Is God playing hide and seek?

[Heneni]

Dont give up hope. Perhaps her beard is still growing after someone else thought that unless she shaved it they would not believe she existed.:help:

 

[opuntia]

God seeks for us to find out who we are. If He were here His presence would affect our behavior. It is accepted that children will behave differently if their parents aren't around. Also, since God requires that we exercise faith--an ability we possess--we must seek Him on that basis. People can be divided into two camps in this world: believers and unbelievers. As Jesus said:

"When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory:

"And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats:

"And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left." (Matthew 25:31-33; KJV).

Jesus called His disciples sheep:

"And it was at Jerusalem the feast of the dedication, and it was winter.

"And Jesus walked in the temple in Solomon's porch.

"Then came the Jews round about him, and said unto him, How long dost thou make us to doubt? If thou be the Christ, tell us plainly.

"Jesus answered them, I told you, and ye believed not: the works [the miracles and preaching the gospel] that I do in my Father's name, they bear witness of me.

"But ye believe not, because ye are not of my sheep, as I said unto you.

"My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me." (John 10:22-27).

So, in this life of testing, we should remain faithful even if we do not fully comprehend the works of God.

"And the whole congregation of the children of Israel murmured against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness:

"And the children of Israel said unto them, Would to God we had died by the hand of the LORD in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the flesh pots, and when we did eat bread to the full; for ye have brought us forth into this wilderness, to kill this whole assembly with hunger.

"Then said the LORD unto Moses, Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you; and the people shall go out and gather a certain rate every day, that I may prove them, whether they will walk in my law, or no." (Exodus 16:2-4).

Also:

"The LORD trieth the righteous." (Psalm 11:5).

See what Job had to say while he suffered at the hands of Satan:

"Behold, I go forward, but he is not there; and backward, but I cannot perceive him:

"On the left hand, where he doth work, but I cannot behold him: he hideth himself on the right hand, that I cannot see him:

"But he knoweth the way that I take: when he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold." (Job 23:8-10).

He hides Himself not for His sake but for ours. The Bible already states that we will meet Him at the last day, so how shall we present ourselves?

Consider:

"It is the glory of God to conceal a thing: but the honour of kings is to search out a matter." (Proverbs 25:2).

 

[zenzero]

Friend Heneni,
The barrier between humans and existence/god is our MIND.
When a child is born, his MIND is not developed and is freshly out of that existence and is mostly merged with existence itself.
That time [when as child] he is mostly in a merged state which we all love and so adore our children. They are lovable because of that innocence [no/still -mind state].
But as the child is taught by elders/adults to grow up smart by using that MIND, slowly and surely the child like innocence gets lost and man goes far from existence.
This is exactly what Jesus was trying to state TO BE CHILD LIKE* meaning one has to drop that MIND to be child like, to be innocent, to be in still mind.
Love & rgds

 

[Heneni]

He hides Himself not for His sake but for ours.

Hi there. It is good to have you on the forum. Please do elaborate on why you think god hides himself for our sakes. Thank you.

Heneni

 

[Nadia Faiazova]

Hi! Here Jesus talks figuratively. What he meant in this scripture is that (primarily his disciples) were in the people's eyes "infants", because they did not graduate Pharisees' and rabbinic schools).Although, being infants in that meaning, they could recognize Jesus as prophetic Messiah."At that time Jesus said in response: “I publicly praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and intellectual ones and have revealed them to babes". (Matthew 11:25)
The point you brought up about God reveling himself is in that:-Romans 1:20- "
For his invisible [qualities] are clearly seen from the world’s creation onward, because they are perceived by the things made, even his eternal power and Godship, so that they are inexcusable"

 

[Ben Masada]

Why does God take pleasure in hiding who he is and who the Son is from the 'wise and intelligent' and revealing themselves to the 'infants'?

It does not occur to me that God plays the hide-and-seek to hide Himself from the wise and intelligent and reveals Himeself to the "Infants" whiich here means the ingnorant. If you read Ezekiel 20:41, it says in there that by means of Israel He reveals His glory in the sight of the nations.

 

[Heneni]

It does not occur to me that God plays the hide-and-seek to hide Himself from the wise and intelligent and reveals Himeself to the "Infants" whiich here means the ingnorant. If you read Ezekiel 20:41, it says in there that by means of Israel He reveals His glory in the sight of the nations.

