"Stretch forth thine hand" -- Part 2 (Old Testament)

This post continues a series I began last Monday on the phrase "stretch out thine hand." In this post, we'll look at examples from the Old Testament, and we'll learn about the underlying Hebrew word shalach.

As demonstrated below, that word also appears twice in the creation account. This is only really evident when we look at the Hebrew.  I'll put in bold the words connected to Hebrew shalach in the verses below:

22 ¶ And the Lord God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever:

23 Therefore the Lord God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken. (Genesis 3)

shalach: to send (שָׁלַח)

The word means 'to send' but when the thing being sent is a part of the body it is translated in English as "stretch forth" or "put forth" etc.

Here are several additional examples of this root showing up in more than one verse very close together.  I'm not certain what to make of it other than it reminds me of the usage in Genesis 3.

Noah

7 And he sent forth a raven, which went forth to and fro, until the waters were dried up from off the earth.

8 Also he sent forth a dove from him, to see if the waters were abated from off the face of the ground;

9 But the dove found no rest for the sole of her foot, and she returned unto him into the ark, for the waters were on the face of the whole earth: then he put forth his hand, and took her, and pulled her in unto him into the ark.

10 And he stayed yet other seven days; and again he sent forth the dove out of the ark;

11 And the dove came in to him in the evening; and, lo, in her mouth was an olive leaf plucked off: so Noah knew that the waters were abated from off the earth.

12 And he stayed yet other seven days; and sent forth the dove; which returned not again unto him any more. (Genesis 8)

In a prior post, I discussed these same verses in the context of receiver becoming giver. See the numbered items in the section titled "Replenish/fill". I believe this "send/put forth" pattern might touch on a similar pattern, which I'll discuss in the conclusion of this post (see below).

Abraham

10 And Abraham stretched forth his hand, and took the knife to slay his son.

11 And the angel of the Lord called unto him out of heaven, and said, Abraham, Abraham: and he said, Here am I.

12 And he said, Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou any thing unto him: for now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son from me. (Genesis 22)

Moses

The last example we'll look at is Moses.  As I mentioned in part 1, the phrase "stretch out thy hand" and similar phrases show up quite a bit in the story of Moses.  Here's a sampling, with words translated from 'shalach' in bold:

20 And I will stretch out my hand, and smite Egypt with all my wonders which I will do in the midst thereof: and after that he will let you go. (Exodus 3; shalach also appears five times in Exodus 3:10-15)

 

4 And the Lord said unto Moses, Put forth thine hand, and take it by the tail. And he put forth his hand, and caught it, and it became a rod in his hand:

5 That they may believe that the Lord God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, hath appeared unto thee.(Exodus 4; shalach appears eight times in Exodus 4)

1 And afterward Moses and Aaron went in, and told Pharaoh, Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, Let my people go, that they may hold a feast unto me in the wilderness. (Exodus 5)

14 For I will at this time send all my plagues upon thine heart, and upon thy servants, and upon thy people; that thou mayest know that there is none like me in all the earth.

15 For now I will stretch out my hand, that I may smite thee and thy people with pestilence; and thou shalt be cut off from the earth. (Exodus 9)

Conclusion

A pattern is starting to take shape which I believe will become more clear as we move on to the Book of Mormon and Book of Moses. I can't help but connect these additional Old Testament examples to the group: 

9 Then the Lord put forth his hand, and touched my mouth. And the Lord said unto me, Behold, I have put my words in thy mouth. (Jeremiah 1)

 

8 Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I, Here am I; send me. (Isaiah 6)

It seems to me that the stretching forth of the hand is a sign related to God showing forth His power to bring about His will. His servants (those He sends) are sometimes commanded to stretch forth their hands as a sign that they come from God.  I believe this pattern will become more clear in the next part as we look at the examples from the Book of Mormon.  We will then conclude this series by looking at the most unusual and significant interaction between Enoch and God from the Book of Moses.

Physical and spiritual healing

I love Lord Wilmore's idea of miracles being physical miracles in their own right, but also symbols of the greatest miracle of all: The salvation through Christ and covenants and the ministry of angels.

One type of miracle that we read about frequently in the scriptures is healing from sickness. It is very often connected with one or several senses: Restoring eyesight or the ability to hear or speak, for instance. Reflecting on this, I have found multiple scriptures supporting the view that accounts of physical healing also point to the spiritual healing offered by Christ. Here are some examples:

The gospel of John

In John chapter 9, Jesus heals a man that was born blind and restores his sight. He also says in verse 5:

I am the light of the world.

In John chapter 11, Jesus raises Lasarus from the dead. In verse 25, he says:

I am the resurrection, and the life

Obviously, these statements mean something more than the literal, physical implication. Jesus is performing miracles to help someone in need but at the same time he point us to the greatest miracle of all that can help all mankind.

Isaiah 6

This is the chapter describing the calling of the prophet Isaiah. In verse 9 and 10, God gives Isaiah the following instructions:

9 And he said, Go, and tell this people, Hear ye indeed, but understand not; and see ye indeed, but perceive not.

10 Make the heart of this people fat, and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and convert, and be healed.

