Dealing with Unbelief…

Isaiah 43:11-12 (NIV)

I, even I, am the Lord, and apart from me there is no savior. I have revealed and saved and proclaimed— I, and not some foreign god among you. You are my witnesses,” declares the Lord, “that I am God.

When we reach the point in the history of Israel that the Prophet Isaiah is born, and he is called to fulfill his role in the Kingdom of God, we are several centuries past the Exodus of God’s people from the land of Egypt under the appointed leadership of Moses. In our Verse of the Day, we find God still pleading with His people to believe in Him … to trust Him … to place their faith in Him. God revealed Himself to His people through mighty and miraculous events; signs and wonders; judges, kings, and prophets; and yet, there is a continual call from the Spirit of God to “see” Him and to “know” Him. And as I reflected on this message this morning, I recognized that our current generation seems to struggle with the same issue: Faith! How many millennia have come and gone that multitudes of human beings have resisted to acknowledge or believe in the Creator … our Heavenly Father?

Moses struggled with the unbelief of God’s people even after the great parting of the Red Sea and their supernatural deliverance (salvation) from the pursuing armies of Pharaoh. We find the same issue of unbelief under the leadership of Joshua after crossing the Jordan River into the Promised Land. It continued under their Judges, under Samuel, and during the reign of the Davidic Kings. Restoration leaders like Ezra and Nehemiah urged the people returning from the judgment of exile to believe and to return to their faith and worship of God. The major and minor Prophets spoke as the mouth of God – “I AM Here!” “I AM He!” “I AM!” Indeed, I believe their unbelief was the very reason that Jesus, the Son of God, was sent unto His own; and yet, even the disciples had to be rebuked for their unbelief at times. What gives? Why are humans so resistant to believe … so rebellious against the knowledge of God? There are many Scriptures that come to mind regarding unbelief:

Deuteronomy 1:30-33 (NKJV)

³⁰ The Lord your God, who goes before you, He will fight for you, according to all He did for you in Egypt before your eyes, ³¹ and in the wilderness where you saw how the Lord your God carried you, as a man carries his son, in all the way that you went until you came to this place.’ ³² Yet, for all that, you did not believe the Lord your God, ³³ who went in the way before you to search out a place for you to pitch your tents, to show you the way you should go, in the fire by night and in the cloud by day.

Psalm 78:52-58 (ESV)

⁵² Then He led out His people like sheep and guided them in the wilderness like a flock. ⁵³ He led them in safety, so that they were not afraid, but the sea overwhelmed their enemies. ⁵⁴ And He brought them to His holy land, to the mountain which His right hand had won. ⁵⁵ He drove out nations before them; He apportioned them for a possession and settled the tribes of Israel in their tents. ⁵⁶ Yet they tested and rebelled against the Most-High God and did not keep His testimonies, ⁵⁷ but turned away and acted treacherously like their fathers; they twisted like a deceitful bow.
⁵⁸ For they provoked Him to anger with their high places; they moved Him to jealousy with their idols.

Matthew 21:28-32 (ESV)

²⁸ “What do you think? A man had two sons. And he went to the first and said, ‘Son, go and work in the vineyard today.’ ²⁹ And he answered, ‘I will not,’ but afterward he changed his mind and went. ³⁰ And he went to the other son and said the same. And he answered, ‘I go, sir,’ but did not go. ³¹ Which of the two did the will of his father?” They said, “The first.” Jesus said to them, “Truly, I say to you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes go into the Kingdom of God before you. ³² For John came to you in the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes believed him. And even when you saw it, you did not afterward change your minds and believe him.

John 12:37-45 (ESV)

³⁷ But although Jesus had done so many signs before them, they did not believe in Him, ³⁸ that the word of Isaiah the prophet might be fulfilled, which he spoke: “Lord, who has believed our report? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?” (Cf. Isaiah 53:1) ³⁹ Therefore they could not believe, because Isaiah said again: ⁴⁰ “He has blinded their eyes and hardened their hearts, lest they should see with their eyes, lest they should understand with their hearts and turn, so that I should heal them.” (Cf. Isaiah 6:10) ⁴¹ These things Isaiah said when he saw His glory and spoke of Him. ⁴² Nevertheless even among the rulers many believed in Him, but because of the Pharisees they did not confess Him, lest they should be put out of the synagogue; ⁴³ for they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God. ⁴⁴ Then Jesus cried out and said, “He who believes in Me, believes not only in Me but in Him who sent Me. ⁴⁵ And he who sees Me sees Him who sent Me. ⁴⁶ I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in Me should stay in darkness.

