Arm Meaning Spiritually?

Arms are often symbolic of authority and power, though they may be upraised in surrender or prayer.

Commonly, in conjunction with the Holy Trinity the arms represent the Father. During the ancient times, a suitor who intended to woo a given lady, would hold the lady using the left hand while he held a sword by the right hand as this could aid in battling out other suitors who had come to pursue the lady. It is evident even to these days in that when a lady walks down the aisle she always stands at the left side off the groom. There existed an ancient superstitious belief that the devil always stayed at the left side of ones shoulder while trying to whisper and convince one into doing vices. As a result it was thought if someone had to throw salt by the left shoulder, then it could land into the devil’s eyes and thus stopping him from bringing one into temptations.

In the Old Testament, there exists variety of incidences where arms are used as a symbol for victory and power as well as humility and acceptance of God’s forgiveness. For example, there was a time when the Israelites had gone to war with their enemies. God had spoken to Moses and told him to lift up his hands so that victory would be granted to them. However, Moses got tired and his hands began to rest. As a result, the Israelites started to weaken, but upon realizing that Aaron together with the help of other people supported his hands up during the entire war period and as a result, they won. This was a clear superstitious belief that by lifting up the prophet’s hands, victory would be granted unto them.

The book of Isaiah also uses arms in reference to a number of beliefs. When God spoke to him about the forgiveness of the children of Israel, God told him that it was because the people who had sinned were lifting their hands up in prayer and as a result would not be forgiven. There was a belief that if ones' hands were lifted up then in prayer it was an indication that one had fully accepted God’s power as the only supreme being and in essence was a sign of power to be received as well as God’s blessings.

In the New Testament Jesus performed a number of miracles together with his disciples using arms in particular. For instance when little children came to Jesus, he placed arms on them while saying that the kingdom of God belonged to those that humbled themselves just like those little children. On the other hand, Jesus raised Lazarus from the tomb while placing his hand on the tomb stone while calling his name and Lazarus came back to life.