The Hebrew phrase אֶצְבַּע אֱלֹהִים (etsbah elohim)—“the finger of God”—is rare in Israel’s Scriptures.
The first instance comes after Aaron strikes the ground with his staff and lice appear throughout Egypt. When Pharaoh’s “magicians” (חַרְטֻמִּים; hartummim) are unable to replicate this plague, they exclaim, “It is the finger of God” (אֶצְבַּע אֱלֹהִים הִוא; etsbah elohim hi’).
« Then the LORD said to Moses, “Tell Aaron, ‘Stretch out your staff and strike the dust of the ground,’ and throughout the land of Egypt the dust will become gnats.” They did this, and when Aaron stretched out his hand with the staff and struck the dust of the ground, gnats came on people and animals. All the dust throughout the land of Egypt became gnats. But when the magicians tried to produce gnats by their secret arts, they could not. Since the gnats were on people and animals everywhere, the magicians said to Pharaoh, “This is the finger of God.” »(Exodus 8:16-19)
That means that when Pharaoh’s magicians fail to replicate the miracle, they acknowledge divine power at work.
Aaron striking the “dust” (עָפָר; afar) conjures God forming the first human from “dust”. In Exodus, the sculpting “finger of God” once again shapes creatures from dust—this 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 “tablets of stone [were] written with the finger of God”.
« When the LORD finished speaking to Moses on Mount Sinai, he gave him the two tablets of the covenant law, the tablets of stone inscribed by the finger of God. »(Exodus 31:18)
In the New Testament, the Gospel of Luke reuses the language of Exodus when Jesus exorcises unclean spirits!
« But if it is by the finger (δακτύλῳ θεοῦ, daktūlo theou) of God that I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you. »(Luke 11:20)
It is part of Jesus’ response to those accusing him of casting out demons by the power of Beelzebul (Satan).
A similar passage is found in Matthew 12:28, where « the Spirit of God » is used instead of * »the finger of God. »
God is close to you
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’ day to save people from demonic possession.
Due to the scriptural scarcity of the “finger of God,” 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’s finger shapes dust, engraves stone, and removes unclean spirits with precision, is the power of God.
It is a tool of action, cutting into human history to bring people closer to Him and lead them toward salvation.
God’s very being bursts into human history and cuts into creation to liberate the world.
I wish you to see the finger of God operating in your life.
Apostle Jean-Claude SINDAYIGAYA