Yes God certainly did choose Israel to make a name for himself or if you will to 'reveal His glory'. He says so here too.....

1 Chronicles 17:21 And who is like your people Israel--the one nation on earth whose God went out to redeem a people for himself, and TO MAKE A NAME FOR YOURSELF.

However it seems like Israel did a bismal job of it as God says here....

Ezekiel 20:9 But for the sake of my name I did what would keep it from being PROFANED in the eyes of the nations they (the Isrealites) lived among and in whose sight I had revealed myself to the Israelites by bringing them out of Egypt.

It seems like the Isrealites made a name for God in all the wrong ways. But then so do the gentiles today.

When Jesus came to earth he was adamant that he was sent to reveal his Father. He did what the father told him and said what the Father told him, no more no less. So if you had seen Jesus you had in effect seen the Father. That is how accurately he portrayed the Father.

As far as understanding WHY he reveals wisdom to infants it simply boils down to the type of wisdom and the type of person. The wisdom of this world is foolishness to God and to teach an old dog new tricks is very hard. However if an old dog is willing to come to God as a child he is ready and willing to learn God's ways. His ways are far removed from the worlds ways.

So no matter how smart or stupid a person is in this world, if he comes to God like a child ready to learn new things (His things) they will be revealed to them. Hence the 'infant' attitude is a new wineskin into which God can pour new wine.

God bless
Heneni

 

[outhouse]

I get the feeling that for the wise and intelligent, there's no need for God. It's just a feeling, though. After all, "Those who are not sick do not need a physician." (Somewhere Jesus said that; can't find it now)

To see God, you need only see; to hear God, you need only hear. That's what I believe, anyway. (Except I call it One, not God.)

i believe this statement true

one might add it is also great for the poor and poverty striken as well as the old, ill and dieing

 

[RaimThunder]

Because His word is NOT for everybody.


Matt 13:10And the disciples came, and said unto him, Why speakest thou unto them in parables? Matt 13:11He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given.

John 8:32
thecomforter.info

 

[Caladan]

Why does God take pleasure in hiding who he is and who the Son is from the 'wise and intelligent' and revealing themselves to the 'infants'?

I will always debate the wise and intelligent, even and perhaps especially when they take different views from me. just to get a better perspective. to see if I miss anything, or just to point them to something they ignore. I expect them to show the same courtesy I show them, and regard the debate in honourable terms, respecting our differences without tarnishing it and without falling into the traps infants do... to declare that what they want to believe is true for all mankind.

 

[james2ko]

Contrary to popular Christian belief, scripture indicates God deliberately hides Himself (for now) so the general population will not be saved and be forgiven of their sins. (Mat 13:34; Mat 13:10-15; Mar 4:11-12).

 

[Ben Masada]

Why does God take pleasure in hiding who he is and who the Son is from the 'wise and intelligent' and revealing themselves to the 'infants'?

Heneni, pleasure is an emotion. Since God is Incorporeal, there is no emotion in incorporeality. And what is this of hiding about Who He is and who His son is? There is no hiding here from the part of God. Perhaps from our part yes; we are the ones who keep hiding ourselves from trying to know more and more about God.

First of all, Ezekiel says that by means of Israel God reveals Himself in the sight of the nations. (Ekek. 20:41) It means that the Jewish People is a way to find out Who God is. Second, Jesus himself has told us in John 4:24 that God is a Spirit, and only in a spiritual manner we can interact with Him. No wonder he said that the Gentiles do not know Who and how they worship, while the Jews know Who and how they worship. That's why, he added, that salvation comes from the Jews. (John 4:22) And last but not least, He is neither hiding from us about His Son. Take a look at Exodus 4:22,23. He declared loud and clear that His Son is Israel. "Israel is My Son; so let My Son go that he may serve Me." True that there is a lot more to know about God. At least, so far, we know what He is, and who His Son is. So, don't feel frustrated with the thought that He is hiding from us anything. Worry rather about what and why you are hiding from Him. Could it be the coat of so-called wisdom and intelligency? No one has enough of that to prevent him or her from searching for God. Then, your thought that God reveals Himself to the infants, could be the formula to simulate in order to be visited by God. The Prophets would enjoy such a visit in their dreams and visions when they were at their humble and receptive state of an infant. (Numb. 12:6)

 

[Ben Masada]

Contrary to popular Christian belief, scripture indicates God deliberately hides Himself (for now) so the general population will not be saved and be forgiven of their sins. (Mat 13:34; Mat 13:10-15; Mar 4:11-12).

