The Hebrews, in speaking of the different quarters of heaven, always suppose the face to be turned towards the east. Hence “before,” or “forwards,” means the east; “behind” is the west; the right-hand is south, and the left hand, north.
~ ATS Bible Dictionary

THE MEANING OF THE RIGHT HAND AND THE LEFT HAND

• THE RIGHT HAND:
  • The First Born is the Right Hand of his father with the “Birth Right” of inheritance.
    • Scripturally, The First Born becomes the family Leader (Chief) inheriting the majority of the Father’s fortune with the responsibility to oversee the rest of the family which we would think of as a tribe.
  • The Right Hand is a position of authority. In other words …
  • The Right Hand has the most strength, power, and authority.
  • The Right Hand is “South”: “South” literally means what is on the right (hand), i.e. as one faces east”.
  • South means “Provisions”
    
• THE LEFT HAND:
  • The Left Hand is the Second in Command.
  • The Left Hand is the “Wing Man” to the Right Hand.
  • The Left hand is “North: i.e. as one faces east”.
  • North means “Doom and Gloom”

Genesis 48:13-14 And Joseph took them (his sons) both, Ephraim (the younger) with his right hand toward Israel’s (Jacob’s) left hand, and Manasseh (the elder) with his left hand toward Israel’s (Jacob’s) right hand, and brought them near him. Then Israel (Jacob) stretched out his right hand and laid it on Ephraim’s head, who was the younger, and his left hand on Manasseh’s head, guiding his hands knowingly, for Manasseh was the firstborn.

OR: “It takes another to have the other a brother…”

It would have been appropriate for Jacob (aka Israel) to put his right hand on Manasseh’s head since Manasseh was the oldest. But that isn’t what happened, why?

There is a Jewish term for this: “The Second swallows up the First”.

Abraham’s sons Ishmael and Isaac (Genesis 21)
Isaac’s sons Esau and Jacob (Genesis 25, Genesis 27)
Judah and Tamar’s twins: Zerah and Perez (Genesis 38)
Joseph’s sons Manasseh and Ephraim (Genesis 48)

Why? To Illustrate a prophecy:
The first Adam and the Second Adam (Jesus)

• I Corinthians 15:45
  This, indeed, is what is written: “The first man, Adam, became a living being.” The last Adam (Jesus) became a life-giving spirit.
  The Second swallowed up the First!

• Throughout scripture, Jesus is referred to as the Strong Right Arm of God. Jesus is the source of man’s provisions from being Creator to Kinsman Redeemer to ultimately, King of kings (the Chief of the “tribe” of mankind.)

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THE MEANING OF EAST, WEST, NORTH, AND SOUTH

East symbolizes new beginnings, enlightenment, and the presence of God.
West represents endings, darkness of men, and judgment.
North signifies doom and gloom.
South means providing Provisions for man, favor, blessings, fertility and the Messiah.

EAST qeḏem HOLINESS – HEAVENLY (The Face)

• The East is symbolic of holiness. The tabernacle’s entrance faces east.
  
  It is widely believed that when Christ returns, He will enter Jerusalem through the Eastern Gate, which is the same gate He entered during His triumphal entry in Matthew 21:1-11. This belief is supported by various Second Coming prophecies that depict the Messiah returning from the east, including Psalm 24:7-10, which declares that gates in the Old City of Jerusalem will open to receive Him. The Gate is also seen as a pre-fillment or type of the future Millennial Temple, where the Lord enters through an eastern gate according to Ezekiel 43:4. ~The Eastern Gate in Prophecy

• The Ark of the Covenant faces East in the Holy of Holies. In Hebrew, the Ark is literally a coffin. The Mercy Seat is on the top where the blood of the Passover lamb is applied. A Cherub (Angel) was positioned on each side of the Mercy Seat. The Ark of the Covenant is a picture of Jesus’ tomb. The bed on which Jesus was laid is compared to the mercy seat where the blood of God’s Passover Lamb was applied. When Jesus rose from the dead there were two angels on the empty bed, one at the head and one at the foot. Q: One wonders, did the tomb’s door/bed of the tomb face East like the Ark in the Holy of Holies?
  
  In Jewish cemeteries, bodies are often buried so that their feet are facing east.
  The idea behind this is that when the Messiah comes, Jewish people believe they will be resurrected. This way they can rise and immediately start walking in the correct direction. As a result of this burial practice, Jewish headstones are generally oriented towards the east. 
  Tombs as far as the eye can see on Mt. Olives. The Jewish Cemetery on the Mount of Olives is the most ancient and most important Jewish cemetery in Jerusalem. Burial on the Mount of Olives started some 3,000 years ago in the days of the First Temple, and continues to this day. The cemetery contains anywhere between 70,000 and 150,000 tombs from various periods, including the tombs of famous figures in Jewish history.
  
