Chapter 10.2

Attributes of Miracles

Their supernatural, rare, & awe-inspiring nature

Table of Topics

A) Miracles are Extraordinary in Power: Supernatural

A.1) Supernaturally Influencing Creation

A.2) Supernaturally Influencing Human Events

A.3) Supernaturally Transforming Human Limbs

A.4) Supernaturally Transforming Human Lives

A.5) Supernaturally Providing Divine Communication

A.6) Distinguishing the Natural from the Supernatural

B) Miracles Are Extraordinary in Frequency:

Extremely Rare

B.1) The Rarity of Miraculous Deeds

B.2) The Rarity of Miraculous Communication

C) Miracles Are Extraordinary in Effect: Awe-inspiring

C.1) Awe-inspiring Deeds

C.2) Awe-inspiring Communication

C.3) Ramifications of the Awe-inspiring Nature of Miracles

Extras & Endnotes

Primary Points

• A miracle is an intervention in the ordinary processes established by God for maintaining His Creation and communicating to His people.
• God allows every event in the Universe (cf. Matt 10:29), but there are other events that God supernaturally causes.
• When God desires for a miraculous intervention to be recognized, He will ensure that it can be.
• Against humanity’s constant selfishness, love is as great a miracle as levitation, violating all kinds of “natural laws.”
• It is not only in the realm of divine Creation and human events that miracles occur, but also in divine communication.
• It is important to distinguish God’s invested power in Nature from His intervening power in miracles. If we make everything miraculous, then nothing is.

Whether it is the power operating in plants or planets, humans or even demons, all such power is on loan from God.

It is our constant experience with the laws of Nature that trains us to recognize a miracle. Because they are so pervasive, constant, and sufficient in the Universe, any interruption or manipulation of them will be very uncommon

Our claim that miraculous deeds are extremely rare disagrees with the very foundation of super-supernaturalism.

In our mega mystical and super-supernaturalist age, Christians need to remember that God is not in the habit of doing for us what He has already enabled us to do ourselves.

The Scriptures consistently describe miracles in ways that reflect their awe-inspiring nature.

Amazement, astonishment, awe, fear, repentance, and breathless wonder are the normal response of anyone who is exposed to a real divine miraculous deed.

We are not impressed with the claims in super-super-naturalism and prophetism to an abundance of miraculous deeds and communication. “Healed” headaches and “prophetic” declarations by people who cannot foretell the future inspire little of the wonder and awe that biblical miracles did. Such claims only serve to remind us just how far we are removed from “the good ole days” in the early Church when a miracle really was a miracle!

A) Miracles Are Extraordinary in Power: Supernatural

Essentially, a miracle is an intervention or interruption in the ordinary processes established by God for maintaining His Creation and communicating to His people. Webster’s defines “interrupt” as: “to stop or hinder by breaking in; to break the uniformity or continuity of” ^[1] all of which is a good description of the biblical concept of a miracle.

In the realm of miraculous deeds we refer to this as a supernatural intervention by which God overpowers and manipulates the natural processes operating in Creation. As the philosopher Anthony Flew has put it, “A miracle is something which would never have happened had nature, as it were, been left to its own devices.” ^[2] While this is denied in anti-supernaturalism, this will be illustrated in several ways in this section. ^[3]

A.1) Supernaturally influencing Creation

In God’s created order the sun “rises” and “sets” in the sky due to the regular revolution of the Earth. This is a “natural law” ^[4] that God established in the initial miracle of Creation and which has continually operated millions of days afterward without interruption . . . except for one day. ^[5] We read in the book of Joshua:

On the day the LORD gave the Amorites over to Israel, Joshua said to the LORD in the presence of Israel: “O sun, stand still over Gibeon, O moon, over the Valley of Aijalon.” So the sun stood still, and the moon stopped, till the nation avenged itself on its enemies, as it is written in the Book of Jashar. The sun stopped in the middle of the sky and delayed going down about a full day. There has never been a day like it before or since, a day when the LORD listened to a man. Surely the LORD was fighting for Israel! (Josh 10:12-14)

So while day after day for millions of days the sun has moved across earth’s sky, on this day, God exercised His supernatural power at the request of Joshua to suspend and temporarily override a “natural law.”

Therefore, it should not surprise us that Scripture most often describes miracles in the sense of power. For example, the Greek NT uses the words dynamis and ergon to refer to miracles. Dynamis is used in the NT 119 times and at its most basic level, it simply means “power,” whether it is physical, military, or political. ^[6]

However, as NT scholar Leon Morris observes, “This word is to all intents and purposes the only word for miracles in the first three Gospels (Matthew uses it 12 times, Mark 10 times, and Luke 15 times).” ^[7] Likewise, we read in the NIDNTT: “[In] the Synoptic Gospels and Acts . . . dynamis denotes the power of God, the heavenly powers, miraculous power . . . [Christ’s] miracles are called dynameis (cf. Heb. g^ebûrôt; i.e. “mighty deeds”).” ^[8] We see then that the Greek word for “power” is often used in the context of miracles, and is referring to God’s power.

Likewise the Greek word ergon, simply meaning “work,” is the usual term used in the Gospel of John to refer to a miracle. Again, Dr. Morris comments:

John’s characteristic use of ergon is for the works of Jesus. . . . Clearly it applies to the miracles on some occasion; for example [Jesus said], “I did one work [ergon] (NIV “one miracle”), and you are all astonished” (7:21). . . . Jesus’ works are “the works [ergon] that no one else did” (15:24). They are distinctive and are not to be compared to those of other people. ^[9]

Accordingly, a basic biblical idea concerning miraculous deeds is that they are a display of the supernatural power of God. Such is reflected in the Apostle Peter’s response to a gathering crowd after healing a lame man: “Why do you stare at us as if by our own power or godliness we had made this man walk?” (Acts 3:12). The Apostle clearly testified that the healing was a display of God’s supernatural power.

Nicodemus recognized the supernatural nature of Christ’s deeds when he remarked: “Rabbi . . . no one could perform the miraculous signs you are doing if God were not with him” (John 3:2). Likewise, the man born blind said: “he opened my eyes . . . If this man were not from God [and His power was not from God], he could do nothing [like this]” (John 9:30, 33). When Christ told the paralytic to walk, the crowd who witnessed it knew that such a deed could only be attributed to God and so, “they praised God, Who had given such authority [power] to men” (Matt 9:8).

Miracles require supernatural power and this is why when the bleeding woman touched the edge of Christ’s cloak, Mark records that, “At once Jesus realized that [supernatural] power [dynamis] had gone out from Him” (Mark 5:30). Because miracles exhibit supernatural power, the Bible describes them as the working of “the finger of God” (Exod 8:19; cf. Luke 11:20).

The supernatural nature of miracles is often not so much in suspending or interrupting natural processes, but rather manipulating them to occur at a certain time and place. For example, just before the above record of the sun stopping in the sky, we read of another miracle:

As they [the Amorites] fled before Israel on the road down from Beth Horon to Azekah, the LORD hurled large hailstones down on them from the sky, and more of them died from the hailstones than were killed by the swords of the Israelites. (Josh 10:11)

Note that there is nothing automatically supernatural about a hailstorm as these have occurred numerous times in the history of humanity, unlike the stopping of the sun. However, God’s manipulation of Nature, resulting in extraordinarily “large hailstones,” falling intentionally “on the road down from Beth Horon to Azekah” at the very time the Amorites “fled before Israel,” makes this hailstorm an obvious miracle.

Notice as well our description of the events above as intentional rather than random. It implies that there is a Person behind the event deliberately causing it rather than simply allowing it in the natural course of Nature and life. Of course God allows Nature to produce hailstorms all the time, just as He ultimately allows every single event in the Universe (cf. Matt 10:29). But there are other events that God supernaturally causes, exercising His power to ensure they occur regardless of the circumstances, and in fact, by manipulating those circumstances and Nature itself.

For example, God says in Amos:

I also withheld rain from you when the harvest was still three months away. I sent rain on one town, but withheld it from another. One field had rain; another had none and dried up. (Amos 4:7; cf. Deut 11:13-14, 17; 1 Sam 12:16-18; Jonah 1:4).

Normally, the occurrence of rain is a regularly naturally occurring event of God’s providence in order to maintain life on the Earth. But in this case, God intentionally manipulated the ordinary course of Nature to accomplish a particular purpose.

It is important to note how Amos knew that God had miraculously intervened in Nature. In this case, Amos needed miraculous direct revelation from God. This is because there was nothing obviously supernatural about a lack of rain “when the harvest was still three months away,” or that it fell in “one town” or “field” but not another. So while normally supernatural manipulations of Creation must be recognized simply by their supernatural nature, here God also provided additional, extrabiblical, miraculous revelation. This illustrates our repeated point that when God desires for a miraculous intervention to be recognized, He will ensure that it can be.

