In Leviticus 8:22 we find a very interesting and significant part of the consecration service of Aaron and his sons.
"And he brought the other ram, the ram of consecration: and Aaron and his sons laid their hands upon the head of the ram. And he slew it; and Moses took of the blood of it, and put it upon the tip of Aaron's right ear, and upon the thumb of his right hand, and upon the great toe of his right foot. And he brought Aaron's sons, and Moses put of the blood upon the tip of their right ear, and upon the thumbs of their right hands, and upon the great toes of their right feet: and Moses sprinkled the blood upon the altar round about."
My friend Eric Ludy brings out some interesting thoughts about the significance of the "Right Side" of the body which came back to my mind as I was reading this chapter in Leviticus. So I will share some of his thoughts here as it really has opened my eyes to the spiritual significance of what is happening:
In God’s mysterious language, the right side of the body denotes far more than a mere compass direction or physical appendage; it denotes strength, power, salvation, control, will, lordship, kingship, holiness, cleanliness, correctness, correction, social propriety, honor, and wisdom. Therefore, if man claims this “right side” of his being and refuses to release it unto God, he is despising the offer of God’s strength, power, salvation, control, will, lordship, kingship, holiness, cleanliness, correctness, correction, heavenly propriety, honor, and wisdom and is determining to seek those things by means of his own machinations. Therefore, the right side of one’s being must be relinquished in order for man to become as he ought to be.
Humanism emphasizes the natural born rights of man for life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. These inborn, inherent, innate rights of man are reasonable and proper to uphold in a human society. But God’s business is pressing us into a heavenly, and not an earthly, society – a heavenly and not earthly, pattern for living. Every man has these reasonable and naturally inherited possessions – a right to control, decide his course, engineer his outcome, design and build his fortune and fame, create and stimulate his happiness and pleasure, keep or relinquish his assets. But as long as man holds onto this perceived right, he cannot enter into the pattern of Jesus Christ, who asks for everything, including even that which is reasonable to keep, to be poured out as a sacrifice upon the alter of devotion. Therefore, the natural born inherent rights of man must be relinquished in order for man to become as he ought to be.
Man has a way which he perceives to be correct and proper, but God must prove that Man’s opinion is unholy and wholly unlike his own. God must redefine “correctness” in man’s existence. God’s ways appear foolishness to man’s natural mind, but in reality, God’s ways are “right and correct” and it is Man’s ways that are actually foolish, incorrect, and wrong. The “right” idea, is, by Scriptural definition, the perfect and inviolable opinion of God; never wrong, never perverted, never polluted, and always, without exception correct – God is right, His Word is right, His Word become Flesh is right, and everything that opposes this “right,” is without exception always wrong. Therefore, the “way that seems right to man” must be relinquished in order for man to become as he ought to be.Just consider the following Bible verses: "There is a way which seems right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death." Proverbs 14:12 "Every way of a man is right in his own eyes: but the LORD ponders the hearts." Proverbs 21:2
In Biblical culture, the Right hand is the hand of blessing, the holy arm. The Bible portrays it as the Sacred Hand, the Correct Hand, the Helping-Rescuing Hand, the Ruling Hand, The Hand of Power, the Hand of War, the Hand of Righteousness.
The natural disposition of man is dependence upon his own strength, his own wisdom, his own will-power, his own machinations to rescue him upon this earth. The right hand of man is symbolic of the scepter of man’s kingdom, the branch grown out of the root of selfishness. When the root is pulled up and Christ is planted, then a new scepter, a new rod grows forth – the right hand of the Most High, the right scepter, the righteous strength of Almighty God laboring on behalf of his children.That's why we need God to rescue us, to take possession of our right/rights and make us new creatures in Him.
[Note: If you study out all the times you see the "Right hand/Right arm of the Lord" etc used in Scripture, it's quite eye-opening. Wow!]
Tomorrow's Reading: Lev. 10-12 and Psalms 22
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