His Hand Is Stretched Out Still

There is an interesting phrase in Isaiah that I believe can be interpreted in two different ways.  Elder Holland referred to it in a talk saying this, “To all of you who think you are lost or without hope, or who think you have done too much that was too wrong for too long, to every one of you who worry that you are stranded somewhere on the wintry plains of life and have wrecked your handcart in the process, this conference calls out Jehovah’s unrelenting refrain, ‘[My] hand is stretched out still.’”  The phrase that the Lord’s hand is stretched out still is repeated five different times in Isaiah.  Each time the sentence reads exactly the same way: “For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still” (see Isaiah 5:25, 9:12, 9:17, 9:21, 10:4).  Each of these chapters deals with the Lord’s condemnation of the wicked, and, interestingly, all of them are also quoted in the Book of Mormon.  The exact phrase doesn’t appear anywhere else in the scriptures.    

               So, what did Isaiah mean by the phrase?  Elder Holland’s interpretation is that the Lord’s hand is extended out in mercy to us no matter what.  In other words, we could read it to mean that even though his anger is not turned away because of the people’s wickedness, His hand is still extended to us if we will just repent.  The other interpretation that I think is valid is that the Lord’s hand is extended out in justice to punish the wicked.  That interpretation seems more in line with what is actually going on in Isaiah’s words.  For example, in the first reference the entire verse reads this way: “Therefore is the anger of the Lord kindled against his people, and he hath stretched forth his hand against them, and hath smitten them: and the hills did tremble, and their carcases were torn in the midst of the streets. For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still” (Isaiah 5:25).  Here the phrase is that his hand is “stretched out against them,” clearly indicating a kind of judgment upon the people for their wickedness.  In this context then the original phrase that the Lord’s anger is not turned away; rather, His hand is against you in judgment.  Given the prophet Isaiah’s dualism, there’s no reason that we can’t find value in both interpretations.  An Old Testament guide for Seminary students puts it this way: “Isaiah may have intended more than one meaning in the phrase ‘his hand is stretched out still’ because the Lord’s hand can be extended for both justice and mercy.  One meaning may be that because the people of Isaiah’s time did not turn away from sin (see Isaiah 9:13–16), they would experience the Lord’s hand in the form of destruction. But Isaiah may have also been teaching that the Lord still offered hope for eventual mercy if the people would repent.”

               I think both meanings of the phrase have something to teach us.  God is just and will not let wickedness go forever unpunished.  Eventually those who do such terrible harm in the world today will feel the punishing hand of the Lord if they don’t repent.  And, no matter what we do, God’s hand will always be extended to us in an offer to help us.  It’s as if the Lord’s hand is extended to us, and we have to decide whether that hand will need to punish us, or if we will let it save us.  Jacob seemed to like the latter interpretation: “And how merciful is our God unto us, for he remembereth the house of Israel, both roots and branches; and he stretches forth his hands unto them all the day long….  And while his arm of mercy is extended towards you in the light of the day, harden not your hearts” (Jacob 6:4-5).  His words should help inspire us to accept the hand of the Lord in our lives before we must instead feel its just punishment.