Perhaps an example of a miraculous manipulation of Creation apart from biblical history will instruct us here. Marcus Aurelius (121-180 A.D.) was one of the most powerful, respected, and intellectual Emperors in the history of the Roman Empire. Regarding a particularly difficult battle he was engaged in, he wrote a letter to the Roman Senate entitled: “Epistle of Marcus Aurelius to the Senate, in Which He Testifies that the Christians Were the Cause of His Victory.” The following is an excerpt:

The Emperor Caesar Marcus Aurelius Antoninus, Germanicus, Parthicus, Sarmaticus, to the People of Rome, and to the sacred Senate greeting:

I explained to you my grand design, and what advantages I gained on the confines of Germany, with much labour and suffering, in consequence of the circumstance that I was surrounded by the enemy; I myself being shut up in Carnuntum by seventy-four cohorts, nine miles off. And the enemy being at hand, the scouts pointed out to us, and our general Pompeianus showed us that there was close on us a mass of a mixed multitude of 977,000 men, which indeed we saw; and I was shut up by this vast host, having with me only a battalion composed of the first, tenth, double and marine legions.

Having then examined my own position, and my host, with respect to the vast mass of barbarians and of the enemy, I quickly betook myself to prayer to the gods of my country. But being disregarded by them, I summoned those who among us go by the name of Christians. And having made inquiry, I discovered a great number and vast host of them, and raged against them, which was by no means becoming; for afterwards I learned their power.

Wherefore they began the battle, not by preparing weapons, nor arms, nor bugles; for such preparation is hateful to them, on account of the God they bear about in their conscience. Therefore it is probable that those whom we suppose to be atheists, have God as their ruling power entrenched in their conscience.

For having cast themselves on the ground, they prayed not only for me, but also for the whole army as it stood, that they might be delivered from the present thirst and famine. For during five days we had got no water, because there was none; for we were in the heart of Germany, and in the enemy’s territory. And simultaneously with their casting themselves on the ground, and praying to God (a God of whom I am ignorant), water poured from heaven, upon us most refreshingly cool, but upon the enemies of Rome a withering hail. And immediately we recognized the presence of God following on the prayer-a God unconquerable and indestructible.

Founding upon this, then, let us pardon such as are Christians, lest they pray for and obtain such a weapon against ourselves. . . . And I desire that these things be confirmed by a decree of the Senate. And I command this my edict to be published in the Forum of Trajan, in order that it may be read. ^[10]

Several factors made this miracle especially evident. Among these is the apparently supernatural fact that a “refreshingly cool” rain fell on the Romans, and simultaneously a “withering hail” on the Germans. However, another factor that was prominent in this miracle was the prayers of God’s people. In fact, it is doubtful that the miracle would have occurred at all if the Christians had not asked for it. As we have noted elsewhere, the overall purpose of all divine revelation is to glorify God, and this miracle certainly did that. ^[11]

We believe in relatively rare instances, such divine interventions into Nature are still occurring. For example, over the years remarkable and believable reports have come out of the growing underground Church in China. Many of these are recorded in the inspiring autobiography of Brother Yun, entitled The Heavenly Man, which includes how God supernaturally cared for Yun’s wife and mother while he was in prison.

During this time, the two women had to support themselves through farming, of which they knew nothing. Therefore, when they planted sweet potatoes for food, they planted them inches apart instead of two feet apart which was normal. Their non-Christian neighbors, who knew about Yun’s imprisonment for preaching the Gospel, mocked them bitterly for their apparent foolishness. However, when harvest came, the neighbors were cursing their pitiful harvest of small sweet potatoes while Yun’s wife and mother harvested sweet potatoes the size of basketballs. Even the unbelievers knew the Christian God had taken care of His people, and their attitude changed toward them from that day on.

Similarly, Yun’s wife and mother planted wheat another year, and again, mistakenly placed the seeds too close together. About a week before harvest “a severe hailstorm struck. Ice the size of tennis balls fell from the sky.” Yun’s wife continues:

Yun’s mother and I fell to our knees and cried out, “God, have mercy on us!” A great miracle happened. Our field was the only one protected by the Lord. All our wheat was standing upright, untouched by the hail. Everyone else’s fields in the whole area had been obliterated. People came out of their homes after the storm subsided and saw how the Lord Jesus Christ had protected us. It was another powerful testimony to them. ^[12]

Such miracles obviously illustrate the power of God to interrupt, intervene, and manipulate His Creation however and whenever He pleases in order to accomplish His will. Therefore, it is the supernatural power in a miracle, overpowering the considerable strength of Nature, that allows us to confidently identify something as a miracle. Accordingly, the great Roman Catholic theologian Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) wrote concerning the power in miracles that, “the more it exceeds nature’s capability, the greater any miracle is said to be” ^[13] and the more likely it is to be a real miracle.

A.2) Supernaturally influencing human events

Of course, God is not interested in merely manipulating Creation for its own sake. As we see with the miracles above, they were to influence human events in some way. Divine miracles are never merely allowed by God as a course of random, natural life, but rather are a deliberate divine intervention into the course or circumstances of our life having a supernatural effect that would not have occurred otherwise. Perhaps the best example of this is the fulfillment of prophecy.

Over seven hundred years before the birth of Christ, the Prophet Micah recorded that the Savior of the world would be born in Bethlehem (cf. Mic 5:2). Luke records what would appear to be a number of divinely manipulated circumstances that occurred in order to ensure that happened, including the timely decree of a Roman Emperor for a census, the special requirement to be counted in the city of one’s ancestry, ^[14] and the marriage of Mary to a direct descendant of David, whose city of origin was Bethlehem (cf. Luke 2:1-7).

This kind of supernatural intervention into world and personal affairs, such that the timing of decisions and events coincide in a way that they would not have otherwise, is a necessary hallmark of all fulfilled prophecy in Scripture and vividly illustrates God’s supernatural power over people when He chooses to exercise it. ^[15]

The divine, miraculous intervention of God can occur with a great deal of precision and attention to the minutest detail. Accordingly, we read of the Exodus:

During the last watch of the night the LORD looked down from the pillar of fire and cloud at the Egyptian army and threw it into confusion. He made the wheels of their chariots come off so that they had difficulty driving. And the Egyptians said, “Let’s get away from the Israelites! The LORD is fighting for them against Egypt.” (Exod 14:24-25)

One wonders if Angels were ripping these wheels off, or just the power of the Holy Spirit somehow, but the Egyptians knew they were not losing their wheels due to random, natural forces. ^[16]

Likewise, we are reminded of the miraculous fulfillment of the Prophet Micaiah’s prediction that King Ahab would die in battle (cf. 1 Kgs 22:28-35). Accordingly, Ahab “disguised himself and went into battle,” even persuading “Jehoshaphat king of Judah . . . [to] wear [his] royal robes” as a decoy. Nonetheless, “someone drew his bow at random and hit the King of Israel [Ahab] between the sections of his armor . . . and that evening he died” (vs. 34-35). In reality, there was nothing at all “random” about that arrow, but we would suggest that God Himself guided that arrow (by Angels or direct action of the Holy Spirit), just as surely as He guided David’s slung rock at Goliath (cf. 1 Sam 17:45-50), in order to fulfill His will, because random natural processes were not sufficient.

God’s miraculous interventions on behalf of His people abound in biblical history. One of the most memorable is the Apostle Peter’s release from prison:

The night before Herod was to bring him to trial, Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains, and sentries stood guard at the entrance. Suddenly an Angel of the Lord appeared and a light shone in the cell. He struck Peter on the side and woke him up. “Quick, get up!” he said, and the chains fell off Peter’s wrists.

Then the Angel said to him, “Put on your clothes and sandals.” And Peter did so. “Wrap your cloak around you and follow me,” the Angel told him. Peter followed him out of the prison, but he had no idea that what the Angel was doing was really happening; he thought he was seeing a vision. They passed the first and second guards and came to the iron gate leading to the city. It opened for them by itself, and they went through it. When they had walked the length of one street, suddenly the Angel left him.

Then Peter came to himself and said, “Now I know without a doubt that the Lord sent His Angel and rescued me from Herod’s clutches and from everything the Jewish people were anticipating.” (Acts 12:6-11)

God is, of course, continuing to miraculously intervene in human affairs in order to accomplish His will. During one of Brother Yun’s initial arrests for preaching the Gospel, he says, “the Holy Spirit spoke to my heart, ‘The God of Peter is your God,’” which reminded him of how Peter had escaped from prison. Immediately, the ropes that bound his hands behind his back snapped apart. A timely phone call distracted the guards and he walked out of the interrogation room. However, he was still inside the prison walls which were eight feet tall with sharp glass embedded at the top, and as he discovered later, a ten foot wide moat of human waste was running the length of the wall on the other side. Brother Yun writes:

What happened next is not possible from a human perspective, yet God is my witness that what I am about to tell you is the truth. . . . As I hung grimly onto the side of the wall, all of a sudden I felt as if somebody hoisted me up and threw me over! I jumped so far that I even cleared the septic tank!

Upon returning to his Christian friends that night he found them crying out to the Lord for his release and were amazed to see him. ^[17]

Both of the above prison escapes involved not only a miraculous deed, but miraculous communication as well. The Apostle Peter was instructed by an Angel and Brother Yun was given an extra-biblical message from the Holy Spirit. However, God does not always provide miraculous communication with miraculous intervention into human events as illustrated in the story of Esther, as discussed further below.

