God's Absence

A Pattern of Abandonment?

There have been long stretches of time throughout Biblical history where God was absent from the scene:

Beginning with the hundreds of years while the Israelites were in Egypt, some of that time enslaved. Virtually none of that time is recorded in the Bible. The story moves from Jacob's travel to Egypt to many years later with the story of the birth of Moses. Additionally, though the story starts out well for Jacob's progeny, over time, the Egyptians turn the Israelites into slaves, and at one point mass genocide is committed against all male Israelite babies.

Another period of time reflecting a lack of God's presence was after the period of the Judges. 1 Samuel 3:1 tells us that "the word of the LORD was rare" in those days," preceding God's call to Samuel. The period of the Judges saw incredible chaos in the land, and "everyone did as he saw fit" (Judges 21:25). And at the end of the story of the Judges, God seems to be absent from the scene.

The book of Esther is another example of God's absence. The book of Esther contains no mention of God whatsoever. During an incredibly difficult and nearly tragic time for the Israelite people, who were facing extinction at the hands of an evil man, God is no where mentioned.

Finally, the Intertestamental period, the time between the Old and New Testaments, contains 400 years of silence, when none of God's prophets were speaking, and no mention of what is going on during this time is contained in the Protestant canon of the Bible. The Bible takes us from Malachi to Matthew, with centuries of silence. Yet in this time the people of Israel are conquered by the Greeks and Romans, their temple is once again destroyed, and any hope of a future nation is obliterated.

How are we to understand this pattern of absence?

Perception is not Reality

Often, things are not what they seem. What is often thought to be God's absence is really His silence, and God's silence does not mean a lack of action on our behalf, compassion for our needs, or purpose for our lives. 

In these examples of God's Absence:

• God responded to the cries of the Israelites in Egyptian slavery, and that is what caused Him to act-"God heard their groaning and he remembered his covenant..." (Ex. 2:24).
• God, though silent, was in the process of developing and raising up a prophet named Samuel, who would anoint the future King David, who would bring the people of Israel together in unity
• God, working behind the scenes, used Mordecai and Esther to save His people from the impending tragedy
• And God, during the Intertestamental period, was preparing His people for the coming Messiah who provided the ultimate form of deliverance and restoration for all people.

What can we learn from God's absence:

• God's silence does not indicate His absence or His lack of involvement in our lives
• God is not a magic genie or a butler, who is at our beck and call, only serving our individual and immediate wants and desires-
• -Yet God does respond to our cries for help-even when we do not realize it
• Often God is at work behind the scenes, working on our behalf as Isaiah 64:4 tells us, "...no eye has seen any God besides you, who acts on behalf of those who wait for him"

There is always a larger purpose involved in the silent moments of our lives, and in the silent moments of history.

Therefore, God's silence forces us to "Be still and know" that He is God (Ps. 46:10), because He has promised, "never will I leave you; never will I forsake you" (Heb. 13:5). 

We can trust that though we do not always see what He is doing in our lives, He is at work on behalf of not only our lives, but all of humanity as well.