An outstretched hand
symbolizes a person’s moving into action with all the force at his disposal. In God’s case, he stretches out his hand when he intervenes dramatically.
1 Every time the combination of stretch out one’s hand against
appears in the Old Testament, it carries with it a punitive notion of judgment.
4 “I will stretch out my hand against Judah and against all the inhabitants of Jerusalem; and I will cut off from this place the remnant of Baal and the name of the idolatrous priests along with the priests,