"Drop down, you heavens, from above, and let the skies pour down righteousness: let the earth open, that they may bring forth salvation, and let her cause righteousness to spring up together; I the Lord have created it. Woe unto him that strives with his Maker! a potsherd among the potsherds of the earth! Shall the clay say to him that fashions it, What do you make? or your work, He has no hands? Woe unto him that says unto a father, What do you beget? or to a woman, With what do you travail? Thus says the Lord, the Holy One of Israel, and his Maker, Ask me of the things that are to come; concerning my sons, and the work of my hands, command me. I have made the earth, and created man upon it: I, even my hands have stretched out the heavens, and all their host have I commanded. I have raised him up in righteousness, and I will make straight all his ways; he shall build my city, and he shall let my exiles go free, not for price nor reward, says the Lord of hosts. Thus says the Lord, The labor of Egypt, and the merchandise of Ethiopia, and the Sabeans men of stature, shall come over unto you, and they shall be yours: they shall go over after you; in chains they shall come over; and they shall fall down unto you, saying, Surely God is in you; and there is none else, there is no God. Verily You are a God that hide yourself, O God of Israel, the Saviour." (Isaiah 45:8-15,RV)
God Hides Himself
He will take the last verse as the key to the whole text, and the basis of our present study. "Verily You are a God that hide yourself, O God of Israel, the Saviour." (Isaiah 45:15)
God hides himself. "[He is] the King eternal, immortal, invisible," (1 Timothy 1:17) "dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto; whom no man has seen, nor can see." (1 Timothy 6:16)
What then is the use of the command, "Behold, your God!" (Isaiah 40:9)
Why tell people to behold God, when He is invisible, and no man has seen Him, and no man can see Him? He even hides himself, so that nobody can see Him, and then sends us a message, saying, "Behold me, behold me." (Isaiah 65:1)
Where is the consistency? This is a fair specimen of the fault that many people find with God and His Word. They make out what seems a very plausible case against Him, and think that they have abundant excuse for their unbelief.
Now when it appears that there is not the least inconsistency here, nor shadow of unreasonableness, it ought forever to put an end to all cavil. When God rests His case on the most inconsistent terms possible, and nevertheless shows himself perfectly true, it necessarily follows that no case can possibly be made to stand against Him. "The foolishness of God is wiser than men; and the weakness of God is stronger than men." (1 Corinthians 1:25)
There is such a thing as seeing the invisible. The things that are impossible to human sight are very easy when the eyes of our understanding are enlightened by the Holy Spirit. "[Moses] endured as seeing Him who is invisible." (Hebrews 11:27) "Our light afflictions work out for us an eternal weight of glory, While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen." (2 Corinthians 4:17-18)
If we would have pleasure in the place of pain, we must continually look at the things which are invisible, paying no attention to the things which are seen.
God Hidden in Christ
Once one of the twelve disciples said to Jesus, "Lord, show us the Father, and it suffices us." (John 14:8)
Jesus replied, "Have I been so long time with you, and yet have you not knownme, Philip? he that has seen me has seen the Father; and how do you say then, Show us the Father?" (John 14:9)
And then He added, "Believe you not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? the words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father which dwells in me, He does the works. Believe me, that I am in the Father, and the Father in me: or else believe me for the very works' sake." (John 14:10-11) "God was in Christ." (2 Corinthians 5:19)
Jesus was the manifestation of God, and yet there was nothing in His appearance to indicate the fact. It was impossible for anybody to ascertain by His appearance--His flesh and blood--that He was the Son of the living God. "And Simon Peter answered and said, You are the Christ, the Son of the living God. And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed are you, Simon Bar-jona: for flesh and blood has not revealed it unto you, but my Father which is in heaven." (Matthew 16:16-17) "[He was] the brightness of the Father's glory, and the very impress of His substance," (Hebrews 1:3,RV) but He veiled His glory with the robe of humanity. Nevertheless, "we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth." (John 1:14)
He was the Saviour, yet He said, "The flesh profits nothing." (John 6:63)
It was not that which could be seen, but that which could not be seen, that profited And the unseen, the hidden life, was made visible; "For the life was manifested, and we have seen it." (1 John 1:2)
The visible is nothing; only the invisible is real. This, by the way, should teach all men the folly of trusting to forms and ceremonies for salvation. Ritualism is emptiness.
