seen in the passover (Ex. 12) and the healing miracles of Jesus (Matt. 8:16-17). Such miracles deepen per sonal responsibility on the part of unbelievers. Jesus warned the Gali lean cities because of their rejection of His mighty works (Matt. 11:21- 24). Now, what about the periods of the miracles ? They’re not evenly dis tributed throughout the Bible. Dur ing times of particular spiritual de pression, critical to the history of re demption, we see the greatest mira cle activity. The first of these epochs is the time of Israel’s emancipation, including the exodus, and extending through the conquest wonders in the time of Joshua. The second period was when they confronted heathen idols round about them such as the worship of Baal in the days of Eli jah and Elisha, the prophets. There was extreme compromise. Certainly, the most notable miracle period was the time when Jesus Christ was re vealed. Jewish people had been en amored with outward forms of the Gentile world. Jesus, the Son of God, came into the world performing over 40 recorded miracles. Following His ascension, miracle activity continued in the time of the early church's establishment. The signs noticeably lessened as the New Testament re velation neared its completion. A still future time for miracles is dur ing the tribulation when earth-bound people will curse the Lamb of God, and hence judgments will be poured out from Heaven. The God of mira cles will continue to govern His uni verse in His own miraculous ways. There were also five minor periods of miracle activity. There was the flood, and the confusion of tongues at the tower of Babel near the start of human civilization. During the pe riod of the patriarchs we have such things and the episode of Jacob and Laban’s sheep, the ram caught in the bush when Abraham was to offer up Isaac, and the destruction of the city
of Sodom. During the time of Assyri an and Babylonian domination, there were such things as the enemy army completely destroyed at night by an angel from Heaven (II Kings 19: 35). The sundial of Hezekiah was turned back (II Kings 20:9-11). Daniel and the Hebrew young peo ple were delivered miraculously. We still have in the future the promise of a New Heaven and a New Earth which will appear. Miracles are wrought by the direct power and intervention of the per sonal God of redemption, showing His concern and authenticating His message. Miracles are performed by God to arrest men’s attention and aid in winning their acceptance of di vine truth. They do not merely ap peal to the senses, but also to the heart and conscience. P art T hree T here is a great deal of spiritual profit to be derived from the study of biblical miracles. As believers we must have a firm grasp on the sub ject so that we’ll not be confused at the critics who abound in this area of study. Have you ever studied the church page of your local paper? Many men will put in big ads about the many great miracles being performed in their churches. The sad thing is that many people are unthinking and gul lible. Without discernment they’re led astray. Of course, it’s a miracle every time a soul is saved. But in the sense of our study we need to keep the biblical definition of a miracle in proper perspective. Don’t be “side tracked” by claims of religious lead ers as has happened to so many. I was interested to hear about a sign painted on the wall of a small coun try town. It declared, “We can mend everything but a broken heart.” An amused tourist took one look at the humble building dismissing the ex travagant claim as improbable if not 29
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