The God Who Hides Himself

              One of the most gracious things God does is to reveal Himself to human beings. The heavens above reveal the glory of God and the sky above shows His creative power. ^“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.” Romans 1:20 Everyone knows that God exists because of what He has created. That's called “General Revelation.” But God in His grace gave us details about His attributes, His character, and His purposes in life by means of words. God spoke words! Jesus said, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.” Matthew 4:4

           How thankful we are that “the word of the Lord” came to [the prophets] in ancient times so that we have God's verbal revelation in scripture. And in the incarnation of Christ when God became Man, He spoke even more clearly. ^“Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world.” Heb. 1:1-2 How wonderful it is that we have the written revelation of God in narrative, in poetry and song, and in propositional truth. And especially we are thankful for the revelation of God in Christ who came not only to redeem and save us, but to show us what God is like. “No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father’s side, he has made him known.” John 1:18 ESV

             What is this, then, about God hiding Himself?? Well, that's what scripture says: “Truly, you are a God who hides himself, O God of Israel, the Savior.” Isaiah 45:15 ESV 3000 years ago the Psalmist had a similar lament, ^“Why, O Lord, do you stand far away? Why do you hide yourself in times of trouble?” Psalm 10:1 ESV

             There's more to this question than appears immediately on the surface. One of the reasons God “hides” from man—but only one of several reasons—is His hiding when man “regards iniquity in his heart.” Then the Lord will not hear. ^“If I had cherished iniquity in my heart, the Lord would not have listened.” Psalm 66:18 (ESV) That's the picture given in Isaiah earlier in the book where God is hiding Himself because of man's sin and refuses to listen to him. God is speaking and tells His people, “ . . . When you spread out your hands, I will hide my eyes from you; even though you make many prayers, I will not listen; your hands are full of blood.” Isa. 1:14-20 ESV

          There's more! God hides Himself from those who are not willing to listen, but He also hides the understanding of the truth from those who seek to come to God arrogantly and in pride and self-sufficiency. Jesus thanked God for that. He prayed, “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children.” Mt. 11:25 ESV God humbles the proud and gives grace to the humble.

            And later in His ministry, quoting the Old Testament, Jesus answered the critics, “Have you never read, ‘Out of the mouth of infants and nursing babies you have prepared praise’?” Matthew 21:16 ESV He was quoting, Psalm 8:2, “Out of the mouth of babies and infants, you have established strength because of your foes, to still the enemy and the avenger.”

          Scripture tells of a third type of the “hidden God” and that is in the mystery, either undisclosed or undisclosable answers to our questions and curiosity. Isaiah speaks of them, too, in 48:6 “From this time forth I announce to you new things, hidden things that you have not known.” The Apostle Paul spoke of ^“the mystery hidden for ages and generations but now revealed to his saints. To them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.” Col. 1:26-27

            Mystery in the New Testament means “that which, being outside the range of unassisted natural apprehension, can be made known only by Divine revelation, and is made known in a manner and at a time appointed by God, and to those only who are illumined by His Spirit.” Vines, p. 769 We are privileged to live “this side of the cross” and after the resurrection of Jesus so much more has been revealed than in Old Testament times. But there is still much that we don't know. We will never fully understand the infinite God, but we do have substantial knowledge that is growing and increasing by God's mercy and illumination. We thank Him for what is seen and trust Him for what is unseen.

           Jesus spoke to the disciples in parables and told them, “It is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given.” Mt. 13:11

When Jesus asked Peter, “Who do you say that I am,” and Peter replied with such profound understanding, “Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God,” Jesus told him,

“Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven.” Mt. 16:15-17

            Some things are not given unto us to know. Jesus explicitly said those words to the disciples: “It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power.” Acts 1:7 Be thankful for what is not hidden from us. For example:

”We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brothers.” 1 Jn. 3:14 “We know that when he appears we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.” 1 Jn. 3:2

^“And we know that all things work together for good to them who love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose.” Romans 8:28

          “The hidden things belong to the Lord our God, but the revealed things belong to us and our children forever. . . .” Deut.29:29 HCSB    Thank Him for what is revealed and trust Him for what is hidden.