8. The Fillger of God: An awareness of Egyptian magical praxis continues to inform the biblical text.For example, in Exod. 8:15, upon first realizing that they are unable to reproduce the lice, the magician-scribes cry out Xl;' C~;"X Y:J~X,"this is the finger of God!" Elsewhere, we find the more common expression C~;"X ,~, "hand of God," with reference
to Yahweh (e.g., Exod. 9:3). The use of "finger" instead of "hand," therefore,
stands out as peculiar. Its placement in the mouths of the magicians suggests that the
usage is Egyptian.Indeed, the use of an extended forefinger appears in magic rites, especially those involving the fording of rivers, such as the water spells mentioned above. Typically,one magician recites a spell while another points his finger at the water, thereby stilling the hostile forces in that water. Most intriguing in this respect is this ritual's application in conjunction with a shepherd-priest (both real and an ivory figurine).52 In
a fording scene from the tomb of Queen Ti (fourteeenth century B.C.E.),for example:As the herdsmen extcnd their fingers, they are watched by a standing figure at the left who is
dressed in an elaborate kilt and leans upon a staff beside the walcr. Urged by a herdsman to"(Put) your hand over the water" in the ritual gesture. the man replies instead: "Do not speak so much ,"53 Another relief from the same Eighteenth Dynasty tomb depicts a herdsman entering a river while carrying a calf on his shoulders in order to induce the other cattle to follow.5~Thus, both the water spell and the herdsman serve apotropaicallyto allow
safe passage through a potentially dangerous body of ,"vatertoo deep to cross without
guidance.The Egyptian magicians, who were well-acquainted with such charms and rituals,
would have seen the shepherd-priest Moses in a similar light, especially at the fords of the Reed Sea through which his flock, the Israelites, were allowed safe passage (Exod. 14:26-29). Her~ too we are told that Moses accomplished the parting by extending his arm over the Sea (14:27).55 Furthermore, just like the Egyptian priest at the fords of the river in the text above, the Levite Moses commands the Israelites p1V,nn cmn, "be quiet" (14:14). Moses extending his arm, staff in hand, might also relate to a rite depicted in the Temple of Horus at Edfu where we find the picture of a king driving a cattle herd with a serpent-staff.
N. Sarna, on the other hand, has suggested that we read rm as a possible reference to Pharaoh's uraeus. According to this view, the event would represent to the king the loss of divine power and apotropaic protection. It is true that the rm,which elsewhere appears to mean "sea monster" or hdragon," must have special significance for Pharaoh, for Ezekiel addresses him as a rm in 29:3. Nevertheless,Sarna's view is problematic because the magicians perform their transformation. utilizing staffs that have no connection with the uraeus, which typically belongs of Pharaoh's throne and headdress But the hand of the Lord is heavy upon me and I must!” I stare at Moise's, afraid of what I'm about to hear, wanting to clap my hands over my ears and run the occurrence on Golgotha — is the expression, the manifestation of a spiritual event which stands at the central point of all earthly happenings. It has been previously stated that what is called the Logos is the sum total of the six Elohim who, united with the sun, present the earth with their spiritual gifts, while externally the physical sunlight is falling upon the earth. Therefore the light of the sun appears to us like the outer physical body of the spirit and soul of the Elohim or of the Logos. At the moment of the Event of Golgotha, that force, that impulse which formerly could only stream down upon the earth as light began to unite with the earth itself. And because the Logos began to unite with the earth, the earth's aura became changed.The planet passes over into a different invisible existence, a state called a “Pralaya” and then after a time it embodies itself anew. Thus between the previous embodiment of our Earth, the Moon Evolution, and the Earth's present embodiment, there existed an intermediate state. Out of a sort of spiritual, self-animated, externally invisible existence, the Earth gleamed forth in its earliest state and out of this state developed those states which we described yesterday. At that time, in that early age when our Earth gleamed forth, it was still united with all that now belongs to our solar system. It was then so large, that it reached to the furthest planets of this solar system."Gospel of John: Lecture VII: The Mystery of Golgotha"“Carolus Magnus and his Paladins” from Liber XV, The Gnostic Alchemy, refers, of course, to the King and his legendary court of Knights, the semi-historical fictionalized narratives becoming known to us as The Matter of France, companion, in many ways, to the Arthurian Matter of Britain. As a Gnostic Saint, his holy days have since passed — April 2 being his Lesser, January 28 his Greater Feast — but, throughout Europe, yearlong celebrations of the 1200th anniversary of his passing continue, particularly in Strassburg, modern day germanyfrance, the place of his birth, and the final home for his remains at Strassburg Cathedral.
