Both at SUB 207/209 @ 4:00pm
Join us for our welcome dinners! Each welcome dinner will cover one part in a two part series concerning the prophet Isaiah. Meet other believers and hear testimonies from fellow students. Come and enjoy two evenings of fellowship.
Have you ever noticed this statement in the Bible–"a God who hides Himself" (Isaiah 45:15)? Note how Isaiah expresses this thought: "Surely You are a God who hides Himself, O God of Israel." This statement of his is most emphatic. He is not talking empty words, the fruit of his own imagination; his utterance is based on an accumulation of facts. He has looked at those facts, he has studied those facts, and then he has come to his conclusion: "You are a God who hides Himself, O God." What he has seen of God's doings, what he has observed happen to Israel under the hand of God, what he has beheld of the experiences of God's people–all these observations have forced the prophet to acknowledge that God is a God who hides Himself. Why did Isaiah come to this conclusion? If you read his book through, you will discover. It was because God did countless things in the midst of the children of Israel and countless things in their personal lives, yet He concealed Himself. He was ceaselessly working, yet He was always hidden. Very much was being done by Him, yet the Israelites were utterly ignorant as to who the doer was. Then one day Isaiah exclaimed, "Surely You are a God who hides Himself, O God."
Our personalities are diametrically opposed to God's personality. He likes concealment, we like display; He does not crave outward manifestations, we cannot be content without them. This divine disposition constitutes a great trial and test to us.
"Elijah was a man of like feeling with us," and he did not stand this test. On Mount Carmel God was obviously with him; but when God withheld His manifest presence, Elijah could not bear it. He became depressed and crept into a cave. When God asked him, "What doest thou here?" he answered, "I have been very jealous for the Lord God of hosts: for the children of Israel have forsaken thy covenant, thrown down thine altars, and slain thy prophets with the sword; and I, even I only, am left; and they seek my life, to take it away." God knew Elijah's difficulty; He knew Elijah wanted Him to be a God who would manifest Himself; he had not realized that God is a God who hides Himself. So God gave him a demonstration. There arose "a great and strong wind." Elijah thought: The Lord is in this! "But the Lord was not in the wind." The wind was followed by an earthquake. Elijah thought: Surely the Lord is in this! "But the Lord was not in the earthquake." Then came a fire, and Elijah thought: The Lord is a consuming fire, He'll be in this! "But the Lord was not in the fire." After the fire came a still small voice–and the Lord was in that! Elijah said to Him, "I, even I only, am left"; but the Lord very gently answered, "There are seven thousand persons who have not bowed down to Baal. Elijah, I hide Myself; you did not know I had preserved those seven thousand souls." Elijah had reckoned only with what he could see; but God is a God who hides Himself. He was not in the wind, nor in the earthquake, nor in the fire; He was in the still small voice. He had preserved for Himself seven thousand persons who had not bowed the knee to Baal; but so hidden was His activity, not even the prophet Elijah knew anything about it.
If you look into the history of the universe, if you look into the history of the Old Testament and into the history of the New, and if you carefully examine the whole history of mankind, you will arrive at the same conclusion: God is a God who hides Himself. This universe was created by Him; the heavens and the earth are the works of His hand; yet for six millennia men have beheld all these things and not one man has ever seen God. The Scripture says of the Old Testament times that no man ever saw Him; but of the New Testament times it says, "The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him" (John 1:18).
And yet, when this only begotten Son came for the very purpose of showing forth the Father, He hid Him in a human life–a human life whose "appearance was marred," a human life that had "no attracting form nor majesty" (Isa. 52:14; 53:2). And He came from Galilee, an insignificant province, and from the town of Nazareth, a small town of which it was said by the Jews that no prophet or person of repute ever came from there (John 1:46; 7:52). So, when He appeared, people not only found it hard to believe that God was present in Him–they found it hard even to believe that He was a prophet of God. Yet God was hidden within Jesus of Nazareth.
As we ponder this, it occurs to us as an amazing thing that God, who obviously desired to manifest Himself, should have hidden Himself from men for four thousand years–from the creation to the end of the Old Testament period. And when, in the New Testament period, He came from heaven to earth for the special purpose of revealing Himself to men, He hid Himself once more–hid Himself in man. He appears and then hides, and He hides Himself so effectively that no one can possibly recognize Him.
Surely You are a God who hides Himself, O God of Israel, the Savior. ~ Isaiah 45:15
And they were talking to each other concerning all these things which had occurred. And while they were talking and discussing, Jesus Himself drew near and went with them. But their eyes were kept from recognizing Him. ~ Luke 24:14-16
And as He reclined at table with them, He took the loaf and blessed it, and having broken it, He began handing it to them. And their eyes were opened, and they recognized Him; and He disappeared from them. And they said to one another, Was not our heart burning within us while He was speaking to us on the road, while He was opening to us the Scriptures? ~ Luke 24:30-32
Jesus said to him, Because you have seen Me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed. ~ John 20:29
But we speak God's wisdom in a mystery, the wisdom which has been hidden, which God predestined before the ages for our glory, Which none of the rulers of this age have known; for if they had known, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory; But as it is written, "Things which eye has not seen and ear has not heard and which have not come up in man's heart; things which God has prepared for those who love Him." ~ 1 Corinthians 2:7-9
Whom having not seen, you love; into whom though not seeing Him at present, yet believing, you exalt with joy unspeakable and full of glory ~ 1 Peter 1:8