Signs, Wonders, and Covenant Formation.

There are few conversations within the Church that generate as much excitement, caution, curiosity, and disagreement as the discussion surrounding signs and wonders. For some believers, stories of healing, prophetic insight, deliverance, and miraculous intervention become reminders that God is still active and involved in the lives of His people. For others, such stories are approached with hesitancy, shaped by concerns about emotionalism, theological imbalance, or experiences that have caused confusion and disappointment. From people being raised from the dead, to families being chastised for losing a spouse from a lack of faith. it all exists within the church. Our task is to is to be surrendered to the often strenuous pursuit of accurate and responsible Biblical interpretation. Few subjects will challenge the church and our hearts more than signs and wonders in a modern world, yet it may be just what the world, and the church, truly needs.

Most followers of Jesus carry some measure that God still displays his power and presence through both signs and wonders and yet live in a era of sensationalism, emotional manipulation, and increasing abuse within the church. We long to see God move in powerful ways, yet we also recognize how easily human beings can mistake emotional experiences for spiritual maturity or elevate dramatic moments above the slower work of discipleship. In a culture that often celebrates what is visible and immediate, we can find ourselves asking whether signs and wonders should be pursued, questioned, embraced, or avoided.

Perhaps the better proposition is whether we have understood their purpose rightly.

The Scriptures leave little room to deny that God has, throughout history, intervened in extraordinary ways. The biblical narrative is filled with barren women conceiving, seas parting, fire descending from heaven, the sick being restored, demons being cast out, and the dead being raised.[1] The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob has never been constrained by the created order. He remains Lord over all that He has made.

Yet the biblical story also reveals that signs and wonders were never intended to stand alone. They were never an end in themselves. From the opening pages of Scripture, extraordinary acts of God consistently serve a deeper purpose: they reveal His character, authenticate His covenant faithfulness, and invite people into relationship with Him.

SIGNS AND WONDERS

The Hebrew word often translated as “sign” is ’oth. It carries the sense of a mark, a token, or an indication that points beyond itself to a greater reality.[2] The rainbow after the flood was not merely an impressive display in the sky; it became a sign of God’s covenant commitment to creation. Circumcision was given to Abraham as a sign of belonging to the covenant family. Even the blood spread across the doorposts during Passover served as a sign of God’s deliverance and protection.

Similarly, the Hebrew word mopheth, often translated as “wonder,” describes events that evoke amazement and astonishment.[3] Yet these wonders were never intended simply to inspire awe, they communicated something about who God is and how He relates to His people. This becomes particularly important in the Exodus story.

When many of us think about signs and wonders, our minds immediately turn toward Egypt. The plagues, the pillar of fire, the crossing of the sea, manna from heaven, and water from the rock all stand as remarkable demonstrations of divine power. Yet if we pause long enough to consider the larger narrative, we discover that these miraculous events were not the destination of Israel’s journey, the signs in Egypt pointed beyond themselves.

God did not deliver Israel from slavery merely so that they could witness miracles. He rescued them because He desired a people who would belong to Him. The signs led Israel to Sinai, where God invited them into covenant relationship.[4] There He declared that they would become a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. The goal was not simply liberation from Pharaoh’s oppression, the goal was formation into a people who would reflect the character of the God who had redeemed them.

Perhaps one of the most sobering realities within the Exodus account is that signs alone did not transform the hearts of those who witnessed them. The generation that walked through the sea on dry ground still struggled with fear, mistrust, and idolatry. They experienced miraculous provision and yet often found themselves longing for the familiarity of Egypt.

The problem was not that God had failed to demonstrate His power, the problem was that awe and transformation are not always the same thing.

It is important for us to step into humility and realize it is entirely possible to witness extraordinary things and still resist the work of surrender.

The climax of Exodus is not found in the plagues or even in the parting of the sea.[5] The story reaches its fulfillment when the presence of God fills the tabernacle and dwells among His people. The God who delivered Israel desired not only to rescue them but also to live in their midst. If we seek merely the miraculous, even in scripture we can miss that this relational pattern continues throughout the ministry of Jesus.

