The Bible lists many miracles but what can we learn from them?
The older I grow the more I realize that almost everyone has witnessed at least one miracle in their lifetime. However, there are still many questions to answer about miracles like, How do we know when we see a miracle? Who is able to perform miracles? What is the purpose of miracles? Let’s take a look at some miracles in the Bible and see if we can answer some of these questions.
What is a miracle?
Before we start searching the Bible for miracles, we first need a good definition of the word “miracle”.
Websters Dictionary 1828:
MIR’ACLE, noun [Latin miraculum, from miror, to wonder.]
1. Literally, a wonder or wonderful thing; but appropriately,
2. In theology, an event or effect contrary to the established constitution and course of things, or a deviation from the known laws of nature; a supernatural event. Miracles can be wrought only by Almighty power, as when Christ healed lepers, saying, ‘I will, be thou clean, ‘ or calmed the tempest, ‘Peace, be still.’
They considered not the miracle of the loaves. Mark 6:52.
A man approved of God by miracles and signs. Acts 2:22.
3. Anciently, a spectacle or dramatic representation exhibiting the lives of the saints. [1]
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Strong’s Concordance
Hebrew 04159 ‘mowpheth’ (more faith) – a miracle; by implication, a token or omen: – miracle, sign wonder
Greek 1411 ‘dunamis’ – force, miraculous power, ability, abundance, power, strength, mighty wonderful work
Greek 4592 ‘semeion’ – an indication, especially ceremonially or supernaturally: – miracle, sign, token, wonder. [2]
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From the definitions above we can see that a miracle is a supernatural event that requires special abilities to perform. Miracles go against the laws of nature. In addition, we see that miracles can be done by Almighty power as well as by men approved of God. Miracles are simply “wonderful”.
Some Miracles in the Old Testament
When we read the Bible, we see the first miracle as God’s work of creation.
God made the world out of nothing
Genesis 1:1-2. “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. 2 And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.”
God finished His creation in just 6 days
Day 1: Light (Genesis 1:3-5). “And God said, Let there be light: and there was light. 4 And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness. 5 And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day.
Day 2: The Firmament [Heaven] (Genesis 1:7-8). “And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters. 7 And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament: and it was so. 8 And God called the firmament Heaven. And the evening and the morning were the second day.”
Day 3: The Land, Sea, and Vegetation (Genesis 1:9-13). “And God said, Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear: and it was so. 10 And God called the dry land Earth; and the gathering together of the waters called he Seas: and God saw that it was good.11 And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth: and it was so. 12 And the earth brought forth grass, and herb yielding seed after his kind, and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed was in itself, after his kind: and God saw that it was good. 13 And the evening and the morning were the third day.”
Day 4: Sun, Moon and Stars (Genesis 1:14-19). “And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years: 15 And let them be for lights in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth: and it was so. 16 And God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: he made the stars also. 17 And God set them in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth, 18 And to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness: and God saw that it was good. 19 And the evening and the morning were the fourth day.”
Day 5: Birds and Sea Creatures (Genesis 1:20-23). “And God said, Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that hath life, and fowl that may fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven. 21 And God created great whales, and every living creature that moveth, which the waters brought forth abundantly, after their kind, and every winged fowl after his kind: and God saw that it was good. 22 And God blessed them, saying, Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let fowl multiply in the earth. 23 And the evening and the morning were the fifth day.”
Day 6: Land Animals and Humans (Genesis 1:24-31). “And God said, Let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kind, cattle, and creeping thing, and beast of the earth after his kind: and it was so. 25 And God made the beast of the earth after his kind, and cattle after their kind, and every thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind: and God saw that it was good. 26 And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. 27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. 28 And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth. 29 And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat. 30 And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to every thing that creepeth upon the earth, wherein there is life, I have given every green herb for meat: and it was so.31 And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day.”
God used fire in the Old Testament for Miracles
Exodus 3:2. “And the angel of the LORD appeared unto him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush: and he looked, and, behold, the bush burned with fire, and the bush was not consumed.”
Leviticus 9:24. “And there came a fire out from before the LORD, and consumed upon the altar the burnt offering and the fat: which when all the people saw, they shouted, and fell on their faces.”
Judges 13:19-20. “So Manoah took a kid with a meat offering, and offered it upon a rock unto the LORD: and the angel did wonderously; and Manoah and his wife looked on. 20 For it came to pass, when the flame went up toward heaven from off the altar, that the angel of the LORD ascended in the flame of the altar. And Manoah and his wife looked on it, and fell on their faces to the ground.”
Animals played a part in God’s miracles
A Serpent talks in Genesis 3:1-5
Aaron’s rod was turned into a serpent in Exodus 7:10-12
Frogs were used in a plague against Egypt in Exodus 8:5-14
Balaam’s Donkey speaks in Numbers 22:22-40
A great fish swallowed Jonah in Jonah 1:17 and then spit him out in chapter 2
Because of his faith, God protected Daniel from the lions in Daniel 6:16-23
Jesus caused Simon, James and John to catch many fish in Luke 5:1-11
Jesus multiplied the fish to feed 5,000 – This is recorded in every Gospel: Matthew 14:15-21; Mark 6:36-44; Luke 9:12-17; and John 6:5-14
Jesus and the Apostles did miracles
Jesus’ first miracle as a sign for the Apostles to believe in Him.
