A Research Paper

The Left Hand of God

To him who overcomes I will grant to sit with Me on My throne,
as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne. 
(Revelation 3:21) 

"For Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive by the Spirit, by whom also He went and preached to the spirits in prison, who formerly were disobedient, when once the Divine longsuffering waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight souls, were saved through water.

There is also an anti-type which now saves us—baptism (not the removal of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God), through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, angels and authorities and powers having been made subject to Him." (1 Peter 3:18-22)

If a king gives an assignment for someone on his left hand, his majesty hopes the dispatched messenger will return with a favorable reply.

In other words the messenger is engaged in "in-service training." In the case of the dispatched Lion from the Tribe of Judah His victorious return is assured before hand and His performance record is impeccable. Jesus is “the Lamb slain before the foundation of the world.” (Revelation 13:8). That is, the Last Adam succeeded, or else the First Adam (and all of us) would have stayed lost, without any hope at all. Any dispatched servant of a king is expected to return home with favorable news from battle, or he could even forfeit his life. He must be honest and reliable. Our discipleship over a lifetime as followers of Jesus being trained by Him, begins when we are sent out into enemy-held territory to represent the King of kings. The entire universe is watching from the Mezzanine. The Winner of the race is Jesus who leading the great company of the redeemed. We have the example of Jesus for us to emulate.  This is a vast subject!

A common expression in daily life is “my right hand man.” Who is my “left hand man?” Having a “front man” and a “back man” or a “body guard” are meaningful terms but what does it mean to be seated at the “left hand” of an important person? A body guard perhaps or a wine-taster?

Here are a few areas where God manages His universe — as it were like computer apps running in the background. Naively we think we are in charge. In truth we have lost our dominion and must look to God for mercy and grace or we have no hope.

Man lost his dominion over the earth in the Fall of Adam.

Dominion is now being restored to man by Jesus Christ!

The Latin words for "Right" and "Left" are dexter and sinister respectively. It's easy how dexter refers to the good and sinister to the dark side. Not necessarily, as we'll see.

What about the Left Hand of God?

