Right and Left
Concerning evil, both hands do it well. Micah 7:3 NASB
Both hands – In Semitic nomadic cultures, you eat with the right hand. The left hand never picks up food. It is used for other purposes. Until the invention of eating utensils, a hard and fast distinction between the hands was absolutely necessary. When the prophet suggests that both hands are filled with evil, he paints a picture of the right and the left used to defecate. It’s as repulsive a thought as could be found in this culture.
The Hebrew text is even more disgusting. The text actually says, ‘al-ha’ra kappayim. It isn’t just the “hand” that is involved here. It is the kap, that is, the hollow of the hand. The image is scooping up something and holding it in the hand. Now you and I get the full picture. These people scooped up evil and held it in both of their hands, just as they would have scooped up filth. YHVH is disgusted with their behavior, just as you and I would be. Judgment is coming. “Shame will cover,” continues the prophet. They will be “trampled down.”
But lest we imagine that Micah’s invective is aimed only at those whose disgusting behavior is obvious, Heschel notes:
The prophets had disdain for those to whom God was comfort and security; to them God was a challenge, an incessant demand. He is compassion, but not a compromise; justice, but not inclemency. Tranquility is unknown to the soul of a prophet. The miseries of the world give him no rest. While others are callous, and even callus to their callousness and unaware of their insensitivity, the prophets remain examples of supreme impatience with evil, distracted by neither might nor applause, by neither success nor beauty.[1]
If Heschel is right, then those who scoop up evil with both hands are also those who speak of God as the One who makes life pleasant. The God whose task is to provide us with benefits, riches, fame and leisure. The God who overlooks our “minor” disobedience because He is “all love.” This kind of god is the god of “both hands.” Disgusting. Impotent. Inept. And the prophets will have nothing to do with this god because, in the end, such a god is evil.
Do you want to know how the real God feels about those who insult Him with such tripe? “Behold, I am against you. I will burn up her chariots in smoke, a sword will devour your young lions, I will cut off your prey from the land, no longer will the voice of your messengers be heard” (Nahum 2:13).
Perhaps it’s time to wash.
Topical Index: hollow of the hand, kap, evil, ha’ra, Micah 7:3, Nahum 2:13
[1] Abraham Heschel, “Religion in a Free Society,” in The Insecurity of Freedom, p. 11.
Well, that explains the left hand taboo! I am convinced my mama switched my hands early on and never confessed to the deed. There are old, very old, prejudices against left handers, and people cannot even tell you any more why the left hand is considered ‘evil’. It just is. Now we know. Thank you!
Ezekiel 22:26 “Her priests have violated my law, and have profaned mine holy things: thy have put no difference between the holy and the profane, neither have they shewed difference between the unclean and the clean, and have hid their eyes from my sabbaths, and I am profaned among them.”
Well, I guess this also sheds light on the expression “They cannot tell the difference between their right hand and their left”, as referring to losing the ability to separate the choice correctly of what, and what not to do. It is also an expression that denotes darkness, where the hands cannot be seen at all.
The Torah teaches that we are to sanctify the Sabbath to ourselves, which is to say, we are to set it apart and make it holy, as the Creator did before us. We are to participate in the act of making holy. We are also to be able to tell the difference between what is YHVH’s holy will and our common, or, profane, one. I think when we equate our will with His, we have lost the distinction between the holy and the profane, and we invariably sink beneath the tyranny of the worship of self, and lose the anchor of anything real that we can trust. At that point, I think is where we wake up to find every man’s hand against us, and our hand against every man, and we no longer have the essential trust in God’s grace that enables us to extend that right hand of fellowship. At this point, it seems that we end up attempting to drive our own ship with the wrong hand of self service. ( I think I had better quit before I get to the ‘all thumbs’ analogy, which these days has a new significance for sure…)
Laurita,
I have also wondered where the taboo against the left hand originated, and this kind of gives some understanding of that.
It looks like a helpful book by Heschel, and there is this excerpt of it online. In just a few pages, much to consider.
https://www.bc.edu/content/dam/files/centers/boisi/pdf/f10/Heschel_Insecurity_of_Freedom_excerpt.pdf
Shalom, Gayle! So appreciate the link you posted!
These stand out-
“To choose evil is to fail to be free.”
