Download Yahweh Miracle Working God
Partenia Urtiaga
But instead of focusing on the fact that I had to take it again, I decided to praise God that I went four days without needing it. I actually praised God for that partial miracle publicly at a prayer night. It was less than a week later that He healed my asthma! Coincidence? I think not.
I was surprised that Tim Mahoney from Thinking Man Films asked to interview me for this new movie. He asked me testify to the greatness of the God who displays himself in the exodus and to clarify the nature of the miracle as the Bible portrays it. This I did, but the six hour interview covered a lot more than I even expected.
In the old testament, literally millions watched a sea split in two, bread fall from heaven, the earth torn asunder while rebels fell into it, fortress walls crumble on prophetic queue, fire from heaven on more than one occasion, and a number of other miracles (dead raised, axe head floating, leper healed on prophetic queue, etc.) which do not happen anymore...ever.
And finally -- I have seen documentaries on modern "miracles". First, they pale in comparison to the above-mentioned, and second, they are highly dubious. They are fluffy and questionable, much like those modern "prophecies".
Sometimes when promoting our own particular views common sense observations are undervalued at the expense of our own bias. I like too thinking about this topic from a common sense perspective and then arranging my own particular view within that. First, it is quite obvious that the massive spikes of miracles in the Bible occurred at the foundation of the Old and New Covenants, making their authority attested. Under Moses many miracles were performed in killing being a representative of the law and condemnation under it. Under the foundation of the gospel by Christ and the Apostles many miracles were performed giving life, representation the salvation that the gospel provides and the deliverance from the condemnation of the law.
We must pay the most careful attention, therefore, to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away. For since the message spoken through angels was binding, and every violation and disobedience received its just punishment, how shall we escape if we ignore so great a salvation? This salvation, which was first announced by the Lord, was confirmed to us by those who heard him. God also testified to it by signs, wonders and various miracles, and by gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to his will. (Hebrews 2:1-4, NIV)
Here we have the order. Salvation was first announced (i.e. the gospel), then God performed miracles to confirm and testify his approval of this new doctrine that was preached. More directly God's testimony did not only affirm the truth of what Christ and the Apostles preached, but was an unusual and heavenly vindication and seal of approval on their very persons and ministry as infallible guides on establishing the remaining canon of scriptures (so long as they remained teaching the same doctrines to the end). Once these scriptures were completed, they became the final authority in all matters of church practice and Christian living. Second, the only reason why we believe miracles to have occurred is because the scriptures say so.
Fifth expecting miracles in order to have faith is in accordance with the Jews own wicked expectation of miraculous signs (Matth 16:4, 1 Cor 1:22) This may have partly been due to the history of miracles that God performed in establishing the Old Covenant as we have said.
Why do miracles 'confirm' God's word if they are not needed to arrive at faith? When considering how difficult it would be for a person without God's power to arrest the attention of a large body of people and introduce to them a whole new practice of worship and doctrine, we can see the miracles under Moses and Christ made this possible. Even Pharaoh had to stop and give attention to Moses and question his own beliefs and decisions. Also in the life of Christ, his popularity helped spread his fame. Miracles simply overwhelm human opposition so that even those who hate God and who would never believe, are yet arrested, even if for a moment to allow God's changing of the course of history and establishing of his kingdom as he sees fit.
Seventh, overwhelming miracles like under Moses or during the time of Christ were never meant to be God's regular mode of operation, otherwise they would be, for God is omnipotent and could do it as easily today and he once did before. To say that the people in those generations were more deserving of miracles due to their faith would be to conclude the most carnal opinion possible. These generations who were greatly favored by these miracles were also generations of the greatest wickedness. Those under Moses were destroyed in the desert as utter apostates and that generation under Christ killed the Holy One of God.
Note: In firmly arguing these common sense observations I am not implying that all external extraordinary miracles have forever ceased, only that if they did, it would not matter in terms of our faith and eternal salvation. I am also saying that it is not reasonable to demand them from those who we think have great faith or gifts of the Spirit, or claim to.
Contrary to the premise of your question, there are more miracles occurring in the world today than at any other time in history: The blind see, the deaf hear, the lame walk and the dead are raised - stop your doubting and believe!
