赛四五15 “救主以色列的神啊，你实在是自隐的神。”

　　彼前四19 “所以那照神旨意受苦的人，也要在善行上，将他们的魂交与那信实的创造主。”

　　忠信跟从主之人的儿女常常问父母，为什么他们遭受逼迫。他们也许问说，“我们这么爱主耶稣，为什么必须受苦？”作父母的通常不知道怎样回答。作子女的似乎觉得他们父母所跟从的主不公义。我们也可能不明白，我们既然爱主、跟从主，为什么受苦。路加十八章一至八节的比喻回答了我们的问题。

　　我们的丈夫表面上不在，而我们留在地上作寡妇时，我们的神暂时似乎是不义的审判官。虽然祂似乎是不义的，但我们仍须向祂恳求，恒切祷告，一再烦扰祂。（路加福音生命读经，四○三至四○四页。）

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

　　1 Pet. 4:19 So then let those also who suffer according to the will of God commit their souls in well-doing to a faithful Creator.

　　Often the children of those who are faithful followers of the Lord ask their parents why they are suffering persecution. They may ask, "Since we love the Lord Jesus so much, why must we suffer?" Usually the parents do not know how to answer. It seems to the children that the Lord whom their parents follow is not righteous. We also may wonder why we suffer, since we love the Lord and follow Him. The parable in Luke 18:1-8 answers our question.

　　When our Husband is apparently absent and we are left on earth as a widow, temporarily our God seems to be an unrighteous judge. Although He appears to be unrighteous, we still must appeal to Him, pray persistently, and bother Him again and again. (Life-study of Luke, p. 351)

　　我们要明白路加十八章一至八节所记载的这类比喻，需要谨慎，不该想用天然的方法。一方面，这比喻指明那审判官主宰一切，就是说，祂审判不审判全在于祂。表面上好像没有理由，祂听不听寡妇都可以。这比喻启示祂是主宰的主，祂拣选什么时候，就在什么时候审判。

　　另一方面，这比喻指明，我们需要恒切祷告来烦扰主。我们需要对祂说，“主，祷告在于我，不在于你，你从来没有告诉我不该祷告。相反的，你嘱咐我祷告。因此，主，我现在祷告，求你表白。”（路加福音生命读经，四○四页。）

　　许多人常问：“你不是说神是活神么？为什么那个人胡作非为，多行不义，神却不管他呢？”又有人说，“你不是说神是活神么？为什么我一直祷告，祂却不听呢？”答案很简单，这都是因为祂是一位自隐的神。甚至主耶稣被钉在十字架上时，神都隐藏祂自己，不但没有以万钧雷霆审判那些钉主的人，甚至连一句话都不说，好像祂不存在一般。所以，那些人摇头讥笑主说，“祂倚靠神，神若要祂，现在可以救祂。”（太二七43。）我们知道主是倚靠神的，但是当祂被挂在十字架上时，好像宇宙中没有神一般。在那时候，主真是受了最大的试炼。

　　神是自隐的神，时常藏身在空间里，也藏身在时间里。你祷告祂，没有结果么？你信靠祂，祂不理会么？请你记得，这需要时间。经历这位活神需要时间，也需要忍耐。当主钉十字架那一天，你看不见神，但是过了三天，神使祂从死里复活了；（路二四6~7；）又过四十天，祂被接上升；（徒一3，9；）再过十天，五旬节那日，圣灵降下来了。（二1~4。）真的没有神么？不。我们都要说，神是又真又活的神，（帖前一9，）但祂又是自隐的神。

　　在第二世纪时，罗马帝国逼迫召会，苦害残杀基督徒，无所不用其极，神好像没有看见一般；神没有伸手阻挡，甚至把自己隐藏了。然而，一个多世纪以后，罗马帝国分裂了；几世纪之后，罗马帝国甚至没有了，但信基督的人却仍然存在，并且分布到各地，因为神仍旧是又真又活的神。（活神与复活的神，一一至一二页。）

　　参读：活神与复活的神，第一篇；自隐的神，第一至二篇。

　　We need to be careful in understanding a parable such as the one recorded in 18:1-8. We should not try to understand it in a natural way. On the one hand, this parable indicates that the Judge is sovereign. This means that whether or not He judges is up to Him. Seemingly without reason, He may either listen to the widow or not listen to her. This parable reveals that He is the sovereign Lord and that He judges whenever He chooses.

　　On the other hand, this parable indicates that we need to bother the Lord by praying persistently. We need to say to Him, "Lord, praying is up to me, not up to You. You never told me that I should not pray. On the contrary, You charged me to pray. Therefore, Lord, I am praying now for Your vindication." (Life-study of Luke, pp. 351-352)

　　Many people often ask why the living God does not discipline people who act recklessly and lawlessly and do works of unrighteousness. Even believers question why the living God does not seem to hear their prayers. The answer is simple: He is a God who hides Himself. When the Lord Jesus was crucified, God hid Himself. He did not judge the ones who crucified the Lord by striking them with lightning. God did not say a word; it was as if God did not exist. Hence, some of those present shook their heads and mocked the Lord. They said, "He trusts in God; let Him rescue Him now if He wants Him" (Matt. 27:43). The Lord Jesus trusted in God, but while He was hanging on the cross, it was as if there were no God in the universe. God was hidden when the Lord passed through this great trial.

　　God is a God who hides Himself. He often hides Himself in space and in time. It seems that we pray to Him but do not receive results and that we trust in Him but He ignores us. We must understand that it takes time as well as endurance to experience the living God. The day that the Lord was crucified, God hid Himself. But after three days, He raised Jesus from the dead (Luke 24:6-7). After another forty days Jesus was lifted up into heaven (Acts 1:3, 9-10). After yet another ten days, on the day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit descended (2:1- 4). We must say that God is real; He is a living God (1 Thes. 1:9), and He is also a God who hides Himself.

　　It seems as if God did not see the Roman Empire persecuting the church in the second century. The Roman Empire used every conceivable means to afflict and slaughter Christians, but God did not stretch forth His hand to stop it; rather, He hid Himself. However, a century later the Roman Empire was divided and eventually disappeared. In contrast, the believers of Christ have remained and have spread to various places because of the true and living God. (CWWL, 1957, vol. 3, "The Living God and the God of Resurrection," pp. 8-9)

　　Further Reading: CWWL, 1957, vol. 3, "The Living God and the God of Resurrection," ch. 1; CWWL, 1956, vol. 2, pp. 3-13; CWWL, 1956, vol. 3, pp. 15-33