The Definition of Miracles—Part 1
| Overview | People usually take biblical words and give them non-biblical definitions. This has happened with the word “miracle.” |
People usually take biblical words and give them non-biblical definitions. For example, the word “Bible” may refer to any writing or book that is supposed to be the “authoritative” source of information. For example, there is a “Shooter’s Bible,” which has gone through more than 100 editions and is supposed to be the “authoritative” book on firearms. There is a “Vegetable Gardener’s Bible,” the authoritative source for vegetable gardens.
“Messiah” has also been taken and used to refer to any person who comes to our aid and serves as a “savior” in nearly any sense of the word. In fact, a popular definition for the word “messiah” is: “A leader regarded as the saviour of a particular country, group, or cause.”[1]
The word “baptize” has been corrupted in the religious world for a very long time. It can only mean “immerse,” but people have long used it for pouring water over an infant’s head or sprinkling water on someone’s forehead. That is not the biblical definition of the word at all.
People have also done this with the word “miracle.” The word “miracle” has a specific definition in the Bible, and I strongly believe that we ought to use the word only as God has defined it in order to minimize misunderstandings. If we want to be true to God’s pattern for Christianity, we ought to use Bible words according to Bible definitions. When we look at the Bible, we see that God has defined “miracles” in a very narrow way and that the New Testament teaches that miracles have come to an end.
What Is a Miracle?
The Dictionary of Philosophy and Religion defines “miracle” as: “that which causes wonder…, an event which cannot be understood as part of the natural order.”[2] Miracles cause wonder because they cannot be explained through any natural cause.
The word “miracle” is used 28 times in the Bible, mostly in the New Testament. In the Old Testament, it is used in Exodus 3:20, 7:9, 34:10, Judges 6:13, Psalm 78:11, 105:27, and Micah 7:15. Beyond that, it is used only in the New Testament: five times in Matthew, three times in Mark, twice in Luke, five times in Acts, three times in 1 Corinthians (all in chapter 12), and once in 2 Corinthians, Galatians, and Hebrews.
In Exodus 3:20, God told Moses that He would strike Egypt with all His miracles. The word translated “miracle” here means something that is “wonderful or marvelous.” This word is actually found 44 times in the Old Testament. It is used frequently in the book of Psalms and is often translated “wonders” or “wondrous works.” The “miracles” in Egypt, the plagues, were intended to draw attention to Jehovah God. God wanted both, the Egyptians and the Israelites, to know that Jehovah is the all-powerful God of the universe.
When Moses went before Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and told him to let God’s people go, Pharaoh said, “I do not know the Lord, nor will I let Israel go” (Exodus 5:2). So, God sent the plagues (“wonders” or “miracles”) on Pharaoh and Egypt for everyone to know Who Jehovah God is. In Exodus 7:5, God told Moses that, when He stretched out His hand in these plagues against Egypt, then the Egyptians would know it is Jehovah God Who does these miracles.
Of course, if God exists, then miracles are certainly possible. If there is an “all-powerful God,” then miracles are no problem for Him! The Bible teaches that miracles occurred, and Jesus claimed to perform miracles. There is no way that we can be honest with the evidence and say that Jesus faked what He did or lied about what He did.
Yes, we accept the biblical teaching that all of these events and many more were done just the way the Bible says they were. Jonah was swallowed by a huge sea creature, whether this word is translated “whale” or “fish.” The walls of Jericho came tumbling down, without the normal efforts of using a battering ram—just as the book of Joshua describes it. The water in Egypt was turned into blood, just as Moses describes it in the book of Exodus. Everything about the nature of God, the nature of Jesus, and the nature of the Bible argues strenuously that these “wonders” really happened. They just cannot be explained naturally, and there is a reason for that: God.
References
[1] “Messiah,” English Oxford Living Dictionaries, https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/messiah, access date: October 10, 2019.
[2] Reese, William (1996), Dictionary of Philosophy and Religion (New Jersey: Humanities Press), p. 485.
Copyright © 2018. Originally published in Droplets of Living Water, November 19, 2018; copyright © by Paul Holland.