Ever visited the Outer Banks in North Carolina? On the sound side, the body of water between the outer band of islands and the mainland, on really windy days, the water will be pushed out into the sound a 100 yards or so...water several feet deep pressed by the wind, revealing terra firma.
Various channels will run programs that endeavor to explore the miraculous events in Biblical history, and they will invariably reference events like what happens in the Outer Banks to dismiss the Biblical depiction of a supernatural, sovereign intervention, like the crossing of the sea by the Israelites. However, there are other details that we must not overlook. For example, the Exodus account states that they crossed over on dry ground. A sea bed with water removed would still be muddy for months before millions of people could cross, followed by an army of chariots. And speaking of the army, if the Israelites crossed at a shallow spot, why is the description "walls of water" and then, how did an army drown in only a few feet of sea? The rebuttal is that the writers were given to hyperbole to enhance the naturally occurring event, what does your heart say?
The manna is another example. Many naturally occurring phenomena are offered as explanations, but the account isn't just about the manna. The manna came systematically missing the same day every week, the Sabbath. Regardless of how much manna people gathered, a little or a lot, they ended up with the same portion after cooking. If they stored extra, the manna spoiled, except once a week to store extra on the Sabbath, then it remained fresh for an extra day... miracle or natural phenomena/hyperbole?
I agree, there have been times in history where for lack of scientific understanding, people have defaulted to superstition. Once cannot be an honest student of history and not acknowledge this. However, this same penchant of mankind in history to use superstition to fill an intellectual gap is the same vulnerability that is dismissive of the possibility of intervention by a sovereign God. When we face the limits of our humanity, we feel vulnerable and grope desperately for something tangible to ground us.
God help us to see with greater clarity the moments where you are moving miraculously and too accept that there are times when however mundane, there may be reasonable, earthly realm bound explanations. May we not let these two continue to be mutually exclusive in this temporal world... physical law that at times is transcended by an omniscient Creator...and may we be the most secure resting in the hands of our God!
Hey, to all the readers in Afghanistan, thanks for checking out The Way Today!
Pastor Fred
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