God Hidden in the Light
Where does God hide himself? In the light. "[He] dwells in the light." (1 Timothy 6:16)
But do we not read that "clouds and darkness are round about Him," (Psalm 89:2) and that "He made darkness His secret place?" (Psalm 18:11)
Yes, "His pavilion round about Him were dark waters and thick clouds of the skies;" (" (Psalm 18:11)) but, "The darkness and the light are both alike to Him, ... the night shines as the day;" (Psalm 139:2) so that "At the brightness that was before Him His thick clouds passed." (Psalm 18:12)
Although He dwells in darkness He covers himself with light as with a garment: "Who cover yourself with light as with a garment." (Psalm 104:2) "And the light shines in the darkness; and the darkness overcame it not." (John 1:5,RV)
Light overcomes darkness. Moreover, "God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all." (1 John 1:5)
The case becomes more and more complex, but the very complexity is clearness. God hides himself, but He hides himself in light, and He himself is light, and the light cannot be shut in by any darkness. Why then can we not see Him? The only reason is that we do not have our eyes adjusted to view the light. If we will but get our eyes anointed with heavenly eye salve, we may see heavenly things. "I counsel you to ... anoint your eyes with eye salve, that you may see." (Revelation 3:18)
Then, "If we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship one with another." (1 John 1:7)
We become one with Him. He hides himself in us. Very few take in the force of this last verse. They seem to think that it is human fellowship that is referred to, whereas it is fellowship with God. "If we walk in the light as God is in the light, we have fellowship with Him, and He with us."
We and God have fellowship with each other--mutual fellowship. The French of Segond puts it clearly, "nous sommes mutuellement en communion", we are mutually in communion.
God Hidden in Men
Then where shall we look to find God? Look everywhere. Look within. "The kingdom of God comes not with observation: Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you." (Luke 17:20-21) "Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God." (1 John 4:2)
Confess that the Word, which was in the beginning with God, and was God, (John 1:1-2) is come in your flesh, and dwells there, and you are born of God and know God. (1 John 4:7) "If haply you feel after Him, you will certainly find Him, for He is not far from everyone of us, Since in Him we live, and move, and have our being." (Acts 7:27-28) "Know you that the Lord He is God: it is He that has made us, ... and we are His," (Psalm 100:3) and the invisible things of God, even His everlasting power and Divinity, are clearly seen in the things that are made, so that what may be known of God is manifest in all men. (Romans 1:19-20) Who can charge God with unfairness because He has hidden himself, when He is light, and hides himself in the light, and sends the true light into every man that comes into the world? (John 1:9)
God Hidden in His Works
God hides himself in His works. People look at Him, but do not see Him.
Have you not often seen hidden faces in pictures? You were told that in a certain picture a face was concealed. You gazed at the picture long and steadily, turning it so as to see it from every possible point, and going away and coming back again, but you could see nothing but what was apparent. At last somebody placed his finger upon a certain spot, or put the picture before you in a certain way, when, lo, the hidden face stood revealed; and then you could not look at the picture without seeing it. In whatever position the picture was placed, you saw the hidden face, and you wondered how you could ever have been so blind as not to see it. It was concealed, yet wonderfully apparent.
So God is concealed in His works; most people see nothing of Him; yet as soon as we have eyes for Him, we cannot see a thing without beholding His invisible face plainly revealed. "The skies pour down righteousness, and the earth brings forth truth." (Isaiah 45:8)
In this connection, read: "Remember that you magnify His work, Whereof men have sung. All men have looked thereon; Man beholds it afar off. Behold, God is great, and we know Him not; The number of His years is unsearchable. For He draws up the drops of water, Which distil in rain from His vapour, Which the skies pour down And drop upon man abundantly. Yea, can any understand the spreadings of the clouds, The thunderings of His pavilion? Behold, He spreads His light around Him; And He covers the bottom of the sea." (Job 36:24-30)
Wondrously does God hide himself, so that every raindrop, every sunbeam, and every springing flower reveals Him. "His doctrine drops as the rain, and His speech distils as the dew, as the small rain upon the tender herb, and as the showers upon the grass." (Deuteronomy 32:2)
If we but know where to find Him, we may drink in His righteousness in the rain that falls from heaven, and the light of His countenance will sparkle to us in the drops of dew upon the grass.
