Finger of God

FINGER OF GOD. A fig. expression used several times in the OT and once in the NT to refer to the power of God. The Egyp. magicians said, after one of the plagues of Moses which they could not duplicate, “This is the finger of God” (Exod 8:19), meaning, “This is beyond the power of man to do; it is supernatural; God must be backing Moses and Aaron.” The Ten Commandments are said to have been written by the finger of God, that is, by some supernatural process, and not by any human hand (Deut 9:10). The psalmist (Ps 8:3) says that the heavens were made by the fingers of God. In something so vast and wonderful as the heavens, not a finger, but all of God’s fingers were used. He made and shaped the planets and the stars. Jesus said that He cast out demons with the finger of God (Luke 11:20). In the parallel passage in Matthew (12:28) the words are “by the Spirit of God.” He clearly meant that He cast out demons by the power of God.