“One day the leaders of the town of Jericho visited Elisha. “We have a problem, my Lord,” they told him. “This town is located in pleasant surroundings, as you can see. But the water is bad, and the land is unproductive.” Elisha said, “Bring me a new bowl with salt in it.” So they brought it to him. Then he went out to the spring that supplied the town with water and threw the salt into it. And he said, “This is what the Lord says: I have purified this water. It will no longer cause death or infertility.” And the water has remained pure ever since, just as Elisha said.” 2 Kings 2:19-22 NLT
Aren’t miracles, well…miracles, you may ask? I thought so. Then I watched this documentary about Moses and the Jewish people crossing the Red Sea. The water parted, it separated, and over a million people walked across on dry land. Then the Egyptian army, with chariots and thousands of foot soldiers followed them into the water. The Jewish people arrived safely on the other side, then God closed the opening on the sea, drowning the entire Egyptian army. Remember this? The documentary had lots of theories, but shockingly the experts were divided on this idea of natural vs supernatural miracles. Did God use the natural forces of the earth (wind, specific spot in the body of water, even the gravitational pull of the moon and earth in that exact moment) or did God just command the water to divide and it obeyed?
This “little” (not little at all) miracle that Elisha performed was titled, “Elisha’s First Miracle.” Well, yeah it was God’s miracle through Elisha but I get it. Was it natural or supernatural? Does it matter to you? It really doesn’t matter to me. I love science and knowing some of the cool mysteries of our world. I love that scientists thought their discoveries would become more simple as they searched deeper and higher than man had ever searched before. But instead, their searching has become more complicated, forcing them to ask even more difficult questions. This applies to the smallest microscopic particle to the largest and many universes in the cosmos. So if Elisha’s was some kind of chemical biologist, knowing that a few cups of salt would permanently balance the PH levels in an ever flowing river, and God gave him this knowledge – so be it. However, if God told Elisha about the salt or even if he came up with it on his own then God just “healed” the water supply for the whole city – well that’s fantastically okay with me as well!
If you study some of the Old Testament prophets’ miracles, you’ll find they are pretty strange. Floating axe heads, Elisha and the two bears, or laying nose to nose, toe to toe on a dead little boy’s body, you’ll really scratch your head and say, “Whoa, this is some crazy stuff!” But the point still remains here. Jericho had a citywide problem and the leaders went to the new man’s of God, Elisha. They may have expected him to pray or make a big spectacle of it all. He didn’t. He asked them for a bowl of salt. He went out to the spring that was the water supply for the city and threw the salt into the running stream. Then he tells them, the Lord says, “I have purified this water.” Boom. Miracle.
Prayer
Dad,
You are the God, the only God. And, since you created all things, it’s not surprising at all that you do both “natural” and supernatural miracles. I don’t even think they are miracles to you, just simple commands that all the existence of any and all universes and planets within must comply with! Yet with us, you allow us to choose. You’ve given us freedom to believe, to know you. Or, to not believe and deny not only your existence, but also your plan to save us from ourselves. I believe in you and in miracles!