When God's Face is Hidden
He will hide his face from them at that time because they have made their deeds evil. (Micah 3:4)
Mic. 3:4-7, 11, 6:8, 7:18; Deut. 31:17-18; Ps. 66:18; Isa. 1:15, 59:1-2; Ezek. 39:23
What Is God Saying?
Micah prophesied before the fall of Samaria in the Northern Kingdom, targeting the false prophets of Israel and Judah who said what the people wanted to hear, that God is not all that angry. We all make mistakes. Go on, have fun. Take what you can. God is gentle and kind. He will look the other way. Micah says, “Its priests teach for payment and its prophets practice divination for silver; yet they lean upon the Lord and say, ‘Is not the Lord in the midst of us? No evil shall come upon us’” (3:11).
God's love and God's justice are parallel lines that never meet except at the infinity of the Cross. Sin is that serious. God's love is that great. Micah places the magnifying glass of truth over sin in all its ugliness and then moves it to the pardoning love of God in all its beauty. God must judge and punish sin, yet he gives eternal life to those who repent and believe. “God so loved the world that he gave his only Son that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life” (Jn. 3:16).
How Does This Apply To Us?
God does hide his face from us when we cater to what is evil. He cannot do otherwise but never closes his heart to the penitent. Like the prodigal's waiting father, he wants us to turn from evil and come home in his favor, enclosed by his arms, warmed by his love. That is the miracle of God's grace, the truth of God's word, and the intention of God's love.
Pray With Me
Lord, thank you for the assurance that you will never leave us. We are never forsaken, forgotten, or cast aside, yet there are times when you hide your face. Give me true penitence. Help me never to minimize the loss of being out of fellowship with God. Teach me that your forgiveness cost you the Cross of Jesus. Help me to receive, with gratitude that rises from the deepest springs of my being, the miracle of divine grace. Then, only then, will I be able to see that the hidden face of God is not the closed heart of God.
Through Jesus Christ, who by His blood has opened up for us a new and living way into the holiest of all. Amen.
Moving On In The Life of Prayer
Prayer is a holy undertaking. Prayer shows us what is wrong and what needs to be done to recover. If we do not repent for what is wrong, we cannot rejoice in what is right. God hides his face from evil but opens his heart to those who repent. Don't expect great things from prayer before God's hidden face. Do expect great things from prayer before God's open heart, for that is prayer in the name of Jesus.
