Episode 68 – Miracles Part 1 – “Signs and Wonders” in the Old Testament

Welcome to Anchored by Truth brought to you by Crystal Sea Books. In John 14:6, Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.” The goal of Anchored by Truth is to encourage everyone to grow in the Christian faith by anchoring themselves to the secure truth found in the inspired, inerrant, and infallible word of God.

Script: (Bible quotes from the New Living Translation)

But Elijah said to her, “Don’t be afraid! Go ahead and do just what you’ve said, but make a little bread for me first. Then use what’s left to prepare a meal for yourself and your son.  For this is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: There will always be flour and olive oil left in your containers until the time when the LORD sends rain and the crops grow again!” So she did as Elijah said, and she and Elijah and her family continued to eat for many days.  There was always enough flour and olive oil left in the containers, just as the LORD had promised through Elijah.

1 Kings, Chapter 17, verses 13 through 16, New Living Translation

One day a man from Baal-shalishah brought the man of God a sack of fresh grain and twenty loaves of barley bread made from the first grain of his harvest. Elisha said, “Give it to the people so they can eat.” “What?” his servant exclaimed. “Feed a hundred people with only this?” But Elisha repeated, “Give it to the people so they can eat, for this is what the LORD says: Everyone will eat, and there will even be some left over!” And when they gave it to the people, there was plenty for all and some left over, just as the LORD had promised.

2 Kings, Chapter 4, verses 42 through 44, New Living Translation

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VK: Hello! I’m Victoria K. Welcome to Anchored by Truth brought to you by Crystal Sea Books. I’m here today with RD Fierro, author and founder of Crystal Sea Books, and part-time librarian. He arranges the books on the bookshelves – though we’re seriously considering relieving him of that duty. He tends to like to arrange the books by the color of their covers not their subject, author, or title. And let’s just say his sense of color is not always aesthetically pleasing. Anyway, today on Anchored by Truth we’re going to begin a new discussion about a subject that can be surprisingly controversial though you ‘d think that it wouldn’t be? Today we want to start talking about the miracles in the Bible. RD, would you like to give us a brief introduction about why you wanted to discuss miracles?

RD: Absolutely. As you mentioned the subject of miracles in the Bible can be controversial even though you think that it wouldn’t be. Most Christians certainly believe in miracles and probably, at one time or another, most have hoped to be the recipient of one. And that’s one of the points that we need to discuss during this series – whether authentic Biblical miracles still occur today. That can be one subject of controversy. But a second point of controversy comes from the fact that critics of the Bible will frequently use the Bibles accounts of miracles as a reason to disbelieve the validity of the Bible. In effect, the critics contend that the Bible’s accounts of miracles are some sort of myth or fairy tale rather akin to the stories of the Easter Bunny or the Tooth Fairy. So, there can be many points about the Bible’s accounts of miracles that are either disputed completely or, alternatively, used to create false expectations or confusion. Through this discussion of how the Bible treats miracles we hope to bring some clarity to a subject that’s often misrepresented or misunderstood. It’s probably a good idea to start out by noting that today our subject will focus on miracles in the Old Testament but eventually we’ll get to all these topics.

VK: Oooh. Sounds like we’re in for some interesting discussions. But before we get started on talking about miracles, let’s remember that the only reason miracles were, or are, even possible is because we serve an almighty and everlasting God who can accomplish anything He desires. By thinking about that you can quickly see how miracles would be possible by a God who created everything that exists including the stars, the earth, and all living creatures whether great or small. I mean, a God that can create everything can surely intercede into His creation at any point He chooses for His own purposes.

RD: And that’s a great lead into our subject of the role miracles play in the Bible. But let’s start our discussion by observing that while the word “miracle” is sometimes used in the Bible, more often what we think of as miracles are usually termed “signs and wonders.” And I think we learn something important just by knowing that.

VK: Which is...

RD: That miracles in the Bible are always used as a “sign.” The miracles in the Bible are used to signify or authenticate that a particular person is a messenger of God. In other words, Biblical miracles aren’t just a kind of random, wonderful event that brings a blessing. In the Bible miracles are the “signs and wonders” that show that someone is an authentic messenger of Almighty God. There are some events described in the Bible that might give the impression that at times miracles occurred sort of en masse or that miracles were not intentional or specific.

