great nation. God used them to fulfill His promise to Jacob to make his family into a great nation. God used them to fulfill His promise to send Israel into the promised land by sending baby Moses that would deliver Israel from Egypt and eventually to send the Messiah through their descendants!

Sometimes, in the moment when we struggle to make the right decision, maybe great risk is involved, maybe we are very disadvantaged, trust that God has a plan and when we walk in obedience blessings will come. Recognize that some fruit will remain unknown because it is fulfilled generationally, but God honors those that honor Him and His commands.