the finger of god

7/29/2019 The Finger of God

1/6

THE FINGER OF GOD

by Ivan Maddox

Atlanta, GA

Exodus 8:19.

Then the magicians said unto Pharaoh, This [is] the finger of God: and Pharaoh's heart

was hardened, and he hearkened not unto them; as the LORD had said.

Luke 11:20.

But if I with the finger of God cast out devils, no doubt the kingdom of God is come upon

you.

When we manifest holy spirit, whose power are we manifesting? Has God given us

supernatural ability of our own, to use at our own will as we see fit? Or has God given us

access to His own power, subject always to God's own purpose and will?

In this study, I want to look at one phrase from God's Word, "the finger of God," and see

what light it sheds on this question. We will look first at other records in scripture where

this phrase is used, in order to gain some understanding as to what is meant when it is

used; then we will take a closer look at the two verses quoted above, which deal directly

with manifesting the spirit of God.

We should note before we begin that "the finger of God" is a figure of speech. God is spirit.

He has no form that we know of. So far as we can tell from God's Word, God has no body,

no arms, no hands, and no fingers. But many times in scripture, God is spoken of as having

human attributes. This is the figure of speech "Condescension," in which God is brought

down to the level of man so that we can better understand what is being said about Him.

But this is not the only figure of speech involved here. God's finger or fingers represent

only a small portion of God Himself. (We're still speaking about God as if He is on the level

of man.) The phrase, "the finger of God," can signify either God's finger being used to

represent the whole of God Himself (which is the figure "Metonymy), or it can be used to

emphasize the minute amount of effort involved in contrast to the greatness of the power of

God. If, for instance, I can lift a weight with my finger, I have, by implication, scarcely

exerted myself.

There are only a few references to the finger or fingers of God in scripture besides the two

listed above. The first two are in Exodus 31:18 and Deuteronomy 9:10.

Exodus 31:18.

And he gave unto Moses, when he had made an end of communing with him upon mount

Sinai, two tables of testimony, tables of stone, written with the finger of God.

Deuteronomy 9:10.


2/6

And the LORD delivered unto me two tables of stone written with the finger of God; and

on them [was written] according to all the words, which the LORD spake with you in the

mount out of the midst of the fire in the day of the assembly.

These two records are especially significant when we understand that the giving of the two

tables of stone to Moses was the first time in history that God's instructions to His Peoplewere committed to writing. By writing it himself the first time, God gave powerful

testimony to Israel and to all mankind that He himself is the author of His Word,

regardless of who he instructs to do the actual writing.

In these two records, "the finger of God" is used because the fingers are the part of the

human body used in writing.

In Psalm 8:3, a different phrase is used, but it is closely related enough to be included in

our study.

Psalm 8:3-4.When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou

hast ordained;

What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him?

Here, the heavens, or what we call outer space, are called the work of God's fingers. A

powerful contrast is made here between the greatness and vastness of the work done -- the

creation of the universe -- and the minuteness of the effort required on God's part to do it.

The picture portrayed by these words is that God was not worn out or stretched to His

limits by the creation of the heavens and the earth. The scripture refers not to God's

mighty arm, or even God's hands, but rather His fingers. The implication is that God could

have done much, much more had it suited His purposes to do so.

The first of the two verses that we want to focus on, that deal with the manifestation of holy

spirit, is Exodus 8:19. It is important that we understand the context of this verse if we are

to understand the verse itself rightly.

God sent Moses and Aaron to Pharaoh of Egypt to demand that he let go the Israelites, who

were slaves under him. As evidence that they were truly speaking for God, God gave Moses

and Aaron the ability to perform supernatural signs.

Moses was the first person history that we know of to perform miracles. For about two

thousand, five hundred years of human history, God had not seen fit to perform miracles

by the hand of any man. Suddenly, through Moses, God performed miracles in abundance.

It is important that we take note of God's reasons for doing this.

At least four reasons are given in scripture. Three of them are given in Jeremiah 32:18-22.

Thou shewest lovingkindness unto thousands, and recompensest the iniquity of the fathers


3/6

into the bosom of their children after them: the Great, the Mighty God, the LORD of hosts,

[is] his name,

Great in counsel, and mighty in work: for thine eyes [are] open upon all the ways of the

sons of men: to give every one according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his

doings:

Which hast set signs and wonders in the land of Egypt, [even] unto this day, and in Israel,and among [other] men; and hast made thee a name, as at this day;

And hast brought forth thy people Israel out of the land of Egypt with signs, and with

wonders, and with a strong hand, and with a stretched out arm, and with great terror;

And hast given them this land, which thou didst swear to their fathers to give them, a land

flowing with milk and honey;

The three reasons given here are:

So that Egypt and the world would know that He is God, and give Him the glory due His

name.

