Outline

«　WEEK 2　DAY 5　»

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

　　John 1:18 No one has ever seen God; the only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him.

　　If you study the Scriptures carefully, you will see that God has the kind of temperament that dislikes ostentation. He likes to work secretly rather than openly. He created the universe and then hid Himself in it, until we do not know where to find Him. He took up His abode in a man, but that man was almost unknowable. On first meeting Him, men just saw a man called Jesus of Nazareth. On meeting Him a second time, they recognized in Him a man of more than average intellect; and on the third time of meeting, they thought that He must be a prophet. When they met Him still later, they felt, “This man is surely more than a prophet.” But to discover exactly who He was, was no easy matter. Even His disciples, during their three and a half years in His company, did not arrive at a true knowledge of Him. All of this tells us that He was continually hiding Himself. He would manifest Himself for a moment and then would conceal Himself again. (CWWL, 1956, vol. 2, “A God Who Hides Himself,” pp. 6-7)

　　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…His utterance is based on an accumulation of facts…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?…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…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)

　　If we carefully examine the history of the universe, the history of mankind, the history of the Old Testament, and the history of the New Testament, we will arrive at the same conclusion: God is a God who hides Himself…There are many things and many stories in the universe, yet in six thousand years no one has seen God [John 1:18]…In the New Testament times, although the only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, came to declare God, this declaration was also hidden. Although the only begotten Son came for the very purpose of declaring God, God was hidden inside a man, even an unbecoming man. This man’s visage and form were marred; He had no attracting form nor beautiful appearance (Isa. 53:2). This made it truly difficult for anyone to recognize that He was God. He grew up in the small town of Nazareth in an insignificant province of Galilee. The Jews recognized that no prophet or person of repute had ever come from Nazareth (John 1:46). Therefore, when Jesus the Nazarene appeared, very few thought that He could be a prophet, let alone that God was in Him. Yet God was hidden within Him. What a wondrous fact this is! (CWWL, 1956, vol. 3, p. 16)

　　Because our God is a hiding God, others may check with us and ask, “Where is your God? Where is His kingdom?” When we are questioned in such a manner, we may want to answer in this way: “My God is hidden. I cannot see Him, and you cannot see Him either. But you need to realize that sooner or later my hidden God will come in to do something on my behalf and to deal with those who do not believe in Him.”

　　Today we need to realize that the omnipotent God whom we are serving is still hiding Himself, especially when He is helping us. We cannot see Him, and apparently, He is not doing anything for us. Actually, He is with us all the time and, in a hidden way, He is doing many things for us. (Life-study of Esther, pp. 4-5)

　　Further Reading: Life-study of Esther, msg. 1; CWWL, 1956, vol. 3, pp. 17, 24-35