Jos. 3:14-16 “And it came to pass, when the people removed from their tents, to pass over Jordan, and the priests bearing the ark of the covenant before the people; And as they that bare the ark were come unto Jordan, and the feet of the priests that bare the ark were dipped in the brim of the water, (for Jordan overfloweth all his banks all the time of harvest,) That the waters which came down from above stood and rose up upon an heap very far from the city Adam, that is beside Zaretan: and those that came down toward the sea of the plain, even the salt sea, failed, and were cut off: and the people passed over right against Jericho.”
I’ve recently heard someone say that miracles in the Bible always have a natural element in their performance, as it were. The example the the person used was the Red Sea crossing of the Israelites, “And Moses stretched out his hand over the sea; and the LORD caused the sea to go back by a strong east wind all that night, and made the sea dry land, and the waters were divided.”(Ex. 14:21) They said something to the effect that even in such a mighty miraculous act, God used wind in order to perform the miracle. This same ‘east wind was also used in bringing the plague of locusts upon Egypt; both wind and locusts are natural occurring and within the laws of the universe.
I believe it is for this very reason that many a Christian today have fallen for the lesser miracle philosophy. Many believe that the Red Sea crossing was nothing more that a shallow lake along the way, one deep enough to drown the Egyptians when the east wind subsided, but certainly not as deep as the actual Red Sea in the area where it is commonly understood that Moses led the Israelites across on dry land. And the same novel philosophy has been applied to the flood in the days of Noah; it is said that it was a local flood and not world wide, as is commonly believed amongst Christians.
However, I have to ask some questions of those who put forth this philosophy. What about these passages in Joshua? When the feet of the priests who carried the ark of the covenant touched the water, it receded and formed itself into a heap on the upstream side. It literally stopped the flow of a river that was breaking its banks in the wet season! And there is no natural explanation given for this miracle, other than the fact that God spoke through Joshua so as to prove that he was now His prophet of whom He was now going to speak to the children of Israel through.
“And Joshua said unto the children of Israel, Come hither, and hear the words of the LORD your God. And Joshua said, Hereby ye shall know that the living God is among you, and that he will without fail drive out from before you the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Hivites, and the Perizzites, and the Girgashites, and the Amorites, and the Jebusites.”(vs. 9,10)
This Jordan River is no small river. In the city in which I live, there is a river which is very similar in size; and in the spring and early summer, when the snow melts and the rains come, the level of the waters climb up the banks. What once was a gently flowing shallow river in the late winter has become a raging torrent; to attempt to cross the river on foot would certainly wash you away downstream, quite possibly to your death. And so we read here, that God, as evidence that He was leading the Israelites into Canaan, and that Joshua was now His prophet, where Moses once was, declared that He would stop the flow of this river in its harvest season high flow and that the entire company of Israelites would cross over on dry land. This miracle is a reminder, of course, of the great miracle of the Red Sea crossing. A miracle that only very few from this company had witnessed; only Joshua, Caleb, and all those under the age of 20 at the time of God’s command that all the unbelievers would not see the promised land.
There are so many miracles that cannot be explained by natural occurrences, I would have to say all of them to be fair. Even with an east wind at the Red Sea, how is it that the sea was separated into two halves by a wind, except that that wind were directed by the power of God Himself? The river Nile turning to blood; the plagues affecting all of Egypt except where the Israelites lived; the shoes and clothes of the Israelites not wearing out at all; the prophets Elijah and Elisha raising young boys from the dead; the fiery furnace in Daniel chapter 3, and so many more. Are there natural explanations for any of these?
When God desires to be known He works a miracle. He did it throughout the Old Testament, and He’s done it throughout the New Testament as well. The resurrection of the Lord is the greatest of all; not to mention that the Lord raised Lazarus after 4 days, his sisters said that his body would now be in full decay and stinking; but Christ is God, and He raised him from the dead. Just as God the Father raised His Son on the 3rd day, and this he did without His body ever decaying.
And on top of all of these miracles, there is one miracle that continues until this day; and it is perhaps the most amazing one of all, and one that the world continues to try and downplay; what is it you ask? It is the miracle of God redeeming to Himself a people, the miracle of the ‘new birth’, of Christian people being made from the enemies of God into the image of His dear Son, of His adoption of sinners into saints. The miracle of His great mercy towards His people, the very mercy of which all of His miracles foreshadowed throughout Scripture. What a great and glorious God to be so merciful. And how great is the miracle of faith!
Scripture Alone 