Believers Devotional Network

The theme of God hiding Himself is one of the most fascinating themes, especially in terms of the human mind.

I’m sure everyone would want to see God face to face, perhaps physically touch Him or embrace Him. Many people think that if they could see Him face to face, then they would finally believe. In John 14:8 we hear Philip saying, “Lord, show us the Father, and this will be sufficient for us!”

Isaiah 45:15 says, “Truly You are a God who hides Himself, O God of Israel, the Saviour.”

When God hides Himself, it does not mean that He is not with us- His name is Emmanuel. It does not mean He does not see us — for He is omnipresent, and His eyes run to and fro throughout the earth. It does not mean He cannot protect us; for He who watches over Israel neither sleeps nor slumbers.

Why would God hide Himself? 

1. Sin and our fallen state.

Isaiah 59:1–2 says, “Behold, the hand of the Lord is not too short to save, nor His ear too dull to hear, but your iniquities have separated you from your God, and your sins have hidden His face from you.”

• Because in our fallen state, we cannot withstand the presence of God when He appears.

The Lord said to Moses, “You cannot see My face; for no man shall see Me, and live” (Exodus 33:20). For this reason, the Holy of Holies was set apart from the rest of the Tabernacle, and the High Priest could enter it only once a year.

When Isaiah saw the Lord in a vision, as shared in the previous teaching, he cried out, “Woe is me, for I am undone! Because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts” (Isaiah 6:5).

Further examples of God appearing in His full glory include the Transfiguration in Matthew 17 and Revelation 1:17: “And when I saw Him, I fell at His feet as dead. But He laid His right hand on me, saying to me, ‘Do not be afraid; I am the First and the Last.’”

If God were to appear to us face to face as our minds may wish, we would die. However, at the right time, we shall all see Him. Read Revelation 1:7.

• God hides Himself so that we may seek Him.

When the bible teaches us that God hides Himself, it does not mean that God does not want to have a good relationship with Him. Instead, God’s desire is for us to seek him and have an intimate relationship with him.  

Isaiah 55:6–7 says, “Seek the LORD while He may be found, call upon Him while He is near. Let the wicked forsake his ways, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the LORD, and He will have mercy on him; and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon.”

Acts 17:27–28 says, “So that they should seek the Lord, in the hope that they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us; for in Him we live and move and have our being, as also some of your own poets have said, ‘For we are also His offspring.’”

When we seek God, He reveals Himself to us through His grace. When God reveals Himself in His grace, He saves and forgives sin.

But when He reveals Himself merely for us to see Him as our minds desire, He judges — and sinners cannot survive the glory of God.

May the Lord bless you all as we seek the Lord and call upon Him, as the Scripture reads:

“If My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land” (2 Chronicles 7:14- NKJV). Amen.