1 Kings 14:1-6a - Hiding from God

Scripture:

1 Kings 14:1-6a
1 At that time Abijah the son of Jeroboam became sick.
2 Jeroboam said to his wife, "Arise now, and disguise yourself so that they will not know that you are the wife of Jeroboam, and go to Shiloh; behold, Ahijah the prophet is there, who spoke concerning me that I would be king over this people.
3 "Take ten loaves with you, some cakes and a jar of honey, and go to him. He will tell you what will happen to the boy."

4 Jeroboam's wife did so, and arose and went to Shiloh, and came to the house of Ahijah. Now Ahijah could not see, for his eyes were dim because of his age.
5 Now the Lord had said to Ahijah, "Behold, the wife of Jeroboam is coming to inquire of you concerning her son, for he is sick. You shall say thus and thus to her, for it will be when she arrives that she will pretend to be another woman."

6 When Ahijah heard the sound of her feet coming in the doorway, he said, "Come in, wife of Jeroboam, why do you pretend to be another woman?
NASU


Thoughts:

Jeroboam sends his wife to inquire of the prophet Ahijah, concerning the health of his son.  In doing so, he gives her contradictory directions:  she is to go to and ask of the prophet who by God's enabling can see their son's future, but to disguise herself so he won't know who she is! (verses 2 and 3)  This really makes no sense.  Certainly if Ahijah can see the details of their son's condition, he will know whose son it is! (verse 6)

Scenes like this are so comical to us to read, but they are being re-enacted daily.  From those apart from Christ who may vainly hope that God has seen whatever good things they've done in life but doesn't see or will ignore the bad, to the "Sunday Christian" who cleans up their act to make a good show on Sunday but lives a pagan lifestyle the rest of the week, and to even the sincere Christian, holding on to pockets of sin in their life as though God does not see and care.  In any of these cases and all others, God is omniscient.  He knows all.

God offers a way out of this spiritual hiding, however.  He offers forgiveness through the sacrifice of Christ on our behalf.  As the scriptures say:

Proverbs 28:13
13 He who conceals his transgressions will not prosper,
But he who confesses and forsakes them will find compassion.
NASU

What a burden is lifted, when we openly confess our sins to the Lord!  By His power, turning away from them.


Prayer:

Thank You God, that because of Your grace I don't need to hide from You.  Truly, I cannot hide from You if I wanted to!

Thank You for extending forgiveness to me.  A forgiveness that costs me nothing, though it cost You more than I can fully understand.  That sets me free of the guilt and punishment of my sin, and free to live a holy life in You, through Christ.

Amen

Scripture quotations taken from the NASB.