VK: You’re thinking of episodes such as the one described in Acts, chapter 5, verses 12 through 16. The New Living Translation description is “And all the believers were meeting regularly at the Temple in the area known as Solomon’s Colonnade. But no one else dared to join them, even though all the people had high regard for them. Yet more and more people believed and were brought to the Lord—crowds of both men and women.  As a result of the apostles’ work, sick people were brought out into the streets on beds and mats so that Peter’s shadow might fall across some of them as he went by.  Crowds came from the villages around Jerusalem, bringing their sick and those possessed by evil spirits, and they were all healed.”

RD: Precisely. Listening to that description you might get the impression that Peter was a sort of walking miracle generator blasting out miraculous healings just by his mere presence.

VK: “A walking miracle generator?” “Blasting out miracles?” Really?

RD: Well, someone who read that description and didn’t focus on the context of when those events were occurring might get the wrong impression. For a brief period the Apostle Peter was the focus of a number of miraculous events. But remember the history. This occurred shortly after Jesus’ resurrection during the very earliest period of the church when God wanted to be sure that people understood that Jesus’ Apostles were Jesus’ rightful successors. God was authenticating the fact that Peter was now carrying God’s genuine word just as Jesus had done before him.

VK: And, in Peter’s case, this is pretty remarkable isn’t it? I mean this wasn’t that long after Peter’s denial of Jesus 3 times while Jesus was being tried before the Sanhedrin. Peter, or more properly, God was using Peter as God’s messenger a mere matter of weeks after Peter had denied Jesus. This is a graphic demonstration that God can produce radical transformation in people in a very short period of time.

RD: Yes. Peter was one of the central figures of the early church. He was an important part of God’s plan to build a body of believers that would carry the gospel to the farthest corners of the world. To be sure that the people understood that Peter’s commission was coming directly from God, for a certain, relatively brief period, Peter was the center of a burst of miracles. In that way Peter’s case was a great illustration of a pattern that God had used over and over throughout the Biblical period.

VK: You’re saying that while miracles – signs and wonders – are seen frequently in the Bible they are actually concentrated in specific time periods. During those periods, which were chosen by God, God used miraculous events to demonstrate to the people, and us, that a particular person was God’s chosen messenger.

RD: Yes. Without trying to be exhaustive the Biblical miracles were concentrated at very specific points and were concentrated around very specific people. We can think quickly about Moses when God was bringing His people out of Egypt and back to the Promised Land. We can think of Elijah and Elisha when idolatry had become a particularly pernicious evil during the period of the divided kingdom …

VK: The divided kingdom was after Solomon’s death and 10 or the 12 tribes split off into the northern kingdom of Israel and the tribes of Judah and Benjamin remained in the south as the kingdom of Judah.

RD: Yes. During that period idolatry had become particularly pervasive in the northern kingdom, Israel, and God sent prophet after prophet to warn the northern kingdom that if they didn’t change their ways the covenant curses would eventually come upon them. God authenticated two of the prophets He sent, Elijah and Elisha, by a burst of miracles.

VK: Those miracles and that period of time are recorded in the latter portion of the book of 1 Kings and the early part of 2 Kings.

RD: Yes. And then of course, most famously, are the miracles that Jesus performed during his lifetime - followed by the miracles performed by the Apostles during the Apostolic era of the early church.

VK: And it’s fair to say that each of these periods when there was a proliferation of miracles was at a critical time during redemptive history. I mean the time period during which God was moving His people out of Egypt back to the Promised Land was obviously a very important time for the unfolding of God’s overall plan of redemption.

RD: Yes. But let’s remember that it wasn’t just important in terms of geography. It was also important in terms of typology.

VK: I think you’re going to need to clarify that a bit.