One final example of miraculous divine intervention into human affairs comes from the well-known Bible teacher Charles Swindoll:

Several years ago I was asked to speak at a reunion of the Navigators at Estes Park, Colorado. At the end of the week, one of the men drove me back to Denver so I could catch my plane. And on the way, he said, “Can I tell you my story?” “Sure,” I said. “Actually, it’s a story of closed doors and open doors.” “Great,” I said, “I’ve had a few of those, so tell me what yours were.

“Well,” he began, “my wife and I could not find peace, in any manner, staying in the States. And while at a conference years ago with a number of the leaders of the Navigators, I was offered the opportunity to open our work in Uganda. “Uganda,” he said. “I could hardly spell it when they pointed to me and said, ‘Perhaps that’s where the Lord would have you and your family go.’

I went home, I told my wife and our children, and we began to pray.” I believe he said they had three small kids at the time, and their oldest son was just about to start school. And he said to his wife, “Honey, are you ready to take on the challenge of Uganda?” And she said, “If that’s the door God has opened for us, I’m ready for the challenge.” Wonderful response.

So they flew to Nairobi, Kenya, where he put his family up in a hotel while he rented a Land Rover and drove across the border into the country of Uganda to check out the situation. This was just after Idi Amin’s reign of terror. My friend said, “One of the first things that caught my eye when I came into the village where I was going to spend my first night were several young kids with automatic weapons, shooting them off in the sky. As I drove by, they stared at me and pointed their guns.” Nothing happened, but it was that kind of volatile setting. And he thought, Lord, are You in this? His heart sank as the sun began to set.

By now the streets were dark, and he pulled up at a little dimly lit hotel. Inside, he went up to the registration counter. The clerk, who spoke only a little English, told him there was one bed available. So he went up two flights of stairs and opened the door and turned on the light-a naked light bulb hanging over a table. He saw a room with two beds, one unmade and one still made up. And he realized, “I am sharing this room with somebody else.”

That did it. He needed the kind of encouragement only God could provide. “I dropped to my knees and I said, ‘Lord, look, I’m afraid. I’m in a country I don’t know, in a culture that’s totally unfamiliar. I have no idea who sleeps in that bed. Please, show me You are in this move!”

And then, he said, “Just as I was finishing my prayer, the door opened and there stood this six-foot five-inch African frowning at me, saying in beautiful British English, ‘What are you doing in my room?'” “I stood there for a moment, and then I muttered, ‘They gave me this bed, but I’ll only be here one night.”‘ “What are you doing in my country?” the African asked. “Well, I’m with a little organization called the Navigators.” “Aahh! The Navigators!” And the African broke into this enormous grin, threw his arms around his new roommate, and laughed out loud. “He lifted me up off the floor and just danced around with me.” “Praise God, Praise God,” said this African.

Finally they sat down at the table, and this brother in Christ, this African fellow Christian, said, “For two years I have prayed that God would send someone to me from this organization.” And he pulled out a little Scripture memory-verse pack, and at the bottom of each of the verses it read, “The Navigators, Colorado Springs, Colorado.” “Are you from Colorado Springs, Colorado?” the African asked. “I was,” said the man. “But I’m coming to Uganda to begin a work for the Navigators in this country.”

The door of new hope flew open in my friend’s life. That African became a member of the man’s board, helped him find a place to live, helped him rebuild a section of his home, taught him all about the culture, assisted him with the language, and became his best friend for the many years they were there, serving Christ. ^[18]

This is a wonderful story of God’s miraculous authentication of his direction for this missionary. However, as we have biblically demonstrated elsewhere, the need and occurrence of such a thing is relatively rare and not the norm for how God wants us to be led. ^[19] Nonetheless, we rejoice in the wonderful miracle this brother experienced. We see then, that supernaturally intervening in human events is perhaps the most common way that God demonstrates His power in performing miracles.

A.3) Supernaturally transforming human limbs

While God certainly miraculously intervenes to manipulate human events, He also at times supernaturally works to heal human bodies. To illustrate this type of miracle we will share the following testimony from the Baptist Standard:

On January 15, 1990, Duane Miller, the pastor of the First Baptist Church at Brenham, Texas, lost his voice at the conclusion of the Sunday morning service and couldn’t preach Sunday evening. His physician told him to take a six-month leave of absence. When he failed to recover, the doctors told him the myelin sheath to his vocal cords had been damaged and that he would not get his voice back. He tried voice therapy, but that didn’t help, and so he had to resign his pastorate in the fall of 1990.

Early in 1992 he began to teach a Sunday school class at First Baptist Church in Houston. He was able to do this by using a special microphone, but even with the special microphone his throat was so sore that he could hardly eat or drink for two days after teaching. On Sunday morning, January 17, 1993, he had just finished reading Psalm 103:3 to his Sunday school class: “Who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases.” He stopped to comment on that verse, saying that there are two extreme views regarding healing. Listen to Duane’s own words:

“I had said that on the one side there is the group that believes God always heals miraculously and on the other is the group that says it never happens. But what you have to realize is that puts God in a box, I said, and He won’t be put in a box. I told them that what you have to do with divine healing is just stand back and say, “I know God does that from time to time and I can’t tell you why. I don’t understand why some are healed and some aren’t and leave it there and say that is in the Lord’s wisdom, so be it.”

I had just finished saying that and started to read the next line of the Psalm: “He redeems my life from the pit… ” And my voice changed. I heard the first word and felt in my throat that what I had been feeling was gone. There was none of the feeling there that I had had for three years.

I would love to tell you I knew exactly what it was . . . and that I expected God to do it and wasn’t surprised. But it would be a lie. It scared me to death. I stopped, startled, and then said two or three words, thinking, “Am I hearing what I think I hear?”

I said to them [in the crowd] that I didn’t understand what was going on, but that God was doing something. I tried to get back to the lesson, but I couldn’t and nobody cared. People began to applaud. Everybody was weeping. There were about 200 in the class and there were no dry eyes . . . We just thanked the Lord for what He had done and walked out of the church.” ^[20]

Is God awesome or what? Let no one in their right mind deny that the God of Creation is performing miraculous deeds in the world today. ^[21]

A.4) Supernaturally transforming human lives

As great as a physical miracle affecting the human body is, a much greater miracle is the spiritual miracle of transforming human hearts. Among the most powerful “natural laws” operating in the Universe today is selfishness. This is the nature of all human beings at physical birth, controlling virtually every thought, desire, and action in their life because they are bound by the “natural law” of hating God and loving themselves (cf. Rom 8:5-8).

Therefore, a supernatural spiritual rebirth is needed in order to accomplish the salvation and subsequent ability for holiness and virtue that God desires. This spiritual regeneration fits our definition of a miracle as: an extraordinary revelation of God’s supernatural power by which He intervenes in the ordinary and natural processes He has ordained because they are not sufficient to accomplish His will. No human can overcome their God-hating and selfish nature in their own power, but only by God’s power. This is why Christ said in the context of being spiritually born again, “Flesh [naturally] gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit [supernaturally] gives birth to spirit” (John 3:6).

Subsequently, the initial miracle of regeneration for salvation, continues to be evidenced in the supernatural power born again believers have to love others like God through their New Nature. Against the backdrop of humanity’s constant and complete selfishness, love is as great a miracle as levitation, violating all kinds of “natural laws” at least as pervasive as gravity. Considerably more is said of these topics elsewhere. ^[22]

A.5) Supernaturally providing divine communication

It is not only in the realm of divine Creation and human events that miracles occur, but also in divine communication. Again, our definition of a miracle includes an extraordinary revelation of God’s supernatural . . . communication by which He intervenes in the ordinary . . . processes He has ordained because they are not sufficient to . . . communicate His will. Therefore, a miracle can also be considered an intervention into the normal process established by God to communicate to His people.

For example, the most consistent, regular, and established method of personal communication from God has been Scripture. ^[23] In addition, our New Nature is a constant revelation of God’s will. ^[24] However, when God sees fit, He breaks through this normal mode of contact and initiates miraculous means such as Angels, voices, and visions. These means of miraculous communication have many of the same supernatural characteristics as a miraculous deed.

First, miraculous communication is a supernatural intervention in the normally sufficient God-ordained methods of obtaining truth. Accordingly, the Apostle Paul writes of his experience:

I want you to know, brothers, that the Gospel I preached is not something that man made up. I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it; rather, I received it by revelation from Jesus Christ. (Gal 1:11-12)

Here, the Apostle enumerates several God-ordained methods by which humans naturally gain truth. First, by reasoning wisely humans can discover truth. ^[25] But the Apostle says his knowledge of the Gospel did not come from anyone’s reasoning, or “something that man made up.” Secondly, Scripture and God-given Evangelists and Teachers are an essential and predominant means that God has established in order for His people to obtain particularly spiritual truth. However, the Apostle denies that his knowledge of the Gospel derived from “any man” or teaching. Rather, the Apostle experienced a supernatural communication of spiritual truth that transcended both unregenerated human reason (cf. 1 Cor 1:18-25; 2:1-13), and substantial teachings of the OT Scriptures available to him (cf. Gal 5:2-6).