Question: I have been studying about THE RIGHT HAND of God.  Can you speak about the left hand of God?  Can you explain Is. 45:6,7 in more detail.  Is the darkness mentioned from the left hand?  Was it the left hand of God that was revealed in Job’s life?  What about Ecclesiastes 10:2,3? Answer: As you have undoubtedly discovered, scripture contains little about God’s left hand. More is said about his right hand. This, however, has nothing to do with how badly history has treated “lefties.” The Latin word for “left handed” means “sinister.” Scripture does not treat it so badly. It was an advantage in battle (Judges 3:15-30, 20:16; 1 Chronicles 12:2). Although the left side was often opposed to the right in such matters as goats on the left and sheep on the right (Mt. 25:31-46), it is not necessarily intended to denigrate the left hand. When a division is made there must be a separation in some direction. Notice that to move to the left side of the judge is a movement to the right by those facing him. The lesson is the division, not the side on which each group placed. Being on God’s left hand is not always bad. The heavenly hosts are on both his right hand and his left (2 Chronicle18:18; 1 Kings 22:19). God did not distinguish between left and right when he said through Isaiah, “This is the way, walk ye in it; when ye turn to the right hand, and when ye turn to the left (30:21). The Old Testament describes walking in God’s will as turning “neither to the right hand or to the left” (Deuteronomy. 5:32, 17:11, 28:14; Joshua 1:7, 23:6; 2 Kings 22:2; 2 Chronicles 34:2). Why, then, does the right hand always come in first and the left hand come in second? Perhaps the simplest reason is that most folks are right handed as a result of which we live in a right-handed world. Thus, when the scripture speaks in terms of a favored hand such as Christ sitting on the right hand of God, it could signal no more than the fact that, as often, God is being described anthropomorphically. This might also account for Ecclesiastes 10:2. When divisions are made for any reason, understandable descriptions must be used. Remember that then as now we live in a “right handed” world. But also remember that sitting on the left hand is not undesirable. The mother of James and John asked that Jesus seat her two sons one on his right hand and one on his left (Matthew 20:21). In the pseudepigraphical book of 1 Enoch the archangel Gabriel is seated at the left hand of God. In his apocryphal book Hermas, in his ninth parable, writes of Christ and the Holy Spirit, “They stand, one on His right band and the other on His left” (9:35). (Dictionary of the Apostolic Church (2 Vols.). 1916-1918 (J. Hastings, Ed.). New York: Charles Scribner's Sons.) There is no Biblical reference that supports either source. A Dictionary of Biblical Tradition in English Literature has an informative article on the subject: LEFT HAND, RIGHT HAND Biblical phrases referring to the right hand reflect a widespread human cultural attitude, namely the recognition that for most people the right hand is both stronger and more adept than the left, and is the hand with which many tasks are instinctively undertaken. The corollary has often been that left-handedness is regarded as odd, undesirable, and even antisocial; hence the view embodied in the word sinister (Latin for “left hand”). No such hostile attitude to left-handedness can be found in Scripture; there are stories of left-handed heroes, such as Ehud in Judges 3:15–30 (cf. the left-handed soldiers of Benjamin in Judges 20:16 and David’s Benjaminite warriors in 1 Chronicles 12:2; interestingly, “Benjamin” in Hebrew means “son of my right hand”!). A general disposition to prefer the right hand is nonetheless evident and persists in subsequent tradition. Eccl. 10:2 links “a wise man’s heart” with his right hand, and “a fool’s heart” with his left. When the Son of Man separates the sheep from the goats at the Last Judgment, it is to the damned “on the left hand” that he says, “Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire” (Matthew 25:41). (A classical parallel may be found in Plato’s myth of Er [Republic, bk. 10], where at death the just souls take the righthand upward path while the unjust must take the downward path on the left.) Rabbinic tradition also establishes hell to the left of God, and heaven on his right side (Midrash Psalm 90:12). The right hand is often mentioned as a symbol of strength, both for human beings and anthropomorphically for God (e.g., Job 40:14; Isa. 48:13). This metaphor for God’s power is used chiefly in connection with creation or the deliverance of God’s people. For George Herbert, in “Providence,” the right and left hand of God signify two aspects of the divine will: For either thy command or thy permission  Lay hands on all: they are thy right and left. The first puts on with speed and expedition; The other curbs sinnes stealing pace and theft. Another symbolism concerns the place at the right hand of a person or God, i.e., the place of preeminent dignity and favor (cf. 1 Kings 2:19; Psalm 110:1). Christ being enthroned at the right hand of the Father signifies his being God’s agent in salvation. In patristic writings scriptural distinctions between right and left are often ingeniously allegorized. Thus, in St. Augustine’s discussion of the miraculous draught of fishes (John 21), the multitude of fish caught when, as Jesus directed, the disciples cast their net “on the right side of the ship” represent “those who stand on the right hand, the good alone.” Augustine contrasts this incident with an earlier miracle recorded in Luke 5:3–7: On that occasion the nets are not let down on the right side, that the good alone might not be signified, nor on the left, lest the application should be limited to the bad; but without any reference to either side, He [Jesus] says, “Let down your nets for a draught,” that we may understand the good and bad as mingled together. … He showed thereby in the former case that the capture of fishes signified the good and bad presently existing in the Church; but in the latter, the good only, whom it will contain everlastingly, when the resurrection of the dead shall have been completed in the end of this world. (In Joan. Ev. 122.6) This broad tradition is evident in the conventions of visual and literary iconography. In medieval drama, such as the Jeu d’Adam, hellmouth is typically located to the left of God (i.e., on the audience’s right). In medieval illustration left / right symmetries are common: the Biblia Pauperum, e.g., following patristic precedent, shows Eve created from the left side of Adam, whereas blood and water issue from the pierced right side of Jesus, the Second Adam—the first anticipates the Fall and signals human mortality, the second bespeaks redemption and the gift of eternal life. Milton in Paradise Lost (2.755-58) has Sin born out of the left side of Satan’s head. Later, in Blake’s Vision of the Last Judgment “the right hand of the Design is appropriated to the Resurrection of the Just; the left hand … to the Resurrection of the Wicked.” The traditional bias is recalled also by Vladimir Nabokov in Laughter in the Dark (1938) when Margot’s two lovers, the one favored, the other unwelcome, touch her on each knee, “as though Paradise had been on her right hand and Hell on her left” (chap. 17). Other literary allusions (e.g., Carlyle, Sartor Resartus, 1.8; 3.3) derive from Jonah 4:11, where God explains to hard-hearted Jonah his compassion toward Nineveh, in which live “more than six score thousand persons that cannot discern between their right hand and their left” (i.e., young children), or from Jesus’ injunctions concerning secrecy in almsgiving: “Let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth” (Matt. 6:3). The latter text is the subject of frequent parodic adaptation, as in P. G. Wodehouse, Meet Mr. Mulliner (“He was a man who never let his left hip know what his right hip was doing”). In Christopher Isherwood’s Mr. Norris Changes Trains, Mr. Norris introduces Herr Schmidt as “my secretary and my right hand. Only in this case, Mr. Norris tittered nervously, ‘I can assure you that the right hand knows perfectly well what the left hand doeth’“ (chap. 2). (Jeffrey, D. L. (1992). A Dictionary of biblical tradition in English literature. Grand Rapids, Mich.: W.B. Eerdmans.) Finally, in the interest of full disclosure I must reveal that a southpaw wrote this answer. It was surely a southpaw who concluded that God must be left-handed because Christ is sitting on his right hand. Of course the truth is that, other than anthropomorphically, God has no hands at all. He is a Spirit, and those who worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth (John 4:24). (Church of Christ source).

