I have always loved Michelangelo’s portrayal of God reaching out to touch man. The effort and determination to establish contact are depicted as coming from God toward mankind. Until recently though I had not realized how Biblical the concept is. Yes, I know that God does not actually have fingers, but the description of His activity and characteristics represented by the imagery is very vivid to me.
God creates with His fingers:
Psalm 8:3, When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place,
Isaiah 48:13, My hand laid the foundation of the earth, and my right hand spread out the heavens
He wrote the law with his finger:
Exodus 31:18, And he gave to Moses, when he had finished speaking with him on Mount Sinai, the two tablets of the testimony, tablets of stone, written with the finger of God.
That was not the only time He wrote with his finger. In Daniel 5, the fingers of a hand wrote judgment on the wall of King Belshazzar’s party. Daniel in his interpretation states, “From His presence the hand was sent, and this writing was inscribed.”
During the plagues of Egypt, while the Pharaoh would not acknowledge the activity of the God of heaven, the local magicians were only too aware of it. Exodus 8:19, “Then the magicians said to Pharaoh, ‘This is the finger of God.’”
This evidence of the overwhelming sovereignty of God was expressed again through Jesus in Luke 11:20, when His opponents were challenging His authority. “But if it is by the finger of God that I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.”
In other words, the Almighty Creator of the Universe, the Giver of the Law of Moses, the One who has the right and authority to set up and remove kings; was present there to exercise that same authority over the powers of evil!
So why was it so difficult for people to recognize Jesus for who He was then, and why is it so difficult now? Faith is required.
“Faith removes the veil and uncovers eternal truth. When souls are given the understanding of faith, God speaks to them through all of creation, and the universe becomes for them a living testimony which the finger of God traces before their eyes, the record of every passing moment, a sacred scripture.” Jean-Pierre de Crussade
God refuses to overwhelm our free will with the tsunami of the fullness of His divine presence and authority. Instead, He dips His finger in the water of our souls sending the ripples of His presence into our small pools of existence.
Take then, this little drop of the knowledge that you have of God and act on it. That is faith! The finger of God has reached out and touched your life even simply by your reading this blog. Now, what will you do about it?