Ear Lobe, Thumb, and Big Toe - Part 2

"The priest is to pour some of the oil ... and ... put [it] on the same places he put the blood of the guilt offering—on the lobe of the right ear of the one to be cleansed, on the thumb of their right hand and on the big toe of their right foot. - Leviticus 14:25-29

Early Jewish Christians believed the Old Testament, with all its sundry laws and ceremonies, actually pointed to Christ and godly living.¹

So, why would God specify in the law, the priest was to apply oil, not just anywhere but only on top of the blood that was, first, placed on the ear lobe, thumb, and big toe?

Here's what I think.

Oil represents God's Holy Spirit which brings joy,² healing,³ enlightenment,⁴ and endurance.⁵ The ear lobe represents the mind and what we allow into it. The thumb indicates the action of our hands and what we do with them. The big toe represents what we do with our feet - where we go.⁶

Gods blessings upon our lives through the Holy Spirit follow the applied forgiveness of Christ, not before. This also indicates God's desire for us is not just forgiveness but life!

- fritz

1 - Written for our sakes, 1st Corinthians 9:9-10
2 - Oil of Gladness, Hebrews 1:9
3 - Elders anointing with oil, James 5:14
4 - He leads into all truth - John 16:13, Anointing teaches us all things, 1st john 2:27
5 - Wise and foolish vergins, Matthew 25:3-4
6 - Ear Lobe, Thumb, and Big Toe - Part 1, February 26, 2010

Ear Lobe, Thumb, and Big Toe - Part 1

"[T]ake some of its blood and put it on the lobe of the right ear ... on the thumb of their right hand and on the big toe of their right foot. - Leviticus 14:25

God was very specific about where to put the sacrifical blood!

We know the early followers of Christ believed the Old Testament, with all its ceremonial laws, pointed to Christ and godly living.¹ So what is the significance of the ear lobe, the thumb, and the big toe?

Simple! Salvation is to impact everything we think and listen to (ear lobe), everything we do (the thumb), and everywhere we go! (the big toe).

- fritz

^{1 - 1st Corinthians 9:9-10}

A Shared Participation

For we being many are one bread, and one body: for we are all partakers of that one bread. " - 1st Corinthians 10:17

This weeks' Church offertory lead to an epiphany - making that 15" journey from head to heart!

Our choir director gave the men and women in the sanctuary different words to sing, like a round. The men sang their part then the women sang theirs then both sang their different parts together and it was wonderful!

It wasn't a show I watched but an event - and I was part of it, reminded Church is not a show to watch but a participation to share!

The realization went further!

Why the liturgy with its printed prayers, times of sitting, rising, kneeling, eating, singing songs we can actually sing? - not for a love of ritual but because Church is not a show to watch but a participation to share. We may detour throughout the service, each having our own part as the Holy Spirit leads, but then we return and continue together.

I participate in a shared fellowship - I sing, I pray, I kneel, I eat, I make the sign of the cross - participating with my body as well as my soul and spirit. There is a place for the "I" in the voluntarily participation with the "We"! I belong.

There is a reason the Eucharist is also called "Communion" - we commune with Jesus and his body, a shared participation.

- fritz

2 Birds, 1 Stick, Red Thread, and a Branch

"Then shall the priest command to take for him that is to be cleansed two birds alive and clean, and cedar wood, and scarlet, and hyssop:

And the priest shall command that one of the birds be killed in an earthen vessel over running water:

As for the living bird, he shall take it, and the cedar wood, and the scarlet, and the hyssop, and shall dip them and the living bird in the blood of the bird that was killed over the running water:

And he shall sprinkle upon him that is to be cleansed from the leprosy seven times, and shall pronounce him clean, and shall let the living bird loose into the open field. " - Leviticus 14:4-7

What's this with the birds (not just one but two), the thread (it must be red), a stick (it must be Cedar), and a branch (it must be hyssop)?! It all seems arbitrary until we see Jesus!

