赛四五15　救主以色列的神啊，你实在是自隐的神。

　　王上十九12　地震后有火，耶和华也不在火中；火后有微小柔细的声音。

　　你们曾否注意到圣经有这一个说法—“自隐的神”？我曾试过问好些弟兄姊妹这问题，就发现神的儿女几乎都不知道圣经里有这样的发表，也不真认识神是自隐的神。他们认识神是全能的神，是公义的神，是满有恩典和慈爱的神，却不认识神是一位自隐的神。

　　我们要注意以赛亚是如何表达这个思想：“以色列的神啊，你实在是自隐的神。”（赛四五15）他这一句话是非常重的。他这话不是凭空说的，也不是想像出来的；乃是他根据许多的事实所产生出来的发表。他把那些事实都看过、都研究过了，就得到一个结论：“神啊，你实在是自隐的神。”当申言者看看神所作的事，看看以色列人在神手中的遭遇，看看神百姓的经历，就叫他不能不承认，神的确是一位自隐的神。以赛亚为什么会得到这一个结论？如果你把整卷以赛亚书都读过，你就能读出那一个原因。那是因为神在以色列人中间，在以色列人身上，作了许许多多的事，但神却把自己隐藏起来。祂一直在作事，却一直是隐藏的。许多事都是祂作的，以色列人却不知道作事者是谁。所以有一天以赛亚就惊叹说，“神啊，你实在是自隐的神。”（译自CWWL一九五六年第二册，自隐的神，英文版）

　　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)

　　我们的个性与神的个性截然不同。神喜欢隐藏，我们却喜欢显扬；神不求外在的显明，但我们没有外在的显明就不满意。这神圣的性情对我们成为极大的试炼和试验。

　　 “以利亚是与我们性情相同的人”（雅五17），他受不住神这个试验。在迦密山顶，神是明显地与他同在。但神一隐退，以利亚就受不了。他就心灰意冷跑到山洞里去。当神问他说，“你在这里作什么？”他回答说，“我为耶和华万军之神大发妒忌；因为以色列人背弃了你的约，拆毁了你的坛，用刀杀了你的申言者，只剩下我一个人，他们还寻索要夺我的命。”（王上十九9~10）神知道以利亚的难处；祂知道以利亚愿意神是一位显明的神；他不晓得神是自隐的神。于是神给他一个说明。在那里“有烈风大作”（11），以利亚以为神在其中，但“耶和华却不在风中”（11）。风后有地震，以利亚以为神必定在其中，但“耶和华却不在其中”（11）。地震后有火；以利亚以为神是烈火，神该在其中了。但“耶和华也不在火中”（12）。火后有微小柔细的声音，神就在其中（12）。以利亚对神说，“只剩下我一个人。”（14）但神非常柔细地回答说，“有七千人是未曾向巴力屈膝的。以利亚，我是隐藏的神。我为自己留下了七千人，这是你所不知道的。”（参18）以利亚以为看得见的才算得数，但神是一位自隐的神。神不在风里，不在地震里，也不在火里；神乃是在微小柔细的声音里。神为祂自己留下七千人，是未曾向巴力屈膝的，但祂的活动隐藏到连申言者以利亚都不知道（译自CWWL一九五六年第二册，自隐的神，英文版）。

　　参读：自隐的神。

　　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