The Bible has a great deal to say about miracles. This study gathers passages from across Scripture and sets them out for reading and reflection.
What Scripture Says
Miracles appear throughout Scripture as the works of God that display His glory and power. In Numbers 14:22, the Lord recounts how the Israelites had seen His glory and His miracles in Egypt and in the wilderness, yet still tempted Him and refused to hearken to His voice. Deuteronomy 11:3 likewise recalls His miracles and acts done in the midst of Egypt unto Pharaoh and all his land. These early witnesses establish that miracles are not incidental; they are God’s self-revelation in action, and they carry weight in how His people are called to respond.
Yet Scripture also shows that miracles can become a source of longing when they seem absent. In Judges 6:13, Gideon cries out, “where be all his miracles which our fathers told us of, saying, Did not the LORD bring us up from Egypt? but now the LORD hath forsaken us.” Here miracles are remembered as past testimony, and their apparent absence is felt as abandonment. This honest lament reminds us that the people of God have always wrestled with the gap between the mighty works they have heard of and the circumstances they currently face.
In the New Testament, miracles are tied directly to the person and mission of Jesus Christ. John 2:11 records that the turning of water to wine at Cana was “the beginning of miracles” which Jesus did, and that He “manifested forth his glory; and his disciples believed on him.” Acts 2:22 declares that Jesus was “a man approved of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs.” Miracles thus serve as divine authentication, pointing to who Jesus is and drawing people to faith in Him.
The New Testament also connects miracles to the ongoing work of the Spirit in the church. First Corinthians 12:10 lists “the working of miracles” among the gifts given to believers. Galatians 3:5 asks whether the one who works miracles among them does so by the works of the law or by the hearing of faith. Hebrews 2:4 describes God bearing witness “both with signs and wonders, and with divers miracles, and gifts of the Holy Ghost, according to his own will.” Finally, Revelation 13:14 warns that miracles are not automatically from God—the beast deceives those on earth “by the means of those miracles which he had power to do.” Scripture therefore presents miracles as real, purposeful, and sometimes counterfeit, always requiring discernment.
Living It Out
For the ordinary believer, this study calls us to hold miracles in proper perspective. We should not treat them as a formula to be manipulated or as a guarantee that every hardship will be removed. Gideon’s complaint shows that even faithful people can feel abandoned when the miraculous seems distant. Yet the same Scripture that records Gideon’s lament also records God’s patient response to him. We are invited to bring our honest questions to God rather than pretending that doubt is not there.
At the same time, we are called to remember. The Israelites were rebuked not merely for seeing miracles but for seeing them and still not hearkening to God’s voice. Miracles are meant to lead us to trust and obedience, not to become spectacles we consume and forget. And because Revelation 13:14 warns of deceptive miracles, we must test all things by the truth of God’s Word and the character of Christ, asking whether a work points us to Jesus or away from Him.
Reflection
- When you look back on your life, have God’s past works—whether dramatic or quiet—led you to deeper trust and obedience, or have you, like Israel, seen and still not hearkened to His voice?
- How do you discern whether a miraculous claim points to Jesus Christ or merely dazzles, and are you grounding that discernment in Scripture rather than in the excitement of the moment?
Verses to Consider
- Numbers 14:22 — Because all those men which have seen my glory, and my miracles, which I did in Egypt and in the wilderness, and have tempted me now these ten times, and have not hearkened to my voice;
- Deuteronomy 11:3 — And his miracles, and his acts, which he did in the midst of Egypt unto Pharaoh the king of Egypt, and unto all his land;
- Judges 6:13 — And Gideon said unto him, Oh my Lord, if the LORD be with us, why then is all this befallen us? and where be all his miracles which our fathers told us of, saying, Did not the LORD bring us up from Egypt? but now the LORD hath forsaken us, and delivered us into the hands of the Midianites.
- John 2:11 — This beginning of miracles did Jesus in Cana of Galilee, and manifested forth his glory; and his disciples believed on him.
- Acts 2:22 — Ye men of Israel, hear these words; Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs, which God did by him in the midst of you, as ye yourselves also know:
- 1 Corinthians 12:10 — To another the working of miracles; to another prophecy; to another discerning of spirits; to another divers kinds of tongues; to another the interpretation of tongues:
- Galatians 3:5 — He therefore that ministereth to you the Spirit, and worketh miracles among you, doeth he it by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?
- Hebrews 2:4 — God also bearing them witness, both with signs and wonders, and with divers miracles, and gifts of the Holy Ghost, according to his own will?
- Revelation 13:14 — And deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast; saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast, which had the wound by a sword, and did live.
Where These Come From
These verses are drawn from different parts of the Bible on purpose. A subject is rarely settled by a single line; the whole counsel of Scripture gives the shape of it.