In Your Hand (2022) Painting by Ilse Kleyn Jordaan

The Picture of an open hand in Hebrew indicates power, means and direction (yâd)

Ezr 7:28 “and has extended His mercy and lovingkindness to me before the king, his advisers, and all the king's mighty officials. I was strengthened and encouraged, for the hand of the LORD my God was upon me,…”
Psl 18:35 “Thou hast also given me the shield of thy salvation: and thy right hand hath holden me up, and thy gentleness hath made me great”

God’s hand directs us and opens doors and opportunities for us

Job 6:9 “Even that it would please God to destroy me; that he would let loose his hand, and cut me off!”
John 10:: 27-28 “ My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: And I give unto them eternal life, and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.
It is our privilege as God’s children, to be held in His hand. Safe. If He were to let loose, we would perish.

Psalm 89: 20,21 “I have found David my servant; with my holy oil have I anointed him: With whom my hand shall be established: mine arm also shall strengthen him.

It is God’s hand in our lives that gives us the power to overcome. To be strong in Him.

Prov 21:1 “The king's heart is in the hand of the LORD, as the rivers of water: he turneth it whithersoever he will.”
Isa 64:8 “But now, O LORD, thou art our father; we are the clay, and thou our potter; and we all are the work of thy hand.”

God is sovereign. He can turn our heart and thought as He wishes to accomplish His divine plans.

Isa 59:1 “Behold, the LORD'S hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither his ear heavy, that it cannot hear:”
Abba Father is all-powerful. Nothing is too difficult for Him.

1 Peter 5:6 “Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time:”
Bird
Psalm 84 - My Soul Longs for the Courts of the Lord
" God of Heaven’s Armies, you find so much beauty in your people! They’re like lovely sanctuaries of your presence.
Deep within me ate these lovesick longings, desires, and daydreams of living in union with you. When I’m near you my heart and my soul will sing and worship with my joyful songs of you, my true source and spring of life!
O Lord of Heaven’s Armies, my King, and my God, even the sparrows and swallows are welcome to build a nest among your altars for the birds to raise their young. What pleasure fills those who live every day in your temple, enjoying you as they worship in your presence? Selah."

In this Psalm, we see the psalmist expresses his own sense of the loveliness of the place where God is worshipped, and his earnest longing to be near God. He illustrates this feeling by a beautiful image drawn from the sparrow and the swallow, small insignificant birds - building their nests unobstructed and unalarmed near the very altar of God. As if they must be happy to be so near to God, and to dwell peaceably there. The idea here is, that the sparrows and the swallows are to be envied. They come freely to the place where God was worshipped, to the very altars, and make their home there undisturbed.

Matthew 10:29-31
You can buy two sparrows for only a copper coin, yet not even one sparrow falls from its nest without the knowledge of your Father. Aren’t you worth much more to God than many sparrows?
So don’t worry. For your Father cares deeply about even the smallest detail of your life.

He encourages them not to fear by two striking considerations: first, that God takes care of sparrows, the smallest and least valuable of birds; and, secondly, the fact that God numbers even the hairs of the head. The argument is, that if He takes care of birds of the least value if He regards so small a thing as the hair of the head, and numbers it, He will certainly protect and provide for you. You need not, therefore, fear what man can do to you. He is not like the gods worshipped by many of the pagans, who were supposed to be so exalted, and so distant, that they did not interest themselves in human affairs; but He condescends to regard the needs of the meanest of his creatures. It is one of the glorious attributes of the true God, that he can and will thus notice the needs of the mean as well as the mighty; and one of the richest of all consolations when we are afflicted and are despised by the world is the thought that we are not forgotten by our heavenly Father. He who remembers the falling sparrow, will not be unmindful of us.
Every true man’s life is charged with a purpose of God, which will mold it and master it, so that it may best work out His glory. He who notes the fall of the sparrow sees, numbers, and knows each human soul.

Almond Blossoms
The first time we read of the Almond Blossoms in the Word of God is in Ex 25:31-40.
This is where Father told Moses to make the Tabernacle and all the implements in the Tabernacle. In this scripture, He tells him how the golden lampstand must be made. The Menora.
This is the only light inside the Holy place. The lampstand was to be decorated with Almond blossoms. We know that all the implements were a picture of Jesus. The Lampstand is a picture of Jesus as the Word - the light to the World.
All the Furniture in the courtyard and holy place were either made of wood, covered by gold or bronze. The Menorah was the only solid gold item - this shows Jesus’ Divinity, pureness of the Word, and His glory.

Psl 119:140 ”Your Word is very pure (tried and well refined)…”
It was made in the shape of Almond branches with blossoms - carrying the fire for light. It consisted of 7 oil lamps (7 - Fullness, Completeness Perfection, 7-fold Spirit of God (Rev 4: 5)) It had 3 branches to the left of the shaft with 3 flower buds and 3 branches to right with each 3 flower buds. The shaft had 4 flower buds, a total of 22 flower buds. Interesting to know is that the Hebrew alphabet consists of 22 letters - the building blocks of YHVH’s Word. Each of these 22 flower buds consisted of a bowl, knobs and flowers. Thus there were 22 x 3 ornaments, total 66. Interesting to know that the Word of God consists of 66 books.

The Almond Tree is the 1st tree to awake in spring and the last tree to shed its leaves, thus the longest tree to ‘stay awake’. We also read of the Almond tree in Jer 1: 11-12 “ …. Jeremiah, what sees thou? And I said I see a rod of an Almond tree. Then said the Lord unto me, thou hast seen well; for I hasten My Word to perform it.”
The word contains the significance of watching and hastening. The word for almond tree IN Hebrew is SHA’KAD, and the word for “I will hasten” (Jer 1:12) is SHO’KED from the same root. The almond was the emblem of the Divine forwardness in bringing God’s promises to pass.
Father God gives the answer for what an almond stands for; It is a picture of His Word. This means “to be watchful, to remain watchful, on the lookout and alert at all times”. Therefore the Menorah symbolized the Word of YHVH.

Aarons’ Rod
We also see the almond blossoms in Aaron’s rod. This was a dead piece of wood that blossomed with Almond flowers. In Jesus, we that are dead, are raised up to life by the living Word. Joh 11:25 Jesus said to her, I am the Resurrection and the Life! He who believes in Me, though he dies, yet he shall live.
The almond, being the first tree to bud in the spring, was a fit type of Him who is “the First-born from the dead.”
Aaron’s rod was also a picture of our authority as priests in God’s Kingdom. The Blossoms show the promise of fruit. Only through His Holy Spirit are we able to bear fruit when we eat His seed - The Word. No other seed can produce Kingdom fruit. We will be known by our fruit.
Psl 1. ..But his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on His law [His precepts and teachings] he [habitually] meditates day and night. And he will be like a tree firmly planted [and fed] by streams of water, Which yields its fruit in its season; Its leaf does not wither; And in whatever he does, he prospers [and comes to maturity].
God watches over His Word and promises to perform it. As God watches over the almond blossoms to open their beautiful leaves, so will He open the promises and prophecies of His Word to fill men’s hearts with joy and peace.
If the Almighty will spend a year of unceasing work to make a flower bloom, if He will lavish the wealth of earth and use the powers of the heavens upon it, then we may fairly assume that He will exercise as great or greater vigilance and effort to perform His Word touching the highest welfare of man. He will not fail to establish His kingdom.

Related themes

SparrowBirdHandBlossomAlmond Blossom