Again, such a miraculous communication of information can be contrasted with the more natural means of divine communication such as Scripture. Initially, one might balk at the suggestion that anything about Scripture is natural. However, we would suggest that while its contents certainly are supernatural, and require Spirit-liberated reason to understand and appreciate them, its attributes as a means of communication (a book) are not supernatural.

A.6) Distinguishing the natural from the supernatural

Of course, all power in the Universe is ultimately God’s power, for there is no power, or even mere existence, apart from that which has been granted by the Creator (cf. 1 Chr 29:11-12; John 1:3; 13:3; Col 1:16-17). Whether it is the power operating in plants or planets, humans or even demons, all such power is on loan from God. Accordingly, we read in Colossians concerning Christ: “all things were created by Him and for Him. He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together” (1:16).

Therefore, the power of God can ultimately, and at least indirectly, be observed in essentially everything, potentially making the distinction of a miracle more obscure. As the NT scholar D. A. Carson remarks: “The definition of “miracle” is surprisingly difficult. In a theistic universe, everything that takes place is in some sense God’s deed.” ^[26] Accordingly, it is tempting to define virtually everything as a miracle of God, especially with the need to defend the existence of miracles against a host of anti-Christian “isms” including atheism, anti-supernaturalism, deism, Darwinism, humanism, and materialism.

Consequently, a sharp distinction between the miraculous and Nature has not always been reflected in Christian theology. For example, Augustine (354-430) wrote in his City of God:

Is not the universe itself a miracle, yet visible and of God’s making? Nay, all the miracles done in this world are less than the world itself, the heaven and earth and all therein; yet God made them all, and after a manner that man cannot conceive or comprehend. For though these visible miracles of nature be now no more admired, yet ponder them wisely, and they are more astonishing than the strangest; for man is a greater miracle than all that he can work. . . .

We do, of course, call all portents [miracles] against nature, but they are not. For how is something against nature that happens by the will of God? How can this be when the will of so great a founder is without a doubt the nature of every created thing? And so a portent is not against nature, but against the nature which is known. ^[27]

Accordingly, it would seem Augustine is saying that the fact that a human being can see or hear is a miracle, and such a view leads him to assert that miracles are not against Nature.

John Calvin (1509–1564) implies the same when he writes that a human is:

a rare example of God’s power, goodness, and wisdom, and contains within himself enough miracles to occupy our minds, if only we are not irked at paying attention to them. . . . [Humans] have within themselves a workshop graced with God’s unnumbered works. . . . Manifold also is the skill with which it [human mind] devises things incredible, and which is the mother of so many marvelous devices. ^[28]

Such a view has dominated Christian theology such that the Christian apologists Alan Richardson remarks:

[T]raditional Christian theology, particularly in its Augustinian form, has always laid great stress upon the fact that the whole universe is miraculous in this sense, becoming for us more and not less miraculous as our knowledge of its processes increases. . . . All the miraculous things in the world are themselves a part of the general revelation of the everlasting power and divinity of the Creator. ^[29]

It should not surprise us then, that many modern Christian theologians reflect this same emphasis in their definitions of a miracle. For example, the renowned theologian J. I. Packer writes:

A miracle is an observed event that triggers awareness of God’s presence and power. Striking providences and childbirth [a natural process], no less than works of new creative power, are properly called miracles since they communicate this awareness. ^[30]

Labeling natural processes as miracles has precedent in Scripture as well. ^[31] Accordingly, we read in Job: “He [God] performs wonders that cannot be fathomed, miracles that cannot be counted. He bestows rain on the Earth; He sends water upon the countryside” (Job 5:9-10). Clearly, such a passage implies that rainfall is a miracle.

As noted, there is value in such an approach, particularly in an age when the power of God in anything is ignored. However, there are several problems with not distinguishing God’s power in Nature from that in miracles. First of all, there is truth in the maxim that if we make everything miraculous, then nothing is miraculous at all. As a result, we are left with what Albert Einstein (1879-1955) said were the only two ways to live, “One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle.” ^[32] Along the same lines, “Old Princeton” theologian B. B. Warfield (1851–1921) wrote:

It is not easy to view, therefore, with other than grave apprehension, the breaking down of the distinction between miracles and the general supernatural [in Nature]; because it tends to obliterate the category of the miraculous altogether. ^[33]

Likewise the Reformed theologian John Gerstner (1914-1996) noted, “If all nature became [or was considered] supernatural, there would be no room for miracle; nothing would be miracle because all would be miracle.” ^[34] Along the same lines, theologian Winfried Corduan writes that, “The whole reason for the concept of a miracle is to distinguish miracles from ordinary, natural events.” ^[35]

Therefore, if a miracle is defined simply as a display of God’s power, then everything would be miraculous, thereby really making nothing uniquely miraculous. So while we certainly recognize the divine power in Nature, we must distinguish it from the supernatural power in miracles. And it is in the ability of the supernatural to overpower the natural that makes the power of miracles so superior and evident. ^[36]

Scripture itself reflects this. Theologians are right to point out that the biblical writers are often indifferent about the distinction between the divine power in Nature and that in miracles, and this is no doubt because of a desire to portray God’s power as the foundation of everything in the Universe. Nonetheless, we would suggest that Scripture does distinguish between miracles and Nature. Accordingly, the great Dutch theologian Herman Bavinck (1854–1921) wrote:

God’s . . . works are frequently described in Scripture as wonders (Ps. 77:13; 97:3; 98:1; 107:24; 139:14). From this fact, however, we must not infer . . . that Scripture makes no distinction between nature and miracle. Certainly the notion that a miracle would be contrary to the laws of nature and therefore impossible does not arise. All of Scripture proceeds rather from the belief that nothing is too wonderful for God (Gen. 18:14; Deut. 8:3f; Matt. 19:26). This does not imply, however, that Scripture lacks the distinction between the ordinary order of nature and the extraordinary deeds of divine power.

The OT knows a stable natural order, ordinances that apply for heaven and earth and are firmly established in the expressed will of the Lord (Gen. 1:26, 28; 8:22; Ps. 104:5, 9; 119:90, 91; 148:6; Eccles. 1:10; Job 38:10f; Jer. 5:24; 31:35f.; 33:20, 25). And the NT makes an equally clear distinction between the two (Matt. 8:27; 9:5, 24, 33; 13:54; Luke 5:9; 7:16; 8:53; John 3:2; 9:32; etc.). ^[37]

Therefore, while we wish to maintain the biblical idea that God’s power is behind any power on this planet, for the sake of clarity in discussing the particular phenomenon of miracles, we wish to distinguish the divine power that works in Nature, and that which operates in miracles.

Our distinction between natural and supernatural power reflects the fact that when the supernatural action involved in a miracle ceases, the object involved in a miracle often immediately returns to operating under natural laws. ^[38] For example, when God stopped doing whatever He did to stop the sun in Joshua’s day, it then continued as it had, and has, for centuries. Likewise, after the Holy Spirit supernaturally impregnated Mary, the physical aspects of Jesus’ birth was just like any other. When the King and the Apostle Peter stepped into the boat after walking on water, the natural laws of gravity resumed (cf. Matt 14:25-33). Once the King supernaturally transformed the molecular structure of water into wine, the resulting wine had precisely the same chemical properties as any other wine, although apparently particularly good wine (cf. John 2:1-11).

This process of the power of Nature resuming after the power of a miracle has had its effect has been the course of Creation since the beginning. As we wrote elsewhere:

At the beginning of Creation, all kinds of supernatural, one-of-a-kind types of things were done. But after Creation was complete, those acts recorded in Genesis 1-2 were no longer needed or repeated. Instead of the initial and more supernatural act of creating a human from dust or a rib, God thereafter created them in a more natural fashion in a womb. ^[39]

In other words, we would suggest for the sake of clarity that the initial act of creating humans from dust was a supernatural miracle, but the subsequent event of childbirth occurs through natural processes implemented by God, and is not a miracle. Likewise, when the King healed lame, blind, or dead people, it required supernatural power, as such things are impossible with the power God has instilled in Nature. However, after such people started walking, seeing, or living, the power by which they did so was natural in nature, not supernatural. ^[40]

It is precisely because the supernatural returns to what becomes natural, that the natural must be kept in mind for a miracle to be recognized. For example, only those who knew Christ’s wine had been instantly created from water could know the resulting wine was a miracle because now it seemed rather like normal wine. Likewise, only those who knew a blind or lame man before Christ healed them, could know that their now normally operating eye or arm was a miracle. Creation is recognized as a result of supernatural power because we know of no power in Nature able to produce such a thing. Even while we may recognize divine power in the orderliness sustained by God’s natural laws, we have no evidence that those laws are capable of producing new universes. Finally, the miracle of the “new creation” (cf. 2 Cor 5:17) of Christian people who supernaturally obey God and love people can only be recognized as we compare our new selves with our old selves and with the rest of the unregenerated world. Therefore, it is important to distinguish between the supernatural power in miracles from the divine power working in Nature, if we are to distinguish miracles at all.

