DAD'S RAMBLINGS -- BELIEVING THE EVIDENCE

DAD'S RAMBLINGS – BELIEVING THE EVIDENCE

"And it happened when Ben-Hadad heard this message, as he and the kings were drinking at the command post, that he said to his servants, 'Get ready.' And they got ready to attack the city. Suddenly, a prophet approached Ahab, king of Israel, saying, 'Thus says the LORD: "Have you seen all this great multitude? Behold, I will deliver it into your hand today, and you shall know that I am the LORD." ' " (I Kings 20:12-13)

It happened just as the prophet had said. Israel defeated the enemy. But this demonstration of God's intervention did not change Ahab's heart.

Ahab had just seen a great demonstration of God's power at Mount Carmel when in response to Elijah's prayer, fire came down from heaven and consumed the altar drenched with water. And yet Ahab refused to yield to God.

In today's Scripture, God gave Israel a great victory over Ben-Hadad and the Syrians. The Syrians thought that Israel's God was the God of the mountains and not of the plains. God showed them. God wanted Ahab to know that He was the LORD by giving this victory. But did Ahab humble Himself before God? No.

Unbelief is like that. It doesn't matter how much evidence God gives of His mighty power. If people don't want to believe, they cannot be convinced. A great example of this truth is during the crucifixion of the Lord Jesus. The chief priests, the scribes, and the elders stood at the cross and said, "If He is the King of Israel, let him now come down from the cross, and we will believe Him" (Matthew 27:42b). No they wouldn't! Jesus had performed man, many miracles giving proof of His divinity. And they refused to believe even after Jesus was risen from the dead.

Unbelievers around us today have all the evidence they need in God's creative work. But they reject the evidence to remain in their unbelief. Still we pray that their eyes will be open to the truth. May God help them.

Love, Dad