Why do so many people find it so hard to believe God? For example, He tells us in His Word that He led the children of Israel through the Red Sea by parting the waters. Once they were on the other side, He drowned their pursuers, the Egyptian army, by returning the waters upon them. Every excuse imaginable has been offered to annul any authenticity in this account, primarily that they actually went a different route that took them through a shallow area, perhaps ankle to knee deep.
We find this documentation of God in Exodus 15, but let’s read what God said through the prophet Nehemiah.
“And thou didst divide the sea before them, so that they went through the midst of the sea on the dry land; and their persecutors thou threwest into the deeps, as a stone into the mighty waters.” (Nehemiah 9:11)
If that isn’t clear enough, and it certainly should be, let’s read the same passage in another very easy to understand, and accurate translation.
“You divided the sea for your people so they could walk through on dry land! And then you hurled their enemies into the depths of the sea. They sank like stones beneath the mighty waters.” (Nehemiah 9:11 NLT)
· How can anyone deduce from that that Israel walked across via a shallow area?
· What would be the point in “dividing the sea” if it were shallow?
· How do you hurl your enemies in the shallows? Maybe you trip them. They were thrown or hurled into the deeps or depths of the sea. That ain’t shallow folks.
· How do you drown an army in shallow water? It says they sank like a stone in mighty water. That’s a heck of a lot of water. No shallows here.
· To top it off, God also blew the ground dry with a wind in order that they could cross on dry ground and not get stuck in the mud.
There are thousands of instances like this in the Bible that many people just cannot get to the point of believing.
Here’s the way I see it. If there is one instance in the Bible that is not true, why should I trust any of it? Also, should it not be true that God can do anything He chooses? Think about this now, it might slip by you. Doesn’t the fact that He is God make Him much greater than we could ever comprehend? You and I could never perform this feat mentioned in Nehemiah 9:11, but we are not God. We are mere humans. So, why do so many put our human limitations upon God?
It is understandable that those who do not know God are blind to the Truth. What isn’t understandable is that many of those who say they do know God are blind to the Truth. How can one who says they know God not believe His Word in its entirety, such as Nehemiah 9:11?
We have been in the last days for nearly 2,000 years, and are now in the last of the last days. We are, in these final days of the Church age, certainly blessed with religious people who are just as blind as the scribes and Pharisees of the first century. The Laodicean church is in full swing, and Jesus said to them, in part,
“Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind [emphasis mine], and naked:” (Revelation 3:17)
Jesus healed the sick, caused the blind to see, raised the dead, etc. He closed the mouths of lions against Daniel. He caused a flood that destroyed all people except Noah and his family. He died on the cross and rose from the dead. He says He is returning for His Church. He has given us signs, that abound by the way, to usher in the Tribulation. He has told us of Heaven, hell, the lake of fire, judgment, rewards, and much more. He has told us about sin and its consequences. How can it be that religious people, leaders no less, do not believe? They are blind. Why do they pick and choose what they will accept? They are blind. Are they truly saved?
Notice that I called them religious people. Religion and Christianity are not the same. Religion is the act of man doing it his way. Christianity is the act of man doing it God’s way. Religion seeks its own god, usually man himself. Christianity accepts God as God and accepts all that He is and says. Religion is man’s way to satisfy man. Christianity is a relationship with Almighty God through the Lord Jesus Christ.
It can be most irritating when we think of the religious leaders of our day who are leading others away from Christ instead of toward Him. As I type, I see the faces of those I am familiar with in my mind. One part of me would like to smack some sense into them, but another, wiser part, says they are lost and need our prayers. That is the part we all need to listen to. Some of us who rant and rave over the lunacy of today’s false teachers should certainly continue to do so, but they still need our prayers. Jesus said,
“Let them alone: they be blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch.” (Matthew 15:14)
One person teaching falsehoods can lead many away from Christ. They instill doubts in innocent minds that trust them for the Truth, but instead are led toward the broad road of destruction. Perhaps if just one of these false teachers could be led to the Truth by prayer, the innocent victims who they would have led to destruction will instead be led to Jesus Christ.
If just one Truth-filled Christian, who has not spoken out before, would do so now, perhaps hundreds or thousands could be saved from the false teachings of false prophets.
Satan wants to place just the slightest doubt in our minds concerning God. Read the account of Elijah and the 450 prophets of Baal beginning at 1 Kings 18:20. The doubters will say that Elijah actually poured four gallons of gasoline or some other ignitable fluid on the altar instead of water. Which do you believe? Elijah told the people in verse 21,
“And Elijah came unto all the people, and said, How long halt ye between two opinions? if the LORD be God, follow him: but if Baal, then follow him. And the people answered him not a word.”
Do you believe it or not? Is God really God, or is it all a lie? There is no middle ground. I will go so far to say that if we cannot believe these accounts that God has placed in His Word, I cannot see how we can possibly claim to be a child of God, saved by grace through Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
If we cannot believe that Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead for example, how can we believe anything God has said? We cannot. The only conclusion must be that no faith exists, and it is through faith in Him that we are saved by His grace.
“For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.” (Ephesians 2:8-9)
If we cannot accept every Word that proceeds from the mouth of God, but instead pick and choose what we will believe, we are not of God. If we cannot believe the Bible’s condemnation concerning homosexuality, abortion, evolution, etc. we are not of God. Believe it or not, the Bible is that which proceeds from the mouth of God for us to accept as Truth. To do otherwise is to call God a liar.
“God forbid: yea, let God be true, but every man a liar; as it is written, That thou mightest be justified in thy sayings, and mightest overcome when thou art judged.” (Romans 3:4)
“He that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in himself: he that believeth not God hath made him a liar; because he believeth not the record that God gave of his Son.” (1 John 5:10)
Grant Phillips