第二週 • 週五
晨興餧養
賽四五15 救主以色列的神阿，你實在是自隱的神。
約一18 從來沒有人看見神，只有在父懷裏的獨生子，將祂表明出來。
你若把聖經好好地讀過，就看見神有一個脾氣，就是不樂意顯揚。祂不願意在明處作事，祂喜歡在暗中作工。祂造了宇宙，祂就隱藏在宇宙中人所不知道的地方，以致人找不着祂。祂住在一個人裏面，但幾乎沒有人認識那個人。人接觸祂一次，不過看祂是一個稱為拿撒勒人耶穌的人。再接觸祂一次，就覺得祂是一個比常人更聰明的人。接觸祂第三次，就想這必定是一個申言者。人再接觸祂一次，就覺得這個人必定比申言者大多了。但要確切地找出祂是誰，不是容易的事。就連祂的門徒與祂同在三年半，還未能真正的認識祂。這在在告訴我們，祂是一直把自己隱藏着。有一刻祂把自己顯出來，隨後又隱藏回去（李常受文集一九五六年第二冊，一三至一四頁）。
信息選讀
我們要注意以賽亞是如何表達這個思想：『以色列的神阿，你實在是自隱的神。』（賽四五15）他這一句話是非常重的。…乃是他根據許多的事實所產生出來的發表。…當申言者看看神所作的事，看看以色列人在神手中的遭遇，看看神百姓的經歷，就叫他不能不承認，神的確是一位自隱的神。以賽亞為甚麼會得到這一個結論？…那是因為神在以色列人中間，在以色列人身上，作了許許多多的事，但神卻把自己隱藏起來。…許多事都是祂作的，以色列人卻不知道作事者是誰。所以有一天以賽亞就驚歎說，『神阿，你實在是自隱的神。』（李常受文集一九五六年第二冊，八至九頁）
如果你把整個宇宙的故事，把所有人類中間的故事，把舊約的故事，把新約的故事，一點一點的都看過，你也會得到和以賽亞同樣的結論，就是承認神實在是一位自隱的神。…在宇宙中有這麼多的東西，有這麼多的故事；但是六千年來，還沒有一個人看見過神。…到了新約，就有父懷裏的獨生子將神表明出來（約一18）。但實際上，就是這個表明也是隱藏的。這一位獨生子，雖然是要來表明神，但祂卻把神藏在人裏面，並且是藏在一個不像樣的人裏面。這一個人面貌憔悴，形容枯槁，並沒有甚麼佳形威儀（賽五二14，五三2下），實在叫人看不出祂就是神。祂生長在加利利省的拿撒勒城。那個省是小省，那個城也是個小城。猶太人都公認，那個地方並沒有出過甚麼申言者或名人（約七52，一46）。所以當這一個拿撒勒人耶穌出來的時候，不要說人不會想到神在祂裏面，就是想到祂是申言者的人都不很多。可是神卻藏在祂裏面！這是何等奇妙的事實！（李常受文集一九五六年第三冊，一九至二○頁）
因為我們的神是隱藏的神，別人也許會問我們：『你們的神在那裏？祂的國在那裏？』我們這樣被質問時，也許要這樣回答：『我的神是隱藏的。我看不見祂，你也看不見。但你需要知道，我這隱藏的神遲早要進來為我作些事，並且對付不相信祂的人。』
今天我們需要領悟，我們所事奉那無所不能的神，仍在隱藏自己，尤其是在祂幫助我們的時候。我們看不見祂，表面看來，祂沒有為我們作甚麼。事實上，祂始終隱藏的與我們同在，並且正為我們作許多事（以斯帖記生命讀經，五、七頁）。
參讀：以斯帖記生命讀經，第一篇；自隱的神。
WEEK 2 — DAY 5
Morning Nourishment
Isa. 45:15 Surely You are a God who hides Himself, O God of Israel, the Savior.
John 1:18 No one has ever seen God; the only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him.
If you study the Scriptures carefully, you will see that God has the kind of temperament that dislikes ostentation. He likes to work secretly rather than openly. He created the universe and then hid Himself in it, until we do not know where to find Him. He took up His abode in a man, but that man was almost unknowable. On first meeting Him, men just saw a man called Jesus of Nazareth. On meeting Him a second time, they recognized in Him a man of more than average intellect; and on the third time of meeting, they thought that He must be a prophet. When they met Him still later, they felt, “This man is surely more than a prophet.” But to discover exactly who He was, was
no easy matter. Even His disciples, during their three and a half years in His company, did not arrive at a true knowledge of Him. All of this tells us that He was continually hiding Himself. He would manifest Himself for a moment and then would conceal Himself again. (CWWL, 1956, vol. 2, “A God Who Hides Himself,” pp. 6-7)
Todays Reading
Note how Isaiah expresses this thought: “Surely You are a God who hides Himself, / O God of Israel” (Isa. 45:15). This statement of his is most emphatic…His utterance is based on an accumulation of facts…What he has seen of God’s doings, what he has observed happen to Israel under the hand of God, what he has beheld of the experiences of God’s people—all these observations have forced the prophet to acknowledge that God is a God who hides Himself. Why did Isaiah come to this conclusion?…It was because God did countless things in the midst of the children of Israel and countless things in their personal lives, yet He concealed Himself…Very much was being done by Him, yet the Israelites were utterly ignorant as to who the doer was. Then one day Isaiah exclaimed, “Surely You are a God who hides Himself, / O God.” (CWWL, 1956, vol. 2, “A God Who Hides Himself,” p. 3)
If we carefully examine the history of the universe, the history of mankind, the history of the Old Testament, and the history of the New Testament, we will arrive at the same conclusion: God is a God who hides Himself…There are many things and many stories in the universe, yet in six thousand years no one has seen God [John 1:18]…In the New Testament times, although the only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, came to declare God, this declaration was also hidden. Although the only begotten Son came for the very purpose of declaring God, God was hidden inside a man, even an unbecoming man. This man’s visage and form were marred; He had no attracting form nor beautiful appearance (Isa. 53:2). This made it truly difficult for anyone to recognize that He was God. He grew up in the small town of Nazareth in an insignificant province of Galilee. The Jews recognized that no prophet or person of repute had ever come from Nazareth (John 1:46). Therefore, when Jesus the Nazarene appeared, very few thought that He could be a prophet, let alone that God was in Him. Yet God was hidden within Him. What a wondrous fact this is! (CWWL, 1956, vol. 3, p. 16)
Because our God is a hiding God, others may check with us and ask, “Where is your God? Where is His kingdom?” When we are questioned in such a manner, we may want to answer in this way: “My God is hidden. I cannot see Him, and you cannot see Him either. But you need to realize that sooner or later my hidden God will come in to do something on my behalf and to deal with those who do not believe in Him.”
Today we need to realize that the omnipotent God whom we are serving is still hiding Himself, especially when He is helping us. We cannot see Him, and apparently, He is not doing anything for us. Actually, He is with us all the time and, in a hidden way, He is doing many things for us. (Life-study of Esther, pp. 4-5)
Further Reading: Life-study of Esther, msg. 1; CWWL, 1956, vol. 3, pp. 17, 24-35
