7430. 'The finger of God is this' means that the power came from the Divine. This is clear from the meaning of 'the finger of God' as power from the Divine. The reason why 'finger' means power is that the fingers are parts of the hands, and by 'hands' is meant power, 878, 4931-4937, 6344, 6424, 6948. The meaning of 'finger' as power is clear from the following places also: In David,

When I look at the heavens, the work of Your fingers, the moon and stars which You have established ¹ ... Psalms 8:3

In Luke,

Jesus said, If I cast out demons by the finger of God, surely the kingdom of God has come to you. Luke 11:20.

When Jesus took aside from the people the deaf man who spoke with difficulty and put His finger into his ears, and spat and touched his tongue, Mark 7:32-33, this too was an action representative of Divine power.

[2] The fact that 'finger' represents power is also evident from rituals observed in the Church among the Jews, the ritual in which blood was put on the thumb, and the ritual in which the priest sprinkled blood with his finger, both commanded in the following places in Moses,

You shall slaughter the ram, and put some of the blood on the thumb of the right hand of Aaron and of his sons, and on the big toe of his right foot. Exodus 29:20.

The priest shall take some of the blood of the guilt-offering, and the priest shall put it on the lobe of the right ear of the one to be cleansed from leprosy, and on the thumb of his right hand, and on the big toe of his right foot. Then the priest shall dip his right finger in some of the oil which is on the palm of his left hand, and sprinkle some of the oil on his finger seven times before Jehovah. Some of the rest of the oil that is on his palm the priest shall put on the lobe of the right ear of the one to be cleansed, and on the thumb of his right hand, and on the big toe of his right foot. Leviticus 14:14, 16-17.

You shall take some of the blood of the young bull, and place it with your finger on the horns of the altar. Exodus 29:11.

Further places in which such rituals occur are Leviticus 4:6; 9:9.

[3] All these rituals served to mean the hidden and holy things of heaven. This is clear from the consideration that the Word has a Divine origin and is inspired as to every tittle, Luke 16:17; and this being so, 'thumb' and 'finger' mean the power of good exercised through truth, as is evident from their internal sense in the places just quoted. Power is again meant by 'finger' in David,

Blessed be Jehovah, who trains my hands for conflict, and my fingers for war. Psalms 144:1

And in Isaiah,

He will not look to the altars, the work of his hands, and what his fingers have made. Isaiah 17:8.

'The altars' stands for worship in general, 4541, 'the work of hands' and 'what fingers have made' for the kinds of things that are the product of what is properly one's own, thus of one's own power.

Poznámky pod čarou:

7272. 'And I will harden Pharaoh's heart' means obstinacy rising from the evil of falsity. This is clear from the meaning of 'hardening' as obstinacy. Its rise from the evil of falsity is meant by 'Pharaoh's heart', for in the genuine sense 'the heart' means the good which belongs to heavenly love, 3313, 3887, 3889, and therefore in the contrary sense it means hellish evil. And the reason why it is the evil of falsity is that 'Pharaoh' represents those who are steeped in falsity. The evil of falsity is anything which traces its origin back to basic ideas of falsity. Take for example the idea, such as existed among the Israelites and Jews, that they were made holy by means of external acts - by sacrifices, washings, or the sprinkling of blood - and that they were not made holy through charity and faith, thus that they were holy even though their lives were filled with hatred, vengeance, plundering, savagery, and the like. These evils are what are called the evils of falsity, because they trace their origin back to basic ideas of falsity.

[2] Take as another example a person who believes that faith alone saves and that the works of charity contribute nothing to salvation, a person who also believes that he can be saved even in his final hour before death, no matter what kind of life he has been leading throughout the whole course of his life. If on the basis of these ideas he leads a life devoid of any charity and is filled with contempt for others, enmity and hatred towards anyone who does not pay him respect, the desire for revenge, the craving to deprive others of their goods, lack of pity, trickery, and deceit, these evils too are evils of falsity. They are such because he convinces himself on the basis of a falsity either that they are not evils or that even if they were evils they would nevertheless be purged, provided that before he breathed his last he declared with apparent trust his belief that the Lord is the Mediator and that sins are purged through His passion on the Cross.

[3] Take as yet another example those who approach people who have died, make supplication to them as saints, and so venerate them, even images of them. The evil contained in that practice is the evil of falsity. Doers of the evil of falsity all believe that falsity is the truth, and consequently that evil either is not evil or else cannot cause damnation. It is similar with those who believe that sins can be pardoned by mere human beings, and also with those who believe that they can be brought into heaven, regardless of their sins, that is, of their foul spiritual odour and stench. In short the evils of falsity are as many in number as the falsities of faith and worship. Such evils do cause condemnation, but not to so great an extent as evils that have their origin in evil. Evils that have their origin in evil are those which exist as a result of a desire welling up from self-love and love of the world.