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"Our fathers understood not Thy wonders in Egypt; they remembered not the
multitude of Thy mercies; but provoked Him at the sea, even at the Red Sea.
Nevertheless He saved them for His name's sake, that He might make His mighty power
to be known. He rebuked the Red Sea also, and it was dried up: so He led them through
the depths, as through the wilderness. And He saved them from the hand of him that
hated them, and redeemed them from the hand of the enemy. And the waters covered
their enemies: there was not one of them left. THEN believed they His words"
(Psalm 106: 7-12).
"And Israel saw the great work which the Lord did upon the Egyptians: and the
people feared the Lord, and believed the Lord, and His servant Moses" (Exod. 14: 31).
Thus to the Jews the miracles of the O.T. were not merely wonders or empty displays
of power, they were signs. They were evidence not only of God's existence and His will
but were also a witness to the Jews that God was with the miracle-worker. The people of
Israel could be expected to listen only to those who had the signs but was that still the
case in the Gospels and in the Acts?
No.4. Setting the scene --- The Gospels:
"Many believed when they saw the Miracles".
pp. 206 - 211
We have seen in previous articles that miracles abound in the book of Acts and that
the book is dominated by the Jews. We saw in our last study how in the O.T. God had
taught, disciplined, protected and guided the people of Israel by using miracles, signs,
wonders and displays of power. The Jew looked for, even demanded, miracles and could
not be expected to believe that anyone spoke on behalf of God unless he had the
accredited signs and wonders.
One night, a Pharisee, a ruler of the Jews named Nicodemus came to the Lord Jesus
and said:
"Rabbi, we know that Thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can do those
miracles that Thou doest, except God be with Him" (John 3: 2).
Nicodemus, being a master and teacher of Israel, would know his Scriptures, the O.T.,
and would know what the prophets had foretold.
On another occasion, when John the Baptist was in prison, he sent two of his disciples
to the Lord Jesus Christ to ask:
"Art Thou He that should come? or look we for another? And in that same hour
He cured many of their infirmities and plagues and of evil spirits; and unto many that
were blind He gave sight. Then Jesus answering said unto them, Go your way and tell
John what things ye have seen and heard; how that the blind see, the lame walk, the
lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, to the poor the gospel is preached"
(Luke 7: 19-22).