{"id":65175,"date":"2019-11-04T22:05:37","date_gmt":"2019-11-04T20:05:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=65175"},"modified":"2023-05-30T10:01:12","modified_gmt":"2023-05-30T07:01:12","slug":"gods-strong-hand-and-outstretched-arm","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/gods-strong-hand-and-outstretched-arm\/","title":{"rendered":"God\u2019s Strong Hand And Outstretched Arm\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"entry-content\"><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[281],"tags":[384,854,547,403],"acf":{"old_id":"65175","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":37561,"related_cahpter":"343","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content":{"description":"Both for redemption and wrath","content":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">There is an image repeated throughout this chapter, of God\u2019s arm outstretched towards Israel, that will be familiar to those who have been to a Passover Seder. On Passover and in the story of the exodus from Egypt, we recall how God redeemed the Israelites with a \u201cmighty hand and an outstretched arm\u201d. The metaphor is meant to remind us of God\u2019s great and immediate power; the Exodus text teaches us that God can and will intervene directly in human affairs to save the Jewish people.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The image of God\u2019s outstretched arm in this chapter is the literary foil of the metaphor in Exodus. Here, the prophet repeats that \u201cGod\u2019s arm is still outstretched\u201d three times, and here too the metaphor is meant to evoke a sense of awe at God\u2019s great and immediate power. But in this chapter of Isaiah, God\u2019s arm stretched over the Israelites feels like a threat, not a promise of redemption.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">That is exactly how the rabbis of the Talmud understood it. Aware of the clear allusion to the Exodus image of God\u2019s outstretched arm, here they decide to take it less literally, and explain that it is a euphemism for further punishment (Ketubot 8b). The sages of Babylonia, who are the descendants of Jews expelled from Israel, claim that it would be improper, perhaps even vulgar, to directly claim that God would punish or cause harm to us, so it can only be referenced indirectly.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The speaker who makes this claim does not explain why the prophet uses the same metaphor that is so fundamental to the greatest miracle God performed for the Israelites to now threaten violence and destruction. Therefore, it is up to us to imagine both the motivations of the prophet in referencing God\u2019s redemptive power and the motivations of the rabbis in claiming that we cannot mention God\u2019s role in punishing us.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">What we learn from these two very different uses of the same metaphor is a theological lesson that may, and perhaps should, terrify us: that God\u2019s hand is stretched out over us always, ready to drastically change our lives in an instant. For some people, this theology reflects a lived experience. Perhaps you met your spouse in line at the grocery store, or you know someone who was in a tragic accident. For others, this theology is an abstract but emotionally loaded possibility.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Neither of the texts that use this metaphor tell us how we should feel about this way God could exist in our lives. So you get to decide. Does the potentially sudden and powerful presence of God inspire a sense of carpe diem? Or does it make you feel powerless? Our work as readers of the biblical text is to learn to live with our own interpretation of the text.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","image":{"ID":65176,"id":65176,"title":"is9-gods hands","filename":"is9-gods-hands.png","filesize":0,"url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is9-gods-hands.png","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/gods-strong-hand-and-outstretched-arm\/is9-gods-hands\/","alt":"","author":"7","description":"","caption":"","name":"is9-gods-hands","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":65175,"date":"2019-11-04 20:05:31","modified":"2023-07-09 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