BIBLE RECORDS | 124 MIRACLES (53)
1. What are "Miracles"?a) Miracles are those acts that only God can perform; usually superseding natural laws. Baker’s Dictionary of the Bible defines a miracle as “an event in the external world brought about by the immediate agency or the simple volition of God.” It goes on to add that a miracle occurs to show that the power behind it is not limited to the laws of matter or mind as it interrupts fixed natural laws. So the term supernatural applies quite accurately.
b) Miracles are also known as Signs and Wonders.
c) Here we have one of the 124 miracles recorded in the Bible.
2. Miracle 53: RAIN—in clear response to prophet Elijah’s prayers (1 Kings 18:41-45).
a) Rain in clear response to Elijah's prayers.
1 Kings 18:41-45New King James Version (NKJV)
41 Then Elijah said to Ahab, “Go up, eat and drink; for there is the sound of abundance of rain.” 42 So
Ahab went up to eat and drink. And Elijah went up to the top of Carmel;
then he bowed down on the ground, and put his face between his knees, 43 and said to his servant, “Go up now, look toward the sea.”
So he went up and looked, and said, “There is nothing.” And seven times he said, “Go again.”
44 Then it came to pass the seventh time, that he said, “There is a cloud, as small as a man’s hand, rising out of the sea!” So he said, “Go up, say to Ahab, ‘Prepare your chariot, and go down before the rain stops you.’”
45 Now it happened in the meantime that the sky became black with clouds and wind, and there was a heavy rain. So Ahab rode away and went to Jezreel.
So he went up and looked, and said, “There is nothing.” And seven times he said, “Go again.”
44 Then it came to pass the seventh time, that he said, “There is a cloud, as small as a man’s hand, rising out of the sea!” So he said, “Go up, say to Ahab, ‘Prepare your chariot, and go down before the rain stops you.’”
45 Now it happened in the meantime that the sky became black with clouds and wind, and there was a heavy rain. So Ahab rode away and went to Jezreel.
b) Rain.
i) There are three Hebrew words used to denote the rains of different seasons:
@1. Yoreh (Hosea 6:3) or moreh (Joel 2:23), denoting the former or the early rain.
@2. Melqosh, the “latter rain” (Proverbs 16:15).
@3. Geshem, the winter rain, “the rains.” The heavy winter rain is mentioned in Genesis 7:12; Ezra 10:9; Song of Songs 2:11.
The “early” or “former” rains commence in autumn in the latter part of October or beginning of November (Deuteronomy 11:14; Joel 2:23; compare Jeremiah 3:3), and continue to fall heavily for two months. Then the heavy “winter rains” fall from the middle of December to March. There is no prolonged fair weather in Land of Israel between October and March.
The “latter” or spring rains fall in March and April, and serve to swell the grain then coming to maturity (Deuteronomy 11:14; Hosea 6:3). After this there is ordinarily no rain, the sky being bright and cloudless till October or November.
ii) Rain is mentioned many times in the Bible.
@1. Rain and thunder used to get people’s attention (I Samuel 12:18).
@2. Rain withheld as judgment (Zechariah 14:17).
@3. Rain withheld and given (I Kings 16:30-18:45).
@4. Rain given and withheld from certain cities (Amos 4:7).
@5. Rain as a reward for obedience (Deuteronomy 11:13-15).
@6. Bad weather punishment, good weather reward (I Kings 8:35-36).
@7. Dry weather (Hosea 13:15).
@8. Rainless sky, parched earth (Leviticus 26:19-20).
@9. Drought punishment (Deuteronomy 28:24).
@10. Drought and famine (II Samuel 21:1).
iii) Rain is referred to symbolically in Deuteronomy 32:2; Psalms 72:6; Isaiah 44:3, 4; Hosea 10:12.
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