Please, take a look at post #92, so that I don't have to repeat it here ipsissima verba. Thank you.

 

[Ben Masada]

Because His word is NOT for everybody.


Matt 13:10And the disciples came, and said unto him, Why speakest thou unto them in parables? Matt 13:11He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given.

John 8:32
thecomforter.info

This is not a general case. This method was applied by Isaiah when he took the Divine mission to warn the Ten Tribes in the Northern Kingdom about their impendent destruction and transfer to Assyria. Isaiah would take God's Word to them but their heart and ears were made heavy to understand in the sense that they were doomed to permanent death/exile like the scapegoat, and they were not supposed to understand and repent. (Isa. 6:9-12) So, the author of the gospel of Matthew plagiarized this prophesy from Isaiah and made it a general condition of no understading by those who are not willing to obey. That prophesy, therefore, has already been fulfilled in Israel by way of Isaiah. It doesn't apply in the case for the reason why Jesus would speak in parable.

 

[Ben Masada]

Yes God certainly did choose Israel to make a name for himself or if you will to 'reveal His glory'. He says so here too.....

1 Chronicles 17:21 And who is like your people Israel--the one nation on earth whose God went out to redeem a people for himself, and TO MAKE A NAME FOR YOURSELF.

However it seems like Israel did a bismal job of it as God says here....

Ezekiel 20:9 But for the sake of my name I did what would keep it from being PROFANED in the eyes of the nations they (the Isrealites) lived among and in whose sight I had revealed myself to the Israelites by bringing them out of Egypt.

It seems like the Isrealites made a name for God in all the wrong ways. But then so do the gentiles today.

When Jesus came to earth he was adamant that he was sent to reveal his Father. He did what the father told him and said what the Father told him, no more no less. So if you had seen Jesus you had in effect seen the Father. That is how accurately he portrayed the Father.

As far as understanding WHY he reveals wisdom to infants it simply boils down to the type of wisdom and the type of person. The wisdom of this world is foolishness to God and to teach an old dog new tricks is very hard. However if an old dog is willing to come to God as a child he is ready and willing to learn God's ways. His ways are far removed from the worlds ways.

So no matter how smart or stupid a person is in this world, if he comes to God like a child ready to learn new things (His things) they will be revealed to them. Hence the 'infant' attitude is a new wineskin into which God can pour new wine.

God bless
Heneni

And I wonder what Heneni means by the very last statement in this post of hers above. That' is, "hence the infant attitude is a new wineskin into which God can pour new wine." Would you Heneni add some more details into it? I only suspect what it could be but I am not too sure. My reply will take the form of what whatever you mean by that.

 

[Ben Masada]

True. I take it you consider the word of god as your authority on spiritual matters. If that be the case, why does paul also say that we should 'grow up' and mature. Wouldnt that imply becoming independant?

The wisdom of this world is foolishness to god, so why would he hide himself from the wise and intelligent if they are fools?

The bible is rarely sarcastic. If god says he hides himself from the wise and intelligent, it means they are wise and intelligent.

But why did the scripture have to put the two at different poles.

Wise and intelligent vs. infants.

Where is it written that the wisdom of this world is foolishness to God? Rather the opposite is true. "The fear (love) of the Lord is the beginning of knwledge, which only fools despise." (Prov. 1:7) So, the more you learn, the closer you approach to God. God hides Himself from none. What reason would He have to? The opposite is also true that only the fools either hide from God or seek to discard Him from the minds of the wise and intelligent in order to prozelytize him or her into one of their own. Wise and intelligent vs. infants! I would rather say that they are synonymous to each other. I would look at intants here as those destitute of pride and arrogance, which prompts them to acquire wisdom in the knowledge of God.

 

[Ben Masada]

Would those who have suffered brain damage, or who have mental problems and as a result have "the mind of a child" be closer to God as well? (Serious question, I'm not saying religious folk are brain damaged).

I know what you mean. I think that only self pride and arrogance are what prevent man from seeking the knowledge of God, or struggle to discard Him from the minds of the "infants" or wise ones.

 

[Vansdad]

Why does God take pleasure in hiding who he is and who the Son is from the 'wise and intelligent' and revealing themselves to the 'infants'?

Pleasure? Infants? But maybe you just have to know where to look for Him.