The finger of God (Lk 11:20-11:20)

“But if it is

By the finger of God

That I cast out

The demons,

Then the kingdom of God

Has come

To you.”

 

εἰ δὲ ἐν δακτύλῳ Θεοῦ ἐγὼ ἐκβάλλω τὰ δαιμόνια, ἄρα ἔφθασεν ἐφ’ ὑμᾶς ἡ βασιλεία τοῦ Θεοῦ.

 

Luke indicated that Jesus said that it was by the finger of God (εἰ δὲ ἐν δακτύλῳ Θεοῦ) that he cast out these demons (ἐγὼ ἐκβάλλω τὰ δαιμόνια).  Thus, the kingdom of God (ἡ βασιλεία τοῦ Θεοῦ) has come to them (ἄρα ἔφθασεν ἐφ’ ὑμᾶς).  There is a similar statement in Matthew, chapter 12:28.  However, Luke talked about the finger of God rather than the Spirit of God, like Matthew.  In Exodus, chapter 8:19, the Egyptian magicians referred to Moses’ power as the finger of God.  Notice that Matthew said that the Kingdom of God (ἡ βασιλεία τοῦ Θεοῦ) had come, not the Kingdom of heaven, as he said many times earlier in this work.  Matthew indicated that Jesus said that if he cast out the demons with the Spirit or breathe of God (εἰ δὲ ἐν Πνεύματι Θεοῦ ἐγὼ ἐκβάλλω τὰ δαιμόνια), then the kingdom of God had come or arrived for them (ἄρα ἔφθασεν ἐφ’ ὑμᾶς ἡ βασιλεία τοῦ Θεοῦ).  The end times had already begun.  Have you ever experienced the finger of God?

The Spirit of God (Mt 12:28-12:28)

“But if it is

By the Spirit of God

That I cast out demons,

Then the kingdom of God

Has come upon you.”

 

εἰ δὲ ἐν Πνεύματι Θεοῦ ἐγὼ ἐκβάλλω τὰ δαιμόνια, ἄρα ἔφθασεν ἐφ’ ὑμᾶς ἡ βασιλεία τοῦ Θεοῦ.

 

There is a similar statement in Luke, chapter 11:20.  However, Luke talked about the finger of God rather than the Spirit of God (ἐν Πνεύματι Θεοῦ).  Notice that Matthew said that the Kingdom of God (ἡ βασιλεία τοῦ Θεοῦ) had come, not the Kingdom of heaven, as he said many times earlier in this work.  Jesus said, via Matthew, that if he cast out the demons with the Spirit or breathe of God (εἰ δὲ ἐν Πνεύματι Θεοῦ ἐγὼ ἐκβάλλω τὰ δαιμόνια), then the kingdom of God had come or arrived for them (ἄρα ἔφθασεν ἐφ’ ὑμᾶς ἡ βασιλεία τοῦ Θεοῦ).  The end times had already begun.

The ruah spirit comes to the bones (Ezek 37:9-37:10)

“Then Yahweh

Said to me.

‘Prophesy to the spirit!

Prophesy!

Son of man!

Say to the spirit!

Thus says Yahweh God!

Come!

From the four winds!

O spirit!

Breathe

Upon these slain ones

That they may live!’

I prophesied

As he commanded me.

The spirit

Came into them,

They lived.

They stood

On their feet,

A vast multitude.”

Yahweh told Ezekiel to prophesize to the spirit. He was to tell the spirit, ruah, to come from the four winds, ruah, and breathe, ruah, on these dead fleshy dry bones. Thus, they might live. Ezekiel, as usual, did what Yahweh had asked him to do. Then the Spirit of Yahweh, ruah, came to these dried-out bones. All these dead bones got a new life. This great multitude of former dry bones stood on their feet. Mission accomplished.

The foolish idol makers (Jer 51:17-51:19)

“Everyone is stupid.

Everyone is

Without knowledge.

