This is the finger of GOD!
(J.C. Ryle, "This is the Finger of GOD!" Written during
the Great Cattle Plague of England, 1865-1867.)
Look at the words which form the title
of this article, and consider them well.
They were spoken by heathen men
more than three thousand years ago.
They fell from the lips of Egyptian
magicians when GOD sent one of the
famous plagues on the land of Egypt.
famous plagues on the land of Egypt.
This is the finger of God!" Exodus 8:19.
It would be well if we all were
as wise as these Egyptians!
From WHENCE does
the cattle plague come?
the cattle plague come?
I answer, unhesitatingly,
that it comes from GOD!
HE who orders all things
in Heaven and earth--
HE by whose wise providence
everything is directed, and without
whom nothing can happen--
HE it is who has sent this scourge
upon us! It is the finger of GOD!
I shall not spend time in proving this point.
I refer anyone who asks for proof,
to the whole tenor of GOD'S Word.
I ask him to mark how GOD is always
spoken of as the governor and manager
of all things, from the very least to the greatest.
Who sent the flood on the world
in the days of Noah (Genesis 6:17)?
It was GOD!
It was GOD!
Who sent the famine in the days
of Joseph (Genesis 41:25)?
It was GOD
of Joseph (Genesis 41:25)?
It was GOD
Who sent the plague on the livestock of
Egypt in the reign of Pharaoh (Exodus 9:3)?
It was GOD!
Egypt in the reign of Pharaoh (Exodus 9:3)?
It was GOD!
Who sent disease on the Philistines,
when the ark was among them
1 Samuel 5:7; 6:3-7)?
It was GOD!
when the ark was among them
1 Samuel 5:7; 6:3-7)?
It was GOD!
Who sent the pestilence in the days
of David (2 Samuel 24:15)?
It was GOD!
of David (2 Samuel 24:15)?
It was GOD!
Who sent the famine in the days
of Elisha (2 Kings 8:1)?
It was GOD!
of Elisha (2 Kings 8:1)?
It was GOD!
Who sent the stormy wind and tempest
in the days of Jonah (Jonah 1:4)?
It was GOD!
in the days of Jonah (Jonah 1:4)?
It was GOD!
I cannot understand how anyone
can be called a believer of the Bible,
who denies GOD'S providence over
HIS world. For my own part, I believe
thoroughly that GOD has not changed.
I believe that HE is governing all things
as much now, as HE was in the Old
Testament days. I believe that wars,
famines, pestilences, and cattle plagues--
are all HIS instruments for carrying on
the government of this world.
And therefore when I see a scourge
like the cattle plague, I have no doubt
as to the hand that sends it.
the LORD has not done it?' (Amos 3:6).
Can anyone give a better account
of the cattle plague? I believe that
the only cause that we must come
to as last is: This is the finger of GOD!
of the cattle plague? I believe that
the only cause that we must come
to as last is: This is the finger of GOD!
Does anyone regard my assertion
as absurd and unreasonable?
I have no doubt that many do so.
Many, I suspect, think that GOD
never interferes with the affairs
of this world, and that pestilences
and cattle plagues are only the result
of certain natural laws which are always
producing certain effects.
I pity the man who thinks so.
as absurd and unreasonable?
I have no doubt that many do so.
Many, I suspect, think that GOD
never interferes with the affairs
of this world, and that pestilences
and cattle plagues are only the result
of certain natural laws which are always
producing certain effects.
I pity the man who thinks so.
Is he an atheist? Does he believe that
this wonderfully designed world came
together by chance, and had no creator?
If so, he is a very credulous person.
this wonderfully designed world came
together by chance, and had no creator?
If so, he is a very credulous person.
But if he does believe that GOD made
the world, where, I ask, is the absurdity
of believing that GOD governs the world?
If he allows that GOD framed the universe,
then why not allow that GOD manages it?
the world, where, I ask, is the absurdity
of believing that GOD governs the world?
If he allows that GOD framed the universe,
then why not allow that GOD manages it?
Away with this modern skepticism!
It is offensive and revolting to common
sense. They are not to be heard, who
would shut out the CREATOR from
HIS own creation. HE who made
the world at the beginning by
the finger of creating wisdom--
will never cease to govern the world
by the finger of HIS providence.
This cattle plague is the finger of GOD!
It is offensive and revolting to common
sense. They are not to be heard, who
would shut out the CREATOR from
HIS own creation. HE who made
the world at the beginning by
the finger of creating wisdom--
will never cease to govern the world
by the finger of HIS providence.
This cattle plague is the finger of GOD!
~ ~ ~ ~
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