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Miracles and Magic
Prepare to be amazed!!!
Are you prepared to read some amazing miracles?
Are you prepared to be amazed… and maybe even envious of the amazing miraculous powers of the prophet Elisha?
You’ll have to “bear” with me today.
(That will be funny later)
Elisha - Miracle Man
From the coolness of Elijah parting the waters of the river Jordan, then getting sucked up in a tornado… now here comes Elisha on the scene.
And it’s like the author sets out to establish Elisha miracles at least as cool as Elijah’s
Literally: It records 8 miracles for Elijah.
Now it will record 16 miracles for Elijah.
Some of them are subtle: first after parting the river Jordan he purifies Jericho’s water source.
Super helpful, especially as the “lake” near Jericho is the “Dead Sea.”
Not exactly drinkable water.
It’s a bit salty ;).
Da Bears
Then, here’s one of my favorites.
It’s a bit gruesome:
Wonder of wonders, miracle of miracles.
A bit savage.
A bit severe.
Hair was seen as a sign of virulence and power and even a sign of God’s favor.
Think of Samson and the Nazarite vow.
Elisha is bald, he must not be favored by God, he is to be mocked.
Nope.
God protects the dignity and honor of his prophet.
Brutally.
Refilling Oil Jars
Another favorite:
I’ve heard this preached as a great metaphor.
Pouring out, without ceasing, so you can pour out your life and God will keep you ever flowing… and you can live on the rest.
This isn’t a pattern that repeats, though, this isn’t a model of how God works.
This is a one-time miracle, God providing for his prophet on the go and rewarding someone who serves him sacrificially.
Raising the Dead
Another woman who serves him is barren, and the Word of God speaks through Elisha that she will bear a child and she does… and the child grows, and then has like a brain aneurysm and dies.
And, reminiscent of the boy Elijah healed… well, let’s read it:
I love this.
Miracle attempt number 1… doesn’t work.
That’s not something you usually see, at least in the final story of miracles.
Oh, remote staff healing doesn’t work?
Take 2:
After that, Elisha “purifies the deadly stew.”
Not exactly a “miracle for the ages...” but it counts!
Nahaam healed of leprosy.
An axe head retrieved from the water.
Random.
Practical.
Really super-incidental.
Chariots of Fire
The King of Syria finds out that Elisha is supporting the king of Israel.
WOW.
The mighty host of heaven, chariots of fire… an enemy army struck blind.
And if that wasn’t enough, just before that in chapter 6:
DIY: floating axe head craft project.
Small miracles, large miracles.
HUGE miracles.
The Bible doesn’t really like have a good power-level curve here for Elisha.
He doesn’t start with the small miracles and build up to the big, more impressive ones.
If this was a novel, it needs some organization.
You got to build up to the parting of the Jordan river, maybe start with “floating axes.”
But this comes up again and again when we thing about the Bible at all, especially when we think about “prophets”… we start thinking about the prophet’s powers.
Where are the miracles???
And if I’m going to be a prophet, am I going to get the prophet powers?
And do we get to choose, because I don’t want the floating axe head one, or the child-mauling bear one.
Where are miracles today?
Gift of Miracles and Gift of Prophecy
First, it is worth noting that the spiritual gift of miracles is separate and distinct from the spiritual gift of prophecy.
Two separate things.
One person can have one or many gifts, sometimes for a moment, sometimes for a season, sometimes for a lifetime.
The Bible doesn’t tell us to pursue the “gift of miracles” but instead:
Prophecy is hearing God speak and saying what He tells you to say.
Speaking God’s Words after Him.
The Miracle Highlight Reel
Second: miracles are somewhat rare.
We often forget when we are reading the Bible, we are reading the Facebook page, we are reading the highlight reel.
These are, presumably, probably, the 16 greatest miracle moments in Elisha’s life, across decades of ministry.
And yes, some of them are more incredible than anything I’ve ever seen.
Some of them?
The bear attack?
The not-poison soup?
The “miracle of finding the axe.”
I’ll tell you right now, I’ve got some better stories than that!
I once saw a bunny disappear from my house like a ghost spirit.
On a more serious note: I saw a demon manifest in and cast out of my little brother.
I had the Holy Spirit take over my tongue and start speaking for me things that I didn’t want to say, but was powerless to stop.
I have been lost in the days before cell phones, praying for God to show the way, and God showed the way.
Praying for baby Aleyah?
Praying for Vicky?
Ron shared his testimony of miraculous healing from cancer this past summer.
But these things are “special” and maybe even "rare”, we get excited about miracles because they are a departure from the way things “usually” work.
And if I start asking folks to come up and share the greatest miracles they have seen God do over their lifetime, you are going to hear some stories!
Miracles on the Frontier
But that isn’t the heart of it.
It isn’t that miracles are “necessarily rare...” although you can make a great case for that.
C.S. Lewis does in Mere Christianity, ask me about that later.
It isn’t that miracles are rare, to be treasured up over decades.
I think about when we read about miracles in the Bible.
I think about when I have witnessed miracles in my own life.
Tell me if this is true of miracles you have seen, large and small.
These are what Jesus called “signs and wonders.”
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