Reading about the hand of the Lord in this place is one of the many passages of Scriptures where God is described in human terms. Elsewhere, we read about God’s eyes and ears. Do these all suggest that God has the same physiological structure as man? The answer is no. Whenever human characteristics are attributed to God, theologians call it anthropomorphism. As we can see from our text, the hand of the Lord came on Elijah by reason of which he outran Ahab’s chariot even though he ran on foot. The hand of the Lord gave him supernatural speed.

“The hand of the Lord means the Spirit of the Lord…The secret to the supernatural acts in our lives and work still remains the Spirit of the Lord.”

What then might this hand of the Lord be? Let’s check out the meaning of this from the experience of another prophet who had the hand of the Lord descend on him. “And it came to pass in the sixth year, in the sixth month, in the fifth day of the month, as I sat in mine house, and the elders of Judah sat before me, that the hand of the Lord GOD fell there upon me.” (Ezekiel 8:1). Ezekiel is here, reporting the hand of the Lord that came upon him. Two verses after this, clearly revealed what it was. “And he put forth the form of an hand, and took me by a lock of mine head; and the spirit lifted me up between the earth and the heaven, and brought me in the visions of God to Jerusalem, to the door of the inner gate that looketh toward the north; where was the seat of the image of jealousy, which provoketh to jealousy.” In plain language, the hand of the Lord means the Spirit of the Lord. That was the secret of Elijah who outran Ahab. The secret to the supernatural acts in our lives and work still remains the Spirit of the Lord.