Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and through the night the LORD caused the sea to go back by a strong east wind and turned it into dry land, and the waters were divided (Ex. 14:21).
Who has seen such marvelous things? God’s prophets and deliverers do amazing works. Miracles, wonders and signs give credibility to the words they speak and bring success to their missions. Yet none of these works are done by their own abilities. Moses stretches out his hand over the water, but it is the “breath” (NIV, NLT) of YHWH (the LORD) that blows upon the sea and causes it to separate (Ex. 15:10).[1]The sea parts at the raising of Moses’ staff (Ex. 14:16). At the direction of the prophet Elisha, Naaman dips seven times in the Jordan River and is cured of leprosy (2 Kings 5:10–14). By Elijah, fire comes from heaven upon the sacrifice of the LORD (1 Kings 18:36–38). Another time, the prophet causes rain to be withheld from the land (1 Kings 17:1). On still another occasion, a woman’s son is brought back to life (1 Kings 17:17–24).
These men and women of God do “YHWH things”: things that we would expect only God to do. The works that they do can even rightly be said to have been done by God. Yet they themselves are not YHWH.
God’s prophets and deliverers do amazing things. However, they do not act on their own. The God who sends them to his people also fully equips them for their missions. He equips them according to whatever deliverance is needed:
Then he said to me, “This is the word of the LORD to Zerubbabel: ‘Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit,’ says the LORD of hosts” (Zech. 4:6).It is not by human might or power that Zerubbabel will succeed. Rather, it is by the active presence of God. It is by his spirit that wonderful works will be accomplished.
When the Messiah’s day comes, God greatly equips him. He too does YHWH things. Like Zerubbabel, he does all his great works by the spirit of the LORD (Isa. 61:1, 2; cf. Luke 4:1, 18–21). Like Moses and others, he does miraculous signs ( John 3:2; 11:47). His disciples also do great things (Acts 5:12).
The fact that God’s prophets and deliverers do these amazing works does not mean that they themselves are YHWH. Neither are they God-men, or angel-men or some other kind of super-beings. Rather, they are people who are empowered by his spirit. They do all of their works by the spirit of God. That demonstrates that they are true human beings. If they were otherwise, perhaps they would have innate abilities and not need the working of God’s spirit to do these things. 21C Christian Reformation.
