Father, I think I overdid it today. It’s work that needed to be done but my body isn’t happy I did it! Help my mind to be sharper than my body is as we come together this evening. Amen.
Luke 11:14-23(<<click to read the passage)
The Finger…of…God!
Just reading those words sounds ominous, doesn’t it?
Those words are used three times in the Old Testament.
In Exodus 8:16–19, Moses and Aaron stood before Pharaoh demanding the release of the Israelites. When Pharaoh declined…again, God commanded Moses to tell Aaron to strike the ground with his staff and the dust – and that is just about all there was in the desert climate of Egypt – turned “into swarms of gnats throughout the land” v16
Interestingly enough Pharaoh’s magicians had been able to replicate the first two plagues – water to blood and causing frogs to come upon the land. But…that wasn’t what happened this time. They couldn’t pull it off and were scared and exclaimed, “This is the finger of God!” v19 It didn’t faze Pharaoh though.
Later in Exodus, the words are recorded in Exodus 31:18 and Deuteronomy 9:10 referring to the way God wrote the Ten Commandments on tablets of stone that were given to Moses.
The only time the phrase is used in the New Testament is here in Luke 11:20. Jesus is rebuking those accusing Him of driving out demons by the power of satan.
He speaks of the inability of a divided kingdom to stand. If satan’s power is driving out satan’s minions -his demons – then his kingdom will fall. So, Jesus proclaims,
“…if I drive out the demons by the finger of God, then the kingdom of God has already come upon you.” v20
Ominous, indeed…for that is exactly what was happening. God’s kingdom had already come upon them! And they refused to acknowledge its coming!
There is one more instance of an ominous finger in the Bible. It doesn’t specifically say that it was God’s but the pronouncement of judgment upon Belshazzar, the wicked king of Babylon, was God, loud and clear.
Belshazzar had literally been partying with the sacred utensils from God’s holy temple in Jerusalem. In the middle of the “festivities”,
Suddenly the fingers of a human hand appeared and wrote on the plaster of the wall… The king watched [and] His face turned pale…he was so frightened that his legs became weak and his knees were knocking. Daniel 5:5-6 (NLT)
The writing on the wall freaked everyone out but no one understood what it meant…until they called in God’s faithful servant, in exile, Daniel. And he explained it all.
“This is the inscription that was written, ‘mene, mene, tekel, upharsin’… This is the interpretation of the message: ‘mene’ – God has numbered the days of your kingdom and put an end to it; ‘tekel’ – you have been weighed on the scales [of righteousness] and found deficient; ‘peres’ – your kingdom has been divided and given over to the Medes and Persians.” Daniel 5:25-28 (AMP)
The “writing on the wall” was plain for Jesus’ accusers to see – though they didn’t admit it and it is plain for us, as well. Our world is a mess. It has been for some time but with everything going on in our country alone, I would say that undoubtedly, the writing is clearly on the wall for us, too.
God’s kingdom is here and whether we like to admit it or not…our days are numbered. Each one of us must take a close look at ourselves and see if we were weighed on the scales of righteousness, would we be found righteous -because we acknowledge Jesus’ offer of salvation – or would be found deficient. A division is coming, again – whether we will admit it or not.
Upon which side of the division will you be found?
June 15th, 2020, Mon, 7:57 pm