Accordingly, Dr. Gerstner notes:

Indeed the argument for miracle rests on the regularity of nature generally. There is no such thing as supernatural events except as they are seen in relation to the natural. And they would not be extraordinary if there were no ordinary against which background they are seen. They could not be signs of anything if they were not different from the status quo. When one argues for the occasional miracle, he is in the same breath arguing for the usually nonmiraculous. If all nature became supernatural, there would be no room for miracle; nothing would be miracle because all would be miracle. ^[41]

In fact, it is our constant experience with the laws of Nature that trains us to recognize a miracle. Along these lines, Bernard Ramm (1916-1992) wrote:

No matter where man has lived he has become directly acquainted with his own powers and those of his environment. He learns how much he can lift, how long he can work, and how far he can run. He has some sense of the strength of the wind, the bite of the frost, the heat of the sun’s rays, the force of a flood, and the violence of a lightning bolt. His life is a constant pitting of his powers against those of his environment. The psychological intensity of this struggle is greatest at times of sickness and death. In his experiences with power-his own and that of nature-he develops an alphabet (or calculus) of power.

This alphabet is never the same with all peoples, and may change much within the historical existence of a particular people. But man is aware when something transcends his alphabet of power. Something which suddenly stands outside this alphabet speaks to him of a power greater than what he has heretofore experienced, and usually points man to an Omnipotent Spirit.

Christian evidences deals with the action of God in transcending the alphabets of power of the various cultures and periods into which his revelation came. When God so transcends an alphabet of power, he has prepared the situation. God has controlled the alphabet of power of the people to whom he shall speak; he has chosen, furthermore, to act supernaturally in connection with his plans of revelation and redemption. ^[42]

Not only must we distinguish between the natural and supernatural in order to recognize miracles, but such a distinction is an important concept in the debates concerning super-supernaturalism and anti-supernaturalism. Due to the many claims to miracles of the former, it is important to recognize whether these truly are supernatural. As we discuss elsewhere, many of these occurrences turn out to be rather more natural or psychological than supernatural upon closer investigation. ^[43]

On the other hand, as discussed further elsewhere, some strains of anti-supernaturalism deny that divine miracles violate “natural laws” at all. ^[44] However, the supernatural characteristic of miracles need not be interpreted as a disparagement of Nature, but is actually a recognition of its God-ordained power. In other words, it is because the natural processes that God has established in Creation are so stable and strong that the supernatural intervention of them is so recognizable and miraculous.

How then do we best distinguish supernatural events from natural ones? Essentially by their frequency, which in turn determines their effect, both of which are topics to which we now turn.

B) Miracles Are Extraordinary in Frequency: Extremely Rare

B.1) The rarity of miraculous deeds

A miracle then is extraordinary because it supernaturally intervenes, interrupts, and even violates the consistent “natural laws” and processes that God has ordained to maintain and communicate to His Creation. This attribute results in another essential characteristic of miracles, namely their extreme rarity. Because God has created the processes of Nature to be so pervasive, constant, and sufficient in the Universe, any interruption or manipulation of them will be very uncommon. Therefore, it is the extreme rarity of the miraculous that is also essential to its nature and recognition. ^[45] While we would certainly claim that God is still performing miracles today, it should be kept in mind that divine intervention of any kind into His created order is a miracle, and miracles are miracles because they are not the norm.

Accordingly, NT scholar Collin Brown writes:

[F]amiliarity breeds contempt. . . . The difference between a miracle and an ordinary event in nature lies ultimately in the rarity of the former. Both, in fact, are wonders and both are ultimately the work of God. ^[46]

As we have already noted, while Dr. Brown affirms the fact that God’s power is behind everything in Creation, it is the extreme rarity of miracles that best enables us to distinguish the divine power operating in them from that which empowers the regular processes of Nature, which is necessary if we are to recognize miracles at all. Subsequently, the rarity of a miracle results in the awe that is the proper response to a miracle.

For example, some acts of God’s power, such as the “rising of the sun,” are more frequent than others, and because of its frequency, it is less remarkable, and might we say, not miraculous. Compare this, however, with the one recorded time that the sun “stopped in the middle of the sky and delayed going down about a full day” (Josh 10:13). Both the rising and stopping of the sun depend on divine power, but the latter is understandably more awe-inspiring than the former because it is considerably less frequent, disrupting the normal processes of Nature, and therefore a miracle.

This is why the extraordinary nature of a miracle must be defined in terms of frequency, not its source, because God is the ultimate source of everything. Erroneously defining a miracle in the simple sense of God’s power results in even a great theologian as J. I. Packer writing, as we quoted him above:

A miracle is an observed event that triggers awareness of God’s presence and power. Striking providences and childbirth, no less than works of new creative power, are properly called miracles since they communicate this awareness. ^[47]

Unfortunately, such a perspective on miracles makes the topic even more confusing than it already is by failing to distinguish between the divine power invested in Creation and the supernatural power intervening in a miracle, both of which can “trigger awareness of God’s presence and power.” By invested divine power we mean that energy which God put into Nature at the beginning of Creation and which continues to propel its natural laws without God needing to constantly intervene. For example, after Jesus changed the water into wine He did not need to continue to exercise miraculous powers over it to keep it from turning back into water. The invested energy of the original miracle changed its DNA and it simply continued to exist as it was created to.

Defining a miracle as simply an act of divine power, or in its effect of awe leads Dr. Packer to define normal childbirth as a miracle. However, most child births are no miracle, while the virgin birth of Christ was. This is not because only Christ’s birth required the power of God, since all childbirths ultimately do. Rather, it is the rarity of the virgin birth that makes it extraordinary enough to be a miracle.

The extreme rarity of the miraculous is not only required in order to distinguish it from the common, but it is demonstrated in Scripture as well. Unfortunately, super-supernaturalists have used several Scripture passages to support their claim that miracle workers are to be abundant in the Church today. This is usually accomplished by presenting a list of all the miracles in the Bible, which admittedly is large.

Along these lines, super-supernaturalist author Jack Deere writes:

No one ever just picked up the Bible, started reading, and then came to a conclusion that God was not doing signs and wonders anymore and that the [miracle working] gifts of the Holy Spirit had passed away. The doctrine of cessationism [historicism] did not originate from a careful study of the Scriptures. The doctrine of cessationism originated in [a lack of] experience. ^[48]

Of course, all kinds of error could come from just picking up the Bible and reading. For example, a more careful student of Scripture will notice: every God-sent miracle worker in the Bible was also a messenger of new extra-biblical divine revelation, primarily in the context of implementing a new divine/human covenant. The Scriptures constitute a very special history of such covenant making which required miraculously authenticated divine messengers. Because such covenant making is not occurring today, we should not expect to see the numbers and kind of particularly human miracle working as in Scripture. ^[49]

In addition, miracles were not nearly as consistent in even biblical history as super-supernaturalists would have us believe. Accordingly, Robert L. Saucy, Distinguished Professor of Systematic Theology at Talbot School of Theology writes:

Some times of [biblical] history far eclipsed others in the magnitude of miraculous activity. The very fact that miraculous phenomena were not constant throughout the history of God’s people in the Old Testament should caution us against assuming that the level of miracles in the early church of the Apostles is constant for all of subsequent church history. ^[50]

The super-supernaturalist’s reference to Jeremiah 32:20 does not change this fact. There the Prophet says, “You performed miraculous signs and wonders in Egypt and have continued them to this day, both in Israel and among all mankind, and have gained the renown that is still Yours.” No one is denying that God performed signs and wonders throughout Israel’s history, precisely because God was sending messengers of new extra-biblical divine revelation throughout Israel’s history. But to use this verse to suggest that the same hyper-level of miracle working occurred throughout Jewish history as it did in Egypt, and as it is supposedly today, cannot be substantiated. ^[51]

Consider for example what the Psalmist says about the Exodus miracles hundreds of years after they had occurred:

I will utter . . . things from of old—what we have heard and known, what our fathers have told us. We will not hide them from their children; we will tell the next generation the praiseworthy deeds of the LORD, His power, and the wonders He has done” (Ps 78:3-4; cf. vs. 12-14).

Why would it be so important for a generation hundreds of years removed from miraculous events, to pass it on to the next generation, if God was doing an abundance of miracles in every generation? The necessity of the Psalmists words stems from the fact that the miraculous was extremely rare even in biblical times.

Our claim that miraculous deeds are extremely rare disagrees with the very foundation of super-supernaturalism. It is common for those in this camp to amass rather large lists of miracles in Scripture, or those that have, or are happening around the world, and then suggest that miracles are common. What is left out of such a list is the almost infinite number of non-miraculous moments occurring constantly in the lives of both biblical characters and those living today.

