Even when God did speak and allowed Himself to be heard by many people… not all of them believed or continued to believe. Even with God’s existence proved in front of our very eyes, some of us will still refuse Him and His love of us. There are two very prominent examples from the Bible on this topic.

In Exodus, God spoke the Ten Commandments aloud for all of the Hebrews to hear before He wrote them down. “And God spoke all these words, saying…” (Exodus 20:1); then the Ten Commandments were given; “And all the people saw the thunderings, and the lightnings, and the noise of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking: and when the people saw it, they removed, and stood afar off.  And they said unto Moses, Speak thou with us, and we will hear: but let not God speak with us, lest we die.” (Exodus 20:18,19)

The ten plagues of Egypt, the parting of the Red Sea, the presence of God constantly with them (cloud by day, fire by night), and God actually speaking to them from the top of Mt. Sinai. Short of the Second Coming of Christ, were these not powerful enough signs of His existence, power, and majesty?

Yet some of those who witnessed God’s existence first-hand, when Moses was ‘delayed’ on Mt. Sinai with God (whose presence of lightning and cloud at the summit remained), still turned away from the Lord, and they built an idol! They made a golden calf and bowed down before it in worship. (Exodus 32)

At Jesus’ baptism, God again spoke aloud. Matthew 3:16,17 says: “And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him: And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” “And straightway coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens opened, and the Spirit like a dove descending upon him: And there came a voice from heaven, saying, Thou art my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”  (Mark 1:10,11)

So God has made His existence known to many people throughout history, but we live in a sinful world.  Due to sin, some of us will allow our stubborn hearts to deny God even when we witness an impossible miracle. That is why the Bible, in Revelation 6:14-16, speaks about the Second Coming of Christ in this way:

“And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places. And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains; And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb.”

In John 20:29, “Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed.” No, it is not easy to believe in Someone we cannot see, touch, and hear, but there is a special blessing for those of us who still believe… even without seeing.

For example, I grew up in a military family, and often times my father would be away from home. When I was in college, he was gone for three years. Just because I could not see him did not mean that my father did not exist, right? It is the same with the Lord. Just because we may not be able to see Him does not mean He does not exist. 1 Peter 1:8 says: “Though you have not seen him, you love Him. Though you do not now see Him, you believe in Him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory.”

2 Corinthians 5:7 says: “for we walk by faith, not by sight.” The path we walk as we follow our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, will not always be an easy one, but we walk this path by faith. Another word for “faith” is “trust”. And it is written, “Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding.” (Proverbs 3:5)