{"id":34882,"date":"2025-02-20T20:39:37","date_gmt":"2025-02-21T03:39:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/?post_type=portfolio&p=34882"},"modified":"2025-02-20T21:15:28","modified_gmt":"2025-02-21T04:15:28","slug":"2025-finger","status":"publish","type":"portfolio","link":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/gospel-express\/2025-finger\/","title":{"rendered":"What Is the Finger of God?"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Dr. Nicholas Schaser<\/p>\n

\"\"
\nThe Bible mentions the “finger of God” a few times on very important occasions.<\/p>\n

Our English translation often presents this phrase as merely a metaphor for God\u2019s power. However, the Hebrew text suggests something more tangible!<\/p>\n

Forming dust, carving stones<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Hebrew phrase \u05d0\u05b6\u05e6\u05b0\u05d1\u05bc\u05b7\u05e2 \u05d0\u05b1\u05dc\u05b9\u05d4\u05b4\u05d9\u05dd (etsbah elohim)\u2014\u201cthe finger of God\u201d\u2014is rare in Israel\u2019s Scriptures. The first instance comes after Moses strikes the ground with his staff and lice appear throughout Egypt. When Pharaoh\u2019s \u201cmagicians\u201d (\u05d7\u05b7\u05e8\u05b0\u05d8\u05bb\u05de\u05bc\u05b4\u05d9\u05dd; hartummim) are unable to replicate this plague, they exclaim, \u201cIt is the finger of God\u201d (\u05d0\u05b6\u05e6\u05b0\u05d1\u05bc\u05b7\u05e2 \u05d0\u05b1\u05dc\u05b9\u05d4\u05b4\u05d9\u05dd \u05d4\u05b4\u05d5\u05d0; etsbah elohim hi\u2019).<\/p>\n

Moses striking the \u201cdust\u201d (\u05e2\u05b8\u05e4\u05b8\u05e8; afar) conjures God forming the first human from \u201cdust\u201d. In Exodus, the sculpting \u201cfinger of God\u201d once again shapes creatures from dust\u2014this time, to punish Pharaoh rather than form humanity. Exodus reinforces this imagery of a sharp heavenly finger when it says that the engraved commandments on \u201ctablets of stone [were] written with the finger of God\u201d.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Casting out evil spirits<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Gospel of Luke reuses the language of Exodus when Jesus exorcises unclean spirits! Yeshua tells his onlookers, \u201cIf it is by the finger of God (\u03b4\u03b1\u03ba\u03c4\u1f7b\u03bb\u1ff3 \u03b8\u03b5\u03bf\u1fe6, dakt\u016blo theou) that I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you\u201d. Often in Luke, to \u201ccast out\u201d (\u1f10\u03ba\u03b2\u1f71\u03bb\u03bb\u03c9, ekb\u0101llo) necessitates a physical pulling or pushing with one\u2019s hands (and, by extension, fingers): some people in Jesus\u2019 hometown \u201ccast him out of the city\u201d (4:29),<\/p>\n

Yeshua teaches about \u201ccasting\u201d (or pulling) the sliver and plank out of one\u2019s eye (6:42), and he \u201ccasts out\u201d the sellers in the temple (19:45). Thus, there is reason to conclude when Jesus exorcises demons, God\u2019s incisive finger severs scrounging spirits from the human body!<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

God is close to you<\/strong><\/p>\n

Just as God had intervened to rescue the Israelites from Egypt and carve the letters of the Torah into stone, the Lord extends the divine finger in Jesus\u2019 day to save people from demonic possession.<\/p>\n

Due to the scriptural scarcity of the \u201cfinger of God,\u201d readers can glide past the phrase without giving much thought to its implications. But a closer look at the Hebrew and Greek in their original contexts emphasizes the physicality of the ancient terminology. According to the Bible, God\u2019s finger shapes dust, engraves stone, and removes unclean spirits with precision. It is a tool of action, cutting into human history to bring people closer to Him and lead them toward salvation. God\u2019s very being bursts into human history and cuts into creation to liberate the world.<\/p>\n

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