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. There were false prophets who said what the people wanted to hear, 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. All this is reflected in Micah's courageous indictment, ‘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). False prophets are not an endangered species today. Many today concur that God is just a cosmic pushover.
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 He 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, never forgotten, never cast aside, yet there are times when Your face must be hidden. Your face must be hidden when anything evil is welcomed and entertained in my heart. Your face must be hidden when I harbor thoughts that cannot bear the light of Your countenance. Your face must be hidden when these hands become busy with questionable things in the light of eternal goodness and truth. 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. We bring to prayer light thoughts about sin or any rationalization of our willful mistakes. 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.
