“God is spirit.” This was the truth about God, spoken by Jesus, and recorded in John 4:24. Although God is indeed spirit, as Jesus said, the scriptures do use physical body terms to help us wrap our minds around certain truths about Him.
For instance, the “arm of God" and the “hand of God” are word-pictures that appear very often in speaking of truths concerning God. And then, we see another word-picture that is recorded only four times in the scriptures. It is the “finger of God.”
How is this used? Does it refer to God as a finger-pointing God, who is always accusing people out of disgust and disdain? Of course not! Let’s take a look.
In Exodus 8:19, the magicians of Egypt acknowledge that there is a power they cannot match. They refer to it as the “finger of God,” speaking of the God of Israel. Consider this: Today, there are still displays of power that cannot be explained, except to acknowledge that they are done by the “finger of God.”
In Exodus 31 and Deuteronomy 9:10, Moses tells us that the commandments on the two tablets of stone, were written by the “finger of God.” Consider this: God’s standards for loving Him and loving others, that still hold true today, were personally inscribed by God on those tablets of stone. In that sense, we can say that today, we are still being guided by the “finger of God.”
In Luke 11:14-20, the writer tells of a time when Jesus cast a demon out of a man, freeing him from a terrible bondage to evil. Jesus explains this, saying that He did it by the “finger of God.” Consider this: There are still evil spiritual forces in the world today. But the One we serve is more powerful, and by the “finger of God,” there is victory!
Friends, the “finger of God” doesn’t point at you, disgustedly accusing you. The “finger of God” is at work to display power beyond any human power or evil Satanic power. It is at work to guide us and point us toward loving Him and loving others.
We often don’t see the “finger of God” at work. Sometimes we have to wait for the story to unfold before we see it.
Can you trust the “finger of God,” even when you aren’t seeing it at work?