Jesus certainly performed many miracles, and those were one witness to the veracity of his teaching. (e.g. Jn 5:36) There were also times when Jesus didn't perform miracles, or did them in an unusual way.
So when Jesus did miracles before the Jews, He did specific signs that God had prophesied through His prophets regarding the kingdom of God. His were not random signs, but ones that showed that the kingdom was there, such as healing the sick and maimed, casting out demons, and raising the dead -- all were indications of the kingdom of God.
Outside of the Hebrew culture, where God worked few or no miracles of the same caliber, signs and miracles wouldn't have the same import or necessarily point to the coming kingdom. The Gentiles have no context in which to place miracles like the ancient Jews did. So Paul preached "wisdom" to them; he "reasoned" with them. We see this throughout the book of Acts as he goes from place to place to argue from the scriptures of the resurrection of Jesus from the dead.
I still believe Mark 16 applies today. I think to say miracles have passed away is a cop out. Christ compels us to go into the world and perform deeds which are miraculous. I'm sorry you have not seen many valid miracles. I wish I could provide a list for you of great and wondrous things God has done which have been validated by science over the course of the modern technological era however such is beyond anyone's ability because of the vast amount of research needed to do before and after the miracle and follow up required as science advances to know if it was a happening of God or nature.
I can understand your frustration. I want to touch on one point, which I strongly believe in. I know from personal experience that miracles still happen, and I also know that there are living prophets on the earth today, who warn us, prophecy, and perform miracles.
Miracles still happen. The world is a wicked place, and often these miracles are attributed to science. I see advancements in medicine, science, space exploration, energy, etc. as miracles. Why? Because God inspires man to invent, He gives them ideas and they run with it.
I can understand your want to see miracles as they were recorded in the OT. One thing I have learned through experience is Miracles do not produce faith, nor do they convert. Belief and Faith will open your eyes to the miracles which surround you. Don't give up hope.
While biblical prophets were driven to wonder-working by a divine call and historically extraordinary rabbis were known to have worked wonders now and again, in the early modern period wonder-working became a bona fide profession. From Europe to North Africa, there were rabbis (and Jews without ordination) who offered miraculous services: treating disease, solving business crises, conjuring suitable marriage partners, curing infertility.
Generations of Hasidic rebbes were reputed to have performed miraculous feats. One of the most famous, Rebbe Nachman of Breslov, succinctly expressed the centrality of miracles to the Hasidic world view:
In official Church procedures there are three steps to sainthood: a candidate becomes "Venerable," then "Blessed" and then "Saint." Venerable is the title given to a deceased person recognized formally by the pope as having lived a heroically virtuous life or offered their life. To be beatified and recognized as a Blessed, one miracle acquired through the candidate's intercession is required in addition to recognition of heroic virtue or offering of life. Canonization requires a second miracle after beatification. The pope may waive these requirements. A miracle is not required prior to a martyr's beatification, but one is required before canonization.
Beatification -- the second stage in the process of proclaiming a person a saint; occurs after a diocese or eparchy and the Congregation for the Causes of Saints has conducted a rigorous investigation into the person's life and writings to determine whether he or she demonstrates a heroic level of virtue, offered their life or suffered martyrdom. A miracle attributed to the person's intercession must be proved.
Starting in the tenth century, a cause proceeded with the usual steps, i.e. the person's reputation would spread, a request to the local bishop from the people to declare the person a saint occurred, and a biography would be written for the bishop's review. Now however, the bishop would collect eyewitness testimony of those who knew the person and who had witnessed miracles, and he would provide a summary of the case to the Pope for his approval. The Pope then reviewed the cause, and if he approved it, he issued a decree declaring the person a canonized saint. The first documented case of papal invention is by Pope John XV on January 31, 993 for the canonization of St. Ulric. When Pope Sixtus V reorganized the Roman Curia in 1588 he established the Congregation for Sacred Rites. One of its functions was to assist the Pope with reviewing causes. Except for a few canonical developments, from 1588 the process of canonization remained the same until 1917 when a universal Code of Canon Law was promulgated.
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