Many people display a complete lack of interest in religion, explaining their apathy by saying they can not understand the Bible and think that God should have given His message to man in a clear way that none could misunderstand. This attitude, of course, puts the blame for their indifference squarely on God and relieves them of any further responsibility.
A contributing factor to their lack of anxiety is the vague, erroneous thought most people have in the dim recesses of their minds that they will ultimately end up in Heaven, no matter what they believe. Nothing could be further from the truth, but that is another subject.
A brief look at the history of God’s dealings with man will show that on a number of occasions He had clearly and definitely demonstrated His power or given instructions, only to be ignored or disobeyed by those who witnessed the event.
Adam and Eve provide an example which their descendants have followed through the centuries. God gave them a command that they should not eat of a certain tree in the Garden of Eden and they disobeyed. There was no Bible to misunderstand and there were no extenuating circumstances. All their wants were supplied and they were not hungry.
As we noted in a previous article, the plagues brought on the Egyptians had two purposes; i.e., to discredit the gods of the Egyptians (Numbers 33:4) and to prove to the Israelites the power of the only true God (Deuteronomy 4:35). The gods of the Egyptians were proven powerless and helpless before the might of the God of Israel but the Egyptians did not renounce them and turn to the true God. As for the Israelites themselves, even after their miraculous delivery from the army of Pharaoh at the Red Sea, it was only a short time before they made a golden calf and said, “These be thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the Land of Egypt.” (Exodus 32:4.)
When Nebuchadnezzar made an image of gold and commanded everyone to fall down and worship it, three courageous men refused to obey, and as a result Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego were thrown into a fiery furnace, which had been heated “seven times more than it was wont to be heated’ and were preserved by God so that they suffered no harm, even though the heat was so great it killed the men who threw them in. Nebuchadnezzar was so impressed that he made a decree “That every people, nation and language, which speak anything amiss against the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego, shall be cut in pieces and their houses shall be made a dunghill; because there is no other God that can deliver after this sort. (Daniel 3:29.)
It would seem that Nebuchadnezzar would be quite convinced of the omnipotence of God after this demonstration, but the next chapter tells us how the Kingdom was taken from him and he was driven from men and made his abode with the beasts of the field, and ate grass as oxen for seven years until he had learned “that the Most High ruleth in the kingdom of men and giveth it to whomsoever He will.”
In the time of Elijah we find many of the Israelites following the example of their wicked king, Ahab, and his wife Jezebel, and worshipping Baal instead of God. Elijah challenged them, “How long halt ye between two opinions? If the Lord be God, follow Him: but if Baal, then follow him.” (1 Kings 18:21.) He then proceeded to decide the question by having the priests of Baal make ready a sacrifice and call on their god all day to send fire to consume it. When “there was neither voice, nor any to answer, nor any that regarded,” Elijah built an altar in the name of the Lord, made a trench about the altar, laid wood upon it, and then cut a bullock in pieces and laid him on the wood. He then had twelve barrels of water poured over the sacrifice and the wood, and the water ran around the altar and filled the trench. Then he prayed to God, and “the fire of the Lord fell and consumed the burnt sacrifice, and the wood, and the stones, and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench.”
Seek and Ye Shall Find
Nothing could have been more decisive and we would expect the worship of Baal to be discontinued from that time on. The record, however, shows that when Jezebel heard that the priests of Baal had been killed, she threatened to kill Elijah, and when Ahaziah, the son of Ahab, began to reign over Israel “he served Baal and worshipped him, and provoked to anger the Lord God of Israel, according to all that his father had done.” (1 Kings 22:53.) It is impossible to help people who prefer to be misled.
When Jesus told the parable of the rich man and Lazarus, he ended by saying, “If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded though one rose from the dead.” Very shortly thereafter He was crucified and rose to life again the third day, and the chief priests and the elders took counsel together and “they gave large money unto the soldiers saying, “Say ye, His disciples came by night and stole Him away while we slept. And if this come to the governors’ ears, we will persuade him and secure you” . . . “and this saying is commonly reported among the Jews until this day.” (Matthew 28:12-15.)
On another occasion Jesus was praying to His Father in Heaven and said, “Father glorify thy name. Then came there a voice from Heaven saying, I have both glorified it and will glorify it again.” Here we have God speaking directly from Heaven for the benefit of the people, for Jesus tells us in John 12:30— “This voice came not because of me, but for your sakes.” What was the reaction of those who heard ? “The people, therefore, that stood by and heard it said that it thundered!”
When Jesus performed His miracles, the people were not half so interested in the wonderful things He did, as they were in finding fault because He did some of them on the Sabbath Day.
Human nature does not change, and if a voice came from Heaven today telling men clearly what they should do, it would take only a few hours for some scientist to explain it away.
God has offered men an opportunity to get eternal life, but it must be on His own terms. Those who sincerely want this gift for themselves, and who are desirous of pleasing God, will take the time and trouble necessary to read their Bibles and find out what God requires of them. If this is too much trouble, they can hardly expect God to give them salvation anyway. Parents do not reward their children for being disobedient, and our Heavenly Father will not give us eternal life for ignoring His commands and doing as we please. In the future age, we shall reap as we have sown.
The Origin of the Organic World – Part One