Psalm 16

T he Hope of the Faithful, and the Messiah’s Victory A Michtam of David.

Preserve me, O God, for in You I put my trust.
O my soul, you have said to the
Lord,
“You are my Lord,
My goodness is nothing apart from You.”
As for the saints who are on the earth,
“They are the excellent ones, in whom is all my delight.”
Their sorrows shall be multiplied who hasten after another god;
Their drink offerings of blood I will not offer,
Nor take up their names on my lips.
O Lord, You are the portion of my inheritance and my cup;
You maintain my lot.
The lines have fallen to me in pleasant places;
Yes, I have a good inheritance.
I will bless the Lord who has given me counsel;
My heart also instructs me in the night seasons.
I have set the Lord always before me;
Because He is at my right hand I shall not be moved.
Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoices;
My flesh also will rest in hope.
For You will not leave my soul in Sheol,
Nor will You allow Your Holy One to see corruption.
You will show me the path of life;
In Your presence is fullness of joy;
At Your right hand are pleasures forevermore.

Revelation from God adds a wealth of information unavailable to our natural reasons. Please see What is Revelation from God? With God overseeing all of history, many of us choose self-serving paths in life, though a few choose to follow Jesus Christ. Not only is Jesus fully worthy, He is the appointed Heir of all things. Also see The Limits of Science.

The Right Hand of God is about God's delegated power in the government of Earth, nations, individuals. This authority has been handed from the Father to the Son as can be seen in Revelation 5.

Just as Jesus has been authorized to take over the planet from the "god of this world" (a fallen angel) so also, He also has authority to bring Israel back to the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. He will then heal and restore the 100+ nations on earth.

Following are a few notes about of the mysterious symbolism of standing at the right hand or at the left hand of God.

The First Martyr

The first martyr of the Christian church, Stephen, was stoned to death after giving an impassioned message on the history of Israel before the leaders of the nation. He saw “Jesus standing at the right hand of God” which would seem to contradict earlier evidence in the Book of Acts that Jesus was then “seated at the right hand of God.” When He receives His Bride the true church, we would expect Jesus to rise from His throne to welcome her.  Stephen’s last words suggested he would “time travel” to the Rapture upon taking his last breath. Stephen said in part...

“However, the Most High does not dwell in temples made with hands, as the prophet says:
‘Heaven is My throne,
And earth is My footstool.
What house will you build for Me? says the Lord,
Or what is the place of My rest?
Has My hand not made all these things?’

“You stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears! You always resist the Holy Spirit; as your fathers did, so do you. Which of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? And they killed those who foretold the coming of the Just One, of whom you now have become the betrayers and murderers, who have received the law by the direction of angels and have not kept it.”

When they heard these things they were cut to the heart, and they gnashed at him with their teeth. But he, being full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God, and said, “Look! I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God!”

Then they cried out with a loud voice, stopped their ears, and ran at him with one accord; and they cast him out of the city and stoned him. And the witnesses laid down their clothes at the feet of a young man named Saul. And they stoned Stephen as he was calling on God and saying, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” Then he knelt down and cried out with a loud voice, “Lord, do not charge them with this sin.” And when he had said this, he fell asleep. (Acts 7:48-60)

We accommodate our present entrapment in linear, historical time by saying a person “falls asleep” at death. "Asleep in Jesus” is engraved on many tombstones. The actual dying Christian undergoes an immediate transformation of his or her body and arrives at the Rapture “in a twinkling of an eye.” The Rapture is overdue now but could happen today.

Ray Stedman notes: “A vivid picture, is it not? It is noteworthy to see how God stands by his faithful martyr here. Stephen's eyes are opened, even in the presence of the council, and he sees the Lord Jesus standing at the right hand of the Father. It is my conviction that every believer who dies sees this event, that when a believer steps out of time into eternity the next event waiting for him is the coming of the Lord Jesus for his own. Here Stephen sees him waiting to step out and receive him in a few moments, when he will be taken out of the city and stoned to death. This is the sight that greets the eyes of those who fall asleep in Jesus, and Stephen sees it. He prays to him in words that echo those of Jesus himself on the cross. Jesus had prayed, "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do," (Luke 23:34). Stephen says, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit, and do not hold this sin against them." And when he had said this, he fell asleep.”

“But I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep, lest you sorrow as others who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus.

For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep. For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore comfort one another with these words.” (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18)

Many more details about the end of the age we live in are found in the New and the Old Testament. The time of the end for us Gentile-world nations will be marked by God turning His attention to the tiny nation of Israel. He will fulfill all His promises to them as a new age dawns on earth. Jesus Himself will reign over all the nations (as King of kings)—from Israel. 

“Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And He will send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.” (Matthew 24:29-31)

In Psalm 45 her majesty the Queen is standing at the King's right hand. Israel is depicted as the wife of God, but the true church is seen as the virgin bride of Christ, two different symbolic representations.

