Don't Believe Every Miracle You See

Deuteronomy 13:1-5

If a prophet or a dreamer of dreams arises among you and gives you a sign or a wonder, and the sign or wonder that he tells you comes to pass, and if he says, ‘Let us go after other gods,’ which you have not known, ‘and let us serve them,’ you shall not listen to the words of that prophet or that dreamer of dreams.

For the Lord your God is testing you,

to know whether you love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul. You shall walk after the Lord your God and fear him and keep his commandments and obey his voice, and you shall serve him and hold fast to him.

I suppose if we witnessed a miracle today we would listen pretty closely to what the fellow who performed it had to say. After all, miracles come from God and are designed to get our attention and to validate prophets.

The miracle gets our attention but then our attention has to shift to what the prophet is telling us because God occasionally tests our knowledge and devotion to his word. He creates a dilemma. Are we going to believe the miracle or are we going to believe what he has commanded us in his written word?

The Deuteronomy text says the written word takes priority over miracles. I wonder why? Probably because Satan (and his agents) can work miracles too and humans through trickery can work pseudo-miracles.

So as Christians we can’t just expect to be spoon fed God’s word. We have to feed ourselves on a regular basis so when God sends a test we won’t fail. This is a test we need to pass… better start studying for it.