For example, imagine how many times in the life of Philip the Evangelist that he took a normal, natural step with his human legs and feet to get somewhere? Thousands a day? Hundreds of millions in his life? However, there was one recorded time that God miraculously and instantly transported Philip from a desert road to Azotus (cf. Acts 8:39-40). It’s safe to say that Philip would tell us this miracle was extremely rare in his life and that normally he had to simply walk to get to where he was going. If we will compare the relatively few recorded miraculous events in Scripture or the world today, with the innumerable non-miraculous natural events also constantly occurring, we will maintain a true perspective on the extreme rarity of miracles and not be skewed in a deceptive super-supernaturalist way.

And it is important that divine miracles are understood as rare. It is precisely the super-supernaturalist teaching that miracles are abundant that has discouraged and disillusioned a multitude of God’s people. If, for example, miraculous healings are so abundant, then what are the vast majority of people who are not miraculously healed supposed to think? Contrary to super-supernaturalism, divine miracles are extremely rare and understanding this attribute keeps such miracles in their proper perspective. ^[52]

B.2) The rarity of miraculous communication

In a subsequent chapter we will encounter means of miraculous revelation that God used temporarily, maybe even once, and then it was discontinued. ^[53] In fact, to our knowledge, no one has claimed their use for thousands of years.

We are not aware of anyone alleging since OT times to have heard God in a burning bush (cf. Exod 3:1-4) or through a donkey (cf. Num 22:24-31). God manifested Himself to His people as a “pillar of cloud” by day and a “pillar of fire” by night (cf. Exod 13:21) for only a relatively short time. We no longer expect to hear from God through an ephod (cf. 1 Sam 23:9-12) or the Urim and Thummim (cf. Exod 28:30) because He has discontinued these means of communication with no expectation of their return.

Accordingly, Gary Friesen remarks, “God spoke to Balaam through a donkey. Should each believer keep one in his back yard just in case?” ^[54] Likewise, OT scholar Bruce Waltke rightly notes, “Hearing the voice of God in an audition or seeing His messengers in a vision are rare events, and the Bible records them precisely because they are so significant,” ^[55] and so rare.

It is understandable, of course, that we would desire God to speak to us apart from Scripture in more miraculous ways. However, because such methods as Angels, audible voices, and visions are miraculous, they are extremely rare. This does not mean they are non-existent, but their miraculous nature makes the all too common claim to them very suspect. Miraculous communication is extremely rare not only because anything miraculous is, but also because of the great sufficiency of the more normal means of divine communication established by God, including Scripture. Again, we are claiming that miracles of divine communication occur only when the ordinary processes He has ordained are not sufficient to communicate His will. And this simply isn’t very often.

As we discuss elsewhere, mega mysticism consistently disparages the value of the Bible for personal guidance in order to claim a need for the mystical guidance it promotes. A foundational error in mega mysticism as well, is the belief that God has a specific extra-biblical will for the amoral issues in our life. On the contrary, God rarely has a will for such things, and has given us reason in order to make wise decisions, based on the revelation of Scripture and the moral desires of our New Nature, negating a large part of the reason mega mysticism claims we need miraculous communication. ^[56] In our mega mystical and super-supernaturalist age, Christians need to remember that God is not in the habit of doing for us what He has already enabled us to do ourselves.

C) Miracles Are Extraordinary in Effect:

Awe-inspiring

C.1) Awe-inspiring miraculous deeds

It is no surprise that if an event is extraordinary in supernatural power and extreme rarity, that it will have an extraordinary effect as well. In a word, miracles arouse “awe” which Webster’s defines as, “inspiring emotion in which dread, veneration, and wonder are variously mingled.” ^[57] Practically speaking, the emotional response of awe is perhaps the easiest way in which we know that a miracle has occurred. In fact, we get our English word “miracle” from the Latin miraculum which means something that evokes wonder. ^[58] The reason that miracles inspire awe is because of the two attributes already discussed: their supernatural power and their extreme rarity. These combine to produce the effect we expect from a miracle.

Accordingly, the Scriptures consistently describe miracles in ways that reflect their awe-inspiring nature. NT authors use Greek words such as thaumazō (“be astonished”), thambos (“amazement”), existēmi (“amazed”), ekplesso (“astonish”), ekstasis (“awe”), and teras (“a wonder”). This rather bewildering array of words used in the NT to describe the miraculous suggests the difficulty that the NT authors had in describing such events. When a miracle occurred, believers and unbelievers alike were profoundly affected.

For example, Matthew records that, “when [a] demon was driven out, [and] the man who had been mute spoke . . . [t]he crowd was amazed [thaumazō] and said, “Nothing like this has ever been seen in Israel”” (Matt 9:33). We see here that both the obvious supernatural nature of the event, and its infrequency, made this the “amazing” event that is a miracle. Luke records the same incident and adds that the witnesses, “were filled with awe” [ekstasis] (5:26).

Likewise, at the healing of a boy the people, “were all amazed [ekplesso] at the greatness of God . . . [and] was marveling [thaumazō] at all that Jesus did” (Luke 9:43). Understandably, when the King raised a young girl from the dead, “Her parents were astonished” [existēmi] (Luke 8:56). Christ obviously noticed this repeated response when He comments to a crowd, “I did one miracle, and you are all astonished” [thaumazō] (John 7:21). Similarly, when the King made the fig tree whither, the disciples “were amazed” [thaumazō] (Matt 21:20).

The kind of miracle working that occurred through the Apostles resulted in the same public astonishment. When the Apostle Peter and John healed a lame man, the people, “were filled with wonder [thambos] and amazement [ekstasis] at what had happened to him. While the beggar held on to Peter and John, all the people were astonished” [ekthambos] (Acts 3:10-11). When the Apostles were given the miraculous gift of speaking in tongues, the crowd was, “Utterly amazed [existēmi thaumazō] [and] asked: “Are not all these men who are speaking Galileans? Then how is it that each of us hears them in his own native language?” (Acts 2:7-8). ^[59] Simon the magician in Samaria, “followed Philip everywhere, astonished [existēmi] by the great signs and miracles he saw” (Acts 8:13).

It is interesting to notice that fear was often mixed with the astonishment. We read of the early Church that, “Everyone was filled with awe [phobos: “fear”], and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the Apostles” (Acts 2:43). Luke tells us that a miraculous fishing expedition caused the Apostle Peter to fall “at Jesus’ knees” in fear and confess his sinfulness because, “he and all his companions were astonished [thambos] at the catch of fish they had taken” (5:8-9). Likewise, after the King miraculously stilled a storm, the disciples, “In fear [phobeo] and amazement [thaumazō] . . . asked one another, “Who is this? He commands even the winds and the water, and they obey Him.”” (Luke 8:25). A short time later, after Christ had cast a “legion” of “demons” into a “large herd of pigs,” sending them to their death, Luke records, “all the people of the country of the Gerasenes and the surrounding district asked Him to depart from them; for they were gripped with great fear [phobos]” (cf. 8:30-37). ^[60]

There is no doubt that the consistent use of “wonder(s)” (teras) to refer to the miracles recorded in the Bible is a reflection of the utter amazement that surrounded them. In fact this Greek word occurs 16 times in the NT and it only refers to miracles, and is always used in conjunction with “signs” (sēmeion) which also refers to miracles. For example, the Apostle Peter says, “Men of Israel, listen to this: Jesus of Nazareth was a man accredited by God to you by miracles, wonders (teras) and signs, which God did among you through Him, as you yourselves know” (Acts 2:22; cf. 4:30; 5:12; 2 Cor. 12:12; Heb. 3:4). This same attribute of causing wonder was accredited to miracles by God Himself in the OT. He tells Moses, “I will stretch out My hand and strike the Egyptians with all the wonders [pala’] that I will perform among them” (Exod. 3:20; cf. 15:11). Amazement, astonishment, awe, fear, repentance, and breathless wonder are the normal response of anyone who is exposed to a real divine miraculous deed. ^[61]

C.2) Awe-inspiring miraculous communication

Obviously, occurrences of miraculous communication normally have an awe-inspiring effect on people as well. For example, when Zechariah saw an Angel, “he was startled and was gripped with fear” (Luke 1:12). Likewise, when some shepherds received a message from an Angel they were, “terrified” (Luke 2:9), and a similar encounter for some women left them, “trembling and bewildered” (Mark 16:8). When Jacob realized God had spoken to him in a dream, “He was afraid and said, ‘How awesome is this place!’” (Gen 28:17). Those who experienced visions of God or Christ like the Prophet Daniel and the Apostle John, “turned deathly pale” and “fell at His feet as though dead” (Dan 10:8; Rev 1:17).

Therefore, we are not surprised at the following account of King Belshazzar’s encounter with miraculous revelation at a banquet he was hosting:

Suddenly the fingers of a human hand appeared and wrote on the plaster of the wall, near the lampstand in the royal palace. The King watched the hand as it wrote. His face turned pale and he was so frightened that his knees knocked together and his legs gave way. (Dan 5:5-6)

Of course, some of the overwhelming emotion experienced in miraculous communication is due to the content of the message and perhaps not only its supernatural means (cf. Dan 4:4-5; Job 7:14; Luke 1:29). However, this is not always the case as demonstrated in the example above of King Belshazzar who didn’t even know what the inscription meant and needed Daniel to interpret it (cf. Dan 5:7, 13-17).

