In the April 2024 General Conference, Elder Kearon said, “God is in relentless pursuit of you.” This week’s Come Follow Me chapters support this empowering doctrine. The previous post, regarding Isaiah chapters 40 and 41, reveals how willing the Lord is to share His power with us and to give us strength. Like the eagle who experiences painful rebirth to be transformed, our conversion process can sometimes feel like an overwhelming and difficult experience.
The Lord reassures us and gives a reason why trials can become blessings. He said, “Behold, I have refined thee, but not with silver; I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction” (Isaiah 48:10). God wants us to know that during difficult times He has not abandoned us, but rather, He is in relentless pursuit of us. He assures us that He has everything well under control as He says, “Mine hand also hath laid the foundation of the earth, and my right hand hath spanned the heavens: when I call unto them, they stand up together” (Isaiah 48:13). He calls out to heaven and earth, so we know this has temple connections since the temple is that sacred space where heaven meets earth.
The right hand is the covenant hand, and the Lord’s right hand “spanned the heavens.” The Hebrew word for span is ṭâphach, and it means “to carry on the palms, to dandle, or to carry babies or little children upon the palms.” In English, we would say, “to carry a child in the arms.” Perhaps this is the origin of the song,
“He’s got the whole world in his hands.
He’s got the little tiny baby in his hands.
He’s got you and me, brother, in his hands.
He’s got you and me, sister, in his hands.”
This gives me great comfort! Maybe this is why He said, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, ye are little children, and ye have not as yet understood how great blessings the Father hath in his own hands and prepared for you; And ye cannot bear all things now; nevertheless, be of good cheer, for I will lead you along. The kingdom is yours and the blessings thereof are yours, and the riches of eternity are yours” (D&C 78:17-18).
During difficult times we may think the Lord has forgotten us. But those same palms that figuratively carry us have the marks of His atoning grace. The Lord has said in tender parental language, “Can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? yea, they may forget, yet will I not forget thee. Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands; thy walls are continually before me.” (Isaiah 49:16).
The phrase “palms of my hands” is the Hebrew word kaph, which is also the eleventh letter of the Hebrew alphabet. The actual Hebrew letter can be seen in Psalm 119 just before verse 81:
כ Caph
Strong’s Bible Concordance shows the definition as:
כַּף kaph, kaf; from H3721; the hollow hand or palm (so of the paw of an animal, of the sole, and even of the bowl of a dish or sling, the handle of a bolt, the leaves of a palm-tree); figuratively, power:—branch, foot, hand((-ful), -dle, (-led)), hollow, middle, palm, paw, power, sole, spoon.
It is translated as spoon in Numbers chapter 7 to indicate hand-shaped temple utensils. A kaph is a measurement of the portion of the sacrifices that the priest was allowed to keep for himself. In other words, he could take out a handful.
Kaph or “palm of the hand” symbolizes power from God and represents a higher potential. It is what the Lord wants to share with us. It also represents self-restraint to achieve our divine potential. The palm of the hand is the receiver, or a reception of God’s power. As shown in the video below from a Jewish scholar explaining the letters of the Hebrew alphabet, the shape of the letter kaf turned on its side would represent a crown. The crown representing our potential as kings and queens is worn above the head to symbolize our potential to become greater than our current intellect and ability.
The letter turned on its side and made into a dome also represents God’s hand (or palm) being over us and protecting us. The Lord said to Moses, “And it shall come to pass, while my glory passeth by, that I will put thee in a clift of the rock, and will cover thee with my hand while I pass by” (Exodus 33:22). The word hand is almost always the Hebrew yad, or the tenth letter yood, but in this verse hand is kaph, so it represents the Lord’s palm of the hand covering to provide protection. During the Feast of Tabernacles (Sukkot), booths are made from various greenery. The booths cannot exceed a certain height. The covering represents God’s protection. The symbolism teaches that the Lord is never far away and is relentlessly pursuing us!
Important Hebrew words begin with the letter kaf. Atonement is kaphar, and crown is kether. Power is kôach.
Please see the YouTube video below explaining the Hebrew letter kaf.