He did it in order to meet the needs of His people, Israel. He did it in order to fulfil the covenant He had made with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

A fourth reason is given in Exodus 4.

Exodus 4:1-6.

1 _ And Moses answered and said, But, behold, they will not believe me, nor hearken unto

my voice: for they will say, The LORD hath not appeared unto thee.

2 And the LORD said unto him, What [is] that in thine hand? And he said, A rod.

3 And he said, Cast it on the ground. And he cast it on the ground, and it became a serpent;

and Moses fled from before it.

4 And the LORD said unto Moses, Put forth thine hand, and take it by the tail. And he put

forth his hand, and caught it, and it became a rod in his hand:

5 That they may believe that the LORD God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, the God

of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, hath appeared unto thee.

The fourth reason is:

So that God's people would believe that God had indeed appeared unto Moses.

In Exodus 7:8-12, Moses and Aaron appeared before Pharaoh, and performed a sign in his

presence as evidence that they were speaking for God. But Pharaoh called his wise men and

sorcerers, and they cast down their rods, as Aaron had done, and their rods also became

serpents. Even though Aaron's rod swallowed up their rods, Pharaoh's heart was

hardened.

In Exodus 7:14-24, God told Moses to strech out his rod over the waters of Egypt, and the

waters would be turned into blood. Moses did this in the presence of Pharaoh and his

officials, and the waters of Egypt turned into blood. But Pharaoh's sorcerers also turned

water to blood, so Pharaoh hardened his heart, turned, and went home. It is important for


4/6

us to note that although the magicians could turn water into blood, they were powerless to

turn blood back into water!

In Exodus 8:1-15, Moses stretched out his hand at God's command, and the land of Egypt

was covered with frogs. Pharaoh's sorcerers produced frogs, also. However, their sorceries

could get rid of not a single frog.

Finally, in Exodus 8:16-19, God commanded Moses to strike the dust with his staff; when

he did this, throughout Egypt the dust became gnats, and afflicted both man and beast.

For the first time, the sorcerers of Egypt could not duplicate what Moses had done, even on

a much smaller scale. At this point they testified to Pharaoh, "This is the finger of God."

This is significant. The sorcerers already knew that Moses was manifesting supernatural

power, but they were not impressed by that; they, too, used supernatural powers. But at

this point, they were confronted with something that they and the spirits they were in

partnership with could not duplicate. Only then did they realize that this was not the workof some run-of-the-mill spirit, but rather the work of the Great God, the creator -- and that

He could do much more than this if He chose!

"The finger of God" looks past Moses to the God who is the real miracle worker, the one

who really does the miracles. The magicians were not afraid of another "magician." They

were not afraid of a man operating supernatural power. They were afraid of God, who

deals on a whole different magnitude of power than anything they had ever been exposed

to.

From this moment on, there is no indication in scripture that they tried to duplicate the

works of God working through His servant Moses. Once they realized who they were

dealing with, the magicians knew they were outmatched, and acted accordingly.

Luke 11:20 is the final occurrence of the phrase, "the finger of God." Here the phrase is

used by Jesus Christ. It's occurrence here emphasizes some very important truths.

Jesus did not do mighty works by his own power or ability. He made it very clear that His

Father, not he, was the power behind the works.

{SYMBOL 183 \f "Symbol" \s 10 \h} The power that Jesus exercised did not belong to him,

nor was it latent in him. Even when he exercised it, the power belonged to his Father.

{SYMBOL 183 \f "Symbol" \s 10 \h} Because it was God's power they were up against, the

devils had no choice but to leave. In Daniel 10:12-13 we see that demonic angels will stand

up against even angels of God on official business. Yet Jesus, and later his disciples, cast

them out without so much as a struggle. This is the reason. Because they were dealing with

the power of God, they were out of their league.

{SYMBOL 183 \f "Symbol" \s 10 \h} Because it is God's power that is being used, there is


5/6

no shortage of power. Paul makes reference to this in Ephesians 1.

Ephesians 1:18-23.

1:18 The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope

of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints,

1:19 And what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, according tothe working of his mighty power,

1:20 Which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his

own right hand in the heavenly places,

1:21 Far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that

is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come:

1:22 And hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to

the church,

1:23 Which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all.

