BBI II-C #5 Yahweh’s “Mighty Hand” & “Outstretched Arm”
I just completed the 5th video lesson in section “C” of the Bereans Bible Institute Module 2. This lesson deals with a topic I covered in much greater detail in a previous post on this blog at the following link: “To Whom has the ‘Arm of the Lord’ been Revealed?”
Scripture uses the metaphors of Yahweh’s “Mighty Hand” and His “Outstretched Arm” in describing both the creation of heaven and earth and especially the exodus from Egypt. What is said of Yahweh’s “Messenger” who delivered Israel from Egypt, accompanied them in the wilderness, and defeated the Canaanites, is repeatedly characterized as accomplished by Yahweh’s “Mighty Hand” and “Outstretched Arm.” Thus it is easy to see that (at least in the exodus account) Yahweh’s “Mighty Hand” and “Outstretched Arm” are metaphorical titles for the “Messenger of Yahweh.”
In Isaiah we learn that this is a metaphorical title referring to the suffering Servant of Isaiah 52-53, as well as the Messiah who will rule the nations as God’s Agent. Isaiah even gives the NAME of God’s “Outstretched Arm” as “Yeshua” (Jesus). John quoted from one of these passages in Isaiah when explaining why the Jewish leaders rejected the “Arm of the Lord,” who was “revealed” to the Apostles.
The New Testament repeatedly claims that God’s Son was a “mystery/secret” hidden from Israel’s leaders, the “hidden Wisdom,” the “mystery of Christ,” yet revealed exclusively by the Spirit to the Apostles. In his first epistle, John makes it clear that this “mystery” or “secret” must be “revealed” to the individual also through the Spirit. It is tragic that so many Christians reject the explanations of this “mystery/secret” given by the Apostles simply because it does not mesh with their preconceived theology.