The Bible contains a vast wealth of hidden expressions. One-time-only phrases in the Bible are hard to decode, but words or phrases often-used in the Bible are a gold mine. Simply collect them as I am doing here and you can expect an “Aha” moment with God. It will be more than intuition usually! 

“It is the glory of God to conceal a matter,
But the glory of kings is to search out a matter.” (Proverbs 25:2)

According to the Jewish Encyclopedia, Gabriel takes the form of a man, and stands at the left hand of God.

In the Cabala, (kabbalah)) both hands have positive meanings. The right hand symbolizes the hand of blessing and mercy while the left hand is the hand of the king and represents justice. The right hand is also associated with rectitude. In the Cabala, both hands have positive meanings. The right hand symbolizes the hand of blessing and mercy while the left hand is the hand of the king and represents justice. The right hand is also associated with rectitude.
In Africa, circumcised boys point their right hand to heaven, left hand touching the earth, to call upon the earth to witness their status of adulthood and for membership into the tribe, called the heaven and earth or witness sign. In China, the right hand is yang and strong and in time of war the hand of honor, which holds the sword; the left hand is yin and honor.

Pseudo Science is a big deal for those outside of Christ living on the dark side. I won't go there!

Never mind. God is very approachable especially if one needs forgiveness, mercy, compassion, understanding and healing--not mere justice. Reality is about Jesus and not about us and our many delusions.

“Come now, and let us reason together,”
Says the Lord,
“Though your sins are like scarlet,
They shall be as white as snow;
Though they are red like crimson,
They shall be as wool.
If you are willing and obedient,
You shall eat the good of the land;
But if you refuse and rebel,
You shall be devoured by the sword”;
For the mouth of the Lord has spoken. (Isaiah 1:18-20)

The Throne Room of Heaven

To begin with the quest for deeper understanding of “handedness” let’s visit to Supreme Headquarters, Command Central in the invisible spiritual realm all around us.

After these things I (John the Apostle) looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven. And the first voice which I heard was like a trumpet speaking with me, saying, “Come up here, and I will show you things which must take place after this.”

Immediately I was in the Spirit; and behold, a throne set in heaven, and One sat on the throne. And He who sat there was like a jasper and a sardius stone in appearance; and there was a rainbow around the throne, in appearance like an emerald. Around the throne were twenty-four thrones, and on the thrones I saw twenty-four elders sitting, clothed in white robes; and they had crowns of gold on their heads. And from the throne proceeded lightnings, thunderings, and voices. Seven lamps of fire were burning before the throne, which are the seven Spirits of God.

Before the throne there was a sea of glass, like crystal. And in the midst of the throne, and around the throne, were four living creatures full of eyes in front and in back. The first living creature was like a lion, the second living creature like a calf, the third living creature had a face like a man, and the fourth living creature was like a flying eagle. The four living creatures, each having six wings, were full of eyes around and within. And they do not rest day or night, saying:

“Holy, holy, holy,
Lord God Almighty,
Who was and is and is to come!”

Whenever the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to Him who sits on the throne, who lives forever and ever, the twenty-four elders fall down before Him who sits on the throne and worship Him who lives forever and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne, saying:

“You are worthy, O Lord,
To receive glory and honor and power;
For You created all things,

And by Your will they exist and were created.”

And I saw in the right hand of Him who sat on the throne a scroll written inside and on the back, sealed with seven seals. Then I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice, “Who is worthy to open the scroll and to loose its seals?” And no one in heaven or on the earth or under the earth was able to open the scroll, or to look at it.

So I wept much, because no one was found worthy to open and read the scroll, or to look at it. But one of the elders said to me, “Do not weep. Behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has prevailed to open the scroll and to loose its seven seals.”

And I looked, and behold, in the midst of the throne and of the four living creatures, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as though it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent out into all the earth. Then He came and took the scroll out of the right hand of Him who sat on the throne.

Now when He had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each having a harp, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. And they sang a new song, saying:

“You are worthy to take the scroll, And to open its seals; For You were slain, And have redeemed us to God by Your blood
Out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation, And have made us kings and priests to our God; And we shall reign on the earth.”

Then I looked, and I heard the voice of many angels around the throne, the living creatures, and the elders; and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands, saying with a loud voice:

“Worthy is the Lamb who was slain
To receive power and riches and wisdom,
And strength and honor and glory and blessing!”

And every creature which is in heaven and on the earth and under the earth and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, I heard saying:

“Blessing and honor and glory and power
Be to Him who sits on the throne,
And to the Lamb, forever and ever!”

Then the four living creatures said, “Amen!” And the twenty-four elders fell down and worshiped Him who lives forever and ever.(Revelation 4:1 - 5:14)

Commentary by Ray Stedman.

In my mind’s eye I have always visualized viewing this scene as an observer looking looking straight ahead (East?) at the throne. The great scroll—the title deed to the earth would then be in the Left Hand of the One seated on the throne, (i.e., God the Father) and the Scroll was passed to Jesus the Lamb of God approaching from the left. (I have no idea how you picture Revelation 4,5 and I’d like to learn from you.)