Goldsmiths

Are put to shame

By their idols.

Their images

Are false.

There is no breath

In them.

They are worthless,

A work of delusion.

At the time

Of their punishment,

They shall perish.

Not like these,

Is Yahweh,

The portion of Jacob.

He is the one

Who formed all things.

Israel is

The tribe

Of his inheritance.

Yahweh of hosts

Is his name.”

Once again, Yahweh, via Jeremiah, chides the foolish idol makers. These image makers are stupid without any knowledge. These goldsmiths are put to shame because their images are false, a worthless work of delusion without any breathe. They will all perish on the day of punishment. Yahweh, on the other hand, is not like these idols or idol makers. He is the portion of Jacob with his tribe of Israel as his inheritance. Yahweh of hosts is the name of the one who has formed all things.

The folly of the Egyptian idols (Wis 15:14-15:17)

“But most foolish,

More miserable than an infant,

Are all the enemies

Who oppressed your people.

They thought

That all their heathen idols were gods.

These have

Neither the use of their eyes to see with,

Nor nostrils with which to draw breath,

Nor ears with which to hear,

Nor fingers to feel with.

Their feet are of no use for walking.

A human being made them.

One whose spirit is borrowed

Formed them.

None can form gods

That are like themselves.

People are mortal.

What they make with lawless hands is dead.

They are better than the objects they worship.

Since they have life,

But the idols never had.”

Next this author turns to the historic oppressors of the Israelites, the Egyptians, without naming them. He points out the ineptitude of their idol gods (θεούς). These idols could not see, breathe, hear, feel, or walk, as they lacked the five basic senses. Humans (ἄθρωπος) made them. Any spirit (τὸ πνεῦμα) they might have, was borrowed from humans. People do not make gods (Θεόν) of themselves because they are mortal. Thus they can only make dead images. In fact, these idol makers were better than the dead objects (νεκρὸν) that they made, since they had life, while their images did not.

The birth of Solomon (Wis 7:1-7:6)

“I also am mortal.

Like everyone else,

I am a descendant

Of the first-formed child of earth.

In the womb of a mother,

I was molded into flesh,

Within the period of ten months,

Compacted with blood,

From the seed of a man,

Within the pleasure of marriage.

When I was born,

I began to breathe the common air.

I fell upon the kindred earth.

My first sound was a cry,

As is true of all.

I was nursed with care

In swaddling clothes.

No king has had a different beginning of existence.

There is for all

One entrance into life.

There is one common way out.”

This author proclaims the human male mortality (ἄνθρωπος) of Solomon in the first person singular (ειμι). He was a mortal child of the earth like everyone else. He became flesh (σὰρξ) in his mother’s womb (κοιλίᾳ μητρὸς), where he had been 10 months since they used the lunar 28 day month calendar. He came from the seed of a man (ἐκ σπέρματος ἀνδρὸς) within a marriage. After birth, he began to breathe the common air (ἀέρα) that we all breathe. He was on the same ground and nursed in the same swaddling clothes like everyone else. A king (βασιλεὺς) does not come to exist in a different kind of way than everyone else. Everyone has the same entrance (εἴσοδος) and the same exit (ἔξοδός) to life.

Lies (Prov 14:5-14:8)

“A faithful witness does not lie.

But a false witness breathes out lies.

A scoffer seeks wisdom in vain.

But knowledge is easy for one who understands.

Leave the presence of a fool.

There you do not find words of knowledge.

It is the wisdom of the clever

To understand where they go.

But the folly of fools misleads.”

The problem of lying appears often. The faithful witness does not lie. However, the false witnesses breathe out lies without even thinking about it. The scoffer cynic will seek wisdom in vain. Knowledge, on the other hand, is easy for those people who understand what is going on. Stay away from fools because they do not have words of knowledge. The clever ones have wisdom so that they understand where they are going, but the folly of the fools will mislead you down the wrong path.