If I with the finger of God... — Note the substitution of this language for “by the Spirit of God,” in Matthew 12:28, and its connection with the use by the older prophets of “the hand of the Lord,” to indicate the state which issued in prophetic inspiration (Ezekiel 1:3; Ezekiel 37:1), and with “the finger of God” as writing the Commandments on the tables of stone (Exodus 31:18), and Pharaoh’s confession that “the finger of God” was with Moses and Aaron in the wonders which they wrought (Exodus 8:19). The meaning of this boldly anthropomorphic language is sufficiently obvious. As the “hand” denotes power generally, so the “finger” symbolises power in its concentrated and specially-directed energy.

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