The great scene witnessed by John (about 95 AD) is takes place above and beyond “earth time.” (See Introduction to Time.) In our present mortal bodies we are constrained to live one day at a time for a maximum of 70, or 80, or 90 years. Not so in our new resurrection bodies.

The Right Hand of God

I found innumerable references to “right hand” and a good many references to “left hand.” In the right hand references many refer to status and privilege before a king. I was interested to see some of the left-handed references. (When I was a boy in grade school anyone who wrote with his left hand was considered a bit of a freak, an anomaly.)

Chuck Missler said this very well in his essay message from Outside of Time:

"Since God has the technology to create us in the first place, He certainly has the technology to get a message to us. But how does He authenticate His message? It may seem old-fashioned to take the Bible seriously, especially in our modern age of scientific discoveries and multicultural emphases. It has become politically correct to deny the existence of absolutes and to deny the involvement of our Creator in our affairs. And yet there are many intellectual and well-informed people who take the Bible very seriously—who even regard its origin as supernatural. Why?

"My own personal background has been in the information sciences—computers, communication, cryptography, and the like. With graduate degrees in engineering and business, and having spent a 30-year career in the corporate boardrooms of over a dozen high-tech enterprises, I have become most profoundly impressed by two astonishing discoveries:

The 66 books which we call the Bible constitute a highly integrated message system. What makes this so astonishing is the fact that they were penned by more than forty different people over a period of several thousand years!1 Yet we now discover that virtually every detail of the Biblical text evidences a highly skillful integrated design from cover to cover. In fact, every word, every place name, every detail was apparently placed there (in the original) deliberately as part of an overall intricate plan. What is even more astounding is that it can be demonstrated that the origin of this intricate design is from outside of our dimension of space and time.

The Nature of Time

"While philosophers throughout history have debated almost every idea under the sun since the world began, the one thing that they all have presumed—from the beginning—is that time is linear and absolute. Most of us assume that a minute a thousand years ago is the same as a minute today, and that we live in a dimension in which time inexorably rolls onward, yet is totally intractable to any attempt to glimpse ahead. Traversing the dimension of time remains the ever-popular realm of fiction writers, and, apparently, a few strange experiments of the particle physicists. This linear view of time is exemplified by our frequent resort to “time lines.” When we were in school, our teachers would draw a line on the blackboard. The left end of the line might represent the beginning of something—the birth of a person, or the founding of a nation, or an era. The right end of the line would mark the termination of that subject—the death of a person or the ending of an era.

"Therefore, when we consider the concept of “eternity,” we tend to view it as a line of infinite length—from “infinity” on the left and continuing toward “infinity” on the right.

"When we think of “God,” we naturally assume that He is someone “with lots of time.” But this linear view suffers from the misconceptions carried over from an obsolete physics. Today we owe a great debt to the efforts of Dr. Albert Einstein.

"It was the insight of Dr. Einstein, in considering the nature of our physical universe, that we live in more than just three dimensions, and that time itself is a fourth physical dimension. This insight led to his famous General Theory of Relativity—and to the discovery that time itself is also part of our physical reality.

People like us, who believe in physics, know that the distinction between past,
present and the future is only a stubbornly persistent illusion.
— Albert Einstein

The Dimensions of Reality

"We now realize that we live in (at least) four dimensions: not just the three spatial dimensions of length, width and height, but also with an additional physical dimension of time.3 Time is now known to be a physical property—and that time varies with mass, acceleration and gravity.

"A time measurement device in a weaker gravitational field runs faster than one in a stronger field. Near the surface of the Earth the frequency of an atomic clock decreases about one part in 1016 per meter, and, thus, a clock 100 meters higher than a reference clock will have a frequency greater by one part in 1014.

"Most discussions of the physics of time will also include the interesting case of two hypothetical astronauts born at the same instant. One remains on the Earth; the other is sent on a space mission to the nearest star, Alpha Centauri, about 4½ light years distant. If his vehicle travels at a speed of half the velocity of light, when our traveler returns to the Earth he would be more than two years younger than his twin brother!4 (If that doesn’t bother you, you weren’t paying attention!)

Our Common Misconception

"Is God subject to gravity? Is He subject to the constraints of mass or acceleration? Hardly. God is not someone “who has lots of time”: He is outside the domain of time altogether. That is what Isaiah means when he says, “It is He who inhabits eternity.”

"Since God has the technology to create us in the first place, He certainly has the technology to get a message to us. But how does He authenticate His message? How does He assure us that the message is really from Him and not a fraud or a contrivance?

"One way to authenticate the message is to demonstrate that its source is from outside of our time domain. God declares, “I alone know the end from the beginning.  His message includes history written in advance.