John 14:5-11 (ESV)

⁵ Thomas said to Jesus, “Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?” ⁶ Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. ⁷ If you had known me, you would have known my Father also. From now on you do know Him and have seen Him.” ⁸ Philip said to Him, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us.” ⁹ Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? ¹⁰ Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own authority, but the Father who dwells in me does His works. ¹¹ Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me, or else believe on account of the works themselves.

Hebrews 3:7-19 (NIV)

⁷ Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says, “Today, if you hear His voice, ⁸ do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion, on the day of testing in the wilderness, ⁹ where your fathers put me to the test and saw my works for forty years. ¹⁰ Therefore I was provoked with that generation, and said, ‘They always go astray in their heart; they have not known my ways.’ ¹¹ As I swore in my wrath, ‘They shall not enter my rest.’” ¹² Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God. ¹³ But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called “today,” that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. ¹⁴ For we have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original confidence firm to the end. ¹⁵ As it is said, “Today, if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion.” ¹⁶ For who were those who heard and yet rebelled? Was it not all those who left Egypt led by Moses? ¹⁷ And with whom was He provoked for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose bodies fell in the wilderness? ¹⁸ And to whom did He swear that they would not enter His rest, but to those who were disobedient? ¹⁹ So, we see that they were unable to enter because of unbelief.

Well, I think the point has been made here regarding the seriousness of unbelief. And I think it stems from our own human pride. Somehow, we think that we know more than God on how things are supposed to be … how He is supposed to govern His Kingdom … how He should do things the way we think He ought to do them. Rather than believe what God has revealed, we want to question Him regarding what He has not revealed. In my observation, I believe God has revealed Himself sufficiently for humans to believe in Him. Paul asserted that what may be known about God is plain to see because God has made it plain to us. For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities – His eternal power and divine nature – have been clearly seen; being understood from what has been made so that people are without excuse. (Cf. Romans 1:19-20)

The challenge for each generation has always been unbelief … intermittent doubt … wavering faith! Well did the inspired writer of Hebrews define the concept of faith: “Now faith is the substance (confidence) of things hoped for, the evidence (assurance) of things not seen.” (Cf. Hebrews 11:1) And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to Him must believe that He exists and that He reward those who earnestly seek Him. (Cf. Hebrews 11:6) Isaiah prophesied, “Who has believed our message and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?” (Cf. Isaiah 53:1) And I am reminded that God declared: “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways. As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.” (Cf. Isaiah 55:8-9)

Instead of trying to second guess or out maneuver God, perhaps we should just simply believe Him at His Word. “No one has ever seen God, but the one and only Son, who is Himself God and is in closest relationship with the Father, has made Him known.” (Cf. John 1:18)Indeed, “In the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days He has spoken to us by His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, and through whom also He made the universe. The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of His Being, sustaining all things by His powerful word.(Cf. Hebrews 1:1-3a)

I think about what Jesus said to Thomas after His resurrection: “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” (Cf. John 20:29) Thomas had been with Jesus for three years. He saw the miracles. He heard the sermons. He knew Jesus personally. Yet, he did not believe the testimony of his fellow disciples concerning His resurrection. Even now, I recall the words of Jesus to Martha at the tomb of Lazarus. Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?”  (Cf. John 11:25)

A Final Thought:

Note that we are ordained to be witnesses … to give our testimony of God: His Revelation … His Salvation … His Proclamation. As Paul affirmed: “Therefore, God exalted Him to the highest place and gave Him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” (Cf. Philippians 2:9-11) Remember, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word about Christ.” (Cf. Romans 10:17) And so I think for us to be effective, we cannot be wavering in our faith. If we want to reach our generation with the hope of the Gospel, it will require us to not only believe the message about Jesus Christ, but to put faith into action. We are called to persevere in our faith … to be steadfast and to trust in the Lord forever. And though our faith will be tested and refined throughout our journey, let us remember that we can approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need. (Cf. Hebrews 4:16)

So Now You Know…

Have a Blessed Day!