Likewise, when some men traveling with Saul heard an invisible Jesus speak they were, “speechless” (Acts 9:7), but not because of the content of the message, as the Apostle describes later, “they did not understand the voice of Him Who was speaking to me (Acts 22:9). Understandably their response was simply due to the overwhelming emotion that humans naturally feel when they experience miraculous communication from God.

Perhaps Eliphaz the Temanite expresses this best in a description of his own apparent experience with a supernatural means of divine revelation:

A word was secretly brought to me, my ears caught a whisper of it. Amid disquieting dreams in the night, when deep sleep falls on men, fear and trembling seized me and made all my bones shake. A spirit glided past my face, and the hair on my body stood on end. It stopped, but I could not tell what it was. A form stood before my eyes, and I heard a hushed voice: ‘Can a mortal be more righteous than God?’ (Job 4:12-17)

C.3) Ramifications of the awe-inspiring nature of miracles

A sense of awe, an “emotion in which dread, veneration, and wonder are variously mingled” then, are God’s intended affects for His miracles. Nonetheless, while the inspiration of awe is an important attribute of miracles, it is not sufficiently objective enough in itself to recognize one. As Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) remarked long ago, “it may seem astonishing to ignorant people that a magnet attracts iron.” Astonishing, yes, but it is neither a supernatural, nor extremely rare occurrence.

Likewise, most first-time fathers will insist that childbirth is an extraordinary miracle from God, and while it is difficult to disagree, a delivery room doctor would testify that it is neither supernatural nor rare. Again, as Colin Brown put it, “familiarity breeds contempt [the opposite of awe]. . . . The difference between a miracle and an ordinary event in nature lies ultimately in the rarity of the former,” ^[62] not how wonderful we think it may be.

In addition, it is because of our confidence that God will supply what is needed in order for a miracle to be recognized among regenerated believers, that we are not impressed with the claims particularly in super-supernaturalism and prophetism to an abundance of miraculous deeds and communication. “Healed” headaches and “prophetic” declarations by people who cannot foretell the future inspire little of the wonder and awe that biblical miracles did. Simply put, such claims only serve to remind us just how far we are removed from “the good ole days” in the early Church when a miracle really was a miracle! ^[63]

Extras & Endnotes

A Devotion to Dad

Our Father in Heaven, we praise You for Your miraculous works. We are so thankful for all the ways You have revealed Yourself to us! Help us to properly recognize Your work around us so that we may give You the glory. But also help us not to exaggerate miracles so that we do not lie about You. But God. We pray today for a miracle. During this time of studying miracles, we simply ask You out of Your power and goodness to do an unmistakable miracle as an object lesson for us and a glory to You.

Gauging Your Grasp

1. We claim that the supernaturalness of miracles may not so much be in interrupting processes, but in manipulating them to occur at a certain time and place. What are biblical examples of this?
2. What is the difference between God allowing something and causing it? How does this relate to recognizing the occurrence of a miracle?
3. Why are we certain that real miracles will be readily recognized?
4. Why do we claim love is as great a miracle as levitation? Do you agree or disagree and why?
5. What other category of miracles is important to recognize besides just miraculous deeds?
6. What do we mean by God’s invested and intervening power in Nature? Why is it important to distinguish the two?
7. How does living in the world train us to recognize a miracle?

We claim that in our mega mystical and super-supernaturalist age, Christians need to remember that God is not in the habit of doing for us what He has already enabled us to do ourselves. Do you agree or disagree and why? What ramifications does this have on our lives?

What are some ways that Scripture describes the response of people to miracles?

Why aren’t we impressed with many of the claims in super-supernaturalism to miracles? Do you agree or disagree and why?

Publications & Particulars

1. Webster’s Dictionary; online at http://www.merriam-webster.com. ↑

2. Norm Geisler, Baker Encyclopedia of Christian Apologetics (Baker, 1999), 450 ↑

3. For further discussion of the denial of the manipulation and violation of natural laws in miracles see section 10.12.A.3. ↑

4. We use the term “natural law” here and throughout this chapter to refer to the physical laws perceived to govern the Universe, including such laws as gravity and thermodynamics. ↑

5. Many in and outside the Church are skeptical that the Earth actually stopped revolving for a day. For further defense of this miracle see section 10.12.A.3 ↑

6. Dr. Geisler notes:

   “Power” (dunamis) is sometimes used in the New Testament to refer to human power (2 Cor. 1:8) or abilities (Matt. 25:15) or demonic powers (Luke 10: 19; Rom. 8:3 8). Like its Old Testament parallel, the New Testament term is often translated “miracles.” Dunamis is used in combination with “sign and wonder” (Heb. 2:4), of Christ , s miracles (Matt. 13:58), of the virgin birth of Christ (Luke 1:35), of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost (Acts 1:8), of the “power” of the Gospel to save sinful people (Rom. 1: 16), of the special gift of miracles (I Cor 12: 10), and of the power to raise the dead (Phil. 3: 10). The emphasis of the word is on the divine energizing aspect of a miraculous event (481-82). ↑

7. Leon Morris, The Gospel According to John (NICNT) (Eerdmans, 1995), 607. ↑

8. O. Betz, “Might” in New International Dictionary of New Testament Theology (NIDNTT) Colin Brown, ed., 4 vols., (Zondervan, 1986), 2:603. ↑

9. Morris, 611. ↑

10. Marcus Aurelius, “Epistle of Marcus Aurelius to the Senate, in Which He Testifies that the Christians Were the Cause of His Victory”; Online at http://www.ccel.org. ↑

11. For further discussion regarding the relationship between prayer and miracles see section 10.3.C.2. ↑

12. Brother Yun and Paul Hattaway, The Heavenly Man: The Remarkable True Story of Chinese Christian Brother Yun (Monarch Books, 2002), 161-5. ↑

13. Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologiae, I, Q. 105, art. 6; online at http://www.newadvent.org/summa. ↑

14. Jack Finegan notes that there is some evidence that such a Roman census occurred every fourteen years. And while Finegan gives evidence that the requirement to return to one’s homeland was not unprecedented, this requirement would not appear to be the norm. Light From the Ancient Past: The Archeological Background of Judaism and Christianity (Princeton University Press, 1959), 260-61. ↑

15. For further examples of fulfilled prophecy in Scripture see chapter 9.8. ↑

16. It is unlikely that anything regarding the terrain of the Red Sea floor caused the wheels to fall off, the text even specifying that, “the Israelites went through the sea on dry ground” (Exod 14:22). ↑

17. Yun, 63-9 ↑

18. Charles Swindoll, The Mystery of God’s Will (Word, 1999), 193-5 ↑

19. For further discussion on a biblical perspective of divine guidance see chapter 7.15. ↑

20. Quoted by Jack Deere, Surprised by the Power of the Spirit (Zondervan Publishing House, 1993), 145-6. This story originally appeared in the Baptist Standard, February 7, 1993, page 24. One of the ironic things about this healing is that Duane Miller was a former Assemblies of God Pastor and had left that denomination because he disagreed with their theology of speaking in tongues and divine healing (282, n. 1). Unfortunately, Mr. Deere is among the most guilty for using such miracles as proof that faith healers are legitimate today. ↑

21. For further discussion on miraculous healing see Book 11: Human Miracle Working ↑

22. For further discussion on the miraculous nature of Christian virtue see Book 5: Biblical Apologetics. Regarding the New Nature as an essential means of divine revelation see chapter 7.12. ↑

23. For further discussion of Scripture as a revelation see chapters 7.7-10 ↑

24. For further discussion of our New Nature as a divine revelation see chapter 7.12 ↑

25. For further discussion regarding the God-ordained place of human reason in the Christian life see chapters 2.4 and 4.4-5. ↑

26. D. A. Carson, in Power Religion: The Selling Out of the Evangelical Church, Michael S. Horton ed. (Moody, 1992), 118, n. 6. ↑

27. Saint Augustine, City of God, 12, 21.8; online at http://www.ccel.org. ↑

28. John Calvin, Institutes of Christian Religion, trans. Ford Lewis Battles, I.5.3-5; online at http://www.ccel.org. ↑

29. Alan Richardson, Christian Apologetics (Harper, 1948), 155-56. ↑

30. J. I. Packer, Concise Theology (Tyndale House, 1993), 57. The confusion of God’s power in Nature and in miracles is also found in the writings of such great modern theologians as Norm Geisler and Wayne Grudem. ↑

31. An example of an apparent attempt to equate the natural and supernatural is found in the article on miracles in the New Bible Dictionary by M. H. Cressey, Principal of Westminster College at Cambridge:

    A great deal of confusion on the subject of miracles has been caused by a failure to observe that Scripture does not sharply distinguish between God’s constant sovereign providence and his particular acts. Belief in miracles is set in the context of a world-view which regards the whole of creation as continually dependent upon the sustaining activity of God and subject to his sovereign will (cf. Col. 1:16-17). All three aspects of divine activity- wonder, power, significance- are present not only in special acts but also in the whole created order (Rom. 1:20). When the psalmist celebrates the mighty acts of God he moves readily from the creation to the deliverance from Egypt (Ps. 135:6-12). In Job 5:9-10; 9:9-10 the [Hebrew] word niplā’ ôt [“miracle”] refers to what we would call ‘natural events’ (cf. Is. 8:18; Ezk. 12:6).