"An illustrative example is that of a parade. As we might sit on the curb and observe the many bands, marching units, floats, and other elements coming around the corner and passing in front of us, the parade is—to us—clearly a sequence of events. However, to someone who is outside the plane of the parade’s existence—say, in a helicopter above the city—the beginning and the end can be simultaneously in view.

"(It is amazing how many theological paradoxes evaporate when one recognizes the restrictions of viewing our predicament only from within our own time dimension.)

A Message of Extraterrestrial Origin

"We are in possession of this collection of 66 books we call The Bible, written by more than 40 authors over several thousands of years, yet we now discover it is an integrated message from outside our time domain. It repeatedly authenticates this uniqueness by describing history before it happens. And this discovery totally shatters our traditional concepts of reality." (Chuck Missler)

Keyword Search for right hand/left hand

Genesis 48:13 - And Joseph took them both, Ephraim with his right hand toward Israel's left hand, and Manasseh with his left hand toward Israel's right hand, and brought them near him.

Genesis 48:14 - Then Israel stretched out his right hand and laid it on Ephraim's head, who was the younger, and his left hand on Manasseh's head, guiding his hands knowingly, for Manasseh was the firstborn.

Leviticus 14:15 - “And the priest shall take some of the log of oil, and pour it into the palm of his own left hand

Leviticus 14:16 - “Then the priest shall dip his right finger in the oil that is in his left hand, and shall sprinkle some of the oil with his finger seven times before the LORD.

Leviticus 14:26 - “And the priest shall pour some of the oil into the palm of his own left hand.

Leviticus 14:27 - “Then the priest shall sprinkle with his right finger some of the oil that is in his left hand seven times before the LORD.

Judges 3:21 - Then Ehud reached with his left hand, took the dagger from his right thigh, and thrust it into his belly.

1 Chronicles 6:44 - Their brethren, the sons of Merari, on the left hand, were Ethan the son of Kishi, the son of Abdi, the son of Malluch,

Nehemiah 8:4 - So Ezra the scribe stood on a platform of wood which they had made for the purpose; and beside him, at his right hand, stood Mattithiah, Shema, Anaiah, Urijah, Hilkiah, and Maaseiah; and at his left hand Pediah, Mishael, Malchijah, Hashum, Hashbadana, Zechariah, and Meshullam

Job 23:9 - When He works on the left hand, I cannot behold Him; When He turns to the right hand, I cannot see Him.

Proverbs 3:16 - Length of days is in her right hand, In her left hand riches and honor.

Song of Solomon 2:6 - His left hand is under my head, And his right hand embraces me.

Song of Solomon 8:3 - (To the Daughters of Jerusalem)  His left hand is under my head, And his right hand embraces me.

Isaiah 9:20 - And he shall snatch on the right hand, And be hungry; He shall devour on the left hand And not be satisfied; Every man shall eat the flesh of his own arm.

Ezekiel 39:3 - “Then I will knock the bow out of your left hand, and cause the arrows to fall out of your right hand.

Daniel 12:7 - Then I heard the man clothed in linen, who was above the waters of the river, when he held up his right hand and his left hand to heaven, and swore by Him who lives forever, that it shall be for a time, times, and half a time; and when the power of the holy people has been completely

Matthew 6:3 - “But when you do a charitable deed, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing,

Matthew 25:41 - “Then He will also say to those on the left hand, ‘Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels:

Genesis 24:49 - “Now if you will deal kindly and truly with my master, tell me. And if not, tell me, that I may turn to the right hand or to the left.”

Exodus 14:22 - So the children of Israel went into the midst of the sea on the dry ground, and the waters were a wall to them on their right hand and on their left.

Exodus 14:29 - But the children of Israel had walked on dry land in the midst of the sea, and the waters were a wall to them on their right hand and on their left.

Numbers 20:17 - ‘Please let us pass through your country. We will not pass through fields or vineyards, nor will we drink water from wells; we will go along the King's Highway; we will not turn aside to the right hand or to the left until we have passed through your territory.' ”

Numbers 22:26 - Then the Angel of the LORD went further, and stood in a narrow place where there was no way to turn either to the right hand or to the left.

Deuteronomy 5:32 - “Therefore you shall be careful to do as the LORD your God has commanded you; you shall not turn aside to the right hand or to the left.

Deuteronomy 17:11 - “According to the sentence of the law in which they instruct you, according to the judgment which they tell you, you shall do; you shall not turn aside to the right hand or to the left from the sentence which they pronounce upon you.

Deuteronomy 17:20 - “that his heart may not be lifted above his brethren, that he may not turn aside from the commandment to the right hand or tithe left, and that he may prolong his days in his kingdom, he and his children in the midst of Israel.

Joshua 1:7 - “Only be strong and very courageous, that you may observe to do according to all the law which Moses My servant commanded you; do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may prosper wherever you go.

Joshua 11:8 - And the LORD delivered them into the hand of Israel, who defeated them and chased them to Greater Sidon, to the Brook Misrephoth, and to the Valley of Mizpah eastward; they attacked them until they left none of them remaining.

