Monday's Devo - Dust Writers

Read John 8:1-11
Jesus would spend his nights in the mountain with God. I wonder if he got his marching orders for the day and wisdom about how to handle the situations he would face that day. The next morning he went to the temple and started teaching the people when the Pharasees showed up with a lady caught in the act of adultery. They wanted to know if Jesus had the guts to pronounce death on this woman like the law commanded. When they asked him whether they should stone her or not Jesus was silent and instead stooped down and started writting in the dirt. When they demanded an answer he stood up and said, "He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her." Then he stooped back down and wrote in the ground. Conviction sifted through the crowd of accusers till they left, the oldest to the youngest. When only Jesus and the woman were left, Jesus stood up and asked the woman where are your accusers? has no man condemned you? she answered, "No man". So Jesus said, neither do I, go and sin no more.
So why did Jesus write in the dirt with his finger? I studied other times the finger of God wrote things in dust and what they wrote.
1. The finger of God wrote the law on tablets of stone. Etching produces dust. The law brought judgment and death.
2. In the 3rd plague Moses struck the dust and the dust became lice that attacked men and beast. When the Egyptian enchanters tried to mimic this act they couldn't and told Pharaoh, "This is the finger of God".
3. When Belshazzar was king of Babylon the finger of God wrote on the plaster wall (made of dust). It was a warning of coming judgment.
4. Jesus told the crowd that he cast out devils with the finger of God.
God's finger always brought judgment on the sinner. I think he was trying to teach a lesson. The judgments of God are not to harm us but to set us free. In this story his writing in the dust set a sinner free and gave her a second chance. Only God can judge because we are all mere mortals made from dust. God judges the self-righteous and sets the humble free.
May we remember this when we are tempted to judge.