RD: God had obviously promised the patriarch Abraham that his descendants would live in the territory that today we call Israel. During the time of Abraham’s grandson, Jacob who was later named Israel, a famine caused Jacob to move his family from their homeland into Egypt. In Egypt God turned a family of 80-or-so people into a nation of over 2,000,000. So, when it came time to move the nation back to Israel God sent a mighty prophet, Moses, to lead the people. To authenticate Moses as His messenger God had Moses perform a number of signs and wonders, most notably the 10 plagues that afflicted Egypt. But later, the Apostle Matthew would recall this period of the nation’s history when it was reprised in Jesus’ own life. When Herod threatened Jesus’ life, Joseph took Mary and Jesus into Egypt for safety. When Herod died Joseph moved his family, including Jesus, back to Nazareth in the Promised Land. So, the miracles that Moses performed were important not only because it was necessary for the history of the nation, but also because it would be a sign that helped identify Jesus almost 1,500 years later as the Messiah.

VK: And, of course, for an eternal God the fact that a gap of close to 1,500 years transpired between the initial action and the final importance is really nothing. So, despite the fact the periods of concentrated miracles in the Bible are sometimes separated by hundreds of years doesn’t mean that they aren’t all part of a single unfolding plan. And only God could design or execute a plan that would span hundreds or even thousands of years.

RD: Absolutely right.

VK: And after Moses, chronologically speaking, the next time a burst of miracles occurred was during the prophetic ministries of Elijah and Elisha. Correct?

RD: Correct.

VK: And you think it’s fair to think of Elijah’s and Elisha’s ministries as sort of a single period within redemptive history, right? I mean Elijah recruited and mentored Elisha so their ministries overlapped. And just before Elijah was taken up to heaven in the whirlwind Elijah asked Elisha what Elisha wanted him to do for him before he departed. Elisha responded that he wanted a double portion of Elijah’s spirit and to be his successor. And most commentators believe Elisha’s request was fulfilled because the Bible records that Elijah performed 8 miracles but Elisha performed 16 miracles. Do I have that right?

RD: Yes.

VK: So, aside from the fact that Elijah and Elisha ministered during a period of particularly egregious idolatry why do you think that that was a second period of abundant miracles – signs and wonders as you said.

RD: That’s a great question and I don’t have an absolute answer but it has always struck me as very interesting that when Jesus was transfigured on the mountain that the two figures from the Old Testament that appeared to converse with Him were Moses and Elijah. So, in effect, you had the three most significant figures, at least up to that time - around whom miracles (signs and wonders) were clustered - all together at one place and at one time. It’s as though God was drawing together at a single place and time the major representatives of all of the facets of redemptive history. Moses classically represented the “law” of the “law and prophets.” Elijah represented the prophets. And one way ancient Hebrew scholars used to refer to their scriptures, what we call the Old Testament, was the Law and the Prophets. So, on the Mount of Transfiguration it’s not a stretch to say that God was linking the Old Testament to the New and He used the central figures of His signs and wonders to show his continuous and continuing unfolding plan of redemption.

VK: That’s really an amazing thought when you think about it. We often talk about the remarkable unity of scripture. The Bible is a book written by dozens of human authors over a period of 1,500 years but there – on the Mount of Transfiguration – you have an absolutely graphic example of that unity. The most important figures of the Bible’s miraculous nature all together as Jesus prepared for the momentous event in all of human history: His death and resurrection. Amazing!

RD: Exactly. Next time we’re going to continue our discussion of miracles, of signs and wonders, and we’ll spend more time on the miracles in the New Testament. But for today I want to make one final observation about the miracles in the Old Testament. Based on the time periods that were conventionally understood about Old Testament events Moses led the people out of Egypt around the middle of the 15th century B.C. The last book of the Old Testament, Malachi, was written around the middle of the 5th century B.C. – a gap of roughly 1,000 years. Elijah and Elisha conducted their ministries around 950 – 900 B.C. In other words Elijah and Elisha performed their work pretty close to the midpoint of the time period between Israel leaving Egypt and the close of the writing of the Old Testament canon. Elijah and Elisha’s ministries appear to represent something of a line of demarcation in redemptive history. They prophesied right after the nation of Israel split into the Northern and Southern kingdoms. Never again would there be a unified nation of the twelve tribes. The northern kingdom consisting of 10 tribes disappeared from the pages of history around 722 B.C. when it was conquered and dispersed by the Assyrians. You sometimes hear people refer to the lost 10 tribes of Israel. So, in some ways Elijah and Elisha and the miracles they performed seemed to have marked a major turning point in the life of the nation of Israel which, of course, is the nation that ultimately gave rise to Jesus, the Messiah. As with Moses, and even Jesus, it’s almost as if God uses miracles to not only authenticate His messengers but to mark significant points during His plan of redemption.