Joshua 23:6 - “Therefore be very courageous to keep and to do all that is written in the Book of the Law of Moses, lest you turn aside from it to the right hand or to the left,

1 Samuel 6:12 - Then the cows headed straight for the road to Beth Shemesh, and went along the highway, lowing as they went, and did not turn aside to the right hand or the left. And the lords of the Philistines went after them to the border of Beth Shemesh.

2 Samuel 2:19 - So Asahel pursued Abner, and in going he did not turn to the right hand or to the left from following Abner.

2 Samuel 2:21 - And Abner said to him, “Turn aside to your right hand or to your left, and lay hold on one of the young men and take his armor for yourself.” But Asahel would not turn aside from following him.

2 Samuel 14:19 - So the king said, “Is the hand of Joab with you in all this?” And the woman answered and said, “As you live, my lord the king, no one can turn to the right hand or to the left from anything that my lord the king has spoken. For your servant Joab commanded me, and he put all these words in the mouth of your maidservant.

2 Samuel 16:6 - And he threw stones at David and at all the servants of King David. And all the people and all the mighty men were on his right hand and on his left.

1 Kings 22:19 - Then Micaiah said, “Therefore hear the word of the LORD: I saw the LORD sitting on His throne, and all the host of heaven standing by, on His right hand and on His left.

2 Kings - Then the escorts stood, every man with his weapons in his hand, all around the king, from the right side of the temple to the left side of the temple, by the altar and the house.

1 Chronicles 12:2 - armed with bows, using both the right hand and the left in hurling stones and shooting arrows with the bow. They were of Benjamin, Saul's brethren.

2 Chronicles 3:17 - Then he set up the pillars before the temple, one on the right hand and the other on the left; he called the name of the one on the right hand Jachin, and the name of the one on the left Boaz.

2 Chronicles 18:18 - Then Micaiah said, “Therefore hear the word of the LORD: I saw the LORD sitting on His throne, and all the host of heaven standing on His right hand and His left.

2 Chronicles 23:10 - Then he set all the people, every man with his weapon in his hand, from the right side of the temple to the left side of the temple, along by the altar and by the temple, all around the king.

Therefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints, do not cease to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers: that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, far above all principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come. And He put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.“ (Ephesians 1:15-23)


“And you God made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others.

But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), 

and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,

that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.“ (Ephesians 2:1-7)

The Throne of David, The Father’s Throne, My throne 

“...But Jesus kept silent. And the high priest answered and said to Him, “I put You under oath by the living God: Tell us if You are the Christ, the Son of God!”

Jesus said to him, “It is as you said. Nevertheless, I say to you, hereafter you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Power, and coming on the clouds of heaven.” (Matthew 26:63-64)

“If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.” (Colossians 3:1)

“Now the point in what we are saying is this: we have such a high priest, one who is seated at the right hand  of the throne of the Majesty in heaven...” (Hebrews 8:1) 

“...looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.” (Hebrews 12:2)

Isaiah 9:1-7

Nevertheless the gloom will not be upon her who is distressed,
As when at first He lightly esteemed
The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali,
And afterward more heavily oppressed her,
By the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan,
In Galilee of the Gentiles.
The people who walked in darkness
Have seen a great light;
Those who dwelt in the land of the shadow of death,
Upon them a light has shined.
You have multiplied the nation
And increased its joy;
They rejoice before You
According to the joy of harvest,
As men rejoice when they divide the spoil.
For You have broken the yoke of his burden
And the staff of his shoulder,
The rod of his oppressor,
As in the day of Midian.
For every warrior’s sandal from the noisy battle,
And garments rolled in blood,
Will be used for burning and fuel of fire.
For unto us a Child is born,
Unto us a Son is given;
And the government will be upon His shoulder.
And His name will be called
Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
Of the increase of His government and peace
There will be no end,
Upon the throne of David and over His kingdom,
To order it and establish it with judgment and justice
From that time forward, even forever.
The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this. 

The Throne of God

Thus says the Lord:
“Heaven is My throne,
And earth is My footstool.
Where is the house that you will build Me?
And where is the place of My rest?
For all those things My hand has made,
And all those things exist,”
Says the Lord.
“But on this one will I look:
On him who is poor and of a contrite spirit,
And who trembles at My word. (Isaiah 66:1-2)

“However, the Most High does not dwell in temples made with hands, as the prophet says:
‘Heaven is My throne,
And earth is My footstool.
What house will you build for Me? says the Lord,
Or what is the place of My rest?
Has My hand not made all these things?’ (Acts 7:48-50)

"We have such an high priest, who is set on the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens." (Hebrews 8:1)

The “left hand of God” is evidently about assignments not yet completed in heaven but works in progress. If a king gives an assignment for someone on his left hand, his majesty hopes the dispatched messenger will return with a favorable reply. In other words the messenger is engaged in "in service training" In the case of the dispatched Lion from the Tribe of Judah His victorious return is assured before hand and His performance record is impeccable.