The Miraculous Messiah

John’s Gospel rarely uses language that emphasizes miracles for their own sake. Instead, John repeatedly refers to Jesus’ mighty works as signs.[6] These signs reveal something about His identity and mission. Water transformed into wine points toward the abundance of the Messianic kingdom. The healing of the man born blind reveals Jesus as the Light of the World. The feeding of the multitude unveils Him as the Bread of Life. The raising of Lazarus bears witness to the One who holds authority over death itself. Again and again, the signs point beyond themselves.

Signs invite people not merely to marvel at what Jesus can do but to recognize who He is.

This is perhaps most clearly seen in John 6. After Jesus feeds the five thousand, the crowds pursue Him enthusiastically. Yet Jesus exposes the deeper motivations of their hearts, explaining that many had followed Him not because they understood the significance of the signs but because their immediate needs had been met.

They desired what Jesus could provide, Jesus was offering Himself.[7]

SIGNS, WONDERS, AND THE CHURCH

Even today, the Church continues to wrestle with this same tension. Some communities have become so focused on manifestations that experiences themselves become the measure of spiritual vitality. Other communities, reacting against excesses they have witnessed, become hesitant to acknowledge the possibility that God may continue to work in extraordinary ways. Yet the Scriptures do not seem to grant us the comfort of choosing either extreme.

The Apostle Paul encouraged believers to earnestly desire spiritual gifts, especially the gift of prophecy, while simultaneously reminding them that love remains the more excellent way.[8] He corrected churches that had become enamored with spiritual experiences without attending to the work of maturity, humility, and mutual edification. For Paul, the exercise of spiritual gifts was never disconnected from the formation of Christlike character. The Spirit who empowers is also the Spirit who transforms.

THE MIRACULOUS DEFINED

Perhaps one of the greatest losses in our contemporary conversations about signs and wonders is our tendency to overlook the quieter manifestations of God’s kingdom among us. We rightly rejoice when testimonies of physical healing emerge from our communities. We should continue to pray boldly for those who are suffering, believing that God remains compassionate and powerful. At the same time, the Scriptures invite us to recognize that the Spirit’s work often unfolds through less dramatic, though no less miraculous, expressions of divine grace.

The husband who learns to confess pride and seek reconciliation with his wife bears witness to the kingdom of God. The individual who chooses forgiveness after profound betrayal participates in a work that transcends ordinary human inclination. The addict who remains faithful in recovery, the widow who continues to offer hospitality despite her grief, the older saint who steadfastly encourages younger believers over decades of ordinary faithfulness—all of these reveal something of the Spirit’s transforming presence.

These stories rarely draw crowds, they seldom become the focus of conferences yet they testify to the same God who parts seas and raises the dead.

In Acts 2, the outpouring of the Spirit at Pentecost included unmistakable signs of divine activity, yet Luke quickly shifts his attention toward the formation of a new kind of community.[9] Those who experienced the miraculous devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching, fellowship, prayer, and the breaking of bread. They shared possessions with those in need, they worshiped together, they welcomed one another into their homes.

The miraculous and the ordinary were never presented as competing realities.

The same Spirit who empowered extraordinary moments also cultivated communities marked by generosity, hospitality, and steadfast devotion.

From a Hebraic perspective, this integration should not surprise us. Ancient Israel did not separate worship from ethics or spirituality from daily life.[10] To know God involved embodying His character within the rhythms of ordinary existence. Care for widows, protection of the vulnerable, honest business practices, and faithfulness within relationships were all understood as expressions of covenant life.

The God who performed signs and wonders in Egypt also commanded His people to love their neighbors, welcome the stranger, and pursue justice. Power and presence belonged together.

Perhaps this is where the Church most needs wisdom today. We do not honor Christ by manufacturing experiences or by elevating emotional intensity above biblical faithfulness. Neither do we honor Him by becoming so cautious that expectancy disappears from our communities altogether. The Scriptures call us toward a posture of both humility and openness.

We test all things according to the witness of God’s Word because truth matters. We remain attentive to the Spirit because God has not ceased being active in the world He loves. We celebrate testimonies of healing without creating hierarchies of spirituality based upon experiences. We pray with boldness while entrusting outcomes to the wisdom and sovereignty of God.

Ultimately, signs and wonders were never intended to replace discipleship, They were invitations into it.

