Although God Is Hidden From Man, His Deeds Among All Things Are Sufficient for Man to Know Him

Job had not seen the face of God, or heard the words spoken by God, much less had he personally experienced the work of God, but his fear of God and testimony during his trials are witnessed by all, and they are loved, delighted in, and commended by God, and people envy and admire them, and, moreover, sing their praises. There was nothing great or extraordinary about his life: Just like any ordinary person, he lived an unremarkable life, going out to work at sunrise and returning home to rest at sunset. The difference is that during these several unremarkable decades, he gained an insight into the way of God, and realized and understood the great power and sovereignty of God, as no other person ever had. He was no cleverer than any ordinary person, his life was not especially tenacious, nor, moreover, did he have invisible special skills. What he did possess, though, was a personality that was honest, kind-hearted, upright, a personality which loved fairness and righteousness, and which loved positive things—none of which are possessed by most ordinary people. He differentiated between love and hate, had a sense of justice, was unyielding and persistent, and was diligent in his thoughts, and thus during his unremarkable time on earth he saw all the extraordinary things that God had done, and saw the greatness, holiness, and righteousness of God, he saw God’s concern, graciousness, and protection for man, and saw the honorableness and authority of the supreme God. The first reason why Job was able to gain these things that were beyond any normal person was because he had a pure heart, and his heart belonged to God, and was led by the Creator. The second reason was his pursuit: his pursuit of being impeccable, and perfect, and someone who complied with the will of Heaven, who was loved by God, and shunned evil. Job possessed and pursued these things while being unable to see God or hear the words of God; though he had never seen God, he had come to know the means by which God rules over all things, and understood the wisdom with which God does so. Though he had never heard the words spoken by God, Job knew that the deeds of rewarding man and taking from man all come from God. Although the years of his life were no different from those of any ordinary person, he did not allow the unremarkableness of his life to affect his knowledge of God’s sovereignty over all things, or to affect his following of the way of fearing God and shunning evil. In his eyes, the laws of all things were full of God’s deeds, and God’s sovereignty could be seen in any part of a person’s life. He had not seen God, but he was able to realize that God’s deeds are everywhere, and during his unremarkable time on earth, in every corner of his life he was able to see and realize the extraordinary and wondrous deeds of God, and could see the wondrous arrangements of God. The hiddenness and silence of God did not hinder Job’s realization of God’s deeds, nor did they affect his knowledge of God’s sovereignty over all things. His life was the realization of the sovereignty and arrangements of God, who is hidden among all things, during his everyday life. In his everyday life he also heard and understood the heart’s voice and the words, which God, silent among all things, expressed through His governing the laws of all things. You see, then, that if people have the same humanity and pursuit as Job, then they can gain the same realization and knowledge as Job, and can acquire the same understanding and knowledge of God’s sovereignty over all things as Job. God had not appeared to Job or spoken to him, but Job was able to be perfect, and upright, and to fear God and shun evil. In other words, without God having appeared to or spoken to man, God’s deeds among all things and His sovereignty over all things are sufficient for a man to become aware of God’s existence, power, and authority, and God’s power and authority are enough to make this man follow the way of fearing God and shunning evil. Since an ordinary man such as Job was able to achieve the fear of God and shunning of evil, then every ordinary person who follows God should also be able to. Though these words may sound like logical inference, this does not contravene the laws of things. Yet the facts haven’t matched up to expectations: Fearing God and shunning evil, it would appear, is the preserve of Job and Job alone. At the mention of “fearing God and shunning evil,” people think that this should only be done by Job, as if the way of fearing God and shunning evil had been labeled with the name of Job and were unrelated to others. The reason for this is clear: Because only Job was possessed of a personality that was honest, kind-hearted, and upright, and which loved fairness and righteousness and things that were positive, thus only Job could follow the way of fearing God and shunning evil. You must have all understood the implication here—which is that because no one is possessed of a humanity that is honest, kind-hearted, and upright, and which loves fairness and righteousness and that which is positive, no one can fear God and shun evil, and thus they can never gain God’s joy or stand firm amid trials. Which also means that, with the exception of Job, all people are still bound and ensnared by Satan, they are all accused, attacked, and abused by it, and the ones Satan tries to swallow, and they are all without freedom, prisoners that have been taken captive by Satan.

—The Word, Vol. 2. On Knowing God. God’s Work, God’s Disposition, and God Himself II