What is the arm of the Lord?

God is Spirit. The arm of the Lord is a metaphor for God’s power and strength. The arm of the Lord delivers and redeems. [Capital letters added in verses]

"Wherefore say unto the children of Israel, I am the LORD, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will rid you out of their bondage, and I will redeem you with a STRETCHED OUT ARM, and with great judgments:" - Exodus 6:6

"And the LORD brought us forth out of Egypt with a mighty hand, and with an OUTSTRETCHED ARM, and with great terribleness, and with signs, and with wonders:" - Deuteronomy 26:8

"Thou hast with THINE AREM redeemed thy people, the sons of Jacob and Joseph. Selah." - Psalm 77:15

Then, the Lord speaks of power and redemption by His arm in a much greater way. His arm that saved and delivered His people from physical bondage in Egypt, defeating their enemies, was now going to save and deliver the souls of all humanity from the spiritual bondage of sin, defeating the devil.

"Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil; and deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage." - Hebrews 2:14-15

God had looked for a man that could redeem mankind, but there was none righteous, without sin, that could pay the price. So God Himself stepped in to pay the price. He did this by making Himself a body, the arm of the Lord.

"And he saw that there was no man, and wondered that there was no intercessor: therefore HIS ARM brought salvation unto him; and his righteousness, it sustained him." - Isaiah 59:16

The arm of the Lord would not be a literal arm, but a holy human body containing God Himself, with all power and authority to deliver, redeem, and to save.

The prophet Isaiah describes the arm of the Lord. We find the fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecies in God’s flesh/body – Jesus Christ – the arm of the Lord.

"Who hath believed our report? and to whom is THE ARM OF THE LORD revealed? ... He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed." - Isaiah 53:1, 3-5

"The LORD hath made bare HIS HOLY ARM in the eyes of all the nations; and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God." - Isaiah 52:10

God’s holy arm is revealed to the world. It is Jesus Christ, bringing salvation to all the nations, reaching to the ends of the earth, saving us from sin by His gospel (Acts 2:38).

"But though he had done so many miracles before them, yet they believed not on him: That the saying of Esaias [Isaiah] the prophet might be fulfilled, which he spake, Lord, who hath believed our report? and to whom hath THE ARM OF THE LORD been revealed? Therefore they could not believe, because that Esaias said again, He hath blinded their eyes, and hardened their heart; that they should not see with their eyes, nor understand with their heart, and be converted, and I should heal them. These things said Esaias, when he saw his glory, and spake of him." - John 12:37-41

By Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection, we can find salvation by repentance, baptism in Jesus name for the remission of ours sins, and the gift of His Holy Ghost (Acts 2:38).

Jesus, as the arm of the Lord, reaches out to humanity, redeeming us back to Himself from sin and death. There was no man that had the power to do this. Only the power and strength of God Himself revealed in a human body - Jesus, the arm of the Lord, could deliver and redeem us.