Author's Note: Readers can find all previous volumes of this series here. The first 56 volumes are compiled into the book "Bible Study For Those Who Don't Read The Bible." News Flash: New Shroud of Turin event at the Museum of the Bible on July 16.
Thanks for joining us as we begin a two-part study about miracles, first in the Old Testament/Hebrew Bible and continuing on July 10 with the New Testament. (Fittingly, our July 3 study is about the Declaration of Independence.)
We begin with a Psalm that succinctly summarizes why our Almighty God performs miracles:
“Your ways, God, are holy. What god is as great as our God? You are the God who performs miracles; you display your power among the peoples” (Psalm 77:13-14).
Psalm 77 praises God for miraculously opening the Red Sea so His people could escape Egyptian bondage and ultimately (four decades later) reach the Promised Land. The Psalm’s last verses read:
“Your path led through the sea, your way through the mighty waters, though your footprints were not seen. You led your people like a flock by the hand of Moses and Aaron” (Psalm 77:19-20).
Although God’s creation of the heavens, earth, and humankind were miracles, there were no (human) witnesses. Whereas Exodus, the Hebrew Bible’s second book, is the mothership of witnessed miracles with 15 supernatural occurrences related to God’s people leaving Egypt and providing them with food and water in the desert.
The first series of miracles were the plagues. And even as the plagues worsened, the stubborn Pharaoh refused to accept Moses’s demands that the Israelite people leave Egypt. Thus, God planned a final miracle/plague to kill first-born Egyptian males and animals — sure to make Pharaoh concede.
But before God unleashed this horror, He gave Moses and Aaron specific instructions involving sacrificing lambs and smearing their blood on the doors of their people. Then, at midnight, God would “pass over” the homes of Israelite boys and only strike the Egyptians. God also instructed Moses and Aaron to celebrate and acknowledge this freeing event forever. God said:
“‘Obey these instructions as a lasting ordinance for you and your descendants. When you enter the land that the Lord will give you as he promised, observe this ceremony. And when your children ask you, ‘What does this ceremony mean to you?’ then tell them, ‘It is the Passover sacrifice to the Lord, who passed over the houses of the Israelites in Egypt and spared our homes when he struck down the Egyptians.’ Then the people bowed down and worshiped” (Exodus 12: 24-28).
Thus, Passover is revered and celebrated annually in Jewish culture. (See Vol. 107 for Passover memories from my childhood.)
The Passover-related Exodus miracles are directly or indirectly referenced throughout the Old and New Testaments. For example, in Vol. 87, we discussed Moses’s first public miracle/plague when he turned Nile River water into blood and its connection to Jesus.
Miracles are God’s way of showing He is God with the power to impact human events and unleash natural occurrences to His glory for His desired outcome. God’s miracles make it easier for humans to love, trust, fear, praise, glorify, and pray to Him.
The following Exodus Chapter 14 verse appears immediately after the hand of God raised Moses’s hands to open their Red Sea escape route:
“And when the Israelites saw the mighty hand of the Lord displayed against the Egyptians, the people feared the Lord and put their trust in him and in Moses his servant” (Exodus 14:31).
During my research, I saw a chart listing 56 Old Testament miracles. Then, in the following verse, God explains why and how He makes miracles happen:
“I am the Lord, the God of all mankind. Is anything too hard for me?” (Jeremiah 32:27).
The answer was illustrated last week in our study of war when God granted General Joshua’s request for more daylight hours to help him win a crucial battle:
“The sun stopped in the midst of heaven and did not hurry to set for about a whole day.” (Joshua 10: 1-15).
The Almighty’s wide range of miracles included protecting three of His steadfast believers — Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego — sent into a burning furnace by idol-worshipping King Nebuchadnezzar. When the men emerged unscathed, they sparked a royal conversion showing how God used miracles to His glory:
“Then Nebuchadnezzar said, ‘Praise be to the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, who has sent his angel and rescued his servants! They trusted in him and defied the king’s command and were willing to give up their lives rather than serve or worship any god except their own God’” (Daniel 3:28).
Also worth noting are King Nebuchadnezzar’s final words of faith:
“‘Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and exalt and glorify the King of heaven, because everything he does is right and all his ways are just. And those who walk in pride he is able to humble’” (Daniel 4:37).
Continuing in the book of Daniel is the famous lion’s den miracle when Daniel, a servant of God, would rather die than follow King Darius’s edict:
“… anyone who prays to any god or human being during the next thirty days, except to you, Your Majesty, shall be thrown into the lions’ den” (Daniel 6:7).
God, with dominion over animals, miraculously spared Daniel resulting in another royal conversion.
Our final Hebrew Bible miracle story is about Jonah, who was disobedient to God’s will. Subsequently, Jonah found himself in the belly of a large fish, where he prayed and pleaded to God for his life. God heard his prayers and “vomited Jonah onto dry land.” Then Jonah went to Nineveh as God had commanded. (See Vol. 75.)
Today we reviewed miracles when His people needed to be free and conquer the Promised Land. Then faith miracles after believers refused to worship false gods or a king, and when His anointed servant disobeyed orders from The King. In each example, God used miracles to achieve His goals while showing His servants and their enemies His awesome power. This study inspired me to tape the following verse to my computer:
“I am the Lord, the God of all mankind. Is anything too hard for me?”
Answer: Absolutely nothing, Lord God, ABSOLUTELY nothing. Amen to that!
Myra Kahn Adams is a conservative political and religious writer with numerous national credits. Her book, “Bible Study For Those Who Don’t Read The Bible,” reprints the first 56 volumes of this popular study. Myra is also Executive Director of SignFromGod.org, a ministry dedicated to Shroud of Turin education. SignFromGod was a proud sponsor of the Museum of the Bible’s opening events for its high-tech exhibition about the Shroud of Turin, open through July 31. Just announced: New Shroud event on July 16. Contact: MyraAdams01@gmail.com or Twitter @MyraKAdams.