Much poetry in Isaiah as usual. A parallelism in verse 9 and chiasmus in verse 10, seen by the reversed order of the colored words. The colored words are recurring key elements as we shall soon see. Healing is often linked to eyes, ears and heart. John 9 in the example above deals with one of them, eyes/vision.

Obviously, Isaiah is using symbols and not talking about a literal healing of senses. But using the physical senses as symbols we see how the physical and spiritual healing go hand in hand. In fact, John 12, the chapter after the last one quoted above, quotes this passage from Isaiah arguing that it was fulfilled when the people saw Jesus' miracles and still didn't believe. (See John 12:37-40). So when people saw Jesus heal the blind, for instance, they still didn't believe, implying that they "shut their (spiritual) eyes" as Isaiah prophecied - a reversal of the very act that Jesus performed when he opened the eyes of the blind man. 

This Isaiah passage is quoted no less than three times in the New Testament. Gileadi's comment to these verses:

The verb “go” denotes Jehovah’s actual commission of Isaiah as his prophet. The terms “these people” or “this people” (ha‘am hazzeh), however, reflect the people’s repudiation of their covenant relationship with Jehovah that is commonly expressed by the possessive “my people” (‘ammi). When they grow alienated, they see things their way, not his (Isaiah 55:8-9). Hence the words, “Go on hearing, but not understanding; Go on seeing, but not perceiving.” As Jehovah forewarns, a wayward people’s typical response when a prophet appeals to them to repent is to harden their hearts and dull their senses.

Although Isaiah’s role as a hardener of his people’s hearts seals upon them Jehovah’s condemnation, there exists a redeeming side to his prophetic ministry. “Seeing” with the eyes, “hearing” with the ears, “understanding” in the heart, and “repenting” at the same time constitutes Jehovah’s formula for “healing” or salvation. A remnant of Jehovah’s people—a “holy offspring” comprised of those who repent (v 13)—thus survives destruction in his Day of Judgment. Typifying them are Isaiah’s disciples, for whom Jehovah provides sanctuary at the time others suffer covenant curses (Isaiah 8:13-17).

King Benjamin

In the very beginning of his speech to the people, King Benjamin has a special request to the crowd

My brethren, all ye that have assembled yourselves together, you that can hear my words which I shall speak unto you this day; for I have not commanded you to come up hither to trifle with the words which I shall speak, but that you should hearken unto me, and open your ears that ye may hear, and your hearts that ye may understand, and your minds that the mysteries of God may be unfolded to your view. (Mosiah 2:9)

In the next chapter, King Benjamin speaks of Christ's coming to earth

5 For behold, the time cometh, and is not far distant, that with power, the Lord Omnipotent who reigneth, who was, and is from all eternity to all eternity, shall come down from heaven among the children of men, and shall dwell in a tabernacle of clay, and shall go forth amongst men, working mighty miracles, such as healing the sick, raising the dead, causing the lame to walk, the blind to receive their sight, and the deaf to hear, and curing all manner of diseases.
6 And he shall cast out devils, or the evil spirits which dwell in the hearts of the children of men. (Mosiah 3:5-6)

This is another example of senses used in a spiritual sense and a physcial sense. The physical healing is also symbol of spiritual healing and just a few verses later

And lo, he cometh unto his own, that salvation might come unto the children of men (Mosiah 3:9)

Jesus in America

My final example is also mentioning physical and spiritual healing in two successive chapters. When Jesus says "now I go unto the father" in 3 Nephi 17:4, the people wants him to stay a bit longer and he does. He asks:

Have ye any that are sick among you? Bring them hither. Have ye any that are lame, or blind, or halt, or maimed, or leprous, or that are withered, or that are deaf, or that are afflicted in any manner? Bring them hither and I will heal them, for I have compassion upon you; my bowels are filled with mercy. (3 Nephi 17:7)

The people bring their sick and afflicted to Jesus and he heals them. In the next chapter, Jesus says:

Nevertheless, ye shall not cast him out of your synagogues, or your places of worship, for unto such shall ye continue to minister; for ye know not but what they will return and repent, and come unto me with full purpose of heart, and I shall heal them; and ye shall be the means of bringing salvation unto them. (3 Nephi 18:32)

Jesus repeats "I will/shall heal them" but this time it is about spiritual healing and salvation. A few verses later he also repeats "now I go unto the father" (3 Nephi 18:35) and this time he does. Demonstrating his healing power was one of the things that he wanted to do before leaving. 

The Great Healer, Jesus Christ, touched some people with his physical healing 2000 years ago both in Palestine and America. But if that were the whole point, he really didn't reach out to many of Heavenly Father's children. However, the point is to reach the whole world, all mankind, with healing power that the physical miracles merely foreshadowed. When we walk the covenant path, we need ears to hear, eyes to see and a soft heart. Whatever we lack, we can come unto Him and be healed. His great spiritual healing power reaches you and me today.