I have read the Bible through multiple times over the course of the last few years. Many of those times have been in a congregational setting as part of a class or group study. One thing that has always kind of shocked me about this sort of thing is the reaction that folks have to the more “fantastic” portions of the Bible. For instance, when we read about Elijah departing his earthly existence in a whirlwind or the ground opening up to swallow Korah and his followers, without fail we like to think about what it would be like to have been there. Almost without fail someone says something like, “It would be surprising to see that it actually happened the way the Bible says it did.”
Many of us would never verbalize such, but perhaps have had that thought. It would be surprising to see what God has actually told us is real. Perhaps it is because we do not live in the times of the miraculous—using the word “miracle” in the strictest biblical sense and not as we often do today to describe some unknown, but positive phenomenon. In our age, ministers do not touch the eyes of the blind and heal them instantly. In our age, the paralyzed victims of tragic accidents are not told to instantly “rise, take your bed and walk.”
There are most certainly other reasons, but too often when we read these accounts, we fail to connect with the larger meaning and how they impact us because we are drawn to their fantastic nature and “seek a sign.” “Oh, if we could have lived back then and have seen these wonderful things.” Granted, these signs and miracles were designed to produce faith, especially in those times when the whole of God’s plan was being revealed. Today, we have the fullness of God’s revelation. In other words, God has given us all that we need to know and to understand to seek and find Him. Such miraculous occurrences in our age would be superfluous, given the abundance of them that exist in history.
As Paul wrote, “We walk by faith, not by sight.” Coupling that with the statement that faith “comes by hearing the word of God,” what we find is that God’s expectation for us today is to allow revelation through the Word, His Son and the wonders of this world to reveal Him to us and produce that faith or strong conviction. This faith, then, leads us to live the Christian life in the absence of such overt manifestations of God. Hence, several things are key. First, we must know and study the Word of God. Second, we must allow that faith to dictate our walk. It is in that walk that we’ll find the wonderful working of God as He answers our prayers and works in us providentially. The miraculous served its purpose, but one does not need it to have a strong faith today.