MIRACLES AND COMMUNION

The biblical story consistently moves toward communion. The signs in Egypt led to Sinai. Sinai led toward the tabernacle, where God dwelled among His people. The tabernacle anticipated the coming of Christ, who “tabernacled” among humanity.[11] Christ poured out His Spirit at Pentecost, forming a people through whom God’s presence would continue to be made known in the world.[12]

The movement of Scripture is not toward spectacle, It is toward relationship.

It is toward the restoration of communion between God and humanity and, through that restoration, the formation of communities capable of embodying His love in tangible ways.

Perhaps the greatest sign and wonder is not found solely in dramatic moments that interrupt the ordinary course of life. Perhaps the greater miracle is that God continues to take fearful, wounded, prideful, and self-protective people and patiently shape them into a covenant family marked by forgiveness, hospitality, generosity, and steadfast love.

In an age increasingly characterized by isolation, suspicion, and division, communities that embody such faithfulness become signs in their own right. They bear witness to the reality that the kingdom of God has drawn near.

May we never become so captivated by extraordinary experiences that we lose sight of the One toward whom they point. May we also resist the temptation to reduce the Christian life to intellectual assent devoid of expectancy. The God revealed in Scripture remains both holy and near, transcendent and compassionate, powerful and personal.

He still heals.

He still restores.

He still speaks.

And perhaps most remarkably of all, He still chooses to dwell among ordinary people,[13] patiently forming them into the likeness of His Son so that the world might catch a glimpse of His kingdom through their lives.

Tov believes in the miracle working power of inner formation that happens within authentic, veil drawn relationships. We believe that through covenant relationships, God's character and communal design will set on display something different, something healing, something other worldly. We continually pray towards the grandiose and yet still look to the ordinary as witness of the miraculous power of God's kingdom all around us.

May the same God who miraculously spoke creation into existence, be given the space to speak to the depths of our unhealed hearts continually forming us into living breathing signs and wonders-both individually and communally. Let it be miraculous enough that God continuously draws near, has always remained faithful, that offers mercy new each day. Each day is a sign and wonder of covenant faithfulness, undeserved, unmerited, grace saturated love.

If signs and wonders point toward the kingdom of God, what kind of people should those signs and wonders be forming us into?

FOOTNOTES:

¹ See Genesis 18:9–15; Exodus 14:21–31; 1 Kings 18:36–39; Matthew 8:14–17; Mark 5:1–20; John 11:38–44.

² The Hebrew word ’oth (אוֹת) is used throughout the Hebrew Scriptures to describe a sign, mark, reminder, or covenant indicator. See Genesis 9:12–13; Genesis 17:11; Exodus 12:13. See also Brown, Driver, and Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament, s.v. “אוֹת.”

³ See Exodus 7:3; Deuteronomy 4:34; Psalm 105:27. The term mopheth (מוֹפֵת) frequently appears alongside ’oth, emphasizing extraordinary acts that authenticate divine action.

⁴ Exodus 19:4–6; Exodus 24:3–11.

⁵ Exodus 40:34–38. The narrative movement of Exodus culminates in the glory of YHWH filling the tabernacle and dwelling among His people.

⁶ John 2:11; John 4:54; John 6:14; John 9:16; John 11:47. John’s Gospel consistently employs the Greek term sēmeion (σημεῖον) to frame Jesus’ miraculous works as revelations of His identity.

⁷ John 6:26–35.

⁸ 1 Corinthians 12:31–13:13; 1 Corinthians 14:1.

⁹ Acts 2:42–47.

¹⁰ Deuteronomy 10:17–19; Isaiah 58:6–12; Micah 6:6–8; Zechariah 7:8–10.

¹¹ John 1:14. The Greek verb eskēnōsen (ἐσκήνωσεν), translated “dwelt,” literally carries the sense of “pitched His tent” or “tabernacled” among us.

¹² Acts 2:1–4; Ephesians 2:19–22; 1 Peter 2:4–10.

¹³ Revelation 21:1–4. The biblical story culminates with the declaration that “the dwelling place of God is with humanity,” bringing to completion the covenant trajectory that began in Eden, continued through the tabernacle and temple, was embodied in Christ, and now finds expression through the Spirit-filled Church.