The magnitude of power God exerted to raise Jesus Christ from the dead is the same power

God is able and willing to exert on behalf of those who believe. That's far more than wecould ever possibly need.

When we accepted Christ as our Lord, we were endued, or clothed, with "power from on

high." Did we receive a spiritual "battery pack," to be used as we see fit? Or are we

"plugged in" to the power of God, so that our use of His power is subject to His will? There

is much more scripture on the subject; but the scripture we have looked at seem to come

down conclusively in favor of the latter position. When we manifest the spirit of God, we

are engaged in a cooperative activity with the Creator of the heavens and the earth

Himself. What an incredible privilege He has given us!

Skeptics have railed against the Bible on account of its allusions to Gods body parts. For

example, the Bible speaks of the arm of God (Job 40:9), the hand of God (Job 19:21), the face of

God (Job 13:24), the eyes of God (Deuteronomy 11:12), the ears of God (Psalm 130:2), the

mouth of God (Deuteronomy 8:3), the voice of God (Job 40:9), and even the finger of God(Exodus 31:18). Attentive Bible students are aware that all such references are simply

accommodative languageanthropomorphisms (man forms)in which the Scriptures provide

humans with a reference point for relating to Gods activity. The Bible clearly teaches that Godis spiritnot physical (John 4:24). He does not possess physical mass. Jesus Himself stated, a

spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see I have (Luke 24:39; cf. 1 Corinthians 15:50). It

is difficult for humans to conceptualize an infinite, eternal Being Who is not composed of

physical matter, since humans are subject to space and time, and experience existence in a setting

that is preeminently material. Nevertheless, while we may have difficulty fully understanding the

nature of a nonphysical Being, the concept itself is neither self-contradictory nor incoherent.

For example, when Moses and Aaron unleashed the plagues by the power of God upon Pharaoh

and the Egyptian population, Pharaohs magicians concluded: This is the finger of God

(Exodus 8:19). They simply meant that the plague was Gods doingthat the affliction was theresult of Gods power. In like manner, the Bible states that the original Ten Commandments that

God gave to Moses on two tablets of stone were written with the finger of God (Exodus 31:18;


6/6

cf. Deuteronomy 9:10). In other words, God authored them and supernaturally placed them in

writing on the stone tablets. Another sample of this type of figurative speech is seen in the

declaration of the psalmist regarding Gods creative activity: When I consider Your heavens,the work of Your fingers, the moon and the stars, which You have ordained, what is man that

You are mindful of him, and the son of man that You visit him? (Psalm 8:3-4, emp. added).

Obviously, God does not have fleshly fingers, nor would He find it necessary to use them if Hehad them. Being the ultimate Mind, He can bring into existence ex nihilo (out of nothing)

whatever He chooses by simply willing it into existence.

This same figure of speech is seen in the New Testament as well. Jesus stated: But if I cast out

demons with the finger of God, surely the kingdom of God has come upon you (Luke 11:20,

emp. added). He simply meant that His actions were by divine agency. Observe the alternate

wording of a parallel passage where, in place of the finger of God, the text has the Spirit ofGod: But if I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, surely the kingdom of God has come upon

you (Matthew 12:28). It is evident that finger simply refers to deity (whether the Father, the

Son, or the Holy Spirit) manifesting His presence and power in a time-space continuum.

Those scholars who have devoted their lives to studying dead languages, discovering their

linguistic intricacies, figurative features, and idiomatic expressions, have long recognized this

particular figure. For example, E.W. Bullinger, who published a monumental volume in the

nineteenth century titled Figures of Speech Used in the Bible (1898), labeled this linguistic

attribute anthropopatheia or condescension, which he identified as the ascription of human

passions, actions, or attributes to God (p. 871). He devoted several pages to illustrating thisfigure of speech (pp. 871-897). In his specific remarks regarding the finger of God, he wrote:

A Finger is attributed to God, to denote the putting forth of His formative power, and the direct

and immediate act of God (p. 881). John Haley, who in 1874 produced the respected and

scholarly reference workAlleged Discrepancies of the Bible, defended the immateriality ofGod on the grounds that all such anthropomorphic passages are simply bold figures and

startling hyperboles in which the Orientals are wont to indulge (p. 63). He identified the

expression finger of God as referring to Gods direct agency.

The Bible has been the target of a myriad of attacks by skeptics for over 2,000 years. It will

undoubtedly continue to be so. No other book in all of human history has been the object of such

sustained, frenzied, and antagonistic scrutiny. For the honest, unbiased investigator, the Bibles

supernatural attributes continue to validate its authenticity.

the finger of god

Documents