The word “miracle” (Latin miraculum) literally means a marvelous event or an event that causes wonder. According to the theologian Buswell, a miracle is:
(i) An extraordinary event, inexplicable in terms of ordinary natural forces,
(ii) An event which causes the observers to postulate a super-human personal cause,
(iii) An event which constitutes evidence (i.e. sign) of implication much wider than the event itself.
The great majority of miracles recorded in the Bible fall into three great epochs. These epochs are:
(i) The miracles of the exodus; the burning bush, the ten plagues of Egypt, the numerous miracles between the parting of the Red Sea and the crossing of the Jordan, the fall of Jericho, and the battle of Gibeon.
(ii) The miracles that centred in the ministry of Elijah and Elisha, the miracle of Jonah, two or three miracles in the experience of Daniel.
(iii) The greatest epoch miracles of all recorded history occurred in the ministry of Christ and His apostles.
Time and space do not permit an exhaustive account of these works of miracles.
Miracles in the time of Christ and the apostles
The work of Christ and the apostles are confirmed by ‘sign and wonders’. At Pentecost, being filled with the Holy Spirit, the apostle Peter testified of the deity of Christ who they crucified with these words: “Ye men of Israel, hear these words; Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs, which God did by him in the midst of you, as ye yourselves also know:” (Acts 2:22).
Similarly, Paul and Barnabas spoke “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 14:3). Paul attributed the working of signs and wonders through the power of the Holy Spirit. Of this he testified in Roman 15:18-20: “For I will not dare to speak of any of those things which Christ hath not wrought by me, to make the Gentiles obedient, by word and deed, Through mighty signs and wonders, by the power of the Spirit of God; so that from Jerusalem, and round about unto Illyricum, I have fully preached the gospel of Christ. Yea, so have I strived to preach the gospel, not where Christ was named, lest I should build upon another man’s foundation:”
Miracles during the time of Elijah and Elisha
Elijah arrived providentially as a shining light in the midst of the darkness of wicked Ahad’s reign. Ahad had so committed himself to Baalism that Elijah and his successor, Elisha devoted their whole ministries to denouncing Baalism which had drawn the children of Israel from worshipping Jehovah. Their ministries involved a new outburst of miracles such as had not been seen since the time of Exodus.
The first miracle by Elijah was performed at a Phoenician coastal town, Zarephath. There he met a widow at the city gate who apparently was a worshipper of Jehovah. She responded to Elijah’s request for water and meal in the name of Elijah’s God. She was a poor lady, preparing one final meal before the famine claimed her and her only son’s lives. She demonstrated tremendous faith and acceded to the request of Elijah who claimed: “For thus saith the Lord God of Israel, the barrel of meal shall not waste, neither shall the cruse of oil fail, until the day that the Lord sendeth rain upon the earth” (1 Ki 17:14). The continual supply of meal and oil was truly a miracle.
2 King 2 records the immanent departure of Elijah. Both Elisha and the sons of the prophets seemed to have prophetic premonitions of Elijah’s departure. At their parting, Elijah granted Elisha a request. Elisha’s request was a double portion of Elijah’s spirit. Elisha who succeeded Elijah was filled with the same mighty Holy Spirit. 2 Ki 2:15 records: “And when the sons of the prophets which were to view at Jericho saw him, they said, The spirit of Elijah doth rest on Elisha. And they came to meet him, and bowed themselves to the ground before him.”
Two miracles promptly confirm Elisha’s prophetic succession, the first of which is described here. The residents of Jericho sought Elisha’s help with their need for water (2 Ki 2:19). Jericho had an ideal location – fertile soil, a warm climate, and a perennial freshwater spring. But something had contaminated the town’s water. The results proved disastrous for Jericho: “the ground barren”. In fact, the contaminated water had struck the town with death. Elisha asked for a new bowl with salt in it (2 Ki 2:20). Then throwing the salt into the spring, he gave a message from the Lord – the first in his career. The Lord said, “I have healed these waters; there shall not be from thence any more death or barren [land]” (2 Ki 2:21b).
The miracle of the floating axe occurred at river Jordan (2 Ki 6:1-7). The space where Elisha instructed the sons of prophets was too cramped for them. They suggested that they go to the Jordan, each cut down a rafter beam, and construct living quarters for themselves there. The Jordan Valley offered smaller kinds of trees (e.g. willow, tamarisk, acacia) rather than heavy timber. When Elisha gave permission, a member of the group insisted that Elisha accompanied them. Suddenly, as one man chopped at a tree, his iron axe head flew and sank out of sight in the river. Deeply distressed, he cried out sorrowfully, “oh, my lord, it was borrowed!” He grieved for good reason; he had no means to reimburse the owner for the costly axe head. Elisha asked where it fell in the river. He cut a stick and threw it at in the exact spot, and caused the heavy iron object to float to the surface. The delighted man gladly obeyed Elisha’s command to retrieve it.
Summary and applications
While miracles authenticate the ministry of the prophets and the apostles, they alone have no convincing power. The Jews who saw the many miracles of Christ did not believe him. The unbeliever begins with denying it. He explains it from natural causes. He neither will nor can see God’s hand in it. And when it is so convincing that he cannot deny it, he says: “It is of the devil.” But he will not acknowledge that it is the power of God. Therefore to make the miracles effectual, the Holy Spirit must also open the eyes of them that witness it to see the power of God therein. All our reading of the miracles in the Bible is unprofitable unless the Holy Spirit opens our spiritual eye, and we see them alive, hear their testimony, experience their power, and glorify God for His mighty works.