Elisha

Some of the stories in the Bible do seem absurd. For example Elijah and Elisha. They went around doing these crazy miracles. Elijah didn't die. Elisha cursed some boys and 2 bears jumped out to attack them. The Spirit was on these guys in a real way.

But isn't it all just a nice story? How do we know this all really happened? Well, honestly, aside from faith we don't. But it's no greater faith to believe this stuff than to believe the history books. The Bible is just as reliable if not more reliable that much of the history we learn in school.

That's one thing that always blew my mind. The Bible is a highly accurate text. You can research it. There's statistics related to how reliable the Bible is versus the authenticity of things like the Iliad. We know that it's consistent across many copies and thousands of rewrites. History is the story of the winners, but the Bible is the story of God. It paints a slightly different picture. When someone sins, it's recorded. Most of the OT books are records of Israel's history.

This isn't a series of myths that were recorded to teach moral lessons. It's also not written to explain the world to a culture with a primitive world view. No, the Bible is about real people and the things that really happened to them. We know this because this kind of stuff still happens. It's not like God doesn't perform miracles anymore. It's not like crazy God-stuff doesn't happen. Oh it does.

God is in everything, and He's still performing miracles. Then just like now, it's up to us to say "Yeah, that's God." or "Quelle coincidence!"

Personally, I don't believe in coincidence.

Lord, let the Bible be real to anyone who reads it. Let Your Spirit jump of every page and move our hearts. Let the stories speak to us no matter how strange, ridiculous, or awkward. Let are hearts be strengthened with You Word. Let it be our shield and our sword. When we see a miracle, let us know who it's from. The One True God, Jehovah. He is.


Amen. Amen. Amen.