The Sabbath-School by Ellet Joseph Waggoner

Seventh-day Adventist Missionary Society · Oakland, California · Feb 8, 1883

The Sabbath-School.

By Ellet Joseph Waggoner

Miracles.

LAS- considered the subject of miracles in connection with the one at Gibeon. It is not amiss to say a few words more on the subject. There is a growing disbelief in miracles among those who profess to believe the Bible. Common is this disbelief, and the one who is in this ill-defined position needs to be firmly fixed in mind in order not to be affected. Now to deny the existence of miracles is to deny the truth of the Bible, for that is founded on miracles. The creation of the earth, the creation of man, the incarnation of Christ, his sacrifice for sins,—all are miracles.

But there is a tendency, and it is not confined to infidels, to explain the miracles recorded in the Bible, by the laws of nature, as commonly understood. It is claimed that God will not work contrary to the laws which he has ordained. That may be true; but who knows it? Who shall say that God is obliged to work always in a fixed course? Extraordinary occasions call for extraordinary action, and why may not God work in any way that he pleases?

Again, even if we admit that God must, or does, always work according to fixed laws, how does that help the matter? Who is there so presumptuous as to suppose that he understands all the laws of nature? The term “laws of nature” is a convenient one to express what little we know of nature. Men formulate their observations of the properties of matter, and call the result the laws of nature. But it is not necessarily the laws of nature any more than a single section of the Constitution is the laws of the United States. There are more things in heaven and earth than are dreamed of in any man's philosophy.

It may be true that all miracles are performed in harmony with certain fixed laws, but not according to any laws within the scope of man's knowledge. Take for instance the miracle noted last week—the standing still of the sun and moon. Take the miracle in the lesson covered by this week's review—the one in which the prophet caused iron to swim. These were both contrary to any laws known to man. But both of them are surpassed by the creation of the earth, or the raising of a dead man to life. We cannot understand them; if we could, they would not be miracles.

The existence of miracles is proved by the existence of God. If God exists, miracles must exist. For a being who did nothing but what could be fully comprehended by men, would be only a man, and not God. If there is a God, he must be infinitely superior to man, and consequently must perform acts infinitely beyond man's comprehension. And on the other hand, the occurrence of miracles (things that are wonderful and they are unexplainable) proves the existence of a being infinitely superior to man. And as miracles do occur every day, no one in his right mind can deny. The humble child of God is not troubled with speculations as to how miracles are performed. He accepts them as revealing the power of the God whom he worships. He can say, “He created the universe, and still controls it, upholding all things by the word of his power,” who “measured the waters in the hollow of his hand,” and to whom the nations “are as a drop of a bucket,”—He is the God whom I worship. It is in accordance with his nature to do wonderful things. And this God has said, “I will never leave thee nor forsake thee.” E. J. W.