The Message of Miracles - Ruminating in the Word of God

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him and what came to my heart and mind in 2 Kings 4:2-5,

"Elisha replied to her [the widow of a prophet], 'How can I help you? Tell me, what do you have in your house?' 'Your servant has nothing there at all,' she said, 'except a small jar of olive oil.' Elisha said, 'Go around and ask all your neighbors for empty jars. Don't ask for just a few. Then go inside and shut the door behind you and your sons. Pour oil into all the jars, and as each is filled, put it to one side.' She left him and shut the door behind her and her sons. They brought the jars to her and she kept pouring."

A widow of a prophet, "a man from the company of the prophets", went to Elisha for help. When he died, her husband left her with a debt she could not pay and the creditor was coming to take her two sons as his slaves. Elisha intervened and told the widow to take the only thing she had, a small jar of olive oil, and pour it out into as many empty jars as she could get her hands on. In a miraculous way, the small jar of olive oil did not run out until all the empty jars were filled. Elisha then told her to sell the oil and payoff the debt which freed her sons from the impending enslavement.

Miracles have always been closely associated with God's prophets, the people who have been selected by God to represent him. The supernatural nature of empowerment the Lord imbued his prophets with demonstrated the authenticity of the prophet's bona fides, and pointed to the reality that the God who called these prophets was the Creator himself. Only the Creator of all things can violate the physical laws that he himself established to govern his creation.

Fools who reject God call into question whether these miracles ever took place. However, it is these very miracles that call into question their rejection of God. You simply cannot have the miraculous without a miracle maker, God himself. The denial of these miracles is nothing other than simple rejection of God.

As Jesus told Nicodemus, many reject God. Not because there is any problem with the documentation or reasonableness of the revelation of God, but because they have made a choice to cling to their sin. John 3:19-20, "This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed."

Here is why the documentation of the miracles in the pages of Scripture is rejected by so many: it is not on academic or historically accurate grounds, but on the same old grounds of morality. Many prefer to continue in sin rather than embrace Jesus Christ in faith.

What a huge surprise this many will have when they leave this life!

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!

If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just respond and let me know.