Saturday, July 9, 2022
“But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear” (Isaiah 59:2 KJV).
How can dispensational Bible study deliver us from experiencing a lifetime of fear, doubt, frustration, discouragement, and even apostasy?
There is no way around it, dear friends: today’s Scripture says just what it means, and it means just what it says. God is hiding His face from sinners because they are out of fellowship with Him. They call to Him, but He pays no attention to them! Other Bible verses convey that same idea. For example, Micah 3:4: “Then shall they cry unto the LORD, but he will not hear them: he will even hide his face from them at that time, as they have behaved themselves ill in their doings.” Just who are these people anyway? What could they have possibly done to receive such stern treatment from God? Why would the LORD resort to this severity when dealing with them?
Doubtless, billions of unfortunate souls struggle with that ever-vexing problem of “unanswered prayer.” (Dear friends, you do know all about that, right?!) They have repeatedly begged the Lord for this or that, but Heaven has been silent for weeks, months, years, or even decades. Was there ever a God there to care and listen to their prayers? To their disappointment, their churches, pastors, and “spiritual counselors” have no meaningful solutions for them. In fact, how many of these poor people begin wondering if they are the doomed individuals of today’s Scripture? Victims of Satan’s evil world system, Bible (!) verses (!) are serving as weapons against them!!! These countless souls consider themselves hopelessly trapped in that predicament. Eventually, due to escalating bitterness, their spiritual life (if they ever had one) collapses, they become more disgusted with and even oppose the notion of God, they drift away from the Scriptures until they outright detest them, they cease church attendance, and they finally transfer into world religions, agnosticism, or atheism. (Thank you, denominationalism!)
If we and those we love are to be spared the aforementioned disastrous outcomes, we had better—and quickly—find some answers so we can solve this enigma of God’s hidden face….