“Teacher, Jesus did magic, didn’t He?”, two big brown eyes look up at me after the Shabbat school class. We had just finished several lessons learning about how Jesus loves us, knows all of our needs and provides for us. In the lesson that day we learned that Jesus cared about his friends at the wedding and, when the wine ran out, turned water into wine. This really looks just like a magician at the birthday party who just turned the blue scarf into a red scarf!!
The effect of a miracle, a sign, a wonder and of magic can appear the same, which is really confusing. To define them, we have to think about several points:
- Who is the author?
- Who is the performer?
- What is the purpose?
I will use the terms as they are used in the Bible, not in everyday use.
THE EVIL
Let us take a look at Exodus 7:8 – 8:18. God tells Moses that he should perform a miracle if asked by Pharaoh. Moses is to throw down his staff so that it may become a serpent. Moses does so – and the magicians of Egypt appear do the same. The same happens with the first and second plague. Moses turns the water into blood. So do the magicians. Moses brings forth frogs. So do the magicians. There is no question that both sides appear to do something supernatural. And yet, when it comes to the gnats, the magicians cannot imitate the miracle and admit that “This is the finger of God”.
So, what is the difference between the miracle and magic here? Moses is the one performing a miracle, but God is the author. The purpose of the miracle is to glorify God. The magicians are the performers as well, but we are not told from where they get the power to perform their “secret arts”. But since they perform these imitations to discredit God, we must assume that their power or trickery does not come from God.
In Revelation 13 we see the dragon, the beast from the sea, and the beast from the earth. Among themselves they can give power and authority, heal a fatal wound, perform great signs, make fire come down from heaven, and give breath to an image. The author is not God, the author must be the devil since all these supernatural deeds are performed to deceive those who dwell on the earth and turn them away from God.
The devil can be the author of supernatural acts. He can heal, make sick, perform signs and wonders. He can perform magic. The ones performing these acts are called sorcerers, magicians, witches, spiritists, diviners, mediums or even just ordinary men (Deuteronomy 18:9-14). Their acts are detestable to the LORD. Their purpose is to evade God, not to glorify God. But of course, the devil can only work within the boundaries God allows. We can see that in Job 1&2, when Satan receives permission from God to harm Job. We can also see in Matthew 24:24 that false Christs and prophets will arise and will show great signs and wonders for the purpose of misleading, if possible, even the elect. This is allowed in God’s plan. The devils’ deeds are so amazing that he will deceive those who dwell on the earth. But none of his deeds bring glory to God. And the Bible never calls them a miracle.
THE MAGICIAN
Magic is tricky, because it indicates both supernatural as well as natural acts. The Merriam Webster dictionary says that on one hand magic describes the use of means (such as charms or spells) believed to have supernatural power over natural forces. On the other hand, it describes an extraordinary power or influence seemingly from a supernatural source.
So how about the magician who turned the blue scarf into a red scarf? This is the third definition of the word Magic according to Merriam Webster: The art of producing illusions by sleight of hand. Illusionists or magicians at birthday parties work in the natural. They trick the spectators, but the
audience also wants to be tricked!! They paid for the tickle of not being able to figure out how the illusionist did it. The author and performer of this kind of magic is mostly one and the same and he receives the glory. What he does are tricks, not miracles.
GOD’S MIRACLES
God works in the supernatural. Only He can create. When Jesus heals the crippled, leprous or blind, He restores or recreates whole body parts. When He stills a storm, defeats armies with rain or hail, or when He causes the nets of the fishermen to be filled with fish, we see that creation knows and obeys His voice. When He raises the dead, we can see that he can give and take life according to His pleasure. When Jesus turns water into wine, He turned a simple formula consisting of one oxygen and two hydrogen into a complex compound of water with acids, alcohols, inorganic substances, nitrogenous compounds, phenolics, and more, a transformation without a laboratory. No normal human can do it. Why did Jesus do it? “This beginning of signs Jesus did in Cana of Galilee, and revealed His glory; and His disciples believed in Him.” John 2:11.
SUMMARY
God performs signs and wonders, the devil can do so as well. The devil and man can author and perform supernatural or natural magic. God never authors or performs magic. The Bible tells us that only God can author miracles. Even when the devil performs a sign or a wonder, the Bible never calls it a miracle. The devil’s signs always lead away from God. God’s miracles are always supernatural, they always glorify God, reveal something about Himself and bring people to Himself.
Tina Ondricek