THE PLAYERS:
Two Birds - Jesus and us. Christ set aside his glory to become one of us - completely human.¹

Ceder Wood - The cross - Christ's and ours.²

Scarlet Thread - Thread representing what keeps us bound, Scarlet representing, sin³. It is our sin that binds us, breaks our relationships, and keeps us from living free.

Hyssop - Used for sprinkling sacrificial blood, water, or whatever on the people and things around the altar⁴ - God's blessings, His word, and His will are to be applied to our daily living, not just kept as theory.

Earthen Bowl - The real, tangible, physical world in which we live.⁵

Running Water - Life, activity, constant motion.

THE ACTION:
One bird killed, his blood gathered in an earthen bowl over running water - Jesus sacrificed on the cross at a point in time and a real place while life moved on and many never noticed.

Second bird, stick, thread, and branch dipped in the sacrificed bird's blood - Our lives, our daily trials,⁷ our many sins, are to be touched by Christ's sacrifice.⁸ His "blood" is to be applied to us and all we are or hope to be and do.

Second bird release - When touched by Christ's work on the cross we are set free from sin's bondage, released to live a full, abundant life!⁹

See, those laws are not arbitrary at all - the whole Bible is a book about one man - Jesus the Christ.¹⁰

- fritz

1 - Hebrews 2:14
2 - Luke 9:23
3 - Isaiah 1:8
4 - Numbers 19:18
5 - 2nd Corinthians 4:7
7 - Luke 9:23
8 - Hebrews 9:11-12
9 - John 8:36
10 - Hebrews 8:1-6, Hebrews 9:9

God is At Work

"The trees ...the birds ... the wild goats ... the conies .... all the beasts of the forest do creep forth ....The young lions roar ... and seek their meat from God ...

Man goeth forth unto his work and to his labour until the evening.

O LORD, how manifold are thy works! in wisdom hast thou made them all" - Psalm 104:16-24

Most followers of Christ can see the miraculous hand of God in nature - it is God's handiwork! But the Bible says our daily work routine is just inspired by God.

God is at work at work!

Faithfully doing an honest day's work at an honest job is spiritual, don't let the routineness make you loose site of that!

"Do your best. Work from the heart for your real Master, for God, confident that you'll get paid in full when you come into your inheritance - Colossians 3:24 (Message)

-fritz

Married to a Friend

"Be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love; in honour preferring one another; - Romans 12:10

Jim Martin, moderator for A Place For the God Hungry is starting a series on marriage and says something to remember.

"Many marriages end because husbands and wives stop behaving like friends.

Marriages would be helped by husbands and wives renewing their friendship with each another. This would mean eliminating behaviors that should be not be a part of any loving friendship. This also means being intentional about behaving in ways that rebuild and give energy to their friendship" - Jim Martin¹

Renew your friendship.

- fritz

^{1 - Read Jim's whole post here}

Sitting With Jesus

"that ye may know ...the exceeding greatness of his power ... Which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places" - Ephesians 1:18-20

Jesus was bodily raised from the dead. That's why Christians worship on Sunday instead of the Sabbath - because that was the day it all happened! Jesus was raised, ascended, and took his place at the Father's right hand in heavenly places!

He is NOT the only one there - we are there, too!

"God raised us up and seated us in the heavens with Christ Jesus. - Ephesians 2:6 (Common English Bible)

Note the past tense.

How can I be sitting with Christ at God's right hand if I'm here with you, or on the job, or fishing Saturday morning with my son?

Easy! Think of it this way. My whole body is, right now, sitting in a chair at the library - my hands are on the keyboard and my feet are on the floor but these parts of my body are no less seated than the parts closer to the chair for I am one body and I am seated.

Similarly, we are members of Christ just as hands and feet. I may be here and you there but we who are in Christ are just as seated as our Savior who took his rightful place with the Father.

- fritz