Do You Love Miracles?

Have you ever seen a miracle? I mean a real live miracle like you read about in the Bible? You know a miracle where the lame walk, blinded eyes are opened, or deaf ears are unstopped. Not a miracle that we title that way just to hide our surprise. “Wow, she made it to church on time, what a miracle!” Or, “I couldn’t believe I found a parking spot next to the door of the mall, God worked a miracle!”

I love it when God shows off with a miracle. I remember one service in which we had several miraculous healings all at once. We were worshipping God and a lady had her foot healed, broken bones mended right there. She began to scream “I’m healed!” She jumped up and down on that foot. About that time another person let out a shout they also had been healed. They felt God touch and heal their heart! Miracles are awesome!

I recently read a book by a well known evangelist who said the day of miracles were past. I thought, friend you and I need to have a little talk because I have seen some miracles in my life! I love miracles.

Another thing that I really love is the way God provides for us. He does this in so many different ways. I remember when I was very young my Dad preached a revival in a country Church. The last night of the revival we went to get in the car to go home and the people had filled our car with groceries. The trunk and back seat were stacked full of home grown provisions. The monetary offering was fairly small but the food offering was incredible. There were several dozens of eggs in the offering. It took several weeks to go through all of them. I remember when Mom opened the last dozen there was a ten dollar bill lying right on top. Finances were tight, at that time, and you could buy a lot for ten dollars. What was amazing is the money was in the last carton, not the first or middle. Provision when we needed it.

I love the word of God. I love to read it! I love to hear it preached! I can remember messages I heard preached decades ago because something from the Word of God blessed my soul. I can remember scriptures that I read years ago and for the first time something in the passage spoke to my soul. Many years later I remember the time and the place. The Word of God is powerful!

When God spoke to Moses about building the Tabernacle it was to be a place where Israel could come to meet with God and God would meet with Israel. It was placed in the center of the camp of Israel; every tent was to face the Tabernacle. God was very detailed and specific in the instructions to the Tabernacle. He detailed its location, dimensions, materials to be used and furnishings. Even with the furnishings he was as detailed in His instructions, even to the point of their placement within the Tabernacle itself.

The Tabernacle was a type for the New Testament. It represents our relationship with God. The Tabernacle was located in the center of Israel with all of Israel focused upon it. God is to be the center of our lives with our focus on Him.

The Tabernacle was covered with badger skins on the outside, yet on the inside, hidden and revealed only to those who entered, it was beautiful. The colors of the drapery and covering were scarlet, purple, and white accenting the gold of the furnishings highlighted by the flickering lights of the Golden Candlesticks; it must have been breath taking. This is typical of our spiritual relationship with God. To the outsider it might seem unattractive but when you enter into the Spirit of God it is so beautiful words are so inadequate to explain its splendor.

As you approached the Tabernacle you saw the Altar of Sacrifice and the Brazen Laver. This was where the priest offered the sacrifice for the sins of the people. They would then wash themselves at the Brazen Laver before entering into the Tabernacle. This is a type of repentance and baptism. We must repent and be baptized before we can enter into a relationship with God. We also need to repent and allow God to cleanse us each time we come to worship Him.

Entering the Tabernacle you stepped into a room called the Holy Place. In this room there were three articles of furniture. These pieces were The Table of Shew Bread, The Golden Candlesticks and the Altar of Incense. They were a type of the Word of God, the Holy Ghost and our worship to God.

Behind the Altar of Incense was a thick curtain or veil. In the room behind that, called the Holiest of Holies, was one piece of furniture which was called the Ark of the Covenant. This room was only available to one person in Israel and that was only one time a year. Moses could not enter here nor could Joshua or any other man. Only the High Priest could come in and only when it was time to apply the blood offering to the mercy seat on the Ark of the Covenant. This is a type of Jesus Christ obtaining mercy for us. This was where God met with man and showed his mercy. It is also a type of you and me entering into a worship attitude that takes us beyond the veil of this flesh into communion with God in the Spirit! We no longer have to have a man represent us; we can come boldly before God and obtain mercy and help. We can fellowship directly with Him.

The Ark of the Covenant was a type of God being with man. It was not God, but represented several things about God. On the cover of the Ark were two cherubim facing one another. Between then was the Mercy Seat. Inside the Ark there were three things: Aaron’s rod that budded, this was an almond stick that had budded although it was dead, a testimony of God’s miraculous power and authority. There was a pot of manna from the wilderness which was a testimony of God’s miraculous provision. There was also the table of stone on which the Covenant had been recorded that was between God and Israel. It was a reminder of God’s promise to Israel and what God expected of them. It was His Word.

Many years later Israel carried the Ark of the Covenant into battle as a “good luck charm.” However they lost both the battle and the Ark of the Covenant to the Philistines. The Philistines put it in the temple of their god’s and much to their dismay God destroyed their gods and wrecked havoc in their temple. They moved it from place to place with continued disastrous results until finally they put it on a cart and sent it back to Israel.

Generations later Solomon has built a temple to God. At the dedication of the temple he brings the Ark of the Covenant into the temple and bestows upon it its place of honor. The Bible tells us that at this time all that was in the Ark of the Covenant was the “two tables which Moses put therein” or the Word of God. The Philistines had taken out the rod that budded and the pot of manna.

You know, that is like so many people in our world today. They want God to do miracles and they want God’s provision but they will leave behind the Word of God. Give us something that sparkles! Give us something that makes us feel good! We don’t need the Word it is tough and boring! It isn’t for us today!

Take a moment to notice this. The Philistines were afflicted in their secret parts! They had the miracles and the provisions but they couldn’t get rid of the Ark fast enough because they couldn’t handle the power it brought. Paul speaks of these types of people in 2 Timothy 3, they want to look good, they want the miracles and provision, however, they deny the power that brings it about and makes it real. They don’t want to live by the Word of God. They don’t love the Word of God. Paul said to get away from these types of people! You can’t run fast enough, spiritually!

Miracles are wonderful but God gave them to the Church to confirm His Word. Provision is wonderful and needed, however it is a physical manifestation of God’s love for His people which He tells us of in His Word. When the Ark came back to Israel, it came back with out the rod or the pot, but the Spirit of God was still with it. You can know God without the miracles or the provision but you can never know Him without His Word!

Today, as never before, I pray God give me a love for you Word. Job put it this way: “Neither have I gone back from the commandment of his lips; I have esteemed the words of his mouth more than my necessary food,” Job 23:12

Do you love miracles? Do you love God’s provision? I do! However, I love His Word more than all else!

Just a thought! God Bless.