One explanation I’ve seen is that if God was clearly and undeniably present in our lives it would be an infringement on our free will because, having witnessed His glory, we would have no option but to love and obey Him.
I’ve heard this explanation too, but I think it is not the best one. Consider what James, being inspired by God, said:
“You believe that there is one God, and you do well. But even the demons believe and tremble!” (James 2:19) I suppose the demons saw, before falling, God’s face like the rest of the angels (Matthew 18:10). But yet they do not love God, but sinned against Him and rebelled (Revelation 12:4). Neither did Adam love and obey God for seeing Him, for he finally still sinned. The Scriptures also say that unbelievers won’t have faith even if a dead person were to be resurrected (Luke 16:30-31).
But the most famous example, in my opinion, is the Jews. God asks,
“How long will these people reject Me? And how long will they still not believe in Me, with all the signs which I performed among them?” (Numbers 14:11) But He says in His anger,
“… truly, as I live, all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the Lord-- because all these men who have seen My glory and the signs which I did in Egypt and in the wilderness, and have put Me to the test now these ten times, and have not heeded My voice, they certainly shall not see the land of which I swore to their fathers, nor shall any of those who rejected Me see it. But My servant Caleb, because he has a different spirit in him and has followed Me fully, I will bring into the land where he went, and his descendants shall inherit it.” (Numbers 14: 21-24) I recommend reading this carefuly.
The children of Israel witnessed the power of God. They saw the 10 plagues – turning of water into blood, the darkness, the frogs, etc., God parting the Red Sea in 2 for them to pass. They witnessed Him sending them manna from above and many other things. Even after seeing all this, they did not trust in His power to give them victory and complained. They didn’t follow Him fully. Of millions which came from Egypt only 2 of them -if I’m not mistaken- entered the promised land. Only two trusted in God’s awesome power (how awesome are His works, indeed! see
Psalm 66)
This shows that God doesn’t require mere
belief but
trust, and trust is more difficult. And I say that if God were to appear here, we won’t automatically trust Him jsut because we see Him. If the Jews didn’t with all those signs, why would we today?
Another reason could be that we (humanity) are sinners and we are not worthy or ready to be in His full presence.
That’s a better explanation in my opinion.
I do not agree wit the view that God is hidden, however.
I meant, and it could be understood from the context, that God is
invisible. In this sense I say He is hidden … and who can say He is not?
If He weren’t hidden, what need would we have for faith?
Why does God want us to have faith in Him? This is an important questions. I invite all who wish to answer it.
Never imagine that God is a bearded wise man on a cloud. You may deny this vision of the Lord, but it is implied by your question. God is hidden to us because He is incorporeal; we, having only corporeal vision, are blind to that substance.
I don’t imagine Him like that, but He
could show Himself like a … let’s say just light, or something like that.
We are beings of flesh, mortality, and the senses. Our Father has no sensible reality in His essence, for He is not wondrous, but wonder itself; not majestic, but majesty itself. This mighty force of being, this absolute totality of existence, this everlasting daylight of love, can never be witnessed by our physical eyes. Common sense tells us this, even if Exodus had not (re: Moses not being able to ‘see’ God pass by).
It seems rather arrogant to ask. I once asked it constantly, and the Lord humbled my face to the dust for being so proud. “Why is God hidden?”… “because, child, were you to see me you would die of glory.” We are crippled, but not broken; however, this black fire burning within us must be put out before we can be pierced by the luminous abyss of the Immortal!
Amen!
Reinforcing Loml, we would annihilate ourselves in shame. Haven’t you read Till We Have Faces by CS Lewis?
Actually, this is an interesting point. We would all cover our faces and say like Isaiah,
“Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts!” (Isaiah 6:5), or like the unrepentant in Revelation,
"[they]* said to the mountains and rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of Him who sits on the throne from the wrath of the Lamb!”* (Revelation 6:16). We are not ‘finished’ yet, aren’t we? We are still in a process of sanctification, I suppose. We may see God fully only when we are resurrected or changed into something new, something that is holy.
Hello Emanuel,
What is your view of free will? That may help you understand some of the sentiments expressed here by believers.
I maintain that we have free will, but I still have some doubts after reading
On the Freedom of the Will, by Schopenhauer.
If you think free will is related to the topic at hand, feel free to discuss it. Explain why is it that we have free will, and how can we demonstrate it – if you wish so, of course.
