Wednesday Bible study: the questions of grok part 5

 

The fifth of the general questions Grok AI has fielded about God is, "Is God still involved with the world today?" Under this, it lists the subcategories of 1) Miracles, 2) interventions, and 3) influencing of events.

I want to start by examining miracles.  Back in the 60s and 70s, IBM (or was it Xerox?)'s Brother Dominic thought a great copy deserved, "It's a miracle!"  Now I'm not going to say that was the start of the devaluation of miracles, but it sure showed us that they HAD been devalued.  Sports comebacks, narrow escapes, even a well-cooked meal by a shoddy cook became miracles.

I went (surprise) for a definition to John McArthur, who defined a miracle thus:

Those would be acts whereby God is simply orchestrating natural events; not suspending the natural but controlling the natural so that it does what He wants it to do. A miracle, then, is an extraordinary event wrought by God that cannot be explained by any natural means. That would be the technical definition. It might sound something like this: a miracle is an event in nature so extraordinary in itself, and so coinciding with the prophecy or command of a religious teacher or leader, as fully to warrant the conviction on the part of those who witness it that God has wrought it with the design of certifying that this teacher or leader has been commissioned by Him.

Thus, a healing, or a new job, would not necessarily be a miracle; a miracle would have to be 1) against the known laws of nature, and 2) for the glory of God.  McArthur also points out that Biblical miracles came in three clumps, three times of revelation so important, God saw fit to put His stamp upon them by the releasing of miracles.  Those times were:

1- The days of Moses, when God revealed Himself and His Law to Israel;

2- The days of Elijah and Elisha, when God was revealing Himself through the prophetic word;

3- The time of Christ and of the Apostles, as He revealed His Son, His plan for redemption, and His Church.

Dr McArthur believes, by this definition, we do NOT have miracles as such anymore.  Although, he tells us, there are many false witnesses that don't want us to believe that...

Now, in spite of that, many charismatics are making quite remarkable claims. Oral Roberts, for example, speaking at the Charismatic Bible Ministry Conference in 1987 said - and I quote: “I can’t tell you about all the dead people I’ve raised. I’ve had to stop a sermon, go back and raise a dead person.” – end quote...

You say, “What about Oral Roberts’ claim that he’s raised many people?” Well, he was challenged to produce the names and addresses of the people he raised, and he balked. Later, he recalled only one incident more than 20 years before, when he had supposedly raised a dead child in front of 10,000 witnesses.

So what about healings beyond the understanding of science, or the terrible storm that misses your home?  These would fit more into the category of interventions.  I believe God has intervened many times in my life.  Getting the job I have, just because someone I never met got together with someone I had; Praying Jeremiah 29:11 back when I was alone and lonely...

Jer 29:11  For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. 

Along with Psalm 68:6...

Psa 68:6  God setteth the solitary in families: He bringeth out the prisoners into prosperity; But the rebellious dwell in a parched land. 

Both of which He has blessed me with IN THIS LIFE.

Of course, the best of His interventions are when the long-lost person you've been praying for submits to the Spirit.  A lot of these types we consider miracles, and if you want to name them thus, I certainly won't stop you.  I guess for me, there are Big M miracles, and small M miracles.

Then there are the times He influences events.  Those of us with saving faith often consider that Donald Trump's re-election, saving us from ever-increasing woke brand evil, is one such.  Before you scoff at such a thing remember: 

Pro 21:1  The king's heart is a stream of water in the hand of the LORD; he turns it wherever he will. 

Psa 75:6  For not from the east or from the west and not from the wilderness comes lifting up, 

Psa 75:7  but it is God who executes judgment, putting down one and lifting up another. 

I believe that every world event is in the hands and for the purpose of God.  Whether it be a Big I influence (such as a war, or a plague, or a national election), or a small I influence (such as the skads of things that fall apart around you every time you ask God for "patience").

Finally, and left off of Grok's musings, are the very life we have, the air we breathe, the sun that warms us without roasting us, and so on.  Consider what a Forbes magazine article about "dark matter" recently said:

There are many different lines of evidence that point towards dark matter's existence, but it's perhaps a little more interesting to consider all the ways our Universe would be different — and inconsistent with what we observe — if it had no dark matter at all. If you enjoy the fact that the Universe is held together as well as it is, you have dark matter to thank for it. Even if you don't believe in it, it's a key ingredient in the Universe that led to you.- Ethan Sigel, in Forbes 2/14/2020.

Or to put it God's way:

Col 1:16  For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. 

Col 1:17  And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. 

Psa 75:2  “At the set time that I appoint I will judge with equity. 

Psa 75:3  When the earth totters, and all its inhabitants, it is I who keep steady its pillars. Selah