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Understanding the Hidden Face of God
By Christine Darg
Jerusalem Channel
“Truly, You are a God who hides
Himself, O God of Israel, Savior!” (Isaiah
45: 15)
The
Hebrew phrase “hester panim,” the hidden or concealed face of God, is a
concept in Judaism that is sometimes applied to the Nazi Holocaust as an
explanation for God’s seeming absence during the horrors.
The concept of hester panim is also alluded to in Purim
commentaries since the Book of Esther does not overtly mention the name of God
(although His name is encoded in an acrostic).
The hidden or concealed face of God is one reason why during Purim
masks and costumes are worn.
In
the Torah in Deuteronomy 31:17, the Almighty warned that He would hide His face
and withdraw His favour from His people if they disobeyed and served other
gods:
“And in that day I will become angry with them and forsake
them; I will hide my face from them, and they will be destroyed. Many disasters
and calamities will come on them, and in that day they will ask, ‘Have not these
disasters come on us because our God is not with us?’”
Consequently,
according to the great commentator Rashi, it would appear “as if” God
didn’t see the distress of His people.
In
Deuteronomy 31:18, in the original Hebrew, there is an idiomatic expression, a
play on words that does not translate into English but amounts to a double
hiding.
The
conclusion, interestingly, is that the Jewish sage of the Middle Ages, Aben
Ezra, as well as the Ramban and other revered rabbis have explained that there would
be two hidings of God’s face in Jewish history.
The first
hiding was after the destruction of the First Temple
during the Jews’ exile to Babylon; that hester panim lasted only a
relatively short time — 70 years — about
a generation.
But
the second hiding has been extensive — the current
Diaspora in the nations, which started with the destruction of the Second
Temple in 70 AD, and is coming to a conclusion beginning with the rebirth of
the modern state of Israel.
During
many dark periods during the Diaspora, the Jewish people have had to perceive
God’s hand of preservation in the shadows.
Indeed,
miracles of preservations are happening all the time, but they are not as
obvious as the parting of the Red Sea.
Sometimes
they can be hard to discern. But increasingly for those who have eyes to see,
God is shining out from behind the clouds.
Recall
during the Gulf War how Iraq rained down 39 Scud missiles on Israel, and
Israel’s divine preservation was a public miracle!
As
an evangelical believer, I find it infinitely fascinating that the Talmud
comments on Jerusalem’s widowhood after the destruction of the Temple as a
temporary situation.
Jerusalem
is likened to a woman whose husband has gone overseas but who has every
intention of returning!
The
same analogy is made in the Midrash in Kohellet Raba — a parable about a
woman who makes herself beautiful in the absence of her husband, because she
must be ready for his imminent return.
Revelation 19:7 speaks of the Bride of the Messiah, who
anticipates His imminent return: “Let us
rejoice and be glad and give him glory! For the wedding of the Lamb has come,
and his bride has made herself ready.”
According
to the Jewish Tanach, the Hebrew Scriptures, God himself has described His hester
panim in Hosea 5: 14-15
“For
I will be unto Ephraim as a lion,
And as a young lion to the house of Judah;
I, even I, will tear and go away,
I will take away, and there shall be none to deliver.
I will go and return to My place,
Till they acknowledge their guilt, and seek My face;
In their trouble they will seek Me earnestly.”
The
Bible makes it clear that the time of hester panim will end after the
Holocaust. Read the testimony of Ezekiel on 37:
Then he said to me: “Son of man, these bones are the people
of Israel. They say, ‘Our bones are dried up and our hope is gone; we are cut
off.’ 12Therefore prophesy and say to them: ‘This is what the
Sovereign Lord says: My people, I am going to
open your graves and bring you up from them; I will bring you back to the land
of Israel. 13Then you, my people, will know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves and bring you up from
them. 14I will put my Spirit in you and you will live, and I will
settle you in your own land. Then you will know that I the Lord have spoken, and I have done it, declares the Lord.’ ”
Thankfully,
living on the resurrection side of the Holocaust, we know that the second period
of hester panim is drawing to a close.
God
is coming out of hiding. Jerusalem will experience the outpouring of the spirit
of grace and supplications. (Zechariah 12:
10)
All
Israel shall be saved (Romans 11: 26).
It
is the most exciting prophetic time to be alive!
“’In an outburst of anger I hid My face from you for a
moment, But with everlasting lovingkindness I will have compassion on you,’
Says the LORD your Redeemer.” ~ Isaiah 54: 8
“’I will not hide My face from them any longer, for I will
have poured out My Spirit on the house of Israel,’ declares the Lord GOD.” ~ Ezekiel 39: 29
“In all their affliction He was afflicted, and the Angel of
His presence saved them: in His love and in His pity He redeemed them; and He
bare them, and carried then all the days of old.” ~ Isaiah 63: 9
The Jerusalem Channel is a media ministry with the vision to share the Gospel from Jerusalem to the ends of the earth. Through videos, news and insight, the Jerusalem Channel brings you the latest information on events in the Holy Land and global news with a Judeo-Christian perspective.
The Jerusalem Channel is a media ministry with the vision to share the Gospel from Jerusalem to the ends of the earth. Through videos, news and insight, the Jerusalem Channel brings you the latest information on events in the Holy Land and global news with a Judeo-Christian perspective.
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