“Mankind will not perish for lack of information; it may collapse for want of appreciation.”!
Thank you!
The Solution to Pollution
~ So when you spread out your hands in prayer, I will hide My eyes from you; Yes, even though you multiply prayers, I will not listen. Your hands are covered with blood. “Wash yourselves, make yourselves clean; Remove the evil of your deeds from My sight. Cease to do evil, Learn to do good; Seek justice, Reprove the ruthless, Defend the orphan, Plead for the widow.. ~ (Isaiah 1.16)
What we need, according to Isaiah, is a good scrubbing. A wash-down. A cleansing. As we enter into His presence, we first must stop at the brass laver. Clean water has been provided for us there.
David knew he was in need of cleansing and prayed this very necessary prayer – found in Psalm 51:2:
~ Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin ~
But can it be this “simple?” “Ask, and you will receive?” “LORD, I know I’m dirty, – What can wash away my sins?” May David’s prayer be mine as well? “Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.” Psalm 51:7
“LORD, would You do that for me?” “Ask, – and you will receive..”
“Come now, let us settle the matter,” says the LORD. “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool.” (Isaiah 1.18)
“Father, I know You are holy, but I have sinned and am no longer worthy to be called your son, would You make me as one of your hired servants?”
Lord Jesus, I long to be perfectly whole;
I want Thee forever to live in my soul.
Break down every idol, cast out every foe;
Now wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
Whiter than snow, yes, whiter than snow.
Now wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
Lord Jesus, let nothing unholy remain,
Apply Thine own blood and extract every stain;
To get this blest cleansing, I all things forego—
Now wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
Lord Jesus, look down from Thy throne in the skies,
And help me to make a complete sacrifice.
I give up myself, and whatever I know,
Now wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
Lord Jesus, for this I most humbly entreat,
I wait, blessed Lord, at Thy crucified feet.
By faith, for my cleansing, I see Thy blood flow,
Now wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
Lord Jesus, Thou seest I patiently wait,
Come now, and within me a new heart create;
To those who have sought Thee, —Thou never saidst “No,”
Now wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
This blessing by faith, I receive from above;
O glory! my soul is made perfect in love;
My prayer has prevailed, and this moment I know,
The blood is applied, I am whiter than snow.
Whiter than snow, yes, whiter than snow.
Now wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
We gain far more *in Christ, than we ever lost *in Adam!
Let’s Get This Party Started!
So he (I) got up and went to His Father. But while he was still in the distance, his Father saw him and was filled with compassion. He ran to his son, embraced him, and kissed him.
The son declared, (my confession is) ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’
But the Father (my Father) said to his servants, ‘Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. Bring the fatted calf and kill it. Let us feast and celebrate! For this son of Mine was dead [you who were once dead in trespasses and sins} and is alive again! He was lost and [now] is found!’ So they began to celebrate.
Yes, David. Blessed [what joy!} is for the ones [the sons and daughters} whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered!
For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is His lovingkindness toward those who fear Him. As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us. Just as a father has compassion on his children, So the LORD has compassion on those who fear Him..
Blessed is the Name of the LORD!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y2bwIK5txds
How often have I asked God to rescue me from the very thing He had designed for me, to “save” me from what was actually necessary, because I viewed Him as the One to validate MY will? My will be done. That is filthy. Its idolatry.
Hi Skip! I have been reading your TW for awhile now. It has been a blessing. I’ve also read some of your books and I am going to buy your new book. Should we buy from you or through Amazon? Sad to say though, I am not going to be able to read your TW for a period. But hopefully I will return. Again what a blessing you have been in my life. I thank YHVH for you. He surely loves you. Take care and keep the faith always!
Please buy from the web site when the book is out on Jan. 27. Amazon keeps 65% of the money for all my books.
Your TW today provides a better understanding to Ecclesiastes 10:2-3:
2 A wise man’s heart is at his right hand,
But a fool’s heart at his left.
3 Even when a fool walks along the way,
He lacks wisdom,
And he shows everyone that he is a fool.
We are indeed so filthy, we need to be scrubbed with launderer’s soap, if we think / believe that our right hand does not know what our left hand is doing, nor that YHWH knows not, nor see not what is going on; we are in a false security, in a Hollywood world.