A GOD THAT HIDES HIMSELF -- Tomorrow:
"Truly, Thou art a God Who hidest Thyself, O God of Israel, the Savior" -- Isaiah 45:15
Paul refers to this text in his explanation of the source of spiritual understanding. "For who has known the mind of the Lord that he may instruct Him? But we have the mind of Christ" (1 Cor 2:16, NIV). The Apostle's point is simply this: the marvelous truth of the Gospel could never have been discovered independently of Divine revelation. If God had not revealed the "things prepared for them that love Him," they would never have been known!
Jeremiah interrogates our hearts in much the same way. "For who hath stood in the counsel of the LORD, and hath perceived and heard His word? who hath marked his word, and heard it?" (Jer 23:18). Where is the person who of their own will has stood in the council chambers of the Lord? Where is the individual who has perceived and known the Lord's Word without it being directed toward him? Apart from Him unveiling His mind, it cannot be known because He Himself is incomprehensible. That is confirmed by the absolute destitution of man's self-knowledge concerning Him.
Surely 4,000 years of human history is sufficient to demonstrate the truth of this. During the first four millennia of this world, the most prodigious thinkers of all time lived. The fathers of philosophy and disciplined thought, with all of their mental skills, were unable to comprehend even the borders of Divine intent, to say nothing of its median. Had God not revealed Himself, humanity, at its very best, would have remained spiritually primitive and abysmally ignorant of its Maker. God is transcendent to mortals!
Zophar the Naamathite asked some probing questions, even though he had sorely misjudged Job. "Can you search out the deep things of God? Can you find out the limits of the Almighty? They are higher than heaven; what can you do? Deeper than Sheol; what can you know? Their measure is longer than the earth And broader than the sea. If He passes by, imprisons, and gathers to judgment, Then who can hinder Him?" (Job 11:7-10, NKJV).
It is quite true that man could easily plot the ways and judgments of a god he understood. But where is the person, learned or not, who can boast of knowing what God is going to do, and why He is going to do it, without it first being revealed? Far better to confess with one of the most illuminated individuals this world has ever seen, "O how deep is the wealth of the wisdom and knowledge of God! no one is able to make discovery of his decisions, and his ways may not be searched out" (Rom 11:33, BBE).
If God were not incomprehensible, we would need no revelation, no prophets, and no Apostles. We would require no Bible, prayer, and no salvation. Jesus would not be required to make God known (Matt 11:27) if He could be understood independently of Divine influence.
PRAYER POINT: Father, through Jesus Christ I am thankful that You are incomprehensible, for that has opened the door for me to trust You. It turns life from monotony to adventure.