When we read verses 9-11 together, it seems evident that the latter verse is a question instead of a direct statement. Thus it is given some translations, "Do you ask me of things to come concerning my sons, and concerning the work of my hands do you command me? ... Shall the clay say to him that fashions it, What do you make? Woe unto him that says unto his Father, What do you beget?" (Isaiah 45:11,9-10)
God is our Father; we are but clay, and He is the Maker of all things; who are we that we should presume to question His ways? how dare puny man set himself to criticize God's work? "He has made the earth, and created man upon it, and His hands have stretched out the heavens, and He has commanded all their host;" (Isaiah 45:12) yet men criticize and question His actions as though He were the merest apprentice. It would be better to look in quietness, and learn.
Lighting the Way of the Bridegroom
There shall come in the last days, the days of which Isaiah prophesied, (See Isaiah 6:11-12) "scoffers, walking after their own lusts, And saying, Where is the promise of His coming? for since the fathers fell asleep all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation." (2 Peter 3:3-4)
But they say falsely, without any thought of what has taken place. In this portion of Isaiah, together with that which we studied last week, we have one of the proofs that God has given us of the truthfulness of His word, and that, too, with special reference to the coming of Christ to save His people.
Recall the prophecy concerning Cyrus, and how long it was uttered before the event took place, or Cyrus was born. God said, "He shall build my city, and he shall let go my captives, not for price nor reward." (Isaiah 45:13)
God's people had been brought out of Egypt, to dwell in their own land, even the whole earth, which was promised to Abraham. "For the promise, that he should be the heir of the world, was not to Abraham, or to his seed, through the law, but through the righteousness of faith." (Romans 4:13)
But through lack of faith they never entered into the fullness of their inheritance. At the time of the nation's highest prosperity, the promised inheritance was still future, (See 2 Samuel 7:1-10) and King David on the throne, with wealth in abundance, was but a stranger and a sojourner, even as were Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. "For we are strangers before You, and sojourners, as were all our fathers: our days on the earth are as a shadow, and there is none abiding." (1 Chronicles 29:15)
Because the people were no more fit to dwell in the land than the Canaanites had been, God sold them into the hands of their enemies, and they were taken captive to Babylon. But He did not forsake them. Before they were taken away, the exact length of their captivity,--seventy years,--was foretold. "For thus says the Lord, That after seventy years be accomplished at Babylon I will visit you, and perform my good word toward you, in causing you to return to this place. For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end. Then shall you call upon me, and you shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto you." (Jeremiah 29:10-12)
By reading these words, we see that the deliverance from Babylonian captivity was to be the final, complete deliverance of God's people. "You shall seek me, and find me, when you shall search for me with all your heart. And I will be found of you, says the Lord; and I will turn away your captivity, and I will gather you from all the nations, and from all the places whither I have drive you, says the Lord; and I will bring you again into the place where I caused you to be carried away captive." (Jeremiah 29:13)
If Israel had learned the lesson in captivity, that God designed they should learn, the close of the seventy years would have been the beginning of the time of the promise, even as the deliverance from Egypt was.
Promptly at the time appointed, God sent a man to release the people from Babylon. He fulfilled His word to the letter. But although everybody was free to return to Canaan, and representatives from all the tribes did return, in goodly number, they never really came out of Babylon. Babylon means confusion, departure from the simplicity that is in Christ. From that time even till now God's people have been in Babylon, so that still the call sounds, and still louder will it yet sound, "Come out of her, my people." (Revelation 18:4)
The coming of the Lord will mark the complete deliverance of God's people from Babylon; and He will come just as surely as Cyrus fulfilled God's word in the decree concerning Jerusalem and the temple. Then will all the world know that God dwells in His people. They will come, saying, "Surely God is in you; and there is none else, there is no [other] God." (Isaiah 45:14)
Christ is coming "to be glorified in His saints, and to be admired in all them that believe." (2 Thessalonians 1:10)
But before He can come, His way must be prepared, so that He can dwell fully in His saints. Just as God was in Christ, so must He be in His church as a whole, and in each individual member, before Christ can be revealed to the eyes of all the world. It is only as men see God in His people, that they can fully know that there is only one God, the One who created all things. Christ, the fullness of God, must be fully formed in His people, and then will all "see what is the stewardship of the mystery which from all ages has been hid in God who created all things; To the intent that now unto the principalities and the powers in the heavenly places might be made known through the church the manifold wisdom of God, According to the eternal purpose which He purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord." (Ephesians 3:9-11,RV)
Then will the world know that God hides himself in man, in order that man may be glorified by His presence.--Present Truth, January 4, 1900--Isaiah 45:8-15.