This post was taken from our website titled The Genesis Epic, from the category of Men of Renown, from the article Part xix – The Babylon Connection. If you would like to read the entire LONG post, then CLICK HERE and you will be safely redirected to that post.
THE RIGHT HAND
The mystery of the seven stars which thou sawest in my right hand, and the seven golden candlesticks. The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches: and the seven candlesticks which thou sawest are the seven churches. (Revelation 1:20)
Let us dissect this first mystery into sections. Why did the Spirit of God direct us to my right hand? You’re thinking, Why should we be concerned about which hand the Lord is holding the mystery of the seven stars and the seven golden candlesticks in, whether it is the right hand or the left hand? Trivia? No. The right hand is the hand of blessing and power. The Law of First Mention is a scriptural tool that is used to follow the trail of the core meaning to a word, or phrase, or precept, or concept. Let’s follow the trail of the right hand. (I suggest that you read the entire 48th Chapter of the book of Genesis, and because I know that you will not do this because of time constraints or because of boredom, I will, therefore, select the references with the words right hand, and this will quickly allow you to see that the right hand takes on the meaning of the place of blessing and of power.)
And Joseph took them both, Ephraim in his right hand toward Israel’s left hand, and Manasseh in his left hand toward Israel’s right hand, and brought [them] near unto him. (Genesis 48:13) And Israel stretched out his right hand, and laid [it] upon Ephraim’s head, who [was] the younger, and his left hand upon Manasseh’s head, guiding his hands wittingly; for Manasseh [was] the firstborn. (Genesis 48:14)
And when Joseph saw that his father laid his right hand upon the head of Ephraim, it displeased him: and he held up his father’s hand, to remove it from Ephraim’s head unto Manasseh’s head. (Genesis 48:17) And Joseph said unto his father, Not so, my father: for this [is] the firstborn; put thy right hand upon his head. (Genesis 48:18) And his father refused, and said, I know it, my son, I know it: he also shall become a people, and he also shall be great: but truly his younger brother shall be greater than he, and his seed shall become a multitude of nations. (Genesis 48:19)
Through this first mention of the right hand of a specific person, the man named Israel, the Holy Spirit of God teaches us that God’s will was to bless Joseph (Israel’s son) through Joseph’s second son Ephraim, not his first son, Manasseh. The Spirit of God guided Israel’s hands wittingly. God’s blessings cannot be manipulated. Israel’s blessing on Ephraim gave power to the tribe of Ephraim, but truly his younger brother shall be greater than he, and his seed shall become a multitude of nations. There is so much more that can be said about this event in Genesis 48, but we are picking up breadcrumbs on the trail of the Law of First Mention. Now let us continue on this trail of right hand in the Old Testament. As the Lord Jesus Christ is the wisdom of God personified, so we also see that the Lord Jesus Christ is the personification of the Right Hand of God. Christ is the Right Hand of God in action, in power and in blessing. (Remember that there is no such thing in the Bible as coincidence. Since the Spirit of God spoke the words of God to the prophets of God, it is no surprise then that He would know what would occur in time when a system of numbers would be added as place-markers to follow His words. These place markers that we call chapter and verse numbering also coincides with the system of law when lawyers mark each line in their documents with a number to keep the integrity of words.) The Lord Jesus Christ has always been the visible and the invisible personification of God in both time and in timelessness.
Having written all that, therefore, let us connect Genesis Chapter 48:13 (the first mention of His right hand) to Chapter 48, verse 13 in the book of Isaiah where we have CORE of who is the right hand of God. Mine hand also hath laid the foundation of the earth, and my right hand hath spanned the heavens: [when] I call unto them, they stand up together. (Isaiah 48:13) The Lord Jesus Christ has always been the visible and the invisible personification of God. For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily. (Colossians 2:9) Christ IS the RIGHT HAND of God. And, Thou, Lord, in the beginning hast laid the foundation of the earth; and the heavens are the works of thine hands: (Hebrews 1:10)
• Of old hast thou laid the foundation of the earth: and the heavens are the work of thy hands. (Psalm 102:25)
• In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. (Genesis 1:1)
• In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. (John 1:1) The same was in the beginning with God. (John 1:2) All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. (John 1:3)
• He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not. (John 1:10)
• Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature: (Colossians 1:15) And by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him: (Colossians 1:16) And he is before all things, and by him all things consist. (Colossians 1:17)
It was the Lord Jesus Christ in His glorified bodily form and outward state who appeared to Moses and gave the Law to Israel . . ..
