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It is illogical to imagine miracles are magical

Christian scholars refer to the first five books the Bible as the Pentateuch. The name is taken from a Greek word meaning “five–roll” or “five–scroll.” Jewish scholars, by contrast, usually refer to these books as “the Torah”—meaning “the Law.” This is because they contain the laws that God dictated to Moses.

Genesis, the first book of the Pentateuch, describes the beginning of man and the universe (the Creation), the beginning of sin (Original Sin), the beginning of the process of restoration of God’s creation, and the beginning of the Hebrew nation through whom this restoration was to come. Exodus, the second book of the Pentateuch, describes the departure of the children of Israel from Egypt. It shows the development of Israel into a real nation, as God began the first stages of fulfillment of his promise to Abraham contained in Genesis 12:2-3.

Beginning in Genesis—and continuing through Exodus and the other books of the Old Testament—we can see God actively intervening in human affairs to perform his work of redeeming mankind from the consequences of our fall from grace described in the third chapter of the first book of the Pentateuch. In this context, consider the following miracles:

  • The parting of the Red Sea (Exodus 14:21-31)
  • Stopping up the waters of the River Jordan (Joshua 3:14-17)
  • The fall of Jericho (Joshua 6:6-25)
  • Gideon’s defeat of the Midianites (Judges 7)
  • The destruction of the Assyrians (II Kings 19:35)

Here we have examples not just of God’s direct intervention in human affairs, but of the power of God as the ultimate source of such events. These miracles are not contrary to the laws of nature; rather, they co–opt nature for supernatural purposes.

The miracle of the parting of the Red Sea can be explained through natural science, as can the collapse of the walls of Jericho and the destruction of the Assyrian army in front of the gates of Jerusalem.

Meteorologists have discovered that the Red Sea divides in the manner recorded in Exodus when the wind blows as the book describes. The conquest of Jericho was accomplished thanks to fortuitous earthquakes. And the Assyrian army camped before Jerusalem was wiped out by a sudden epidemic.

In the case of Gideon’s defeat of the Midianites, the miracle lay in God’s ability to instill such courage and discipline in the children of Israel’s hearts that a small number of determined men were able to overcome a vast, but disorganized host.

The miraculous also lies in the fact that these events occurred at the precise time God said they were going to occur.

It is fashionable these days to treat these miracles with skepticism. But if God created us and the universe, it seems unreasonable to suppose he would be unable to part the waters of the Red Sea, organize a couple of earthquakes at Jericho, and arrange for an epidemic to strike an army camped in insanitary field conditions.

Questioning the miracles recorded in the Bible is not merely illogical, it is also presumptuous. It rests on the assumption that God is confined by the laws he devised for us, his creatures. This, in turn, reduces almighty God, the creator of the universe, to our level of finite capability and understanding.

It would be altogether be more appropriate for God’s miracles to evoke in us emotions of awe, humility and gratitude—gratitude that just as God took the trouble to lead the Israelites out of bondage to the Promised Land, he is no less actively concerned about us and our affairs. GPH✠

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