"If God decided to reveal Himself in plain sight of the whole world, how would the world be affected? How would God make the whole world believe in Him?"
The man speculated, "Perhaps if God came out of the clouds and showed Himself, maybe the whole world would finally believe."
The host, Dennis Prager, thought not. "I've often considered this problem. I've thought if perhaps God interrupted every radio, TV, and satellite signal, announcing in every language, 'I'm God! Yes, I'm real. I love you all - but you're a bunch of little twits for thinking this all came from nothing!', then perhaps they'd believe. [laughs] But you know what, no, they still wouldn't believe, would they?
The man replied, "No, they'd think it's a hoax."
Dennis retorted, "You're right, they would. Half the world would blame the US for the supposed hoax, and the rest would blame us Jews. [laughs] 'Ah, the Jews are at it again!' they'd say. Or perhaps they'd think it's a UFO... or in this case, a UFD -- unidentified flying deity. [laughs]
Ending the conversation, Dennis noted, "In all seriousness, I don't think it's humanly possible for God to make every single person on earth a permanent believer. I've taught Jews and non-Jews for years on the first 5 books of the Bible -- the Torah. In the Torah, you have God toying with false gods of the Egyptians: for the sun God, there was darkness over the land, for the livestock idols, there was death of the livestock. You have the Israelites being led out of Egypt, God opening up the Red Sea for them, then closing on the Egyptians, God sending food from heaven, God sending a leading pillar of fire by night, a pillar of cloud by day, water coming out of rock miraculously at God's directive.
But what did the Israelites do?
They built a golden calf.
After all these miracles, after all this God-revealing-Himself, there was doubt and rebellion as soon as trouble showed up.
I don't think God can make permanent followers of the whole world simply by showing up."
What do you fine blog readers think about this? How would God prove Himself to the whole world? I'd love to hear you opinion, Jean-Louis, Gary, Rocky, and any others foolish enough to read this blog.
Okay, so it looks like I am first :)
ReplyDeleteFirst of course, is that God has already done this with Yeshua. He came in flesh and showed Himself to everyone with signs and wonders and they crucified Him.
When the rich man was in the hell and asked to go to his family and warn them, he was told that they would not even believe one sent back from the dead.
On the other end of it, He will do just that soon! When He returns it says that "every" eye will behold Him. He will setup His kingdom here on earth and even then, there will still be some that turn away.
So, at the end of the day, the mere fact that we exist (or anything for that matter) and all that God has created, the Bible says testifies of Him and no one has an excuse. If people still want to build their own gods or follow others who have built their own, then there is not much that can be done, but to live by example and pray for them.
and then there's Revelation... with all the angels doing their thing (and some pretty incredible things going on, mind you) do people repent and recognise Him? Nope. So indeed, how can God prove himself? Well, methinks the question itself is already telling and misleading into a discussion filled with holes since God doesn't need to prove Himself. Why should He prove himself to us in a manner satisfying our reasoning? Seems backwards. The dialogue on the mountain is apt: Whom shall i tell the people you are? "I AM"
ReplyDeleteWhen we presuppose how God can/should prove Himself, we've already started to "invent" _a_ god and attribute that to The Almighty. That invention is where the argument unravels and we end up defending our own presuppositions.
Rather, if we're talking about something/someone we can't fully comprehend (one of the conditions required in order to be considered a _higher_ power :) our stance should reflect as such- one of submission.
Which begs the question: LORD, How did you show yourself (already)?
Questions as these, albeit useful exercises, tend to position ourselves above God from the outset, and therein lies the rub.
Rocky, thanks for stopping by and commenting.
ReplyDeleteGood point on the New Testament story with the rich man in torment after death, where people wouldn't believe any words of warning. So, it seems like it's impossible without some serious supernatural intervention.
I am looking forward to seeing how every knee will bow. How will God pull that off? :-) Will be interesting to see, for sure.
Bryan, interesting take on this. Did you know that Jewish tradition has it that the golden calf wasn't a "new" god of any kind, but rather, it was meant as the calf for the "unseen God", I Am, the Lord. In Egypt, it was customary to make idols riding atop bulls or other livestock. Israel made this golden calf with an invisible rider as a tribute to the Lord.
Isn't it interesting that despite this well-intentioned act, this didn't sit right with God? Even if the golden calf invention was well-intentioned, it was wrong. Makes me wonder about other things we may be doing wrong -- statues of Mary and Jesus in Catholic Churches, statues and trinkets of angels and cherubim, to name a few. It makes me wonder what God thinks of that stuff.
Why should He prove himself to us in a manner satisfying our reasoning? Seems backwards.
Good question. It seems, though, that God will reveal Himself to all humanity at some point. Revelation reveals this, as does prophetic words in the Tenakh/Old Testament:
No longer will a man teach his neighbor,
or a man his brother, saying, 'Know the LORD,'
because they will all know me,
from the least of them to the greatest,"
declares the LORD.
"For I will forgive their wickedness
and will remember their sins no more."
So, at some point in the future, everyone will know the Lord; God will reveal Himself to everyone at some point. That will be awesome to see, I hope I'm alive during that time.
Judah,
ReplyDeleteAs others have said, I don't think that the world would receive Him. I can't think of a thing He could do to make those who have chosen rebellion, whose hearts have become as stone, to receive Him willingly. It reminds me of the first chapter of John:
He came to His own, and those who were His own did not receive Him. But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.
God has been unable to win the hearts of the multitude even by the gift of His Son. People have ignored God’s love and they will shake their fists when He pours out the bowls of His wrath. Then their rebellion will be complete.
As you and others have mentioned, every knee will bow and every tongue confess Jesus as Lord. I don't know what will bring that about; whether it will be by compulsion or by deep realization, but it will be glorious to see.
I know I probably owe you and Rocky some responses, but I am recovering from my daughters wedding yesterday. I probably will be posting some pics and maybe even a movie clip soon.
In Christ,
Gary
Excellent Gary. Looking forward to seeing those pics of the wedding.
ReplyDeleteWhen God comes again all will recognize him as God and bow (as it is written in the Bible), but at that point there will be no free will. The question isn't can God make the whole word believe in him, of course he can, he is God after all. The question is can it be done while simultaneously maintaining free will. The answer to that is obviously no. If God causes everyone to believe, then there is no free will. So long as God allows free will, there will be those who doubt.
ReplyDeletePat O
hi all. I think that, well God already showed himself to mankind, and gave "hints" for recognizing him past the years: the prophecies that became truth on Jesus during his whole life give testimony on that. About the golden calf: that is not what the bible pictures, it says that the people got desperate about Moses not coming back with God's instructions, and they build the calf and "invented" a worship ceremony that wasnt part of Gods guidelines. I found a (quite long) article that talks about this type of mis-worship: here
ReplyDeleteWho cares if every person in the world is a true believer. When people are ready, they will embrace what they need. If people are not ready, you will be wasting your time. Instead, focus on the people want help.
ReplyDeleteAll that being said, I believe that there are a large amount of people that want God, but not religion. I belong in that category. There is no perfect religion as history has shown us. Focus on God and how you think God would want you to live. That doesn't mean that what you think is correct, but it is probably a good thing.
Hogan
Thanks for stopping by and posting, Hogan.
ReplyDeleteI generally agree, I also fit into the "looking for God, not religion" category.