God
Wants to Know – Do We Believe Him?
“All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for
doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all
good works.” (2 Timothy 3: 16–17)
The first man Adam didn’t believe God. There were dire consequences. (Genesis
Chapter Three) Adam’s son Cain didn’t believe God, and there were dire
consequences. (Genesis 4: 1-16)
As Christians and other Bible students read the Scripture, they are
sometimes confronted with concepts or recordings of man’s history that bring
them to pause. They question: “Did that really happen?”; or say to themselves:
“I find that hard to believe.” In
reality those are normal reactions when we hear about things that took place
thousands of years ago, because we generally do not have a current point of
reference to be able to relate to them. In fact, many of us grapple with
similar questions about life or man’s history even several decades or a hundred
years prior to our birth.
But that circumstance lays the groundwork for the title question: “God
Wants to Know – Do We Believe Him?” The Scripture noted above in the sub-title
provides the basis for our understanding that the Bible we read is not the
product of a series of “recollections” or “conjectures” made by numerous
authors over a period of time. We have been taught that the knowledge gained by
those various authors (prophets, disciples, Apostles, and others) was imparted
to them through the Holy Spirit. Further, God has provided this Holy Bible as His
message to guide us to the eternal salvation of our souls. (1 Peter 1: 9)
Through our studies we’ve learned not only the history of mankind, but
also how we (even today) have come to need the “salvation of our souls.”
Further still, we’ve been taught that the pathway to that “salvation” is
based not on what we do, but what we believe. (1 Corinthians 15: 1-4;
Romans 10: 9-13) As spiritual beings
made in the image of God (Genesis 1: 26-27; 2: 7,), our believing what God has
said is a spiritual concept that unfortunately many people will not accept.
In His Omniscience, God foreknew that man would be faced with challenges
in accepting even this basic concept of the importance of believing what He has
said. For example, to address this issue He included in the Scripture three of
the most significant events that negatively affected His Chosen People, the
Nation of Israel, with consequences for all of us.
Remember from earlier studies, after mankind had proven unsuccessful
over many centuries in controlling their sin-nature, God made a Covenant with
Abram / Abraham that resulted in the formation of the Nation of Israel.
(Genesis 12: 1-3; https://www.christianity.com/wiki/bible/what-is-the-abrahamic-covenant.html#google_vignette ; https://www.gotquestions.org/Abrahamic-covenant.html ) The three major
outcomes of that Covenant were to be:
1.
Israel established as a nation of priests to
evangelize and instruct the rest of mankind (Gentiles) on God’s Moral Law and
His Righteousness – Israel believed and agreed (Exodus 19: 1-8); but
then through their lack of personal power to control their actions,
they failed to live up to their part of the agreement.
2.
Nation of Israel established in its own land –
“The Promised Land”. (Genesis 13: 15; 15: 7-21; 17: 7-8) – Israel did not
believe what God had said. Unbelief had consequences we / all mankind
still live with today; and
3.
Through Israel, all the families on Earth would be blessed –
the Messiah / Son of God who would establish His Kingdom on the Earth, and take
away the sins of mankind. (Genesis 12:
3; Daniel 2: 44; John 1: 1-37; 3: 16-18) – Israel did not believe what
God said. They conspired with the Romans to crucify our Lord Jesus. (Psalm
2: 1-5; Acts Chapter Seven)
As Christians, we are very familiar with the third point above
related to Israel’s rejection of our Lord Jesus Christ, leading to His terrible
suffering to pay for our sins; His death by Crucifixion;, burial, Resurrection
and Ascension. Therefore I won’t address those specifics further in this blog
post.
Also, we are familiar with the many, many examples of Israel’s inability
to keep God’s Moral Law / Ten Commandments, even as it was being given to
Moses. (Exodus Chapters 20 and 32) As noted in the first point above, as God’s
Chosen People and a “nation of Priests”, they were to be examples of
righteousness for the Gentile world. But the Old Testament is rife with
examples of their violations of God’s Law that resulted in all manner of sinful
behaviors including idolatry, murders, sexual immorality, and more. Again, I
won’t address those specifics further in this blog post.
However, I do want to focus on the second point above, related to the “Promised
Land”. It is a subject that remains even today a continuing source of worldwide
anxiety and concern…all because of Israel’s unbelief. The question many would ask is: “What if
Israel had believed God?” But the reality is they didn’t, so let’s look further
into it.
