As soon as I mention, “The Finger of God,” your first thought might take you to the new Christian DVD by that title. Filmmaker Darren Wilson took a two year-long personal journey through 40 hours of footage to attempt to reveal the supernatural power of God. He writes in the promotion of it, “Hundreds raised from the dead. Manna appearing in the Pentagon. Gemstones falling from the sky. Teenagers healing perfect strangers on the street. This isn’t old time religion. This is a new beginning. A spiritual revelation. This is the Finger of God!”
Really? It continues—”Prepare to go on a dizzying journey around the world—from the streets of California to the mud huts of Africa; from the underground church in China to the Gypsies in Eastern Europe—you will be challenged and encouraged by the extraordinary things God is doing in our world today. The Finger of God reveals a world you never knew existed. A world where God’s fingerprints are found in the most unlikely places.”
A couple of the reviews of the DVD express some doubt, saying,”Interesting, but some of the strange stories are not Biblical, and don’t honor God.” Most of the reviews, on the other hand, throw caution to the wind, and believe everything they see—”Real, true stories.” Now, I do not doubt that some of the depictions could be true, but I also don’t doubt that some could very well be “signs and lying wonders,” ( 2 Thess. 2:9) Think about it—manna in the Pentagon? Could be the demonic signs we are warned about in these last days of apostasy, or just simply fabricated hoaxes! The gospel-writer John warns us in his first letter, “Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.” (4:1) Now, my intent with all of this is not to give a movie review, but to issue a warning—in these days of lack of discernment, many will be duped. Jesus said that the only sign we really need is the sign of Jonah—the death and resurrection of the Christ. (Luke 11:30) The true and real Finger of God is much, much more than intriguing and strange signs.
Let’s begin our look at this through the eyes of King David. He once wrote, inspired by the Holy Spirit, “When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained; What is man, that thou art mindful of him? And the son of man, that thou visitest him?” (Psalms 8:3-4) Amazing—Hebrews 2 quotes these verses from the Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Old Testament, and applies them directly to Jesus. The Spirit has a very watchful eye on the Son of Man, caring for Him and His mission every step of the way. And yet, as Jesus is before Pilate, the Roman Governor, He looks about as forsaken, helpless, and dejected as could possibly be. When Jesus doesn’t say a word in self-defense, Pilate declares, “Hearest thou not how many things they witness against thee?” (Mt.27:13) John’s gospel adds, “…knowest thou not that I have power to crucify thee, and have power to release thee?” (19:10) It looks absolutely hopeless; where is the Finger of God in that! But now Jesus answers—”Thou couldest have no power at all against me, except it were given thee from above…” (vs.11) This is the real Finger of God!
Secondly, beyond the power of God, the finger of God is seen in the Law of God. And how did that come to be? Well, Exodus 31:18 tells us, “And He gave unto Moses, when He had made an end of communing with Him upon Mt. Sinai, two tables of testimony, tables of stone, written with the finger of God.” This is not only true of the original Ten Commandments, but of the Bible, too. While human hands actually penned the Scriptures, they were under the direct control of the Divine Finger. The 40 or so writers responsible for the scrolls were inspired by the Spirit to set forth “the certainty of the words of truth.” (Prov. 22:21) Peter declares that “…holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.” (2 Peter 1:21) And the same was true at the Cross—”And Pilate wrote a title, and put it on the cross. And the writing was, JESUS OF NAZARETH THE KING OF THE JEWS.” (John 19:19) When the religious leaders wanted him to change it to read that Jesus only said that He was the king, “Pilate answered, What I have written, I have written.” (vs. 22) Remember? Jesus had said it—the only power that Pilate had was given to him by God!
Thirdly, we see the Finger of God in and through the Judgment of God. We find two references here—first of all, when the magicians in Egypt could no longer mimic the plagues that God was sending just before the exodus, they confessed, “This is the finger of God: and Pharaoh’s heart was hardened, and he hearkened not unto them; as the Lord had said.” (Ex. 8:19) Did you catch that?—as the Lord had said! Praise God—this whole thing was in God’s hands, and all for a purpose—to show the glory of God! The other reference to the divine fingers stretching out in judgment is found in the sacrilegious feast of Belshazzar in the Book of Daniel. While the king and his cronies were desecrating the vessels that had been stolen from the temple, a large hand began to write on the wall—”the fingers of a man’s hand.” (5:5) “MENE, MENE, TEKEL, UPHARSIN.” (5:25) Essentially, it meant that the king and his corrupt kingdom had been numbered and tested by God’s holy order, and was found to be greatly wanting and defective. In fact, that night…he died! We see a similar thing when Jesus was on trial. Actually, from God’s perspective, Pilate was on trial. He became so frustrated, “…he took water, and washed his hands before the multitude, saying, I am innocent of the blood of this just person: see ye to it. Then answered all the people, and said, His blood be upon us, and on our children.” (Mt.27:24,25) Did you ever see such scrambling in the wake of sin and judgment, unless, of course, it was in you? Our sin is a personal affront to God, and the judgment will be just as personal. What a tragedy to ignore the handwriting on the wall, absolutely insisting on our own innocence and shifting the blame to another!
The fourth way this awesome Finger is seen and known is in the moving of the Spirit of God, for the Finger of God is the Spirit of God. When Jesus was accused of having demonic powers, He clearly stated, “…if I with the finger of God cast out devils, no doubt the Kingdom of God is come upon you.” (Luke 11:20) As everything was moving towards the Cross, did Satan actually think that he was winning? As Jesus was nailed securely to that Cross, was Satan doing Christ in, OR was Christ doing Satan in? We all know the answer to that question now, but did Satan know it then? Jesus, out of divine love, was taking our personal judgment upon Himself, but did Satan know that? As Jesus hung there, with both arms fully out-stretched in love, both thieves on the crosses next to Him had the Finger of God pointing right at them, even as they railed against Jesus. Others followed suit—”…they that passed by reviled Him, wagging their heads…” (Mt. 27:39) In the original Greek, it means they blasphemed Him. Some yelled, “…If thou be the Son of God, come down from the cross.” (vs. 40) Still others screamed—”He saved others; Himself He cannot save. If He be the King of Israel, let Him now come down from the cross, and we will believe Him. He trusted in God; let Him deliver Him now, if He will have Him, for He said, I am the Son of God.”(vss. 42,43) Was Satan mocking God right to the very end, or was he possibly really trying to get Jesus down for fear of what the Cross would mean? I don’t really know, but two things I do know—at least one thief got saved by the Finger of God, AND that was not Satan’s idea!
Lastly, the Finger of God played a vital role in the very death and resurrection of Jesus, greatly affecting you and me. With hands still spread out to reach the world He loved, “…when He had cried again with a loud voice, yielded up the ghost.” (Mt. 27:50) He did not just “give up” in total exhaustion; He gave His life—on purpose! And that dramatic gift was manifested everywhere—the veil in the temple that separated the people from their God, was ripped from top to bottom by the very Fingers of God. The earth shook and the rocks were split in half. And that’s not all—”…the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints which slept arose, and came out of the graves after His resurrection, and went into the holy city, and appeared unto many.” (vss. 52,53) You see, the dead were raised, but they didn’t show themselves until after Jesus did—He was first, then the saints! In these days following Easter, let the resurrected life live in you. Paul tells us that we are the epistle, or letter, of Christ…”written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God.” (2 Cor.3:3) Do we see the Finger of God and what He is writing on our hearts? He is writing, you know! Will we be living epistles, proving that the Holy Spirit is the Penman writing the story of our lives?