‘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 II will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will rid you out of their bondage, and I will redeem you with stretched out arm…’ – Exodus 6:6
The outstretched arm of God…
The phrase is used over and over again in the Old Testament. The outstretched arm was an ancient symbol of a battling warrior, fighting for his cause, his people. God’s outstretched arm is highlighted and referenced so many times when He is about to do or has done something powerful, fighting for His cause, His people.
This phrase is used particularly often in the story of His deliverance of the Israelites from their slavery in Egypt:
Exodus 6:6 – ‘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…”
Again and again, God’s hand is outstretched to do something great for His great cause (love and freedom) for His people (His children, Israel). God battling for those He loved, battling against what He hated (oppression and evil).
And the more I read this phrase used countless times to illustrate God’s amazing work, the more it hit me.
GOD USED HIS OUTSTRETCHED ARMS FOR US!!!!
When Jesus died on that cross, ARMS OUTSTRETCHED, that was God’s greatest and most important battle of all. The battle against OUR oppression and sin and shame and everything associated with its darkness. He went into battle with BOTH arms outstretched, in what the enemy would view as defeat, but what would be His greatest victory of all time! FOR US!
Our Great Warrior fought death and all its causes and came out of the war with LIFE for us in exchange! When Jesus rose from the dead, every trace of sin’s power was left nailed to an empty cross – impotent and pathetic and defeated completely. A conquered enemy.
You and I? We can live in that fought-for freedom every day. Thankful to the Warrior whose love was so great that He fought and conquered the greatest enemy for us and continues to fight off the enemies that threaten to mock and taunt us every day.
Romans 8:37-39 – No, in all these things we are more than conquerorsthrough him who loved us.For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
