Bible Synapse
Are miracles a sure sign that God is at work?
Hard question · Who God is · raised by 3 of the lists sceptics circulate
See the passages joined in the interactive mapThe passages
Nicodemus: “no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him”.
The same came to Jesus by night, and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him.
God is the one “who alone doeth great wonders”.
To him who alone doeth great wonders: for his mercy endureth for ever.
Pharaoh’s magicians copy Aaron’s sign with their enchantments, but “Aaron’s rod swallowed up their rods”.
And Moses and Aaron went in unto Pharaoh, and they did so as the Lord had commanded: and Aaron cast down his rod before Pharaoh, and before his servants, and it became a serpent. Then Pharaoh also called the wise men and the sorcerers: now the magicians of Egypt, they also did in like manner with their enchantments. For they cast down every man his rod, and they became serpents: but Aaron’s rod swallowed up their rods.
A prophet whose sign comes to pass, but who says “Let us go after other gods”, is not to be heeded.
If there arise among you a prophet, or a dreamer of dreams, and giveth thee a sign or a wonder, And the sign or the wonder come to pass, whereof he spake unto thee, saying, Let us go after other gods, which thou hast not known, and let us serve them; Thou shalt not hearken unto the words of that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams: for the Lord your God proveth you, to know whether ye love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul.
The lawless one comes “with all power and signs and lying wonders”.
Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders,
Jesus answers John the Baptist’s question by pointing to his works, which fulfil what the prophets foretold.
Now when John had heard in the prison the works of Christ, he sent two of his disciples, And said unto him, Art thou he that should come, or do we look for another? Jesus answered and said unto them, Go and shew John again those things which ye do hear and see: The blind receive their sight, and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have the gospel preached to them.
The objection
Nicodemus reasons that no one could do Jesus’ miracles “except God be with him” (John 3:2), and Psalm 136:4 says that God “alone doeth great wonders”. Yet Pharaoh’s magicians copied Moses’ sign, Deuteronomy 13 warns of prophets whose signs come true but who lead people to other gods, and 2 Thessalonians 2:9 speaks of Satan’s “signs and lying wonders”. So are miracles a sign that God is at work, or not?
The answer
The Bible never treats a wonder on its own as enough; it always tests the message that comes with it. Deuteronomy 13 gives the rule: even if a prophet’s sign comes true, if he says “Let us go after other gods”, he is to be rejected, because God has already made himself known and his word does not change (see also Deuteronomy 18:22). Keil and Delitzsch, drawing on Baumgarten and Luther, note that in Israel signs were never the highest or final test; the word God had already given was surer.
Psalm 136 speaks of the “great wonders” that only the Creator can do, and goes on to list them: making the heavens, the Exodus, the dividing of the Red Sea (136:5–16). Lesser powers can imitate some signs. The magicians copied the first wonders with their enchantments, but “Aaron’s rod swallowed up their rods” (Exodus 7:12), and by the third plague they had to admit, “This is the finger of God” (8:19). Paul’s ‘lying wonders’ are literally ‘wonders of falsehood’ (Greek terasin pseudous): they may be real works of Satan’s power, but they serve a falsehood.
Jesus’ miracles came with teaching that agreed with God’s earlier word and fulfilled what the prophets had foretold of the Messiah’s works (Matthew 11:4–5; Isaiah 35:5–6). So Nicodemus was right about Jesus, and Jesus himself appealed to his works (John 10:37–38), not because miracles alone are decisive, but because his miracles and his message pointed the same way.
From the classic commentators
In opposition to such a word, no prophets were to be received, although they rained signs and wonders; not even an angel from heaven, as Paul says in Galatians 1:8.Keil & Delitzsch, Commentary on Deuteronomy 13:3 (1857–78), following Luther, at Bible Hub
Sources
- Keil & Delitzsch, Commentary on Deuteronomy 13 (1857–78), at Bible Hub
- Keil & Delitzsch, Commentary on Exodus 7 (1857–78), at Bible Hub