MEANING
Webster’s defines a “miracle” as “an effect or extraordinary event in the physical world that surpasses all known human or natural powers and is ascribed to a supernatural cause… a work of God… a wonder; marvel.[1] This is the secular definition of miracles.
The term is used rather loosely today. We refer to common events, such as the birth of a baby, as miracles. We also refer to miracles as God acting within the confines of nature, using nature to create events that serve His purpose. However, the third definition of miracles, and the one that this author believes, is when God acts outside of and above the natural way of things in a supernatural way to accomplish His purpose.
The word miracle is not used in the Bible, but several words were used to describe these miracles.
The word, which means that a miracle has taken place, is used in the Hebrew and Greek languages and appears 27 times in the Authorized Version of the Bible. Generally, in the Old Testament, the words used in the original languages for miracles in the Hebrew occur 4 times and involve the use of the Hebrew words ôwth (pron. ōth), mōphēth (pron. mo-faith’), and pālā (pron. paw-law’). The meaning of these words is a wondrous or marvelous sign. So in Hebrew, the words in the Bible refer to a wondrous or marvelous sign, meaning a miracle.
The New Testament’s words translated into miracle appear 23 times in the Authorized Version. These words in the Greek include sēmĕiŏn (pron. say-mi’-on) and dunamis (pron. doo’-nam-is). The meaning of these words is also “a wondrous or marvelous sign.” So in Greek, as in Hebrew, the words in the Bible refer to a wondrous or marvelous sign, meaning a miracle.
NATURE
Providence is the “continued exercise of the divine energy whereby the Creator preserves all His creatures, is operative in all that comes to pass in the world, and directs all things to their appointed end.”[2] The Westminster Confession of Faith states, “God, in his ordinary providence, makes use of means, yet is free to work without, above, and against them, at his pleasure.”[3]
Therefore, providence is an act of the will of God. Any of the three persons of the Trinity inherently has the same power as the other persons of the Trinity to execute God’s providence.
There are two kinds of God’s providence: ordinary and extraordinary. In ordinary providence, God acts through the laws of nature and produces the results He wants by second causes. Sometimes, the results amount to a miracle since they are other than what one would generally expect from natural law and the actors involved. However, in extraordinary providence, God acts outside and above the laws of nature to produce the results He wills, and this is called a miracle.
Ordinary providence is produced by God’s power and within the natural laws using second causes. God likes order in his creation and has established the natural laws for that purpose. However, when God’s ordinary providence involves second causes, and the result is different from what one would expect from the laws of nature, this kind of ordinary providence is called a miracle.
The extraordinary providence of God involves first causes only. God supernaturally causes the act or acts that He wills by first cause. God’s extraordinary providence produces unexpected results inconsistent with the laws of nature. The result is supernatural and above the laws of nature and is in no way connected with its means. It is by using His supernatural power that God performs His providence, using his power as the first cause. As Dr Hodge has written, “A miracle, therefore, may be defined to be an event, in the external world, brought about by the immediate efficiency, or simple volition of God.”[4]
When Jesus performed extraordinary providence, he did it with His or His Father’s power. But when Jesus authorized “the apostles to cast out devils, cure the lepers, raise the dead, etc.…their whole power was derived from Christ.”[5] In fact, the power to perform the providence of God or miracles always comes from one of the persons of the Trinity.
However, God’s use of extraordinary providence to certify that a person is a representative of God in a matter, or the use of second means to achieve extraordinary results through ordinary providence, is not referred to as God’s providence but specifically as a miracle.
CONCLUSION
When it comes to miracles, the Bible teaches that the evidence of miracles is important and decisive but, nevertheless, subordinate and inferior to that of the truth itself.[6] Calvin believed this, too. In fact, he believed that God’s providence taught the truth of the word of God, the doctrine of God, regarding everything of God, including the gospel of Jesus Christ.[7]
But any one of the triune godhead has the power to exercise the providence of God to teach the truth and show that the person who performs them is on a divine mission from God. The messenger of God teaches the truth and performs God’s heavenly works. Consequently, we know that the messenger from God teaches doctrines of truth, and the teacher is sent from God.
As Berkhof wrote in his Systematic Theology,
The distinctive thing in the miraculous deed is that it results from the exercise of the supernatural power of God. And this means, of course, that it is not brought about by secondary causes that operate according to the laws of nature. If it were, it would not be supernatural (above nature), that is, it would not be a miracle. If God in the performance of a miracle did sometimes utilize forces that were present in nature, He used them in a way that was out of the ordinary, to produce unexpected results, and it was exactly this that constituted the miracle.[8]
When God uses a secondary means to achieve results commonly understood to occur by natural means, we refer to this as ordinary providence. But when God uses ordinary providence and secondary means to achieve extraordinary results, when He uses extraordinary providence to accomplish his will, or when one of the persons of the Trinity uses extraordinary providence to certify that someone is a messenger of God, we refer to these as miracles.
When Jesus returns, He will destroy the existing heaven and earth and create a new heaven and a new earth for eternity with the divine power of providence. In the meantime, He will continue to exercise His will by providence, which will awe and amaze us.
[1] Webster’s Encyclopedic Unabridged Dictionary of the English Language (Deluxe Edition 2001), p. 1227.
[2] Berkhof, Louis, Systematic Theology, combined ed., (The Banner of Truth Trust, 2021), p. 159.
[3] The Westminster Confession of Faith and Catechism with proof texts, (The Orthodox Presbyterian Church, 2005, 2007), chapter 5, paragraph 3, p. 21-22.
[4] Hodge, Charles, A., Systematic Theology, vol. I, Hendrickson (2016), p. 618.
[5] John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion. Trans. by Henry Beveridge, Book Second, chap . 8, 17 (Hendrickson, 2008), 75.
[6] Hodge, Charles, A., Systematic Theology, vol. I, Hendrickson (2016), p. 636.
[7] John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion. Trans. by Henry Beveridge, Book First, chap., 13 (Hendrickson, 2008), 74-76.
[8] Berkhof, Louis, Systematic Theology, combined ed., (The Banner of Truth Trust, 2021), p. 170.
