Many of the Bible’s key events can be understood in two different ways. The first way is that God performed a supernatural miracle; the second, that it was only a natural event. One key event is the Exodus. Here, according to the narrative, a conscripted labor force, a Hebrew tribe, decided to follow Moses and make their escape from bondage. They made a “run” for it.

They arrived at an intimidating body of water which stopped them in their tracks. Then they heard the thunder of approaching chariots and realized that the Egyptians had decided to recapture them. Now the refugees were literally trapped “between the devil and the deep blue sea.” In an apparent “miracle”, they managed to cross on dry land and make their escape.

In his book, Rediscovering the Bible, Bernhard W. Anderson described that magical moment: “If, however, a modern skeptic had been on hand at the time, he would not necessarily have seen what the Israelites saw, and certainly he would not have found proofs that compelled his reason to acknowledge the redemptive activity of God in history. The miracle of the Red Sea was no proof —- but to those who saw in faith, it was the assurance that God was with them, fighting for them against impossible odds.

“Here we are up against — the mystery that some men see the action of God while other rational men — are spiritually blind. Consider the miracle of the Red Sea. For many people the Biblical story has lost its glamour because scholars have pointed out that: (a.) the body of water referred to is not the Red Sea but the shallow ‘sea of reeds’ or Marsh Sea further north; (b.) the miracle occurred during a violent storm when the wind reached such a velocity that the shallow waters were temporarily held back,—‘a strong east wind,’ (Exodus 14:21); and (c.) this ‘natural event’ has been witnessed in more recent times in this area.

“This very plausible theory fails to explain the perfect timing: the strange coincidence of the natural phenomenon with the emergency of the fugitive Hebrews.”

Then I recall the miracle of Jesus’ ascension. This is how Matthew described it in his gospel: “Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted.” (Matthew 28:16-17 NIV) Hear that? Some worshiped; some doubted.

And when Moses, in the desert, saw a burning bush, it captured his attention. Bursting into flame, it continued to burn without burning up. Suddenly the prophet knew that he was in the presence of God — a God of miracles.

In her poem Aurora Leigh, Elizabeth Barrett Browning wrote this insight: