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Arm Of The Lord


Who has believed our message and to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed? He grew up before him like a tender shoot, and like a root out of dry ground. He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him. He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering. Like one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not. (Isaiah 53:1-2)
 
Therefore, say to the Israelites: ‘I am the LORD, and I will bring you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians. I will free you from being slaves to them, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with mighty acts of judgment." (Exodus 6:6)

ARM OF THE LORD
          According to my reference books, the "arm" was representative of someone's personal, active power. The arm is what gets things done. It was by God's arm that the Israelites were brought out of Egypt. When we're going to get something done, we roll up our sleeves (revealing our arms). During World War II, women were a crucial and strong arm in our victory over our enemies. Our "wingman" is our "right hand man" who accomplishes the tasks given him. 
         While we sometimes refer to a separate person as our arm or hand, an arm is part of a person. Disconnected, it's not much use. If that arm is doing something that is inconsistent with our will, we tend to think something is very wrong with it and therefore with us. God's arm is as much God as God's eyes, heart, or face are. If God's arm is God, then how is it that "he grew up before him as a tender shoot"? The fact that Israel wasn't impressed by him isn't surprising, because Israel often wasn't impressed with God. We aren't either. But when He rolls up His sleeves... Awesome God

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In the sky:
Full Moon (Snow Moon: set 6:47 am 287/rise 6:12 pm 75)

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