«　WEEK 2　DAY 4　»

　　Isa. 45:15 Surely You are a God who hides Himself, O God of Israel, the Savior.

　　1 Kings 19:12 And after the earthquake, a fire—Jehovah was not in the fire. And after the fire, a gentle, quiet voice.

　　Have you ever noticed this statement in the Bible—“a God who hides Himself”? I have tested numbers of brothers and sisters with this question and have made the discovery that scarcely any of God's children have realized that His Word contains such an expression, nor do they really know God as a God who hides Himself. They know Him as the almighty One, as the righteous One, as One full of grace and compassion, but as the One who hides Himself, He is unknown to them.

　　Note how Isaiah expresses this thought: “Surely You are a God who hides Himself, / O God of Israel” (Isa. 45:15). 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 why. 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.” (CWWL, 1956, vol. 2, “A God Who Hides Himself,” p. 3)

　　Our personalities are diametrically opposed to God's personality. He likes concealment; we like display. He does not crave out- ward 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” (James 5:17), 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 are you doing here?” he answered, “I have been very jealous for Jehovah the God of hosts; for the children of Israel have forsaken Your covenant, thrown down Your altars, and slain Your prophets with the sword; and I alone am left, and they seek to take my life” (1 Kings 19:9-10). 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, strong wind” (v. 11). Elijah thought, The Lord is in this. But “Jehovah was not in the wind” (v. 11). The wind was followed by an earthquake. Elijah thought, Surely the Lord is in this. But “Jehovah was not in the earthquake” (v. 11). Then came a fire, and Elijah thought, The Lord is a consuming fire; He will be in this. But “Jehovah was not in the fire” (v. 12). After the fire came a gentle, quiet voice—and the Lord was in that (v. 12). Elijah said to Him, “I alone am left” (v. 14), 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 that I had preserved those seven thousand souls” (cf. v. 18). Elijah had reckoned only with what he could see, but God is a God who hides Himself. He was not in the wind or in the earthquake or in the fire; He was in the gentle, quiet voice. He had preserved for Himself seven thousand persons who had not bowed the knee to Baal, but so hidden was His activity that not even the prophet Elijah knew anything about it. (CWWL, 1956, vol. 2, “A God Who Hides Himself,” pp. 3-4)

　　Further Reading: CWWL, 1956, vol. 2, “A God Who Hides Himself,” pp. 3-11