If God Wants Himself Known ...

Sometimes, when an atheist or an agnostic is talking to a Christian about God, they will say something like, "If God is real, then why doesn't he show himself to us?" The idea here is that If God exists and if he is concerned that we know him and worship him, then why doesn’t he do more to reveal himself to us? Why, for example, does he seem to refuse to show himself to someone that asks for evidence of his existence? Christians have a variety of answers to these questions. One such answer is that God requires faith and proving his existence to someone would not require faith. Another answer given is that there is evidence for God all around us. For example, Psalm chapter nineteen verse one states:

The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork.

And Romans 1:19-20 says:

Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto them. For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:

The first answer, faith, requires something valid to place your faith in. For example, if there are two chairs before me, one of which is perfectly sound and the other about to fall apart, I can state my faith in the second rickety chair all I want, but when I sit in it the chair will utterly collapse. Faith is only as good as the object that receives it. A person can place their faith in God with all of their might, but if it turns out that that god is not real, what then? They can believe as sincerely as they want, but the end result would be disastrous.

The second answer states that the creation, the very universe in which we live, is evidence for God. However, there are problems with this as well. For example, which god is the creation pointing to? And, if this evidence is so clear, then why isn't everyone convinced?

But there is, in my opinion, an even better question that needs to be asked. Did men ever ask for God to reveal himself to unbelievers in order to convince them that he was real? And, if so, why doesn't God respond to such requests today? The Bible tells us that God is the same yesterday, today and forever (Hebrews 13:8) and that God does not change. Therefore, if God has revealed himself to unbelievers in the past at the request of believers, we should expect him to do the same today.

Let's look at one such instance.

In the book of First Kings, chapter eighteen, we read of the famous story where the prophet Elijah confronts the pagan prophets of Baal. The story is quite amazing. The chapter takes place during an interesting period of Israel's history. The kingdom of Israel had been divided in two with the northern kingdom becoming known as Israel and the southern kingdom as Judah. The kings of Israel are recorded as always being ungodly and pagan. The king during Elijah's time, Ahab, was especially so. He had married a foreign woman who had brought her pagan priests and priestesses with her and caused the people to fall away from worshiping the God of Israel.

As the story goes, God had caused it to cease raining in Israel for three years. However, as chapter eighteen opens we learn that God is sending Elijah to tell king Ahab that he was going to allow it to rain again. Along the way, Elijah demands that the people of Israel, the prophets of Baal and the prophets of the grove come to Mt. Carmel . Basically Elijah is gathering together a nation of unbelievers. His purpose is to convince them that the God is Israel is the one true God and that no other should be worshiped. Elijah says as much in verse twenty-one:

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.

Here we see that Elijah confronts them with their lack of belief in God. Despite his challenge, the people refused to express faith in the God of Israel. As a result, Elijah demands a challenge (verses 23-24):

Let them therefore give us two bullocks; and let them choose one bullock for themselves, and cut it in pieces, and lay it on wood, and put no fire under: and I will dress the other bullock, and lay it on wood, and put no fire under: And call ye on the name of your gods, and I will call on the name of the LORD: and the God that answereth by fire, let him be God. And all the people answered and said, It is well spoken.

This challenge was to be done in the presence of the unbelievers as a means of convincing them to believe and follow the God of Israel. Nowhere in the chapter do we find God telling Elijah to do this. His only instructions are to go to Ahab and tell him that it is about to rain again. However, the challenge is presented and accepted.

As we read the story we see that the prophets of Baal do all they can to cause their god to respond. Elijah, in the mean time, mocks and ridicules them. When Elijah's turn comes he ups the ante. He soaks the sacrifice, thus making the possibility of a spontaneous fire virtually non-existent. He prays a simple public prayer and then, to everyone's surprise, the God of Israel answers and the sacrifice is utterly consumed by the fire! The end result is that the people of Israel, at least for a time, believed in the God of Israel. They then turned and killed the false priests in their midst.

The above example from the Bible shows that a believer in the God of Israel has, in times past, made a demonstration of the power of God to convince unbelievers that God is real. If the Bible is to be believed and if God never changes, then he should not be opposed to doing the same thing today. Believers should be lining the streets and praying prayers like Elijah, fully expecting their god to answer and show forth his power in the midst of an unbelieving world. However, this simply does not happen and Christians know it. Because they know it, they come up with other answers such as you need faith or the evidence of creation should be enough to convince you.

The example of Elijah is not the only one in the Bible. God revealed himself in mighty ways to unbelievers in both the Old and New Testaments. Does anyone remember the pagan leper, Naaman (Second Kings chapter five)? What about the way the Apostles lived as recorded in the book of Acts? They did miracles everywhere they went in order to prove that their god was the one true god. They did not just rely on reason alone. And even Jesus himself, as we see recorded in the Gospels, did acts of miracles from god in order to convince people that his message was true. Where are these miracles today?

If the god of the Bible is real and true and if he is at all concerned with people actually believing in him, then it would stand to reason that he would do something to demonstrate his reality. According to the Bible, he did just this at various times. But in reality, we just don't see it. The Christian excuse that the unbeliever will not see god without faith just does not hold up in the face of biblical evidence. Elijah prayed for god to reveal himself to the masses of unbelievers in his day and the Bible records that he did just that. What about today? The concept that the creation is enough evidence is also not valid. The same creation existed in the days of Elijah, but it was not enough. The people of Israel needed more evidence and Elijah got god to provide it.