John 2:7-11. “And both Jesus was called, and his disciples, to the marriage. 3 And when they wanted wine, the mother of Jesus saith unto him, They have no wine. 4 Jesus saith unto her, Woman, what have I to do with thee? mine hour is not yet come. 5 His mother saith unto the servants, Whatsoever he saith unto you, do it.6 And there were set there six waterpots of stone, after the manner of the purifying of the Jews, containing two or three firkins apiece. 7 Jesus saith unto them, Fill the waterpots with water. And they filled them up to the brim. 8 And he saith unto them, Draw out now, and bear unto the governor of the feast. And they bare it. 9 When the ruler of the feast had tasted the water that was made wine, and knew not whence it was: (but the servants which drew the water knew;) the governor of the feast called the bridegroom, 10 And saith unto him, Every man at the beginning doth set forth good wine; and when men have well drunk, then that which is worse: but thou hast kept the good wine until now. 11 This beginning of miracles did Jesus in Cana of Galilee, and manifested forth his glory; and his disciples believed on him.”
Peter walked on water by faith until his faith failed
Matthew 14:28-31. “And Peter answered him and said, Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto thee on the water. 29 And he said, Come. And when Peter was come down out of the ship, he walked on the water, to go to Jesus. 30 But when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me.31 And immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand, and caught him, and said unto him, O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?”
The Apostles were used to perform many signs and wonders
Acts 2:43. “And fear came upon every soul: and many wonders and signs were done by the apostles.”
Acts 5:12-14. “And by the hands of the apostles were many signs and wonders wrought among the people; (and they were all with one accord in Solomon’s porch. And of the rest durst no man join himself to them: but the people magnified them. 14 And believers were the more added to the Lord, multitudes both of men and women.)
Peter and John healed a lame man in Acts 3:1-11, 16 – his faith made him strong.
Peter raised Dorcas from the dead in Acts 9:36-43 – many believed in the Lord because of this miracle.
Paul blinded a sorcerer in Acts 13:11-13 – when the deputy saw this he believed, being astonished at the doctrine of the Lord.
Paul and Barnabas performed signs and wonders in Iconium as seen in Acts 14:3 – this gave testimony to God’s word.
Paul and Barnabas healed a crippled man in Acts 14:8-15 – this was to give testimony and glory unto the true Living God.
Paul and Silas cast a demon out of a slave girl in Acts 16:16-18 – they did this to show the people the way of salvation.
Paul raised Eutychus from the dead after a horrible accident in Acts 20:9-12 – the people who witnessed this were comforted.
Paul healed all the sick people on the island of Malta in Acts 28:9-10 – this caused the people to honor Paul and the others who had been shipwrecked to their island.
But why miracles?
Dake and the purpose of miracles in the Old Testament (Pentateuch)
Dake gives some great illustrations of the purpose of miracles. He notes that miracles were used in the Old Testament to cause men to know that God is the only living and true God. He even says that in Ezekiel alone God says things like “they shall know that I am the Lord” seventy-five times. [3]
Miracles, signs and wonders verify the gospel message
Acts 14:3. “Long time therefore abode they speaking boldly in the Lord, which gave testimony unto the word of his grace, and granted signs and wonders to be done by their hands.”
Acts 17:30-31. “And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent: 31 Because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead.”
John 14:12-13. “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me [Jesus], the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father. 13 And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.”
Fear that struck people from miracles demonstrated God’s power
Ananias and Sapphira were struck dead when Peter used the power of the Holy Ghost after hearing they kept back some of the money that belonged to the church (Acts 5:1-11)
The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom (Psalms 111:10)
Cornelius, a centurion was afraid when an angel messenger visited him (Acts 10:1-4)
Miracles inspire and strengthen the believer’s faith
Disciples were exhorted to continue in the faith (Acts 14:21-22)
Paul encouraged and exhorted the Corinthians warning against their immoral behaviors (2 Corinthians 12:19-21)
Jesus calmed the sea to build His disciple’s faith in Him (Mark 4:39-41)
We see God’s love in action when we read about miracles (Psalms 34:19; 41:4; Acts 3:6; Mark 16:17-18; John 14:12)
In Luke 1:28-38 we see that the angel of the Lord appeared to Mary to announce that she would deliver Jesus, the Savior of the world. Mary accepted the call, and her faith was made stronger.
The greatest miracle of all
As believers the greatest miracle we know is that Jesus died for our sins and rose from the dead, according to the Scriptures (1 Corinthians 15:1-7). This message is the greatest hope found in the Bible. Because of Jesus’ victory over death, we too can share in His resurrection (Romans 6:5-6). This great miracle reminds us that “with God all things are possible” even eternal life (John 3;16-17, 36; 5:24; 6:40; 17:3; Romans 6:23; Ephesians 2:8-90). Jesus is all you need.
Final Thoughts
I have only touched the surface of all the miracles we can find in the Bible. Miracles in the Bible are great works of God that He used to affirm Who He is and to demonstrate the power He has. They were also used to strengthen faith in people and generate hope. Even today, though we do not have the Apostles nor Jesus to walk among us, we can believe that God has not ceased to perform miracles. Miracles inspire people of faith to continue to trust God for everything. God is still on the throne, and He still uses His mighty power to do what He wants to do in His own time.
Resources:
[1] “Websters Dictionary 1828 – Webster’s Dictionary 1828 – Miracle.” 2024. Websters Dictionary 1828. 2024. https://webstersdictionary1828.com/Dictionary/miracle.
[2] “Strong’s Concordance.” 2022. Strongsconcordance.org. Strong’s Concordance. 2022. https://strongsconcordance.org/results.html?k=miracle.
[3] Dake, Finis Jennings. Dake’s Annotated Reference Bible. 1963. Large Note ed., Lawrenceville, GA, Dake Bible Sales, Inc., 1998, p. 264.