For some context, remember that Israel became a full Nation of people in
Egypt from the relatively few sons of Jacob and their families, totalling
seventy souls. (Exodus 1: 1-5) There is
not consistent agreement as to how long their descendants lived in Egypt (before
and during their slavery), or how many comprised the Nation that left and were
part of God’s miracle that parted the Red Sea. ( https://www.thetorah.com/article/how-many-years-were-the-israelites-in-egypt ; https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/how-many-israelites-exited-egypt/ ; https://www.gotquestions.org/Israelites-exodus.html ) However, the Scripture clearly states: “And the
children of Israel were fruitful, and increased abundantly, and multiplied, and
waxed exceeding mighty; and the land was filled with them.” (Exodus 1: 7) Further, that statement was made before the
Egyptians came to fear the numerical strength of the Israelites and brought
them into slavery. (Exodus 1: 8-14) Final estimates of their numbers ranged up
to several millions. (https://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/6324155/jewish/11-Facts-About-Counting-the-Israelites-in-the-Desert.htm )
Moving hundreds of years ahead in Israel’s history, after the LORD had
brought them safely from Egypt, the Bible reports: “And Israel saw
that great work which the LORD did upon the Egyptians: and the people
feared the LORD, and believed the LORD, and his servant Moses” (Emphasis
added.)(Exodus 14: 31) Unfortunately that sense of belief / faith / trust did
not last.
Only a few days later, when faced with their
first hardship, the people demonstrated their unbelief / lack of trust by
murmuring against Moses and the LORD. Then they repeated this insult
against God more than once. For details, I strongly encourage you to read the Scripture
verses from the Book of Exodus 15: 22 – 16: 1-35, found at the following link: https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Exodus+15%3A22-16%3A35&version=KJV
The LORD tolerated Israel’s unbelief, even as He guided Moses to lead
them to the border of the Promised Land at a place called “Kadesh-Barnea”. However,
in spite of His love for His favored people, it was there that His patience
wore out.
Note that the Scripture had recorded the LORD’s commitment to give
Israel safe passage into the Promised Land. He would send an Angel to
fight their enemies there, and follow with hornets to drive out any who
remained so that the land would be preserved for Israel’s takeover without
having to fight. (Exodus 23: 20-33; Deuteronomy Chapter Seven) But rather than believing
what the LORD had said, the people requested that they be allowed to “send in
spies” to be able to see for themselves whether they could indeed occupy the Land.
The LORD granted their request. Of the twelve spies Israel sent, ten reported
back to the people that it would be an impossible task. Only Caleb and Joshua
believed the LORD. Note the scripture:
“And Caleb stilled the people before Moses, and said, Let us go up at
once, and possess it; for we are well able to overcome it. But the men that went
up with him said, We are not able to go
up against the people; for they are stronger than we. And they brought up an
evil report of the land…(saying) it is a land that eateth up the inhabitants
thereof; and all the people that we saw in it are men of a great stature…And
there we saw the giants, the sons of Anak,…and we were in our own sight as
grasshoppers, and so we were in their sight.” (Numbers 13: 30-33) (For a more
complete account, read Numbers Chapters 13 and 14.)
As a result of Israel’s unbelief at Kadesh Barnea, the LORD required
them to wander in the wilderness for forty years until all the unbelieving
generation had died. Then He allowed the others to enter the Promised Land, but
not without their having to fight the inhabitants to achieve what God had
already set aside for them. (https://www.gotquestions.org/Kadesh-Barnea.html ) Can you imagine
how much mankind’s future might have been altered if Israel had only believed
God at that time?
Romans 15: 4, advises us that “For whatsoever things were written
aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience
and comfort of the scriptures might have hope.” The Holy Spirit continued
to give Christians and other Bible students the knowledge of examples of man’s
failure to believe what God has clearly said. Ironically, we know that God
loves man, and has loved us since the Creation when He gave man dominion over
the Earth and all its creatures. Having been made in the image of God, man is a
spirit, designed to have eternal life with God. (Genesis 1: 26-28) Through unbelief
(a sin against God), the first man Adam fell and lost his favored status. Fortunately
for us, the LORD God implemented His plan to overcome the death / separation of
man and to redeem all future generations (Genesis 3: 15-21), through the high
price of the precious blood of His Dear Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. (John 3: 16-18)
Now all that God asks is that we believe the Gospel of His Grace, that “Christ
died for our sins, according to the scriptures; And that he was buried, and that rose again
the third day according to the scriptures:” (1 Corinthians 15: 1-4;
Romans 10: 9-13)
Just as the Scriptures cited in this blog post were given by the Holy
Spirit to guide our learning, there are numerous scriptures to explain and
support that Gospel of Grace. In one or more future posts I’ll focus more on
the components of the Gospel. Hopefully we can see more about the love of God
for those who believe Him.
Dr. W. A. (Bill) Robinson
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