7673. 'Stretch out your hand' means an exercising of power. This is clear from the meaning of 'stretching out' as that which is connected with the exercising of control, dealt with below; and from the meaning of 'hand' as power, dealt with in 878, 3387, 4931-4937, 5327, 5328, 5544, 6292, 6947, 7011, 7188, 7189, 7518. The reason why 'stretching out the hand' means the exercising of power is that there is power in the hand or arm when it is stretched out. When therefore Jehovah is said to stretch out His hand or arm, boundless or infinite power in action is meant. This explains why Jehovah told Moses on so many occasions, when miracles were to be performed, to stretch out his hand or his rod; for example,

Stretch out your hand over the waters of Egypt, and they will be blood. Exodus 7:19.

Stretch out your hand over the rivers, and cause frogs to rise up. Exodus 8:1-2. ¹

Stretch out your rod and strike the dust of the land, and it will then be lice. Exodus 8:11, 12. ²

Stretch out your hand towards heaven, and there will be hail. Exodus 9:22-23.

Such words would never have been used but for the meaning of 'stretching out the hand' in the highest sense as Jehovah's almighty power.

[2] The same thing is meant by Joshua's being told to stretch out his javelin, described in his book as follows,

Jehovah said to Joshua, Stretch out the javelin that is in your hand towards Ai. When therefore Joshua stretched out the javelin that was in his hand towards Ai, the ambush rose up quickly out of their place and ran, as soon as he stretched out his hand, and came to the city and took it. Joshua did not withdraw his hand which he had stretched out together with the javelin until all the inhabitants of Ai had been utterly destroyed. Joshua 8:18-19, 26.

Being representative of God's almighty power, this too, like all other representative actions when they were commanded in those times, had force.

[3] There are a number of other places in which almighty power is described when it says that Jehovah 'stretches out His hand', or else His 'outstretched hand' or His 'outstretched arm' is spoken of. It is described by Jehovah stretching out His hand in Isaiah,

The anger [of Jehovah] has been roused against His people, and He has stretched out His hand over them and struck them, and the mountains were shaken. Isaiah 5:25.

In Ezekiel,

I will stretch out My hand against him and destroy him. Ezekiel 14:9, 13.

In the same prophet,

I will stretch out My hand against you, and give you as plunder to the nations. Ezekiel 25:7.

I will stretch out My hand over Edom, and cut off from it man and beast. I will stretch out My hand over the philistines, and cut off . . . Ezekiel 25:13, 16.

Other places like these are Ezekiel 35:3; Isaiah 31:3; Zephaniah 1:4; 2:13. The use of 'outstretched hand' to describe almighty power occurs in Isaiah,

Jehovah's outstretched hand is over all the nations; who will turn it back? Isaiah 14:26, 27.

In Jeremiah,

I will fight with you with an outstretched hand and a strong arm, and in anger and in fury. Jeremiah 21:5.

In Isaiah,

Still His hand is outstretched. Isaiah 9:12, 17; 10:4.

The use of 'outstretched arm' occurs in Jeremiah,

I have made the earth, man, and beast by My great strength and by My outstretched arm. Jeremiah 27:5.

In the same prophet,

You have made heaven and earth by Your great power and Your outstretched arm; there is no matter ³ that is too impossible for You. Jeremiah 32:17.

Here it is self-evident that 'outstretched arm' means almighty power. The same applies to many other places in which the expression 'by a strong hand and an outstretched arm' is used, such as Deuteronomy 4:34; 5:15; 7:19; 9:29; 11:2; 26:8; 1 Kings 8:42; 2 Kings 17:36; Jeremiah 32:21; Ezekiel 20:33, 34.

[4] There are places too in which Jehovah is said to 'stretch out the heavens', and in these places also 'stretching out' means almighty power; that is to say, He expands the limits of heaven and fills those who are there with life and wisdom, as in Isaiah,

Jehovah is He who stretches out the heavens like a thin veil, and spreads them out like a tent to dwell in. Isaiah 40:22.

In the same prophet,

Jehovah is He who stretches out the heavens, spreads out the earth, gives breath ⁴ to His people upon it, and spirit to those who walk on it. Isaiah 42:5.