• Metaphorically: The “Son” rises in the “East” like Jesus’ resurrection.
• In Hebrew “East” Literally means “the Beginning”; like the “Alpha” in the “Alpha and Omega”.
• Symbolically: Christian’s celebrate Jesus’ resurrection on “East-er”.
• Jesus ascended into heaven on Mount Olives, east of Jerusalem. According to the words of the angels He will likewise descend to Mount Olives at His return. (Acts 1:9-11)
• And in that day His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, Which faces Jerusalem on the east. And the Mount of Olives shall be split in two, From east to west, Making a very large valley; Half of the mountain shall move toward the north And half of it toward the south. (Zechariah 14:4)

WEST yām THE BOILING MASSES – WORLDLY – DESCEND – DEATH

• Literally, the sea: Abraham’s promised Western border of the promised land at the Great Sea, the Mediterranean, also the Great River, the Nile. Facing the East, the Mediterranean and the Nile are behind the beholder, the opposite of the East.
• Literally, West denotes the boiling, foaming of the sea. To roar.
• The Mediterranean is symbolic of the “Sea of people” which are Boiling.
• Metaphorically: Like Job 41, where the Sea Monster (Satan the Leviathan) causes the sea (of people) to boil. Untamed, unruly, unpredictable. Job 7:12 “Am I the sea, or a sea monster that You keep a watch over me?”
  Like Ezekiel 32:2 The sea monster in the seas, Bursting forth in your rivers, Troubling the waters with your feet, And fouling their rivers.
• Metaphorically, The Seas and the rivers create mire at their bottoms, from which “clay” (pottery, trouble) is made.
• Metaphorically: The “Son” sets in the “West”. Matthew 24:27 For as the lightning comes from the east and flashes to the west, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be.
• Numbers 34:6 As for the western border, you shall have the Great Sea for a border; this shall be your western border.

SOUTH neḡeḇ – têmān The Right Arm – PROVISION

• South literally means: what is on the right (hand), i.e. as one faces east;
• The promised land is South of Haran where Abraham made inroads into God’s land of provision. South means provisions, God’s provisions. God provided for the sins of men with His Right Arm, Jesus.
• Bethlehem provided the Messiah just South of Jerusalem.
• Exodus 40:²⁴ He put the lampstand in the tabernacle of meeting, across from the table (of showbread), on the south side of the tabernacle; (The Light of the World provided Light to the Table of Showbread on the North. The twelve loaves of bread represent the twelve tribes of Israel.

NORTH ṣāp̄ôn The Left Arm DARKNESS AND GLOOM

• In Hebrew, The north side is a place/time of darkness and hidden things. North is darkness and gloom. A dark omen. (Ref. II Kings 16:14) Men hide sins in darkness, but God hides treasures in darkness.
• Leviticus 1:11
  He shall kill it (the sacrifice) on the north side of the altar before the Lord; and the priests, Aaron’s sons, shall sprinkle its blood all around on the altar.
• Isaiah 14:13
  For you (Satan) have said in your heart: ‘I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will also sit on the mount of the congregation On the farthest sides of the north;
• Jeremiah 1:13-14
  And the word of the Lord came to me the second time, saying, “What do you see?” And I said, “I see a boiling pot, and it is facing away from the north.”
  Then the Lord said to me: “Out of the north calamity shall break forth on all the inhabitants of the land.

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MAP OF JERUSALEM AND THE TEMPLE

Note: Southwest of the temple children were sacrificed to idols in The Valley of Hinnom. This would suggest “The meeting of the chaotic, boiling of the masses of people (the Great Sea) with the Provision of Salvation (Jesus) (South).

Jesus was crucified Northwest of the temple outside the city. North is darkness and gloom where the sacrificial lamb was killed. West is the troubled, angry, stormy, chaotic seas of people representing the Mediterranean Sea.

Note: When Jesus came to the temple in Jerusalem, He traveled from Bethany, just over the top of Mount Olives, East of the Temple.

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THE TEN COMMANDMENTS:

Right Arm (Provisions: From Heaven) and Left Arm (Doom and Gloom: The World).
Ten Fingers: The Holy Spirit

The Ten Commandments were written by the Finger of God. (Exodus 31:18, Deuteronomy 9:10)
The magicians told the Pharaoh the dust becoming lice was done by the Finger of God. (Exodus 8:19)
The Fingers of God’s Hand wrote on the wall at Belshazzar’s Feast. (Daniel 5:5)
Creation: The work of God’s Fingers: the heavens, moon and the stars. (Psalm 8:3)
The application the animal sacrifices of blood with the Finger on the horns of the altar or the mercy seat.
Jesus wrote in the sand with His Fingers. (John 8:6, Jeremiah 17:13)
Jesus cast out demons with the Finger of God. (Luke 11:20)

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