And he said, Thou canst not see my face: for there shall no man see me, and live. (Exodus 33:20) And the LORD said, Behold, there is a place by me, and thou shalt stand upon a rock: (Exodus 33:21) And it shall come to pass, while my glory passeth by, that I will put thee in a clift of the rock, and will cover thee with my hand while I pass by: (Exodus 33:22) And I will take away mine hand, and thou shalt see my back parts: but my face shall not be seen. (Exodus 33:23)
No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him. (John 1:18)
Side Note: The Blood of the Covenant Reveals God. It was only after Moses had taken the blood and sprinkled it on the people and proclaimed that God had made a covenant with Israel THROUGH blood that Israel was able to SEE God. See the connection of the first covenant of blood in the Old Testament to the covenant of blood in the New Testament.
And Moses took the blood, and sprinkled it on the people, and said, Behold the blood of the covenant, which the LORD hath made with you concerning all these words. (Exodus 24:8) Then went up Moses, and Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel: (Exodus 24:9) And they saw the God of Israel: and there was under his feet as it were a paved work of a sapphire stone, and as it were the body of heaven in his clearness. (Exodus 24:10) And upon the nobles of the children of Israel he laid not his hand: also they saw God, and did eat and drink. (Exodus 24:11)
• Likewise also the cup after supper, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood, which is shed for you. (Luke 22:20)
• Saying, This is the blood of the testament which God hath enjoined unto you. (Hebrews 9:20)
• Of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace? (Hebrews 10:29)
• And to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than [that of] Abel. (Hebrews 12:24)
• Now the God of peace, that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, (Hebrews 13:20)
• Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: Grace unto you, and peace, be multiplied. (1st Peter 1:2) ♦ End of Side Note – The Blood of the Covenant Reveals God.
When Gideon, Manoah and his wife, and later when Isaiah saw God, they saw The Right Hand of God actively revealing The God of Glory in the face of Jesus Christ. No one can look on the fullness of the glory of God and live. It is ONLY through the veiled glory in the face of Jesus Christ that man can look and live and the connection of blood sprinkled as in Exodus 24:8-11. And he said, The LORD came from Sinai, and rose up from Seir unto them; he shined forth from mount Paran, and he came with ten thousands of saints: from his right hand [went] a fiery law for them. (Deuteronomy 33:2)
The Right Hand of God exemplified pleasure, righteousness and power. The Right Hand was and is Christ Jesus in presence. The Right Hand of God is the physical personification of Jesus Christ and the symbolism of the right hand in His position and state within the Godhead. Allow me to rewrite this as: the Lord Jesus was/is the pleasure, the righteousness, and the power of God in visible form. Whenever you read ‘thy right hand,’ or ‘his right hand‘ it is specifically referring to the Lord Jesus Christ because Christ was/is the Godhead BODILY, or the BODILY part of the Godhead revealing God to mankind. For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily. (Colossians 2:9)
• Thou wilt shew me the path of life: in thy presence [is] fulness of joy; at thy right hand [there are] pleasures for evermore. (Psalm 16:11)
• According to thy name, O God, so [is] thy praise unto the ends of the earth: thy right hand is full of righteousness. (Psalm 48:10)
• And he brought them to the border of his sanctuary, [even to] this mountain, [which] his right hand had purchased. (Psalm 78:54)
• O sing unto the LORD a new song; for he hath done marvellous things: his right hand, and his holy arm, hath gotten him the victory. (Psalm 98:1)
• Thy right hand, O LORD, is become glorious in power: thy right hand, O LORD, hath dashed in pieces the enemy. (Exodus 15:6)
There is yet much more to be written about The Right Hand of God, but nevertheless, let us proceed . . . .