In Jeremiah,

. . . He who makes the earth by His power, prepares the world by His wisdom, and stretches out the heavens by His intelligence. Jeremiah 51:15.

In Zechariah,

Jehovah is He who stretches out the heavens, and founds the earth, and forms the spirit of man within him. Zechariah 12:1.

There are still more places besides these, such as Isaiah 44:24; 45:12; Psalms 104:2.

From all this one may now see why Moses was commanded to stretch out his hand and rod, that miracles were performed when he did so, and that 'stretching out the hand' for that reason means the exercising of power, and in the highest sense almighty power.

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6669. 'In clay and in bricks' means on account of the evils which they devised and the falsities which they fabricated. This is clear from the meaning of 'clay' as good, and in the contrary sense as evil, dealt with below; and from the meaning of 'bricks' as falsities that people fabricate, dealt with in 1296. As regards the evils and falsities which those in hell devise and fabricate, see just above in 6666.

The fact that 'clay' means evil from which falsity is produced is evident from the following places in the Word: In Isaiah,

The wicked are like the troubled sea, when it cannot rest; its waters throw out mud and clay. Isaiah 57:20.

'Mud' stands for falsity from which evil is derived, and 'clay' for evil from which falsity is produced.

[2] In Jeremiah,

Your feet have sunk into the clay, [your close friends] have turned away backwards. Jeremiah 38:22.

'Feet sunk into the clay' stands for the natural sunken in evil. In Nahum,

Draw yourself water for the siege, strengthen your fortifications; go into the mud and tread the clay; renew the brick-kiln. There the fire will devour you, and the sword cut you off. Nahum 3:14-15.

'Treading the clay' stands for being prompted by evil to think what is false. In Habakkuk,

He will say, Woe to him who multiplies what is not his - how long? And to him who loads clay onto himself, Will there not rise up suddenly those who will bite you? Habakkuk 2:6-7.

'Loading clay onto himself' stands for taking up evil.

[3] In David,

Jehovah caused me to come up out of the pit of devastation, out of the muddy clay, and He set my feet upon a rock. Psalms 49:2.

In the same author,

I sank in deep clay, and there was no standing; I came into the depths of the waters, and a wave overwhelmed me. Snatch me out of the clay lest I sink, and out of the depths of the waters; and do not let the depth swallow me up. Psalms 69:2, 14-15.

'Clay' stands for evil from which falsity is produced. In Isaiah,

He will come against prelates as though against clay, as a potter treads mud. ¹ Isaiah 41:15.

[4] But in the following places 'clay' stands for good: In Isaiah,

Now, O Jehovah, You are our Father, we are the clay, and You are our potter; and we are all the work of Your hands. Isaiah 64:8.

'The clay' stands for the member of the Church who is being formed, thus for the good of faith by means of which that person is formed, that is, reformed.

[5] Similarly in Jeremiah,

Jehovah said to Jeremiah, Arise and go down to the potter's house, and there I will cause you to hear My words. I went down therefore to the potter's house, and behold, he made a work on the table. But the vessel that he was making was marred, like clay in the potter's hand. And he returned and made it into another vessel, as was right in the eyes of the potter to make it. Then the word of Jehovah came to me, saying, Like this potter can I not do to you, O house of Israel? Said Jehovah. Behold, like the clay in the hand of the potter, so are you in My hand, O house of Israel. Jeremiah 18:1-6.

'The house of Israel' stands for the Church that is to be formed. And it is because the good of charity and the truth of faith are used in the forming of it, and because such good and truth are meant by 'the clay' and 'the potter's vessel', that the prophet was commanded to go to the potter's house. This would not have happened if 'the clay' and 'the potter's vessel' had not had those meanings.

[6] There are other places too in which Jehovah or the Lord is called 'the potter' and the person who is being reformed 'the clay', namely Isaiah 29:15-16; 45:9; Job 10:9; 33:6. The incident in which the Lord made clay with His saliva and anointed the eyes of the man born blind and then commanded him to wash in the pool of Siloam, with the result that the blind man was made to see, John 9:6-7, 11, took place because it represented the reformation of man, who is born without any knowledge of truth. And that reformation is effected by means of the good of faith, meant by 'the clay'.

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