    Thus when the biblical writers refer to the mighty acts of God they cannot be supposed to distinguish them from ‘the course of nature’ by their peculiar causation, since they think of all events as caused by God’s sovereign power. The particular acts of God highlight the distinctive character of God’s activity, different from and superior to that of men and more particularly that of false gods, almighty in power, revealing him in nature and history. (New Bible Dictionary, J. I. Packer, et al. eds., 3rd ed., [Intervarsity, 1996], 771.

    Again, there is truth here, but seeing the world this way obliterates the category of miracle. ↑

32. David Myers, Intuition: Its Power and Perils (Yale University Press, 2002), 243. ↑

33. B. B. Warfield, Counterfeit Miracles (Banner of Truth Trust, 1972), 164 ↑

34. John Gerstner, Reasons for Faith (Harper & Row, n.d.), 90. ↑

35. Winfried Corduan, “Recognizing a Miracle” in In Defense of Miracles, Douglas Geivett, Gary R. Habermas, eds. (InterVarsity, 1997), 104-5. ↑

36. Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) also felt that the indirect divine power in Nature must be distinguished from the direct divine power working in a miracle:

    Some have understood God to work in every agent in such a way that no created power has any effect in things, but that God alone is the immediate cause of everything wrought; for instance, that it is not fire that gives heat, but God in the fire, and so forth. But this is impossible.

    First, because the order of cause and effect would be taken away from created things; and this would imply lack of power in the Creator; for it is due to the power of the cause, that it bestows active power on its effect.

    Secondly, because the active powers which are seen to exist in things, would be bestowed on things to no purpose, if these wrought nothing through them. Indeed, all things created would seem, in a way, to be purposeless, if they lacked an operation proper to them. . . . We must therefore understand that God works in things in such a manner that things have their proper operation. . . . (Summa Theologica, I.105.5)

    Christian apologist Peter Kreeft comments regarding this statement: “Note that the misdirected urge to give God more glory and power denying the efficacy of creatures [i.e. Nature] really detracts from God, like refusing to admit a ruler’s representatives. (A Summa of the Summa: The Essential Philosophical Passages of St. Thomas Aquinas’ Summa Theologica Edited and Explained for Beginners [Ignatius, 1990], 236). ↑

37. Herman Bavinck, Prolegomena, Church Dogmatics, Vol. 1 (Baker, 2003), 336-7.

    Admittedly, while Dr. Bavinck is quoted here as saying, “Scripture makes [a] distinction between nature and miracle. . . between the ordinary order of nature and the extraordinary deeds of divine power,” he seems to contradict himself shortly several pages later when he writes:

    While Scripture does know a distinction between the ordinary course of things and the extraordinary works of God, it does not posit a contrast between “the natural” and “the supernatural.” This contrast first surfaces in the works of the church fathers. (355) ↑

38. While natural laws do take over after a miraculous event, this does not negate the continuing existence of the miraculous change effected by the miracle. In other words, Creation did not return to chaos and the wine Jesus created did not go back to being water. ↑

39. Excerpt from section 7.3.C. ↑

40. While this distinction between the supernatural and natural can be made in the case of many miracles, there is one miracle that does not revert back to natural laws and which actually empowers its subjects to produce more miracles. This is the miracle of regeneration by which we are indwelled with the Holy Spirit and enabled to produce the supernatural virtues of love and holiness. For further discussion of this see section 10.5.B.3. ↑

41. John Gerstner, Reasons for Faith (Harper & Row, n.d.), 90. ↑

42. Bernard Ramm, in Revelation and the Bible: Contemporary Evangelical Thought, Carl F. H. Henry, ed. (Baker, 1958), 261. ↑

43. For further discussion regarding the distinction between supernatural and natural healing especially in the context of claims within charismaticism see chapter 11.9. ↑

44. The interruption of Nature in a miracle is denied by anti-supernaturalists and is discussed further at section 10.12.A.3 and B.4. ↑

45. The extreme rarity of miracles would seem to make the charismatic theologian Wayne Grudem’s definition somewhat of an understatement when he says a miracle is merely, “a less common kind of God’s activity in which he arouses people’s awe and wonder and bears witness to himself” (Systematic Theology [Zondervan, 1994], 355). On the contrary, miracles are a lot less common kind of God’s activity, which, as we discuss elsewhere, super-supernaturalists like Dr. Grudem wish to deny. ↑

46. Colin Brown, Miracles and the Critical Mind ( Eerdmans, 1984), 7, 9. ↑

47. Packer, Concise Theology, 57. ↑

48. Ibid., 99; italics in original. ↑

49. For further discussion of the purpose of miracle working see section 3.1.D; 7.1.B.5; 11.1.F. ↑

50. Robert L. Saucy in Are Miraculous Gifts for Today?, Wayne Grudem, ed. (Zondervan, 1998), 104. ↑

51. For further discussion of the discontinuous nature of miraculous revelation see section 10.7.C ↑

52. For further discussion of super-supernaturalism see chapters 10.13-16. ↑

53. For further discussion of the discontinuity in methods of miraculous communication see section 10.7.C. ↑

54. Gary Friesen and J. Maxon, Decision Making and the Will of God (Multnomah, 1980), 89. ↑

55. Bruce Waltke, Finding the Will of God: A Pagan Notion? (Eerdmans, 1995), 52. ↑

56. For further discussion regarding the will of God in relation to mega mysticism see section 7.15.B.4. For the importance of reason in decision making see chapters 2.5 and 4.4-5. ↑

57. Webster’s, 120. This definition is a combination of the Webster entry for “awesome” defined as “inspiring awe” and the entry for “awe” itself. ↑

58. Norm Geisler also defines each of these terms more specifically:

    “Wonder” Often the words signs and wonders are used together in the Old Testament of the same event(s) (Exod. 7:3; cf. Deut. 4:34; 7:19; 13:1, 2; 26:8; 28:46; 29:3; 34:11; Neh. 9: 10; Ps. 135:9; Jer. 32:20-21). At other times the Bible describes as “wonders” events that are elsewhere called “signs” (Exod. 4:21; 11:9-10; Pss. 78:43; 105:27; Joel 2:30). Sometimes the word is used of a natural “wonder” (Ezek. 24:24) or a unique thing a Prophet did to get his message across (Isa. 20:3). The word wonder usually has supernatural (divine) significance.

    The Greek word teras means a “miraculous sign, prodigy, portent, omen, wonder” (Brown, 2:633). It carries with it the idea of that which is amazing or astonishing (ibid., 623-25). In all sixteen of its New Testament occurrences, “wonder” is used in combination with the word “sign.” It describes Jesus’ miracles (John 4:48; Acts 2:22), the Apostles’ miracles (Acts 2:43; 143; 15:12; Rom. t5:19; Heb. 2:3-4), Stephen’s miracles (Acts 6:8), and Moses’ miracles in Egypt (Acts 7:36). It connotes supernatural events before the second coming of Christ (Matt. 24:24; Mark 13:22; Acts 2:19).

    Signs” or “wonders” or both (Exod. 9:16; 32:11; Deut. 4:37; 2 Kings 17:36; Neh. 1:10). Sometimes Hebrew words denoting power are used in the same verse with “signs and wonders.” Moses speaks of the deliverance of Israel “by miraculous signs and wonders…. by a mighty hand” (Deut. 4:34; cf. 7:19; 26:8; 34:12). (481-82). ↑

59. The awe which surrounded the first occurrence of the authentic gift of speaking in languages is in sharp contrast to the effect of the private prayer language version practiced today. This is because the latter is not a miracle as it was intended to be, and is not a genuine gift of the Holy Spirit either. For further discussion of the biblical gift of tongues see Book 12: The Truth About Tongues. ↑

60. W. Mundle relates in the NIDNTT that the same is seen in the OT by the use of the Greek thaumazō (“astonished”) to translate the Hebrew words šāmah (“petrified with fear”) and tāmâh (“astounded, horror-stricken”) in the LXX in such passages as Lev. 26:32; Job 17:8; 21:5; Dan. 8:27; Ps. 48:6; Jer. 4:9; Heb. 1: 5. Mundle adds, “The latter passages, in particular, show how the idea of astonishment passes over to that of horror. The human reaction to God’s activity, which is here depicted for us, is an astonishment mingled with fear and horror.” (2:622) ↑

61. Except for the unregenerated insane humanity whose response to miracles we discuss at section 4.13.B. ↑

62. Brown, Miracles, 7, 9. ↑

63. For further discussion specifically regarding the fraudulent claims of miracles in super-supernaturalism see sections 11.7.B.9; 11.8.E-F. ↑