The peH Factor
“Seeking balance in a polarized world”
It is interesting to me, as I reflect upon passages such as Moses’ excuses in my last blogs, that certain parts of a story jump out and impact me more than others. Such was the case with the following portion of the story, Exodus 4:1-5.
Moses answered, “What if they do not believe me or listen to me and say, ‘The Lord did not appear to you’?”
2 Then the Lord said to him, “What is that in your hand?”
“A staff,” he replied.
3 The Lord said, “Throw it on the ground.”
Moses threw it on the ground and it became a snake, and he ran from it. 4 Then the Lord said to him, “Reach out your hand and take it by the tail.” So Moses reached out and took hold of the snake and it turned back into a staff in his hand. 5 “This,” said the Lord, “is so that they may believe that the Lord, the God of their fathers—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob—has appeared to you.”
So, what caused this story to leap off the pages of the scriptures and come to life for me? The actual focus of the question should be “who” and not “what.” His name was Ken Medema. Ken was a young, blind musician. I believe I only heard him perform once and during that performance he sang his take on the above story. I was very pleased to find that a YouTube recording (9 minutes long with captions after the first minute) of a much older Ken Medema performing his song “Moses” is available for viewing and you can find it at
Copy this address and paste it into your browser and it should come right up. I found that I needed to open the systems icon (the wheel), open the ‘quality’ heading and tap on the 720p line. This improved the quality of the video dramatically improved.
In his musical interpretation of this portion of Moses’ excuse making, Medema highlighted something that I had originally missed. The “staff” for a Bedouin shepherd was part of his identity and security. W. Philip Keller, in his book A Shepherd Looks at Psalm 23, comments on the Shepherd’s Staff.
“In a sense, the staff, more than any other item of his personal equipment, identifies the shepherd as a shepherd. No one in any other profession carries a shepherd’s staff. It is uniquely an instrument used for the care and management of sheep—and only sheep. It will not do for cattle, horses or hogs. It is designed, shaped and adapted especially to the needs of sheep” (from chapter 8).
The staff with its U-shaped end could grab a sheep if it wandered and pull it back in line. The staff could be leaned upon if the shepherd became weary or used as a stabilizer on uneven terrain. He could use it to poke and prod sheep to get moving. It was with him all the time, wherever he went outside of his tent…his home.
In essence, when God told Moses to let go of his staff and throw it down, he was telling him to let go of that thing which defined him. How difficult that must have been. How difficult that was for me. In my early years that identifying outside of my faith was my sport, baseball. What if I don’t pursue it? What will I do? Will I ever play it again? Would God really want to take that away from me? Everyone else in my family had their gift, skill, passion that defined them. Baseball was the thing that I clung onto to identify me…I was a baseball player.
God led me to let go of my baseball identity and dream. God had other things in store for me.
However, letting go and never being able to do again that which I loved did not seem to be part of God’s plan for Moses or for me. God didn’t tell him to get rid of it and he would never see it again. After Moses let go of the staff God told him to pick up that staff that had become a snake. It turned back into a staff. But now that tool of work and symbol of identity to which he had clung and was returned to him had become something much greater. As Medema interprets it, “The rod (staff) of Moses had become the rod of God!” He used that staff of God throughout the rest of his life. God told him to hold it over the Red Sea and the sea parted. God told him to strike the rock in wilderness with that staff and water flowed to all the people. The list could go on. Instead of using the rod of personal identity it had become HIS rod of ministry.
I remember the first time I became aware that the rod of Moses (baseball for me) had become the rod of God. I was 20 years old and traveling with a Christian music group, the Free Spirit. We had an evening concert at a Christian camp outside of Oklahoma City. We arrived early at the camp and found a softball game was going on. They let me play. I don’t remember what I did during the game, who won or lost, how I played. I only remember that night at our concert, 6 or 8 of the middle school boys with whom I played were sitting in the front row, watching and listening to everything we shared about the Lord. In that moment I realized that a connection had been made through sports that opened the door to young people hearing about the Good News of God’s love and grace through Jesus Christ.
A year ago, the church I was serving had its summer BBQ at one of the members’ homes. Their young son who didn’t want to hang out with us old folks was shooting hoops nearby. I went over, picked up the basketball and shot with him for about half an hour. We connected. I did ok. Did he listen differently in church the next Sunday? I don’t know, but I can guess that he may have. The staff of Moses…
Throughout my life, I have been blessed by people who have taken their security blankets, their gifts and talents that have in part defined them and used them for the glory of God. I have been blessed by accountants, by psychologists, by musicians, by entrepreneurs, by strategic planners, by people with strong management and administrative gifts, with builders, with… Each of those people had laid down their gifts and God took those gifts, filled them with the Holy Spirit and used them to advance God’s kingdom and strengthen God’s people.
What are those gifts, skills, personality traits that define you? Has God filled them with his presence? Are they being used to advance his kingdom? It is never too late to begin. Remember, Moses was 80 when his staff became the staff of God.
Good blessed morning to you sir! Our is it Hammerin' Hank?☺️. I remember fondly the studies about our spiritual gifts when you interimmed with us. (Not sure this is correct grammar). But I remember this specifically because I was still trying to figure out exactly what gifts were His and what gifts I thought I had. What I have discerned to date is that loving people right where they are at is a gift. Exhortation is another. Intercessory prayer is another. Serving others with love is another. Weeping with others, when they weep is one. Sharing Joy with others is one. Studying His Living Word is another. Speaking the truth in love is another (a…