Jesus is “the Lamb slain before the foundation of the world.” (Revelation 13:8). That is, the Last Adam succeeded, or else the First Adam (and all of us) would have stayed lost without any hope at all.

Any dispatched servant of a king is expected to return home with favorable news from battle, or he could even forfeit his life. He must be honest and reliable. Our discipleship over a lifetime as followers of Jesus being trained by Him, begins when we are sent out into enemy-held territory to represent the King of kings. The entire universe is watching from the Mezzanine. The Winner of the race is Jesus who is leading the great company of the redeemed.

We have the example of Jesus for us to emulate. 

In the final judgment of the sheep and the goats, the sheep enter the Kingdom and the goats are excluded. The right hand of God represents final redemption realized. After conquering death on our behalf, Jesus sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, there to wait until his enemies were made a stool for his feet (Psalm 11).

Consider 2 Timothy 2:

You therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. And the things that you have heard from me among many witnesses, commit these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also. You therefore must endure hardship as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. 

No one engaged in warfare entangles himself with the affairs of this life, that he may please him who enlisted him as a soldier. And also if anyone competes in athletics, he is not crowned unless he competes according to the rules. 

The hardworking farmer must be first to partake of the crops. Consider what I say, and may the Lord give you understanding in all things.

Remember that Jesus Christ, of the seed of David, was raised from the dead according to my gospel, for which I suffer trouble as an evildoer, even to the point of chains; but the word of God is not chained. Therefore I endure all things for the sake of the elect, that they also may obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory.
This is a faithful saying:
For if we died with Him,
We shall also live with Him.
If we endure,
We shall also reign with Him.
If we deny Him,
He also will deny us.
If we are faithless,
He remains faithful;
He cannot deny Himself.

Remind them of these things, charging them before the Lord not to strive about words to no profit, to the ruin of the hearers. Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. But shun profane and idle babblings, for they will increase to more ungodliness. And their message will spread like cancer. Hymenaeus and Philetus are of this sort, who have strayed concerning the truth, saying that the resurrection is already past; and they overthrow the faith of some. Nevertheless the solid foundation of God stands, having this seal: “The Lord knows those who are His,” and, “Let everyone who names the name of Christ depart from iniquity.”

But in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay, some for honor and some for dishonor. Therefore if anyone cleanses himself from the latter, he will be a vessel for honor, sanctified and useful for the Master, prepared for every good work. Flee also youthful lusts; but pursue righteousness, faith, love, peace with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart. But avoid foolish and ignorant disputes, knowing that they generate strife. And a servant of the Lord must not quarrel but be gentle to all, able to teach, patient, in humility correcting those who are in opposition, if God perhaps will grant them repentance, so that they may know the truth, and that they may come to their senses and escape the snare of the devil, having been taken captive by him to do his will.

Notes (Added March 6, 2020)

The Left Hand of God also represents the dark forces of evil in the world, destructive agents, pillage, plunder and destruction. “Sinister” is Latin for the left hand.

Ray Stedman said, “I ran across the story of a Swiss French pastor who was imprisoned by the Nazis during World War II. He said this: "I was not able to stand firm except by remembering every day that the Gestapo was the hand of God--the left hand. The worst of tyrants will only end by accomplishing Christ's will. Now that is the glorious mark of Christianity that has made it an invincible force through all the running centuries."

Here is Paul, under arrest, chained day and night to a Roman soldier, unable to leave the house or the city of Rome. It's easy to imagine what this must have meant to the restless, surging spirit of this man. We read his letters and we can see how he longed to go on to the ends of the earth, always disturbed when he had to stay in one place very long. God had sent him out under His commission that was to take him, as he knew, to the very ends of the earth. He has his eye on Spain as he writes this letter, and to the regions beyond.” -- From Advance Through Defeat on Philippians.

God Inviting Christ to Sit on the Throne at His Right Hand (1645) by Pieter de Grebber

The right hand of God (Dextera Domini "right hand of the Lord" in Latin) or God's right hand may refer to the Bible and common speech as a metaphor for the omnipotence of God and as a motif in art. In the Bible, to be at the right side "is to be identified as being in the special place of honor." In Jesus' parable "The Sheep and the Goats", the sheep and goats are separated with the sheep on the right hand of God and the goats on the left hand. It is also a placement next to God in Heaven, in the traditional place of honor, mentioned in the New Testament as the place of Christ at Mark 16:19, Luke 22:69, Matthew 22:44 and 26:64, Acts 2:34 and 7:55, 1 Peter 3:22 and elsewhere. These uses reflect use of the phrase in the Old Testament, for example in Psalms 63:8 and 110:1. The implications of this anthropomorphic phrasing have been discussed at length by theologians, including Saint Thomas Aquinas. (Wikipedia)

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