VK: Again, that’s an amazing thought. We sometimes think that God has hidden the truth of what He is doing in history but when you know what to look for it actually becomes like a series of lighted sign posts – like you said, signs and wonders. Sounds like a great time for a prayer. Today, let’s listen to a prayer for the nation because our nation, like all nations, can only prosper when we turn to Jesus for healing and restoration.

---- PRAYER FOR THE NATION

VK: We’d like to remind our audience that a lot of our radio episodes are linked together in series of topics so if they missed any episodes or if they just want to hear one again, all of these episodes are available on your favorite podcast app. To find them just search on “Anchored by Truth by Crystal Sea Books.”

If you’d like to hear more, try out crystalseabooks.com where “We’re not famous but our Boss is!”

(Bible Quotes from the New King James Version)

Psalms 119, verses 104 and 105, New King James Version

Hebrews, chapter 11, verse 6, New King James Version

1. The Only Worthy Object of Prayer

All prayers, Christian or otherwise, have an object. In other words, the petitions, thoughts, hopes, and aspirations are directed to someone or to something. No one prays to “thin air.” Everyone hopes their prayers will be heard by and be important to their intended object, regardless of whether they perceive that object to be an impersonal “force,” a dead ancestor, or a transcendent, personal Being with whom they have a continuing relationship.

Many people spend too little time considering the nature of the object of their prayers. This is unfortunate because even the most beautiful prayer prayed by the sincerest person to an unworthy object would be a futile prayer. An inanimate or non-existent object cannot hear a prayer, much less respond to it. The Bible, particularly the Old Testament, is filled with admonitions about the futility of praying to inanimate objects that have neither eyes to see, ears to hear, nor the power to move. But beyond the futility of praying to an unworthy object is a more serious problem. Because prayer is communion with God, and therefore part of worship, it would be an act of idolatry to direct prayer to an unworthy object. The first of the Ten Commandments (“You shall have no other Gods before Me.”) is number one for a reason.

Most Christians, if asked, would probably say that the object of their prayers is God. Unfortunately, in this day of post-modern ethical relativism and spiritual ambiguity, the terms “God” and even “Jesus” have lost much of their historical meaning. Groups falling far outside the pale of orthodox Christianity have begun to employ the terms “God” and “Jesus” for their own purposes. In doing so, these groups have divested these names of their Biblical content by using them for figures or characters that do not correspond to the Biblical originals. In some cases, even when authentic believers use the terms, they have spent little time grappling with the true nature and attributes of the Father and Son as revealed in Scripture. Their limited knowledge of the nature of the object of their prayers impedes their ability to achieve intimacy with the one to whom they are praying and inhibits their ability to pray effectively.

The Bible is clear that unless we reject all idolatrous formulations of who God is and how He relates to His creation, at best we will be praying to an impotent object. God has revealed Himself to humanity through His creation and His Word, and we are commanded, not entreated, to worship and pray to Him in spirit and in truth. We need to reestablish a firm connection with the God who authored Scripture, framed the heavens, molded man, and granted us an audience to His presence. Having a biblically informed concept of God and His attributes elevates our appreciation of Him and improves the quality of our prayers to Him.

We tend to value lightly the privilege of entering the grandest of throne rooms when we have not thought carefully about the One whom we encounter within. Therefore, to lay a foundation for knowing and appreciating the only worthy object of our prayer--the God revealed in sacred Scripture—let’s think about the attributes that He alone possesses -including among others infinitude, omniscience, and omnipotence. Hopefully, as a consequence, we will be more inclined to pray regularly. We will also gain confidence in the ability of the one true God to answer our prayers in a manner that increasingly conforms us to the image of His Son.